Who Gives A Crap Report 24 Aviation
Church of Aviation is not a religious order or sac but one of feeling and thought. When an aviator prepares for flight his/her mind is preoccupied with a dozen or more tasks before takeoff. Before the throttles are advanced, and the wheels start rolling, a pilot will always think, or say Thank You, or some other thought or saying to convey their affirmation to a higher authority. As they reach cruising altitude again the pilot at some point will think or say about the beauty and surroundings of an open sky, and reaffirm their belief in a supreme being. Whether their journey is long or short, business or pleasure in time to end the flight, the mind is again preoccupied with the duties of a safe return. The pilot will again say a silent thanks for a safe journey. No matter your religious beliefs every pilot as the same thoughts. John Gillespie a Canadian pilot flying for the RAF in World War II best put these thoughts into words, the poem
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air… .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Every time I see or hear a aircraft taking off or landing I think of this poem. Read, Don't Read, I Don't Give A Crap.
