High Flight
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Cpo1944
Member
Here it is
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."
High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.
He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.
In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death.
His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.
Biography and photo courtesy of the United States Air Force
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."
High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.
He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.
In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death.
His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.
Biography and photo courtesy of the United States Air Force
As a kid, I remember watching tv as it signed off for the night.
Before the national anthem over the waving flag they would show nature pics while reading High Flight.
Thanks, hadn't thought of that in a while.
Before the national anthem over the waving flag they would show nature pics while reading High Flight.
Thanks, hadn't thought of that in a while.
I have always been moved by the majestic spirit of that poem, first as an Air Force brat and son of a career fighter jock, then as a private pilot.
I still marvel at how far we have come, so quickly. Dad's first ever airplane ride was as an aviation cadet in a Stearman canvas-skinned biplane. His last mount was a 1300 MPH Thud, in which he made 105 trips "goin' Downtown". He was born in the age of open cockpit biplanes and dirigibles, fought in three wars (P-51s in WWII, the F-86 in Korea, and SEA), and lived to see a man walk on the moon and the dawn of the modern computer age. To me, that's truly awesome.
And then we have the FAA Annotated High Flight variant:
http://pad39a.com/gene/high2.html
(If that link doesn't work, just Google "FAA annotated High Flight".)
I still marvel at how far we have come, so quickly. Dad's first ever airplane ride was as an aviation cadet in a Stearman canvas-skinned biplane. His last mount was a 1300 MPH Thud, in which he made 105 trips "goin' Downtown". He was born in the age of open cockpit biplanes and dirigibles, fought in three wars (P-51s in WWII, the F-86 in Korea, and SEA), and lived to see a man walk on the moon and the dawn of the modern computer age. To me, that's truly awesome.
And then we have the FAA Annotated High Flight variant:
http://pad39a.com/gene/high2.html
(If that link doesn't work, just Google "FAA annotated High Flight".)
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armenius
US Veteran
Beautiful picture and beautiful poem.I think every aviator can relate to the feelings he is describing.The FAA revision reminds me of the old Air Force song we sang at Friday night beer call in the OC in the late 50's,"The Fighter Pilots Lament"(google for words).Thankfully in those days the countryside wasn't filled with antennas thicker that quills on a porcupine and with the exception of a few mink farmers the public didn't complain so much if a young pilot made a "motivation pass" (see buzz job).Life was good,21 year old,$500 a month,free flying and money left over at the end of the month.
armenius
US Veteran
Correction on the above song,it should be "The Force Is Shot To Hell" and on google.
Sorry for the slip.
Sorry for the slip.
Wow......
That is one beautiful picture. No matter what was on the TV I'd hang around for the old sign off and I never got tired of it. I'm still not tired of it. Instead I'm getting goose bumps thinking about it.
PS Some years after this a local announcer with a decent voice did the poem for a small flying outfit in Charleston, SC using something that looked about like a Cessna for the plane. It just didn't grab me.
Here is the real thing. I only remember it in black and white.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuIic17ijP8
That is one beautiful picture. No matter what was on the TV I'd hang around for the old sign off and I never got tired of it. I'm still not tired of it. Instead I'm getting goose bumps thinking about it.
PS Some years after this a local announcer with a decent voice did the poem for a small flying outfit in Charleston, SC using something that looked about like a Cessna for the plane. It just didn't grab me.
Here is the real thing. I only remember it in black and white.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuIic17ijP8
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shouldazagged
Absent Comrade
A moving, magnificent poem. What might he have written had he lived?
Texas Star
US Veteran
Any idea which mark of Spitfire that is in the OP? It has the double radiators under the wings and a rudder that looks high enough to make it one of the Gryphon engined models. Maybe a MK XIV? Looks like it might have white invasion stripes on the wings.
zzzippper
Member
I think you are correct, it has a 5 bladed prop. I don't see invasion stripes, I think it is gun ports papered over.
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