The high mountains landscapes are, from the dawn of mankind, the origin of the religious, the mystical, the symbolic and the daring, embodied in the vertical dimension. Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai and the Temple was built on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Cinema also dealt with the subject, for example in Steven Spielberg's film " Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), about a positive encounter with intelligent aliens at the top of a lonely mountain. The Star Wars series was created in this spirit: it deals with a supernatural force, simply called the "force", which is activated in the arena of starships flying between stars in distant galaxies.
Spiritual flight is a central symbol of the human spirit and its freedom. The aerial dimension provides general and important guidelines for ascent, growth, and purification. These guidelines must be considered as basic principles in psychology that can be called the "ascension psychology." The binary pair "Daedalus and Icarus" is one of the most important myths in the canon of Western literature. Countless books for children and youth, from Peter Pan to Baron Munchausen, all use the flight experience to create the most magical works of literature we know. A best-selling book in the 1970s was the book "Jonathan Livingstone the Seagull", which described the initiation journey that a brave little seagull goes through, striving to break away from the flock that binds his spirit and fly independently to new districts.
The airplane is a means of transportation that allows physical movement of people and goods from place to place, while overcoming all physical obstacles. It created a complete change in the balance of power between the nations. There is a chronological connection between developments in this field and important historical events in the modern era: the hot air balloon, invented in 1783, was immediately and enthusiastically adopted by the public as the noble symbol of education , elevation and elation. It revolutionized many fields and the French Revolution occurred 6 years after its invention. World War I broke out in 1914, about ten years after the first flight in 1903. World War II began in 1939, following Hitler's ''the golden age of aviation'' and his ''aviation policy''. Aviation pioneers were icons of human spirit and freedom around the world. As the military and practical importance of aviation became clear, it became the center of national interest and action.
The importance of aviation in popular culture is great. The philosopical book "Air and Dreams" describes the alchemical synthesis between practical aviation and the mental flight experience, inspired by books such of St. Exupery. The book "The Passion for the Wings: Aviation and Imagination in Western Culture" shows that the invention of the airplane was the fulfillment of an ancient human fantasy, which captured the imagination of intellectuals and helped shape a new image of the world. According to the book "Dictatorship of Air: Aviation Culture and the Fate of Modern Russia", the original experience created among the citizens of Russia at the beginning of this era was a national-religious experience and the airplane became a symbol of progress that covered failures in other areas. The flight pioneers became the superheroes of their time in popular culture. At the end of the 19th century, gliding pioneer Otto Lilienthal became a cultural hero, through his many flight photographs flying gliders, which appeared in the print press. The airship, invented by Count Zeppelin at the time, became one of the most well-known icons in popular culture, and contributed greatly to the development of aerial photography.
Aviation and cinema grew together during the twentieth century, from infancy, through rapid growth, to maturity. While Hollywood studio actors and executives learned the art of filmmaking, the aircraft industry and pilots learned how to conquer the sky. In peace and war, prosperity and depression, aviation and cinema became big part of the popular culture. The relationship was symbiotic. While aviation movies helped sell box office tickets, the movies helped promote aviation. Movie fans and aviation enthusiasts have found a common ground in a fascinating cinematic genre. The films told the story of the flight, from the first piston engines planes, through the jets, to the spacecraft.
The ''golden age of aviation'' and the ''golden age of cinema'' are two identical nicknames, created separately, for the same period, between the two world wars in the twentieth century. Cinema has strengthened the image of aviation, and filmmakers have mobilized public opinion in favor of aviation. Aviation and cinema developed at the same rate and dramatically, and both quickly established themselves as the most exciting and popular form of leisure and activity, while becoming an incredibly effective channel for disseminating ideas, attitudes and qualities that society deserves to preserve.
Aviation and cinema were developed in close contact, technically, personally and publicly, by people of similar character. One result of this exciting connection was the many fatal plane crashes during filming of stunts pilots. The human connection contributed greatly to the design of the character of the "Knight Fighter Pilot" in cinema. In this way, of personal interpretation, the essay also contributed to shaping public opinion about significant events, and in particular about World War I, which was commemorated from the point of view of former fighter pilots who moved into the film industry.
The first feature film, "Flight to the Moon" (1902), was an aviation fiction, and its protagonists can be defined as imaginary "superheroes''. The first flight of the Wright Brothers plane took place one year later, in 1903, and the brothers became cultural heroes. Cinematic news diaries contributed to this. Through them the aviation pioneers recieved the aura of superheroes, after performing epic flights. This was also widely expressed in feature cinema, which was developed rapidly after the First World War. The first Oscar-winning film for Best Picture was the silent aviation film "Wings" (1927), with its dramatic musical soundtrack.
The cultural, personal, national and international identity has been greatly strengthened, through the combined development of aviation and cinema, in the United States, Britain, Germany and in fact all the modern countries in the world. The article "Fast Couples: Technology, Gender and Modernity in Britain and Germany During the 1930s" reviews this phenomenon. Cinema films and diaries between the two world wars were very popular. The connection between the aerial spectacle and the cinematic spectacle excited the masses and led to the creation of the celebrity phenomenon, led by Charles Lindbergh, who ignited the imagination of the masses in his time. He was crowned "All-American Hero", a pioneer and groundbreaker. Despite his desire to present the flight as a technical achievement, created by many factors, the crowd celebrated the combination of the individual and the machine, without paying attention to the conflict that might arise between them.
