Why We Fly, Indeed: There’s Always Something New Out of Africa

Fundamentals of flight elude naming, but not feeling.

Peter Garrison

Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 10:17 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Denys Finch Hatton with the de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth in Africa. [Credit: Karen Blixen Museum]

Key Takeaways:

The article explores the profound and often ineffable experience of flying, which the author describes as an "elusive quintessence" beyond physical pleasure or fear.
It highlights author Karen Blixen's personal account, where flying with Denys Finch Hatton was her "greatest, most transporting pleasure," offering a "great new discovery" and a unique understanding of life through three-dimensional movement.
The narrative includes the tragic death of Finch Hatton in a plane crash, which eventually led to Blixen's departure from Africa.
Ultimately, Blixen's insights are presented as a powerful and persuasive explanation for the deep, almost spiritual significance of flight for humanity.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Deputy editor Jessica Ambats’ recent invitation to readers to write about why flying is important to them reminded me that, decades ago, then-editor Robert Parke invited me to write an essay on that same subject.

Elevated by certain intoxicants, I proceeded to produce a piece of passionate prose so uncharacteristic of these pages that Parke—or perhaps it was our often similarly elevated art director, Bud Loader—decided to present it as white text on black pages. A reader nominated it for the “Excedrin Headache of the Year Award.”