A year or so after beginning my PhD I had a dream.
I was flying along the coast of California above San Diego several hundred feet above the ground. It was a warm sunny day. I could feel the wind on my arms, and the sun on my back. I could feel the coolness of the sea spray and smell it as I watched surfers and dolphins from the sky. I flew a slow arc over La Jolla cove heading north towards Los Angeles, and watched the pier and bluffs in San Clemente speed by at more than 200mph beneath me on my way. I roughly followed highway 5 north through Los Angeles, and mused at the rows of breaklights and honking horns on the highway as I sped north well above and west of the smog and gridlock. I headed inland over rolling golden hills near Ventura and over the grapevine toward the central valley in a roughly straight line while marveling at the slow traffic snaking over the hills I effortlessly blasted past. As I swooped down into the hot central valley past the highway and over endless citrus groves, I deeply breathed the scent of orange blossoms and fresh dirt. Seeing a row of fruit stands below, I felt a sudden urge for a snack and almost simultaneously noticed a small sleepy airstrip beneath me. As I circled around toward the airstrip, I felt a deep happiness and gratitude for the beautiful state I was in, and for the machine that carried me along.
It was similar to a cruiser motorcycle in many ways: two wheels, smooth lines, a comfortable seat, handlebars, except it was wonderfully different in the right ways. It also had wings, a v-type tail stabilizer, and a propeller all crafted from lightweight carbon fiber. After a smooth landing and coming to a stop, I pulled a lever at each wing to unlock it, folded it back along the bike, and locked it again in that position, and did similarly with the prop blades. Then I pulled out onto the highway and heads turned as I pulled into the lot next to the fruit stand and dismounted. These people were seeing their first flying motorcycle. While walking over to the stand, I suddenly awoke in my bed in San Diego, feeling exuberant and excited as I rose to another morning in graduate school.
After having this dream more than five years ago, I told my girlfriend Deborah, and she laughed. I told my thesis advisor Eric and he said it would never work. When I told my grandma she disapproved entirely. Many friends I told laughed and said it was a crazy idea. Some other friends were captivated as I was.
I am starting this blog today to tell the story of my chasing this dream so that it can live longer than myself, and to learn from others about ways I might realize it one day. I'll post some background work I've done over the past few years in the next couple of weeks to spell out my current progress, then I plan to post periodically as I make further progress. If you think you can help me, please get in touch.
