Today, flying has become very commonplace due to airplanes. But if we go back 500 years, people could only dream of flying. In the 1500s, people used to see birds flying in the sky and felt very jealous. People used to wish that they could also fly. And many people tried to do the same. In 1507, a man named John Damien covered his hands with chicken feathers and jumped from the roof of a castle in Scotland. He started waving his hands like a bird in the hopes that he would also start flying.
But unfortunately, he fell from the roof. He broke his bones. And when he was asked later, he claimed that had he used an eagle’s feathers instead, he would have flown. He was not the only one. Throughout history, many people have tried to jump from a tower or a high wall. Sometimes they stuck feathers on themselves, sometimes kites, sometimes balloons.
Eventually, people realized that if we want to fly, there are only two ways. First, we need to make ourselves lighter than air. Like through a balloon. Or second, we need to generate enough power to be able to take off in the sky. For the second way, we needn’t be lighter than air. All the airplanes and helicopters you see flying in the air today, they use this second method. They generate enough power to fly in the air.
