Flying

A model airplane named the Spirit of Butts Farm made a transatlantic flight from Canada to Ireland with a few drops of fuel to spare, a group of enthusiasts said. They are hoping for a distance record for the flight of 38 hours, 23 minutes over 1,888.3 miles by a model plane that weighed just 11 pounds when it took off from Newfoundland. Dave Brown, who was at the controls for the landing at Marrin Beach in County Galway, said, "A great cheer went up when we saw it."

Scientists have long been derided because of mathematical calculations made in 1934 by French entomologist August Magnan proving that, despite visible evidence to the contrary, the flight of bees was "impossible." But now bioengineer Michael H. Dickinson of Caltech and his colleagues have shown conclusively how the hefty insects manage their aeronautical excursions.

A federal judge on Thursday refused to lift a no-fly zone over Walt Disney World so an anti-gay group could fly banners over the amusement park during the annual Gay Days celebration. The Family Policy Network had wanted to fly banners during the 13th annual celebration, which began Thursday. The four-day event, which is not sponsored by Disney, is expected to draw more than 100,000 gays.

In an ordeal that made some passengers feel like hostages, about 300 people aboard an Amsterdam-to-Seattle flight were delayed for 18 hours on the ground, unable to leave the plane for much of that time, as food and water ran out and the toilets stopped working. Northwest Airlines Flight 33 finally arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Wednesday morning, 28 hours after takeoff, after being held up by a nightmarish combination of fog, work regulations and mechanical trouble.

You gave several good suggestions in "Don't Discount the Major Carriers When It Comes to Low Fares" [Travel Insider, June 13]. I wish to add one more. JetBlue flies out of Long Beach. The airport is easy to use because it is small, has fewer hassles and is cheaper in parking or public transportation. Some of your readers might think about driving to Long Beach and flying from there. In case you think I work for JetBlue, I don't. I just have enjoyed its service several times -- comfortable leather seats and individual TV choices.

In the two months since the terrorist attacks, Americans accustomed to boarding a plane without hesitation have had to come to grips with their disbelief, horror, fear and anger. They have also had to debate, as they put the risk into perspective, when and how often they will again take to the skies.

For 16-year-old Ayinde Mitchell, the dream of flying started when he was a toddler. "I've always had an infatuation with how planes fly," said Mitchell, an honor student at Westchester High. As he got older, Mitchell's dreams became more ambitious and his goals turned toward business and government. But he never lost interest in aviation, and after spending a week at the Aviation Careers Education camp flying Boeing 727 simulators, learning the history of African Americans in aviation and landing a single-engine Cessna at Santa Monica Airport, Mitchell made a career decision.

Fifty people who spent the last three weeks getting up the nerve to step into a jetliner graduated from their "Fear of Flying" course on a round-trip flight to Des Moines. Some of the passengers on American West Flight 254 clutched arm rests, others did breathing exercises to calm themselves and many gasped as the Boeing 737 took off from Eppley Airfield and landed in Iowa.

After work on Mondays and Wednesdays, Tom Allen and three of his buddies head out to Playa del Rey to fly kites. But these are not lazy afternoons, and these are not cheap toy store kites. The four men make up what they call Team BOHICA Kite Squadron, apparently the only stunt kite-flying team in the Los Angeles area competing under the auspices of the American Kitefliers Assn. The association, which is based in Rockville, Md., and has about 2,000 members, promotes competitive and recreational kite flying.

The summer camp seemed custom-made for Adam Hillinger. It is a Jewish camp with a program for autistic children--exactly what Adam's Jewish parents wanted for their 10-year-old autistic son. But Adam lives in Irvine. The camp is nearly 2,500 miles away in upstate New York. And when he visited John Wayne Airport for a practice flight to San Francisco, his mother discovered that Adam disliked the notion of jet travel so much so that summer camp suddenly seemed out of reach.