Page:The Fun of It.pdf/62

46 against the bottom, but they don’t have time to affect the boat much before it has passed by.

Perhaps the greatest joy of flying is the magnificence of the view. If visibility is good, the passenger seems to see the whole world. Colors stand out and the shades of the earth, unseen from below, form an endless magic carpet. If anyone really wishes to see the seasons’ changes, he should fly. Autumn turns its most flaming leaves upward and spring hints its coming first for birds and aviators.

I have spoken of the effect of height in flattening the landscape, always a phenomenon in the eyes of the air novitiate. Even mountains grow humble and a really rough terrain appears comparatively smooth. Trees look like bushes and automobiles like flat-backed bugs. A second plane which may be flying a few hundred feet above the ground, as seen from a greater altitude looks as if it were just skimming the surface. All vertical measurement is foreshortened.

The world seen from the air is laid out in squares. Especially striking is the checker board effect wherever one looks down on what his brother man has done. Country or city, it is the same—only the rectangles are of different sizes. The city plays its game of checkers in smaller spaces than the country, and divides its area more minutely.

I am often asked about temperatures in the air. “Is it dreadfully cold up there?”

My answer is that it is likely to be cooler than on the ground, but that temperatures are relative.