Synopsis

Ever since Man first observed the smooth, graceful soaring of a Boeing 707

Boeing 707

The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...

, he has had an unquenchable desire to fly.

After a short montage of various birds (and a Boeing 707) in flight, we see several attempts of people attempting to fly themselves. A shepherd

Shepherd

A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...

 attempts flying by flapping his wings, only to land on top of his sheep. Another man constructs a suit shaped like a bird to fly, only to crash upon leaping off a cliff.

Early Attempts

One man dons on bird talon shoes and meets the same fate as the first man. Two more try and also fall off the cliff (one has himself covered in tar

Tar

Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...

 and bird feathers, and another flattens his arms, so he can merely glide).

A "certain king" in a "certain country" gathers his scientists to try and break the flight barrier, but all the king does is kick the scientists off a high cliff. On July 27, 1643, it seems that one scientist is finally flying, but he ends up hitting the ground. "Not as successful as hoped for," the king comments. "Next."

Assisted Flight

A man uses seagulls to lift him up into the air. From below, people watch in astonishment, while one elderly woman throws bread crumbs on the pavement, muttering, "Naughty birdies." This ends the man's flight, as the gulls divebomb to the ground.

Three hundred years later, a man living in Krakatau, East of Miami, invents the airline ticket. Other people invent various items essential to air travel, such as stewardesses, in-flight movies, and the air terminal.

At an airport, a man goes through checking in, hands his boarding pass to a stewardess, and heads off on his flight...which is getting kicked off the same high cliff where the king kicked off all his scientists several years ago. The short ends with the line "Nope. Still not got it."

External Links

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344070/ The Miracle of Flight at IMDB
• | The Film on Youtube