The human body is not well-suited for flight. We’re somehow both bulky and gangly, with legs that kick and flail once they leave the ground. Our anatomy is not built to glide through the air—or even fall gracefully. We’ve tried to game nature with kites and gliders and wax wings. But no amount of self-flapping could lift us off the earth. So imagine the excitement in the 1950s, when the Army contacted Bell Aerospace Corporation to develop a device that would realize this fantastical idea. Robert... Read this story
