"You will walk the earth with eyes turned skyward"

November 18, 2011 7:21 AM

If We Only Had Wings explores the long-held dream of personal flight, from da Vinci's gliders to the Swiss Jetman to the in-development NASA Puffin (man, do I want a Puffin). Since the article is from National Geographic, there is also a great photo gallery.
posted by blahblahblah (5 comments total)

An imaginary personal flight device should be called Puffin' with an apostrophe. You know you have.
posted by resurrexit at 7:35 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Puffin looks like a piece of carry-on luggage with propellers.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2011

The Puffin looks like a piece of carry-on luggage with propellers.

Should be easy to get that past TSA, right, Sys Rq?
posted by IAmBroom at 9:43 AM on November 18, 2011

Doesn't the Puffin design seem like bad ergonomics in that you are naturally looking down, not forward? To look forward, you have to do the standing equivalent of looking up, which would get to your neck fairly quickly.
posted by allelopath at 10:57 AM on November 18, 2011

Bill Plympton might have some words of warning here.
posted by Rykey at 3:37 PM on November 18, 2011