The Short Stirling is a largely forgotten aircraft from the WW 2 period. There is not one surviving example. It was the main heavy bomber of the RAF fleet until it was replaced by the famous Lancaster. The Stirling served only sparingly on bombing missions and it was repurposed as a transport aircraft. It towed gliders on D Day and at Arnhem and carried supplies to the French resistance. It was in this role that my father served in 620 Squadron RAF and whom I honour with the title of this site. 

John Magee's sonnet is the inspiration for this blog. It brilliantly celebrates the joy of life, the embrace of progress and the mystery of the eternal. These are fundamental things worth seeking but which are sadly not the focus for most in our western world today.

High Flight

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."