Wings

I always used to teach the months of the year with a diagram of the Earth moving round the sun. This theoretically made them think about it a little and involved them going away and finding out exactly where the Earth was at any given point in the year. We also used to teach them the signs of the zodiac, usually along with the future tense.

The Zodiac endures in both eastern and western cultures, in spite of there having been a shift over the years so that the constellations that are in the sky are one behind what we say they are. Or could be the other way round, could be they're one ahead, in any case, they're out of whack.

About now the sun moves out of Aquarius and into Pisces, from an air sign to a water sign, which I welcome, but I'm also having a slight lag because my thoughts are still fixed on the air.

As avian flu (flu, an illness that at best knocks you off your feet for a week, confines you to bed and makes you feel like complete shite, as opposed to a cold which is something you can sniffle through) moves across Europe spreading fear and loathing, well and of course flu, the building of the Airbus A380 brings unity and purpose across Europe. That's a very long article indeed by the way, so be warned.

I find the building of the Airbus a fascinating project for several reasons, not least because it has made one company out of pre-existing ones in Britain, France, Germany and Spain. The article emphasises how this is different from the building of Concorde which was a collaboration between two distinct companies, one British, one French, the result being that each and every plane was either French or English.

My interest is also in the environmental issues. The idea of a bigger plane which holds more people and yet which reduces the per person use of fuel has to be good surely, but the article warns us that since the major cost of air travel is in the fuel, better fuel consumption will lead to lower prices and thus to more journeys being made.

At the end of his book 'Absolute Altitude', Martin Buckley looks to the future and sees the possibility of more and more of us being able to own our own planes because the cost will soon potentially be within the car price range. If people can do it, they probably will, after all people own cars whether they really need to or not. He points out that there would be an environmental cost to this.

This is a dilemma for me personally. My life is very dependent on air travel and that isn't going to change, but I am also very committed to green issues. The world has shrunk considerably over my lifetime, air travel is quicker, safer, cheaper and cleaner than ever. While it remains as public transport I can tell myself that it doesn't pollute the earth any more whether I travel or not, even though that logic doesn't entirely hold up.

I am pleased that there is a European project like Airbus, because fuel economy has to be a priority since the EU is committed to environmental issues. I suppose for once we have to believe that the experts, designers, researchers, administrators and whatever will do the thinking and worrying for us, but as consumers we, I, do have a responsibility too.
Wings of aluminium or wings of feathers, all cause for concern, glad we're moving into Pisces for a bit.