Flying

[kengr]

Ok, as I mentioned, the other day in a dram I was thinking about flying. Specifically about the sort of super-hero "think and you move thru the air" sort.

I've tagged this "geekery" because it's *such* a geeky thing to think about. And "writing" because they way I was thinking and the way in which I intend to explore the idea amounts to the sort of world building a good writer needs to do with regards to their world.

Starting assumptions:

It's possible to fly unaided.
The ability can be taught.

Without the first assumption, we don't have a post. :-)
Without the second we are dealing with a "unique" ability/situation. One which has had a fair bit of exploration.

So, now we need to define the ability a bit more. different parameters/limits will have quite marked differences in the resulting world or story.

First things that come to mind are "how fast?" and "how much?"

Being able to fly at walking speed will have results quite different than being able to fly at supersonic speeds.

Likewise, "how much?" as in what can you take with you also greatly affects the outcome.

Consider one extreme of "how much?". If people can only fly while naked, that is different from being able to carry a normal load, much less extreme loads.

I figure speed breaks down into a few logical bands:

"walking" speed

running

biking

car

very fast

Frankly, the "very fast" speed band requires *major* suspension of disbelief as well as a bunch of anciiary abilities or something. Flying at hundreds of miles an hour is going to require *serious* protection against wind, not to mention running into birds or insects. If you don't have inherent protection (would have to be some sort of force field or the like), you'll need *serious* gear Motorcycle leathers and helmet would be a bare minimum.

Walking speed on the other hand would be a curiosity but not much more. A strong breeze would make it difficult if not impossible to fly anywhere but downwind for example.

On the other hand, even this limited of a flight ability would cause major changes. Fences aren't a lot of use And those leash and harness setups for kids would be a *lot* more popular.

Sports might change or new ones get invented.

Flying at running speeds (but with less effort) would result in more significant changes. For one, it would take a definite wind or at least a strong breeze to interfere with your flying. Seeing folks flying up or downstairs in buildings with open core atriums rather than taking the elevator would be common.

At biking speeds, if reasonable loads can be carried, you'd see a lot of folks flying rather than take the bus or drive. At least on days with good weather. After all, you get a better view than from your bike and you don't have to park the bike.

At car speeds, buses and the like will definite get less usage except in really bad weather. Also it'd take a true storm for winds to be much of a problem.

Loading has effects as well. If you can only fly naked, and the max speed range is "walking", it'd be a curiosity, mostly seen at nude beaches and the like. At running or better speeds, you'll have more interesting forms of streaking, and lots more exhibitionists as well as folks having sex in the damndest places.

If you can haul pretty much what you can haul around on foot, and fly at reasonable speeds, commuting and backpacking will change a lot.

And if you can haul larger loads, the changes get even more ubiquitous. If only *some* folks can haul larger loads, they will have lots of job opportunities doing deliveries and the like. What would FedEx pay someone who could fly at say 60 mph and carry a few hundred pounds?

Burglary would get messier with most flying options.

And let's not even get into the legal messes flying would cause in *any* of the speed or load ranges. The FAA would go nuts.

Discuss.

Comments

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

I explore personal flight a lot in my Masks super stories. The main character has been flying since age eight, and is one of the best flyers in the world. Being physically superhuman, his top speed is limited by his flight power, and his medium-altitude limit is around Mach 3.

His niece started flying at age twelve. She is physically a normal human, so can't fly much above highway speeds without protective gear. With a high-tech space suit she can travel to the Moon in a matter of hours. (I did the math!)

In one of the stories, two of the instructors at a school for supers (both excellent flyers and both physically superhuman) put on an acrobatic dance for a talent show, to the tune of "Footloose." When the lyrics shout "You can fly!" they take to the air.

Many writers in comics have their characters talk about what fun flying is. I try to show the characters having fun flying. One TV reporter describes the main character as flying as if making love to the air.

[kengr]

I've had flying dreams, though usually very *awkward* ones, since my teens.

I really should go into one of the odder aspects of those. I was somewhere between the "walk" and "run" speed bands in the dreams. And couldn't steer well. So a frequent feature was spending most of the dream dodging power lines as the wind tried to barbecue me. :-)

My Whateley-verse character Flying Fox has been flying since an early age, but started out differently than any other flying character I've encountered. It started with being able to walk on air (which is much like in my dreams).

Carrying boxes down some stairs and getting the number of steps wrong.
http://kengr.livejournal.com/587693.html#cutid1

From there things progress slowly until finally the character is actually flying.

If FF pushes it she can get to the moon in about an hour. The fatrher she goes the faster she goes she doesn't have constant accel, she has constant *surge*.

constant accel:
V = A * T
D = .5 * A * T^2

constant surge
A = S * T
V = .5 * S * T^2
D = (1/6) * S * T^3

And she doesn't need a spacesuit. Nor does a person she carries. Which is often her best friend who can teleport. <eg>

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

Consider another possibility.

What if flight is like teleportation in The Stars My Destination? If some people are better than others, there will be flight levels as a law; walking speed is limited to a minimum of ten feet, and a maximum of twenty feet of altitude, while runners can, once outside of the walking altitudes, go up to their max speed as long as they don't exceed thirty or forty feet.

The fastest fliers will be in demand as couriers if they can carry any weight above their own. Even being able to transport a letter will have its value; imagine how this would affect business dealings, or espionage.

Regardless of whether there is a wide range of speeds or a narrow one:

North-south travelers will be separated from east-west travelers.

Flight will be an Olympic sport in several variations, and the uneven parallel bars may be removed from the competition.

Acceptable behavior will change. Nude sunbathing may be forbidden ("You can't do that! What if somebody flies by and sees you?"), or casual nudity may become the norm.

If people can only fly naked, casual nudity may become the norm, or there may be a "guest closet" of some sort. The toga may come back into fashion in one form or another, simply because it's better as loaner clothing when the visitor may be of any size or shape. (Or there might be something better out there.)

Landmarks will be built with an eye towards personal navigation, as will houses. ("We're two blocks south of the church where the roof is a silver cross on a black background. Our house is the one with the green-and-gold herringbone pattern shingles.") Orienteering will become a common skill until civilian-legal GPS arrives, and even then orienteering will be a sport for enthusiasts.

Firing guns into the air outside of specified areas will be considered reckless endangerment at the least. Duck hunting may become interesting, to say the least.

Goggles will become standard wear, and eventually a fashion accessory. Bifocals will still exist, but a person may own a pair of goggles which are only useful for flight ranges, and bifocals for general usage.

Fiction will change - flight is no longer miraculous, unless it exceeds the known limits.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I find in most of my flying dreams, there is an upper limit to height. Some, I can levitate a few inches above the ground. Others, I can levitate as high as about 20 or 30 feet, no further. And others, I can get to the ceilings of most buildings but no higher. So there's that to consider. A height limit like that would probably make supersonic flight (or even car-speed flight) impractical and dangerous in most places.

Oh, how do you know when Superman is having a good day? By all the bugs in his teeth. :-D

If people could teach themselves, or be taught, how to sleep while levitating, and not fall down when shocked into wakefulness by loud noises, then there would be a definite market for ceiling beds. Actually, no. I think ceiling beds, if they were basically safety equipment mounted to the ceiling, would be better for those who want to sleep levitating by the ceiling but are afraid of falling.

Another "sleep levitation" idea would be to sleep levitating just a few feet from the ground. Put some cushions underneath, leash yourself with a chest harness so you don't go floating off to somewhere you might get hurt, and you wouldn't need a mattress. But sleep levitation would have to mean you were levitating through some supernatural means, because if you were using your own energy to do it, it would kind of defeat the purpose of sleeping.

My character Lyria, being a powerful Mage (Mage being the generally-accepted Orion term for people who can wield magic), should be able to levitate. I think she can. I just haven't seen her do it yet. She rode Voluponek once, I think because she had to use her power for more important things at the time. But in another story, she levitates over 500 people at the same time! Granted, at the time she was seriously pissed off, and rage is like jet fuel for her, so I doubt she could do it normally. But even Forizano, who didn't know he was capable of wielding magic, can lift people magically. If they can lift others, why not themselves? Hell, Forizano was using levitation magic to toss enemies into the maw of a monster at one point, because it was the only defensive magic he knew at the time.

Ah, so there's another thing to ponder: can they levitate others while they themselves are stationary? If so, that has a lot of complications. Something akin to "keep away" on playgrounds, only with forced levitation of the victim. Assault, kidnapping, theft (if the power can be used on inanimate objects, too), weapon flinging (levitate a bomb past security measures, etc). A lot of things would have to change to adapt to that. Of course, some of those (assault, kidnapping, attempted murder) might be mitigated a little if everyone has flight power. Kinda hard to throw someone over a cliff if they can just fly to safety.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

Hi, Brooke! Nice to 'meet' you, in that this is my first post to you. I like this essay, similar to what Larry Niven did for teleportation.

You've independently noticed the need for what tvtropes calls required secondary powers, which might be enlightening. (Be careful; tvtropes really will eat your weekend.)

Good point about load variation; if people can carry more flying than walking, even very slow levitation becomes useful. For that matter, can Andy levitate a car while Bob pushes him at a walking pace to the mechanic? What if they tie a rope to Charlie's motorcycle?

Even at a walking speed there's good reason to fly, assuming that doesn't take any more effort than walking. You can go directly towards your destination unimpeded by obstacles, you must dodge other fliers but not cars, and (inspired by my location's recent rain) you avoid puddles and other ground nuisances.

If it's as easy to float as wanting to, maybe people float around indoors? Akin to dornbeast's comment, fashion could change - what if people stopped thinking they needed shoes?

[kengr]

Well, I spotted your comment over in another LJ and figured it had to be you. So I friended you.

Lemme know if you want on the "kink" or "erotica" filters.

I figured out the secondary powers bit back in my teens when I was daydreaming about flying.

One of my Whateley fanfic characters has the flying and required protection. Plus a few extra things.