When I was little, and my family would go to visit family in Idaho during the summer, there were lots of fun things to do. One summer my favorite activity was to go out and walk along the top of the fence that surrounded my grandpa's house and the cow pen next to it. The old fence was made of 2X4's on 6X6 posts about 8 feet apart. My cousins and I would spend hours just walking around on the fence. Trying to challenge our balancing skills by passing each other and going faster. On the very last day we were there I went out for one last walk on the fence and I slipped and fell. Usually falling wasn't a very big deal, but since I slipped and fell it was. The top rail of the fence slid all the way up the side of my body and pretty much skinned my ribs alive. Ouch! Man, that hurt so bad.
Another thing I liked to do was go outside just before the rain storms. The wind would pick up and there would be lightning and thunder. One day my cousin got the idea that we would try to use the wind as a mode of flight. We tried climbing up the fence and jumping off into the wind or with the wind. This didn't equal very long flights. Next we tried using grocery sacks as parachutes--also fruitless. So finally we found some old plant flats (a shallow plastic pan used to hold small plants, flowers or vegetables, before they are sold to plant in the earth). We found that the sturdy plastic pans provided a little greater lift. So we commenced our flying exercises. I'm sure non of our "flights" lasted longer than 2 or 3 seconds, but to feel the resistance of the wind on our arms made it super fun. Hooray wright brothers!
ps. I do not endorse experimental modes of flight, especially from heights greater than 4 feet. Unless you're these guys:
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