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What makes an Airplane?

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
It was Oil Change day here at our home at Polly ranch, and Louise and I both toiled away at our respective airplanes, draining fluids, checking over FWF stuff, and generally enjoying a few hours together with tools in our hangar (eat your heart out guys….I have found mine!). Discussion was generally about planes, maintenance, and how thins are built, but Louise at one point asked a simple question:

“When does an airplane lose it’s personality?”

In essence, how much of an airplane would have to be replaced before it ceased being what it was, and simply began to be part of another? Mikey and the Valkyrie are very personal to both of us – parts of the family, like Karst the Wonder Dog…..we tend to think of our airplanes as beings of a sort. But when you think about the rebuild of “Black Magic” (which remains the same airplane, despite lots of replacement parts), it begs the question….where does the “soul” of the airplane reside?

We change engines, we can replace wings, tails, canopies….w can rebuild or replace the instrument panel….but it is still the same airplane. The dry, FAA definition would be that the Airworthiness Certificate makes it a plane….but that is an unromantic view, espoused by dry, drone-like administrators….

RV’s are special machines – almost living for those of us who have created them or made one part of our family.

So where, I ask…where does the airplane’s soul reside?
 
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The soul of an airplane

So where, I ask?where does the airplane?s soul reside?

In your heart, Paul. I could launch into a discussion of how airplanes are inanimate machines but Sunshine would probably trip me tomorrow when I walk near her in the hangar. ;)

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA
 
They do have personalities. How they smell, now they start, handle, fly, stall, ect. Each one is different.

*************************

I always enjoy it when Paul gets back from a long, challenging CC trip. The threads just flow out of his keyboard. I must admit I am afflicted by flying also. Gives me time to think, contemplate life, family, and just being a live to enjoy the most beautiful planet I have ever seen. ;)
 
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The airplane is the aircraft data plate.

The engine is the engine data plate.

Everything else is just parts.
 
So where, I ask?where does the airplane?s soul reside?

I think the airplane's soul lies in your soul, Paul. Like said before, even though an airplane is parts, it's 'your baby' for building it. You personally know how Val' works, how she's put together, how she flies, and reading many of your posts looks like you two 'become one' when flying together (how you describe it, anyways). Fly another airplane equipped the same and it probably just won't feel the same. That man-machine relationship is where that soul lies!

Just for another example: have you ever seen the movie "Gone in Sixty Seconds" (new one with Nicholas Cage for the yougins'). Same type of relationship he has with Eleanor (a 67' Shelby Mustang).
 
“When does an airplane lose it’s personality?”

In essence, how much of an airplane would have to be replaced before it ceased being what it was, and simply began to be part of another?

So where, I ask…where does the airplane’s soul reside?

Paul, as a fellow aviation romantic, I'll make a feeble attempt at one possible answer (or set of answers...of course answers are probably as varied as airplanes and owners):

To the first two, I'd say "never", and "it wouldn't matter how much was changed, the soul is still in there".

To the third, my feeling is that the soul courses through the skin, bones and veins (the plans call them aluminum, frame and wires/hoses but they become so much more than that when the engine roars for the first time). Touch any part, and its there, kinda like "The Force" in Star Wars"

To use another movie analogy, think of Captain Jack Sparrow in the first POTC movie, when he is given the helm of his ship at the end of the movie. You see him touching her soul as he runs his hand over the ship's wheel, grinning that grin (the same one we get!).

I'm the 4th owner of my airplane, but I think I found it's soul right away. It's got new paint, a new panel, and some other goodies since Tom Hallendorf built it ten years ago, but I think (and hope) that if Tom sat it in today and ran his hand over the stick, throttle and glareshield, he would recognize his old friend, and it would tell him, "my new owner takes care of me just like you did when you built me", and maybe, "he's even bled on me like you did, so we're good."

Gotta agree with Brad on the relationship being the key too...good call!

Anyway, them's my thoughts, and yep, I waved and grinned as I put 'er away after going around the patch a few times today (OK, I'm a geek...er, romantic!)

Cheers,
Bob
 
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Everyone should know this...an airplanes soul lies in its aura! It is indeed very much like The Force.
 
I've always thought of the airplane as the only machine ever created by man that comes as close to life as a machine can ever be. Foolishly romantic, I know, but why we a driven to name our boats or airplanes is our human way of giving identity to them. It's a quite natural impulse, really. Remember the old story of Pygmalion, a sculpter who fell in love with Galatea, an ivory statue he had crafted with his own hands?

The urge to name our creation can speak of an intimate relationship forged by long hours of painstaking labor and loving, sometimes even doting care. It is always easier for me to refer to "Darla!" than to more accurately say....."my RV-6A."

So Paul, to answer your dual questions: ?When does an airplane lose it?s personality?? and "So where, I ask?where does the airplane?s soul reside?" I would offer that the airplane's personality is an extention of our own and is lost when we stop loving it because that is when the airplane's soul recedes back into the recesses of our own.
 
So where, I ask…where does the airplane’s soul reside?
In the minds of the pilots who fly it. Without a airplane, a pilot is an ordinary person, tethered to the ground. Without its pilot, the airplane is simply an assembly of parts that cannot fly.

(inspration from the rifleman's creed)

TODR
 
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That's an interesting question, Paul. An airplane is a conglomeration of parts. If the engine is worn out, it can be overhauled or it can be replaced. If a wing or control surface is damaged, it too, can be repaired or replaced. If one were to replace everything on their aircraft one major sub-assembly at a time, would they view their plane differently?

In my opinion, the soul of the aircraft resides in the heart of the builder (or owner) and no matter how many pieces are changed (or even if it's later sold) it will always hold a special place in that person's heart. :rolleyes:
 
The airplane is the aircraft data plate.

The engine is the engine data plate.

Everything else is just parts.

Fine wine is just crushed grapes.

The Giant Redwoods are just trees.

The Grand Canyon is just a ditch.

There is no difference in a live play -v- movie.

All women are the same.

The Huskers are just another football team. :eek:
 
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Paul,

I like to think of my plane like I do my wife (well sort of like my wife), the relationship we have is based on the things we do together, enjoy together, see together, and how we treat each other.

If any of those things change, then the relationship changes.

Say we stop going placed together, then the plane is just a burden. If the engine lets me down, then I might not be able to trust it again, same as my wife but different.
 
Paul, you have gone off the deep end....

I love my plane, but I know that it doesn't love me.

There is no part of my plane that if I replace it with a new or better part, would change how I feel about my plane.

Also keep in mind that my plane won't get jealous if I fly another plane. Won't get home sick it I go on a long trip. I don't think that it has feelings of any sort.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but your on your own on this one.

Kent
 
I see this especially in Vintage Aircraft

In my opinion, the soul of the aircraft resides in the heart of the builder (or owner) and no matter how many pieces are changed (or even if it's later sold) it will always hold a special place in that person's heart. :rolleyes:

I am based at an airport where experimentals aircraft are few and antiques are everywhere. Many of them are re-built from just a dataplate. The builder/restorer gives it life and adds the soul.
 
Anyway, them's my thoughts, and yep, I waved and grinned as I put 'er away after going around the patch a few times today (OK, I'm a geek...er, romantic!)

Cheers,
Bob

Especially reminds me of my friend's dad who flies a C340. Every time he gets done flying and leaves the hangar he pats the wing and says "Thank you baby". He did this once after I rode with him on a cross country and he turned to me to say "Always pat and thank your airplanes."
 
Especially reminds me of my friend's dad who flies a C340. Every time he gets done flying and leaves the hangar he pats the wing and says "Thank you baby". He did this once after I rode with him on a cross country and he turned to me to say "Always pat and thank your airplanes."
I give the airplane a "thank you" pat, even when I fly commercially. Those birds have thankless jobs and do them for years and years, one hour at a time (how many seat-miles is 30,000 hr for a MD-83?)

It's not how the airplane thinks about you, it's how you think about the airplane.

TODR
 
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Tell me it isn't so, Paul!

Also keep in mind that my plane won't get jealous if I fly another plane. Won't get home sick it I go on a long trip. I don't think that it has feelings of any sort.

Paul, you and Louise have been hiding me from this ugly side of life. Are there really pilots out there who don't listen to their RVs? That think we don't care if they don't fly us regularly? Who don't understand how we thrill to climb, dive, and roll? Please tell me it ain't so! If these disbelievers could only have heard the engine chatter among us planes on the ramp at LOE last weekend, they would understand the depth of our souls.

(BTW, that green "card game" -8 was sure attractive. Do you know if she's unattached? :cool:)
 
I would offer that the airplane's personality is an extention of our own and is lost when we stop loving it because that is when the airplane's soul recedes back into the recesses of our own.

Nicely put.

I'm glad that I've developed an intimacy with my plane, despite not being the builder. Like the cowgirl and her horse, I feel an interdependence with Mikey. I need to provide the necessary care and feeding, paying attention to every change in his moods, in order to ensure that he provides me with the best service.

It seems the best of human nature, in my opinion, to instill/recognize the personality of those things to which we trust our lifes. It helps keep our nurturing nature sharp. My plane has a name and a personality, and I make a great effort to care for him. The Val's personality also demands my full respect. (I can't imagine anyone living with the Valkyrie in their backyard failing to recognize a personality there!) My trucks/cars haven't had names or strongly developed/recognized personalities, and I have never given them as much detailed care.
 
Catalina has nurtured me through my neophyte pilot mistakes and has securely carried me and my children over oceans and mountains ranges. I have 100% confidence in my plane's strength and abilities and would like to think that she has my best interests at heart as well. However, this superbly designed aircraft is still just a well synchronized collection of parts and hardware which will turn around and bite you if not treated with respect and understanding.

I do thank her after each flight and gaze longingly at her as I close the hangar doors, though.
 
I agree that the airplane's soul is in the heart of the owner who loves it and forever shared in the heart of the builder who lovingly created it.

Roberta
 
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What makes an airplane?

Sorry, I can't help it, but I'm reminded of an exchange from "The Big Lebowski";

The Big Lebowski: What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?
The Dude: Dude.
The Big Lebowski: Huh?
The Dude: Uhh... I don't know sir.
The Big Lebowski: Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn't that what makes a man?
The Dude: Hmmm... Sure, that and a pair of testicles.

Doug knows this one.

Regarding the airplane; my RV doesn't have a name, nor will it. I don't assume it's a he or she... it's an it. But at the same time, it makes me smile every time I open the hangar doors and I pat it on the spinner or cowl after it's brought me home. It makes me happy to have and to fly... works for me!
 
After reading all these posts I feel better knowing I'm not the only one with Airplane Sickness.
 
Beautiful Doll

If pressed, I'd have to admit that "The Doll" is just a machine. As I was riveting all those parts together, that is what she was. Something magical happened the first time I eased the stick back, and my new machine lifted from the runway, and carried me skyward. I took a few hours to get to know her, and she became much more to me than cold aluminum, steel, and plastic. I named her Beautiful Doll after her namesake, Col John D, Lander's Mustang, Big Beautiful Doll.

Bring on the guys in the white coats. After more than eight years, and over a thousand hours, I am not ashamed to refer to her as much more than just a machine. She's "The Doll" now.
 
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Hey Danny, I see the Doll is just past 1000 hours - must have happend on the LOE trip? I hope you were inverted at the time - that's good for luck you know....;)

Paul
 
It's been interesting to watch the replies to this thread.

Airplanes are nothing more then assemblies of parts. Of course, the same could be said for us, except that we happen to be self-assembling (hmmm, "Instant RV-8 mix! Just add Proseal and Avgas!").

Can we point to our own soul? Can we take a picture of it and put it on display? Does that make it any less real?

I am reminded of a quote posted to someone's blog upon the death of their dog:

"We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." -- Henry Beston, circa 1925

TODR
 
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Plane, body, soul.

http://www.internationalreporter.com/News-3726/Nothing-in-our-body-is-more-than-10-years-old-.html

has an interesting read about the constant replacement of molecules in our bodies. since the soul of an aircraft, is entirely in the eyes of the beholder, and the beholder changes himself (or herself), I would submit that no matter how many parts you change in your airplane (new wings, new engine, new everything), it all depends on how you feel about it.

Good subject for Philosophy talk on NPR!:)
 
Its the tail, silly!

From the mothership perspective, the builder number and airplane serial number are based on the production number of the tail kit. This is naturally because each tail kit shipped may someday become an airplane. So, from that standpoint, its the tail that makes it an airplane! Change the tail, and its a new beast!:rolleyes:
 
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