Freedom from Airports & Air Traffic Services

Plans for "home-built" fixed wing airplanes began to blossom in Popular Mechanics articles of the 1950's.  Officially, you had to have a license to fly a home-built, which meant you generally had to operate from a runway with a mix of commercial and private traffic.  There was therefore no unlicensed access to "free airspace" when your coming and  going was predominantly controlled  from public airports. The result was that pilots trained  for  a license and they flew registered airplanes.

At the same time, the late 50's,  an unseen yet powerful hand, arbitrarily established an important baseline for all commercial  aviation:  Airports would become the predominant access points for public air travel. The decision laid aside well advanced  plans for powered autogyro technology that if pursued would have reduced the need for airports, access freeways, long holiday lines and travel delays. The Fairey Rotodyne and its successors would have moved all regional air traffic to  municipal heliports and shuttled  travelers to central international  airports  for long range jet travel. The result would have been a saving of millions in land use, a reduction in danger and noise pollution,  and an increase in the convenience and affordability of air travel. History however, records the idea cancelled, and since then, we have learned to endure an Orwellian "airport fear culture" in the  post 9/11 world.

Perhaps the negative decision was just happenstance, but the possibility does exist that some far-sighted world leaders saw airports as a means of funneling the traveling public through centralized  facilities which could  become a significant means of conditioning and control.

The advent of ultralight rotary winged vehicles that remain totally clear of government airports  contradicts the ominous trend that airports have come to represent.
There are reasons enough then to enjoy "free airspace'.