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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0828.PDF
22 FLIGHT 26 MARCH 1954 A page from THE ESSO HISTOIRE OF AERIAL LOCOMOTION Adapted from the French de P. Crochet-Damais. Illustrated par Philippe Fety avec permission. OLIVER DE MALMESBURY FOR twenty years an English Benedictine monk called Oliver of Malmesbury secretly ransacked the works of Ovid for data on how Daedalus had made his wings. Faintly flushed with success, he finally emerged from his cell one bright morning in 1060 and, announcing that his prototype was at last coming out of 'Experimental', prepared to make the initial test flight. Security measures of the utmost strictness had been enforced, so there was an apprehensive buzzing of Benedictines as he climbed to the top of a tower, flapped his wings, executed a take-off run of several yards, and became more or less airborne at 0930 hours. Five seconds later, still flapping, he crashed in triumph through the roof of the monastery. "And from now on", remarked the prior severely as Oliver came to, "you can just sit down like everybody else and illuminate some manuscripts." The chronicles of the monastery, wise after the event, observe that things might have been very different if Oliver had taken the obvious precaution of fastening a tail to his feet. They might indeed. Today genius gets results by remembering that it pays to say £sso. AVIATION FUELS & LUBRICANTS ESSO PETROLEUM COMPANY, LIMITED, 36 QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, LONDON, S.W.I
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