Sublime endeavours : connecting earth to sky

Abstract

We live in an era in which we come closer everyday to conquering the elements, to a degree that earlier humans could scarcely dream of. Nearly one hundred years ago, we took to the skies, and learned to fly. Today the act of flight is an everyday experience for most people. Many of us move between the earth and sky without much contemplation. We have come to take the experience of flight for granted, pushed it out of sight and from the senses. There is a place on earth where the spirit of flight is alive and celebrated like nowhere else. It is a place which honors those who experiment and have made the act of flight an everyday possibility. Those who have yet to leave the earth and are dreaming about what it might be like to inhabit the sky. Those that are finding ways to discover new frontiers in space, in hopes of finding life elsewhere. Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) bring this world together during their annual airshow at Wittman Regional Airport, to collaborate in the search and celebration of what flight is all about. This thesis aims to address and encourage the transition from earth to sky at Oshkosh.