Joseph Mallord William Turner Weymouth Dorsetshire painting

Joseph Mallord William Turner Weymouth Dorsetshire paintingJoseph Mallord William Turner Keelman Heaving in Coals by Night paintingJoseph Mallord William Turner Caernarvon Castle painting
No fault can be found in the actual design of the wings. They serve admirably, with a little practice, for short flights, for effortless gliding and soaring on updrafts and, with more practice, for stunts and tumbling, aerial acrobatics. When winged people are fully mature, if they fly regularly they may achieve great stamina. They can stay aloft almost indefinitely. Many learn to sleep on the wing. Flights of over two thousand miles have been recorded, with only brief hover-stops to eat. Most of these very long flights were made by women, whose lighter bodies and bone structure give them the advantage over distance. Men, with their more powerful musculature, would take the speed-flying awards, if there were any. But the Gyr, at least the wingless majority, are not interested in records or awards, certainly not in competitions that involve a high risk of death.
The problem is that fliers' wings are liable to sudden, total, disastrous failure. Flight engineers and medical investigators on Gyr and elsewhere