There Are Several Good Reasons for airplanes, but I am still and often happily amazed by their ability to carry me long distances in comfort and at great speed. This characteristic of aircraft is most enjoyable when I'm at the controls, but I still enjoy a good airline trip when the distances call for more speed, altitude and safety than I can afford for myself. I have often wondered if the Wrights had any idea about the practical value of their experimental efforts. They were drawn by the challenge, certainly, but did they ever imagine that 400 people could go nonstop from New York to Tokyo less than 80 years after they went 120 feet? For that matter, did Charles Lindbergh, even when he was a director of Pan Am, really understand the profound change in the way the world works that he provoked by piloting his airplane alone from New York to Paris?
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