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The story of man’s dream of flight, of his wish for to reach the stars, is as old as mankind itself. It is easy to imagine that primitive man, faced with fierce, attacking monsters, yearned to spring up and fly away just like a bird.

In ancient myths and religions, we have more than enough proof of this desire to fly. But desires and dreams cannot lift a man off the earth, and so the amazing ability to fly was reserved only for his gods. Each of the gods had some means of flight. In ancient Greece, Phaeton, son of Helios, the sun god, drove the wild horses that pulled the sun chariot. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, had a winged helmet and winged sandals. The winged horse, Pegasus, was able to fly faster, farther and higher than any bird.

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The dream of flight was universal. In ancient Egypt and Babylonia, they pictured winged bulls, winged lions and even men with wings. The ancient Chinese, Greeks, Aztecs of Central America, Iroquois of North America, all shared this dream.