People have dreamed about flying for thousands of years. There is the Greek Legend where Daedalus, the genius inventor of Crete, created wings of feathers and wax so he and his son, Icarus, could fly like birds. According to the legend, Icarus flew too near the sun, melted the wax on his wings, and plunged to his death.

There havebeen repeated attempts to design some sort of flying system that would let individual humans enjoy the freedom of the skies. Balloons, wings, gliders, jet packs, wing suits, etc. I just visited a website for an amazing personal airplane called the Flynano.

These planes are amazing. They only weigh around 150 pounds because they are built from light strong carbon fiber composites. There are three models, one with an electric motor and the other two with internal combustion engines. They can carry around 400 pounds with a range of about 20 miles and a top speed of about 70 miles an hour. They need to take off and land on water. (That would NOT be a problem around here!) The cost of these planes is in the neighborhood of $30,000. Considering the weight and size of these planes, they will probably fall in the same category as ultra-lights and will not require a regular pilots license.

These things just look like they would be fun! Maybe people could use them for commuting across all the lakes, rivers and bays around Seattle. I can’t wait to actually see someone flying one of these things.