For many who find their true home in the sky, flying is far more than a mode of transportation… it is an artform, a state of being, and the intrinsic spirit that propels them forward.  The romance of dancing around clouds and soaring above the Earth moves aviators to poetry, song, and verse to describe the unique and special emotions that float through the brain while held aloft.

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One of the most famous poems ever written about the passion for flight was “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. The poem, written by Magee in the Summer of 1941, was inspired by his flights as a young pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I.  His seventh flight in the Spitfire where he took the aircraft up to 33,000 feet moved him so much that the poem was his way of expressing the wonder that he felt as he climbed through the rarified air…

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 nor even 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.

Tragically, Magee lost his life in a midair collision on December 11, 1941 over the village of Roxholm in Lincolnshire England as he was returning to his base at RAF Digby.  He was only 19 years old.

The poem carried Magee’s memory on for many generations and will certainly stand the test of time for many more.  Aviators young and old have read it and many have developed a special connection to the poem.

Such is the case with the subject of today’s post… a young woman who used the poem to connect her with the spirit of her father.  She wrote:

My dad, who passed away six years ago, was an avid pilot. I grew up hanging around the airport and flying with him in our Cessna 310, a Diamond jet, and the B-25 Mitchell "Fairfax Ghost" (he once flew it with Travis Hoover* sitting in the co-pilot’s seat). He was a Quiet Birdman, and so the poem "High Flight" was read at his funeral. I remember him reading it to me when I was 4, and a framed copy of it was my last Father’s Day present to him.

I chose to use only the first two lines to make it my own. I’m a classical flutist, and those words evoke the feeling I get any time I perform, but also the memory of the man who encouraged me to go for my dreams.

(*editor note: Travis Hoover was one of the original crewmembers of the Doolittle Raid)

Her tattoo in memory of her father was created by tattoo artist Jason Jones of Kaleidoscope Ink in Springfield, MO.  Jason has been featured here at Tattoos In Flight several times before and our subject spoke highly of him as well: “He’s a brilliant artist and an absolute pleasure to work with” she said.

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The invention of the helicopter, to me, is one of the best examples of the power of the human mind and our ingenuity. To envision, design, build and fly something that can maneuver so precisely all while battling the various challenges it faces through the laws of physics: torque and gyroscopic force, ground resonance, and all the complex aerodynamics of a rotary wing – it just boggles the mind!  Obviously, those who work intimately with rotorcraft have the utmost respect for the type as well… and we are proud to feature the tattoos of one such individual here today.

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As you see, the tattoo is a collection of helicopter and vertical flight imagery done in black and gray.  Central in the backpiece is the “aerial screw” concept as envisioned by artist, inventor, visionary and dreamer of flight, Leonardo da Vinci, in the 1480’s.  Though the design never worked, his concept was one of the first explorations into the idea of flying vertically as opposed to horizontally like a bird as tried by early experimenters in aviation. 

Nearly 300 years later, starting around 1760, a succession of inventors experimented with vertical flight through models and sometimes full-sized (but many time unsuccessful) craft.  A full history of this era in helicopter experimentation can be found at Wikipedia by clicking here.

It wasn’t until the experiments of the French brothers Jacques and Louis Breguet in 1907 and those of fellow French inventor Paul Cornu in the same year, that actual flight (though limited to a hover of a few feet) with a person aboard was proven.  It drove other inventors forward in experimenting with improvements that led to the modern definition of the helicopter controls that we know today: the cyclic, the collective, the anti-torque pedals, and the throttle.

The first true “modern” successful helicopter, the Sikorsky VS-300, was created and flown in 1940 by Russian immigrant and noted aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky.  His design used the simplified single main rotor configuration combined with a single vertical tail rotor for anti-torque. The Sikorsky R-4, derived from the VS-300, became the first helicopter to be mass produced and 131 were manufactured by Sikorsky for military use.

In the years since, helicopter development paralleled that of fixed wing aircraft and advancements in speed, capacity, maneuverability and safety have taken it from it’s roots as an unstable experiment to, perhaps, the most valuable asset in aviation today.  It’s ability to operate into areas not accessible by land or by traditional aircraft make it a crucial vehicle for use in military, rescue, exploration and urban transport flight operations.

Certainly our subject today feels the same way about his connection to the helicopter as it’s become a valuable asset in his life as well.  With over 20 years of experience in helicopters, his experienced ranged from Army service overseas for seven years to more recent work with the H-65 in Miami, Puerto Rico and Mobile, AL.  He even took part in Hurricane Katrina recovery with helicopters; a highlight of his service in his opinion. As he said about his experiences…

There is nothing as liberating as the freedom of movement that a helicopter offers – in all three dimensions, literally at your fingertips. I’m not sure where my life would be right now without my rotary-wing background…I guarantee it would be much duller.

The left side of his back is devoted to the Army – a Boeing CH-47 Chinook with a slingloaded howitzer under it. The right side of his back honors the United States Coast Guard (USCG) with an HH-65 Dolphin hoisting it’s rescue basket with a survivor. “The yin/yang of helicopter flight in the military – taking lives/saving lives” as he put it… a testament to the versatility of the design.

At the top are his wings from both the Army and the Navy, blended to together to represent their respective side.

The compilation of the helicopter tattoo work was created by artist Dave Tedder of All or Nothing Tattoo in Smyrna, GA and was done over a 5.5 hour sitting in April of 2007.  Thanks for sending us the great tattoo and the great story!

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