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Little known until recent times was the name of Lyle Flint-foot MacPhee, a pioneer of aviation in the early nineteenth century. Lyle MacPhee was born in 1785 to a couple of circus acrobats. He took to the air from childhood, climbing trees and hanging perilously from high branches, joyfully kicking his feet. No matter how many times he fell, his parents were always able to catch him. He earned his nickname at the age of ten when, as a favour to his parents' circus, he filled in for a performance by The Human Cannonball who was drunk. His father was so impressed by how long the boy stayed in the air that he enrolled him in the air cadets. He grew up to become one of the military's best pilots. When war broke out, MacPhee was put in the air force and distinguished himself by bursting five enemy balloons. After the war he became a carriage mechanic's apprentice and soon had the skills to construct his very own flying machine. His first effort was to put wooden wheels on a large box-kite and fasten it to horses, but he wanted to stay in the air on his own power. Then while watching a burlesque show with his buddies, he had the vision of his revolutionary propeller-driven flying umbrella seat. His 26 pound, pedal powered prototype stayed off the ground for ten seconds and required fewer balloons than any other flying machine of its day. During a public performance in 1818 to raise money for a cannon that could shoot a man to the moon, Lyle Flint-foot MacPhee crashed into a chimney and died. Had he survived, we may have had Mary Poppins a lot sooner.
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