I like airplanes

I like airplanes. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not in my blood, inherited from my family as it infected my wife, who practically grew up on Eastern Airlines and was bitten by the travel bug at a tender age. It’s not the allure of the plane thing or the culture of flight or anything like that.

My wife and I visited the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland, Florida. It houses mainly civilian aircraft and a few military examples. The smaller plane sizes allow more exhibits to be squeezed into the limited display space. I spent most of my time snapping photos of the classic aircraft, looking for the most interesting compositions. As I struggled to get all six propeller blades of the Lockheed XPV-1 into the picture while checking carefully behind me so I wouldn’t back into the wing gun of the P-63, I realized what it was I like about airplanes.

Airplanes look cool.

You’re right, that is oversimplifying. Yet that is the point – airplanes look cool because of what makes them fly in the first place.

The most efficient wing design when seen as a cross-section resembles a curved teardrop, with a rounded leading surface that arcs to a tapered trailing edge. Let’s just say that it disturbs the air moving around it in a way that it generates lift so the plane can do what it was designed to do.

All of this means that the plane as a whole has a lot of smooth, rounded surfaces to reduce drag wherever possible to make forward and vertical motion as efficient as possible. It’s beautiful. The lines are simple and basic. It just looks good.

Perhaps it is in my genes: the joy in simple, uncluttered presentation. I hope you are familiar with Strunk’s Elements of Style. After 90 years of testing, William Strunk’s rules of composition still provide a strong voice for simplicity in writing the English language. I enjoy writing that is simple and uncluttered, just as I relish the smooth lines of an airplane.

Yes, I also cringe when I encounter writing that drifts or presumes too much or has a protagonist act in a way that is totally out of character. I treasure consistency while prizing mystery. Mysteries, after all, will ultimately be unraveled to show a logical sequence. Something that is, after all, simple and uncluttered. It’s great to have a clear standard.

Now all I have to do is figure out why I think the F-117A looks cool.