Expecting to Fly

In 1785 the first aviation accident occurred in Tullamore, Co. Offaly right here in Ireland when a hot air balloon crashed destroying 100 homes.  It is said to be the first aviation disaster in history but I can think of another that came before. Two Athenians, Daedelus and Icarus were trying out a new set of feathers and one flew to close to the sun.  All the wax melted from Icarus’ wings and he plunged into the sea. In truth the closer you fly to the sun and therefore further into the troposphere you get the colder it gets and the adhesive qualities of the wax/glue would improve if anything. I would suggest jumping off a cliff with just a few feathers was more detrimental than the bonding agent, but I digress. It does no good to rewrite history so we will agree that Icarus son of Daedelus was first. Since that time men do in fact glide and fly with nothing more than high tensile materials and the occasional engine strapped to their backs. Aviation safety is probably as good as at any time in the previous 230 years of manned flight however the balloonists still have their fair share of disasters.

Our Balloon en-route to the Valley of the Kings 2005.

In 2005 my wife and I took a trip to Luxor and were fortunate enough to do a tour of the Valley of the Kings at ground level and then from above. We could very well have flown among one of the balloons  recently involved in the worst balloon disaster in history. 19 lost their lives in what must have been a hopeless situation. When a fire starts at that height there is little that can be done. However this is not quite as one-off as it may seem. All hot air balloon activity has ceased in Egypt and to look at the stats Balloon crashes are all too regular. Only last year in Carterton, New Zealand was the third-deadliest balloon accident of all time and looking back accidents have been all to frequent in the last few decades. My wife now swears she wont get in a hot air balloon again and I must say I’ll have a hard time convincing her unless there is a new approach to balloon safety. It’s a shame because you get a perspective you cannot get with any other form of transportation and it’s quiet.

On the ground. Look at the size of that basket!

When it comes to jet aircraft I have no such concerns and admittedly I am about to step aboard an aircraft for a 30 hour journey to New Zealand. While the state of air transportation doesn’t worry me I still have concerns. How will I manage to entertain a 5-year old, 3-year old and 3 month old for those thirty hours without the passengers and crew turning on me. It’s a tricky one but there’s only three main tools that I need to accomplish the feat.  Baby Formula, an Ipad…oh and my Wife.