It was bound to happen.  Ever since Leonardo Da Vinci fooled around with the idea of a parachute (the idea being to save poor Icarus from falling to his death after flying too near the sun with HIS flying belt – err, wings put together with wax.) The most developed idea that caught the imagination despite and, perhaps, because the experiments with balloons, (lighter than air) then dirigibles and gliders then airplanes (heavier than air) were costly and defeated the idea of individuals actually flying lighter or heavier than air.

Buck Rogers was my favorite.  He had a rocket pack on his back and could maneuver like a ballet dancer while hovering in the air.  That brings to mind the helicopter that hovers but makes a terrible racket.  Rogers and his girl-friend seemed to be quasi-military types in uniform and were doing official business quickly and efficiently because they were not bound to following a road in traffic.  Efforts to build a machine that would do what the comic strip did have all been too costly and dependent on power that would be heavier to carry around than ones own self.  This latest report of a jet of air produced by a flying belt machine is hailed by its builder as soon to be available in every car show room in the country.  But, don’t count on it.

Now, everyone has dreams and some of these are of flying.  I had them when I was a kid and they were very interesting.  I sort of willed myself off the ground and moved along at a safe speed but often got tangled up in trees.  But that is a dream for you.  The very interesting thing about this is that it was repetitious and I got tangled up with trying to figure out what was wrong with my flying belt.  Then, I discovered that I didn’t have a belt but could lift myself up and traipse around getting tangled up in trees – I sort of instinctively avoided power lines.

I think this futuristic fantasy of everyone being able to fly at will up in the air and over to the store to buy something is just that – a fantasy.  It is bad enough trying to find cheap enough gasoline to get you from here to there. 

I do like the French (or Parisian) notion to make bicycles available for loan at a few centimes according to the time used and turning them in and when you needed another trip, to just rent another bike at the nearest kiosk. Did you hear about the plan to have electric cars available in the same way?  Sounds good to me.  The only trouble is that this would put off the advent of the flying belt for later on in the future. Carol reminded me that Seattle has been using the public bicycle method but, in that climate the machines would rust away all too soon. These methods are reminiscent of the rental gadgets at airports where you put your quarter in and get a rolling cart for your baggage.

I remember with great clarity how Buck sort of floated in one spot while trying to think where his next destination would be.  I do not remember his equally air-born girl friend’s name.  Was it Wilma Deering?  Both used their maneuverability to fight the bad guys of the time.  With their flying belt machines, they were the good guys.