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 author explores the profound yet inarticulable importance of flying for pilots, describing it as an "elusive quintessence" blending physical pleasure, philosophical elation, and self-esteem.
Drawing on Karen Blixen's experiences flying with Denys Finch Hatton, the article highlights her description of flight as "the greatest, most transporting pleasure" due to the sensation of moving in three dimensions.
Blixen's reflections suggest that flying offers a "great new discovery" and a profound sense of understanding, perceiving the ability to move in three dimensions as a form of bliss that redeems humanity from the constraints of gravity.

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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.”