Disputed.
I have to get it out of the way. Of course, we all know what disputed means. To argue about something. To discuss that thing heatedly. To question whether a statement is true of valid.
It seems we can’t turn around without someone disputing it these days.
So then I ask. Why would skywriting be any different? The way it began is widely disputed.
This morning, I learned that the first skywriter message appeared on this date, December 1, 1922. One Captain Cyril Turner from the Royal Air Force wrote in our sky, “Hello USA.”
When I tried to look up the details on this, I was met with all sorts of other early skywriting claims.
But first, let us clarify what it is. Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft which are able to expel special smoke during flight. Those planes fly high in the sky and create written messages which are readable from the ground.
The message could be anything — advertisements, personal messages such as marriage proposals or birthday wishes, political statements, and on.
What happens is this: Skywriters carry many gallons of oil in pressurized canisters near the engine. Then, when they are ready to make a message with some smoke, they flick a switch. This injects oil into the exhaust manifold, which is the chamber where the gases from the combustion of fuel in the engine collect. Hot oil. And poot, poot, poot. Out comes the smoke.
It is not an easy gig either. Relatively few pilots have the skills to sky write legibly. Then there are all sorts of things to take into consideration, like wake turbulence. Never mind the wind, which can disperse and shear the smoke.
So. Any nice sky-written message can blur and twist away, usually within a few minutes.
Back to the history of it. Most sources attribute the development of skywriting in 1922 to John C. Savage, an Englishman. They say he wrote the first message—an ad.
And then there was our Captain Cyril Turner who wrote: “Daily Mail” over England and “Hello USA” over New York.
It wasn’t long before the American Tobacco Co. then picked up the technique for their Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Today, there is a social media platform called Snapchat. You post a message, and then after a few seconds, it disappears forever. I think of skywriting being the grandfather of Snapchat, somehow.
At any rate, there are a few cool facts to put the writing part in perspective.
• A letter can be as high as one mile and take 60-90 seconds to create.
• A message can stretch up to fifteen miles.
• The letters may be seen for 30 miles in any direction and can last 20 minutes.
• Writing usually occurs at altitudes from 7,000-17,000 ft.
I just know the good Wicked Witch of the West got in on the gag for her Wizard of Oz film. The best skywriting ever! “Surrender Dorothy.”
I say it all the time. To myself.
But here is something that cannot be disputed.
Unlike skywriting, our real words last. Once those words come spilling out of our mouths, they are out there forever and forever. There is no taking them back, and they will not dissipate into puffy clouds.
If we say something, we sure better mean it. Because once we do, it can be remembered and/or recorded for a very long time. Our words have meaning. And as Dr. Seuss so aptly put it. “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
May we all go out and write our good messages everywhere. Sky-high and beyond.
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“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
― Rudyard Kipling
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“I believe in the magic and authority of words.”
― René Char
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“Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools.”
― Philip K. Dick, Beyond Lies the Wub
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Message in the sky, or words to describe it.
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