The love for aviation

I love to fly! I have always loved airplanes. From my childhood room at home I could overlook the fjord and the International Capital Airport of my country almost before I could walk. Far down there on a long peninsula I could watch the aircrafts landing and taking off like buzzing bees from morning to nightfall. When I was that young, parts of my family lived in New York. I therefore had a feeling of looking down at the flying bridge over the Atlantic, between the two countries and cities.

Overlooking the city and airport.

Close up view

Nine years old, I no longer wanted to watch the airplanes from a distance. I wanted to have them right in front of me and do research under them, inside the passenger cabins and inside the cockpits. With a little red bicycle, without parental consent, I started my first expedition downhill the 6 km to the Airport.

It was breathtaking to stand there at the end or start of the runways and listen to the rumbling and rattling sounds of the propellers, and the intensely roaring jets. Even more amazing was the first time I ventured to steal myself out of the terminal gate barriers, and climb the staircase into a big passenger plane, a Douglas DC-7C.

To enter the cockpit with a thousand instruments and gauges was even more fascinating for me than the rollercoaster at the Copenhagen Tivoli.

The Douglas DC-7C in SAS  repaint 1964, ready for take-off, at the runway.

Taken prisoners.

That evening I told my closest friends about this event, and after that we all became addicted to the airplanes and all the things happening in an airport.

Four years later however, when airport control was sharpened, our adventures inside and outside the aircrafts were brusquely stopped. Two uniformed guards arrested us, and put us inside a car with a rotating yellow beacon light on top. They drove us to a building in the opposite end of the main runway, and threatened to put us incarcerated in a totally dark room for the rest of our lives.

They were only trying to scare us from venturing out to the airplanes and airport ground again, and released us with a warning. After that we had to stand on the roof of the airport terminal and watch from there.

A queue of airplanes at the Heathrow Airport

Nothing special travelling by air  today.

Today very few are fascinated by airplanes or travelling by air. It’s everyday life for us, like taking the train somewhere, the subway, or even the bus. But in my childhood traveling by air was a fantastic event, something like an adventure itself. My first travel by air in a four-engine jet named Douglas DC-8 63 from Oslo to Stockholm fitted that description perfectly.

The Scandinavian Douglas DC-8-63 just aftter take-off.

Passenger cabin service reminded of that of a gourmet restaurant.

Deadly swarms, the dream becomes a nightmare.

One locust, or even ten can be fascinating. They usually don’t bite, and if they do, their bite is not dangerous. But when you are hit by a big swarm it might be deadly. At least indirectly, if you are a peasant and need your crop to survive.

A boy trying to scare an enormous swarm of locusts approaching his father’s farm.

From small scale airtraffic to mass transport by air.

Once upon a time small scale traffic by air and airplanes were fascinating and good. There were few airplanes in the air, the atmosphere and CO2 binding plants and trees on earth could balance the relatively small pollution. If the words dangerous or deadly could be used in relation to that traffic, it was the chance of dying in an air crash.

No need to hide the smile in the 60’s and 70’s era of aviation.

Today the situation has totally changed.

Aircrafts fly like swarms of locusts all over the planet. More in Europe, US, and the far East than in Africa South America, though. But the millions of airplanes are technically safer than ever. The danger of flying is now much more indirectly, and has become as deadly for the planet as thousands of locusts for the farmer’s crop.

Air traffic one ordinary second over Europe, the US, South America, Africa and the Middle East . Photo of an ordinary day in September 2017  (from my Flight tracker)

I hate to admit it, and have tried all kinds of psychological techniques to deny the fact. But deep down in my consciousness I know that we need to reduce flying. Together with the pollution from cars and ships, – traffic by air is by far the worst threat to mankind. Unfortunate me! What shall I do with my love affair with aviation?

Don’t threaten my lifestyle!

Realizing the American dream of worldwide traveling

It’s very hard to change habits. Americans are worldwide known to defend their lifestyle for all that it’s worth. But they’re not alone in this war against change. Take a look at the list of the most traveling nations in the world. These countries have a well educated population. They are absolutely not analphabets. Despite knowing that their travels may ruin the atmosphere and undoubtely contribute to global warming, statistically each person travel by air 4 to 7 times a year.

Countries Whose People Travel The Most by air.

Rank	Country	Outbound Trips (average trips per person per year)	Domestic Trips (average trips per person per year)	Total Trips (average trips per person per year)
1	Finland	1.70	5.80	7.50
2	United States	0.20	6.50	6.70
3	Sweden	1.50	4.40	6.00
4	Denmark	1.40	3.90	5.30
5	Norway	2.00	3.20	5.20
6	Hong Kong	4.30	0.03	4.30
7	New Zealand	0.50	3.80	4.30
8	Canada	1.00	3.20	4.10
9	Australia	0.40	3.40	3.80
10	France	0.40	3.10	3.50

(From World Facts 2017)

To remove privileges is experienced to be much more difficult than to aquire them. Many of us feel we deserve our airtravels in and outside our country. If we can afford it, we also feel we have the right to fly wherever we want.

What about our childens and grandchildrens right to breathe in healthy air? What about their right to see animals and wildlife we take for granted? To have bees and insects that vital plants, animals and human survival depend on. What about our childrens right to be protected from extreme weather like typhoons, hurricans, mudslides and erosion of fertile earth?

Over: A tropical hurricane.  Photo in the middle: The effect of the hurricane’s wind on the coastline. Under: London extreme weather scenario.

“Not me!”

We can of course expose our egocentricity and say; “I don’t care as long as I can enjoy life as I do”! Or we can react too slowly like dinosaurs, to all the warning signs of empending danger. Almost ignore 99% of all research done on global warming. And shut our eyes to every message of caution that nature demonstrate right in front of us.

Another psychological technique may be the one were you tell yourself and others that research on environmental issues is so complex and longitudinal that it’s impossible to tell the excact outcome of human activity on earth. And because there are so many natural variations in the atmosphere and the world’s climate, nobody really knows.

The Deep Ecological Movement created an answer to this dilemma of uncertainty. They called it the “docta ignorantia”. Witch means that since we don’t know exactly the outcome of our scientific anticipations, we have to spare nature from experimenting with it.

The probability of 2-3 degrees global warming  during the next 80 years is scientifically very high. This is so even if all Nations commit themself to the Paris Agreement. If no reduction of Co2 is implimented. the temperature on Earth will most likely  increase with deadly 4-5 degrees during the same period.

This is so depressing, and it makes me feel helpless as an individual.

This Polar Bear mother might feel even more helpless in her totally changed habitat near the North Pole.

Enhancing quality of life, by reducing excessive traveling.

Instead of being depressed, we can start the approach by setting aside lameness, bad conscience and shame. Past is past, done is done! Now is the time to start acting smart! But we can’t just stop flying, can we? Even if that had been the best for our environment. and our children and grandchildren to come.

What if we are used to travel 5 times a year by air, try to reduce our flying by 50%. That is, instead of radical 0 flights, increasee it to 2 or 3 flights? If we fly 2 times a year, instead of 0 flights, increase it to 1. I put it this way to show that we don’t need to focus on what you loose, but what you still can have. The doctor won’t tell his too fat patients to stop eating. He would only recommend smaller portions and healthier food, and more excersise. Some persons get Apps to encourage this new lifestyle.

Apps for encouraging us to change flying habits

Perhaps we need a spectacular App on transport and environmental attitude and actions too? Some rating systems that constantly reinforce our positive efforts. Giving us rating points that we can share on Facebook, Instagram or other social platforms.

Platforms that today are used as a showcase of our frequent exotic travels. A platform were you get 10 points for using your imagination to find more interesting and heathier ways to travel short distance in your own country’s neighborhood. Or even 5 points to travel the longer distances by train or bus.

If travelling by El-train is our baseline type of transport given the symbolic value of 1, then traveling by bus is 1,2 more pr km. Using the car to travel will get a pollution of about 3 times train value pr km, while airtravels will score about 4 times el-train pollution. Worst is cruise traffic with 8 times more Co2 pollution than train travels.( see original statistics by Vestlandsforskning.no)

For example, the distance between Oslo-Bangkok is about 8,670 km. You could drive a train in 72,300 km before you released as much CO2. (Research.no 12.12.2008)

By car you could drive 13.300 kilometers before polluting as much – calculated from an average for driving with 1.7 people in the car.

There is much statistics on this area of Research.  I think however, that our heads must not be blocked by too many figures and numbers.

My own solution as an airplane addict.

I started this article by telling you about my bicycle expeditions as a boy, to all the airplanes in our exciting International Airport. I told you about the event when my friend and I were arrested by the airport security and threatened to be held prisoners in a totally dark room.

This incident in the 1960’s gave us a big shock, and a warning that made us curb our excitement. Now in 2017 we have entered an era that may make us all prisoners in a darker and more sinister global environment. That is if we don’t stop entering the airports and airplanes without permission from the security guards of our updated consciousness.

Airport Security Guards on Schipol, Amsterdam Intl. Airport

I myself have not used air travels since my last visit to Molde, Norway October 2015. But I almost fly all over the world every day. That’s because I have a very advanced flight simulator that can make an imitation of most passenger airplanes, cockpits and sceneries, even airports from all over the world. When after take-off, autopilot is engaged, I often make a cup of coffee to my wife and I, with some dark chocolate to bite on.

Then I read some papers or articles at cruise altitude 36.000 feet, before I prepare for the descent to London Heathrow Airport on runway 26R , or at the Tacoma International Airport, Seattle US.

My wife patience is sometimes stretched to the limit if we are going out, and I have not managed to land within the planned schedule. But most often however I land safely, and can take a beer or glass of wine with her at the imaginary bar at the destination airport, without having polluted one gram of CO2 on the whole journey.

Cheers! For a greener World than today’s prospects, when we just continue flying without a wider consciousness and increased caution.