More murdercopters, but this time they’re French

I'm fascinated by early helicopters — and the people whose brains created them. I get planes. It's pretty easy to look at a soaring bird and extrapolate that if you made a contraption with the right kind of wing, a human could use it to glide like a hawk. But the whirligig motion required to make rotorcraft fly isn't as obvious. Whose brain thought, "If I attach propeller blades to a blender and hold it above my head, I'll probably fly and also maybe not die?" Ridiculous and terrifying murdercopters are my favorite genre of aircraft. Longtime newsletter subscribers may…

Introducing my new series: The Nanshe Chronicles

I'm about to head on my first international trip since before the pandemic, and I'm beginning to immerse myself in the process of exploring a new city and culture. I used to dream of being constantly on the move — road trips with the wind in my hair and the open highway stretching out in front of me, backpacking adventures stumbling into small towns and new sights, life a constant stream of new and fascinating experiences. Like most people, my travel plans in 2020 were shunted down the road by the pandemic — but that didn't stop me from exploring.…

Would *You* Ride the Murdercopter? Y/N

Two weekends ago, my husband and I met my parents at the Evergeen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR. He and I have been there a couple of times before. It's best known for housing the Spruce Goose, as well as having an epic water park with a Boeing 747 perched on the roof, with water slides coming out of the escape doors. (Too fun.) But my absolute favorite . . . um . . . "flying apparatus" at the museum is this: It's known alternately as a "heli-vector" or an "aerocycle," but neither of those names makes it…