“We all know she has no soul—she is an inanimate object made of steel, plywood and spruce. But in the dark, silent, hangar, surrounded by tricycle landing gears and sleek aluminum, the Staggerwing sits in profound majestic grace.”
That’s how the story begins..sort of. The story of Captain Biff.
Why this interested me is very simple. Every boy dreams of sailing the high seas. Every girl dreams of flying the heavens. Every young boy worth his marbles dreams of flying round the world.
well, at least I had dreamt of tramping round the world. A vagabond maybe. Probably it was the story of Apple John, you know the story of a tramo who always had shade and apples to eat cos he always plant the seeds from the apples wherever he goes or laid his hat for a summer snooze. Ok, it was actually a morality story (eat what you sow) but to a young boy fascinated by adventure, the image stuck. Hasn’t left yet I might add!
If flights of fancy catches you, read all about how one man put together a WWI aircraft and intended to sail it round the world. Not really non-stop or the media hyped kind of heroics but one rich man’s flight of fancy. Not really vagabond-ing but well, i’m not young no more so this will do. Can actually hear the sneer from the lady. Woman never understand this man thing you see. 
