Come journey with us on the wondrous floating and flying skyship now ready to sail, as the time has come nigh to cast off the lines and to leave all behind, for the Phoenix will soon lift off from the ground to soar round the world in eighty lost hours of ongoing timelessness, riding the rivers of whispering winds above the continents of the earth, passing through ages of global geography seen through our telescopes deep into history, flowing aloft with the feathery clouds in the quiet glorious atmosphere of weightless flight, navigating the constellations of stars from a sailing ship hanging beneath this hot-air dirigible, witnessing afar the collective achievements of humankind below, gliding with flocks of fellow winged creatures plying also ever onward, on toward the unfolding horizon of future and ancient time.

 

--the burners ignite with a hot blast of fire as the massive torpedo-shaped colorful kaleidoscope of heated air strains like a muscular bubble to arise from the earth…

 

--the foghorn sounds with a long bass call bellowing and echoing far away in the misty morning twilight reverie just before the dawn…

 

--the wild songbirds in the trees surrounding the meadow cry out with melodies of exotic sounds, eerie yet lovely whistles and calls resonating their jazzy cacophonies amidst the foggy woodland…

 

“All aboard, fellow travelers, welcome to all:

bring along what you will, one suitcase apiece

of expendable things, but step lively, my friends,

for the Phoenix will soon cast away…�

 

            …a moment away we shall launch our sailing ship unto the sky and stars,

            weightlessly tacking across the spectacular dawn of this morning's light

            to witness the sunrise of a new millennium of hopes and challenges,

            meandering bravely through the chemical reactions of time and history

            while peacefully hovering above the tiny scenes of planetary civilizations…

 

The hanging basket of the ship's cane hull is shaped like a woven venetian gondola floating so elegantly upon the waterways of classical Venice.

 

An airwheel hangs above the stern, connected by pulleys and rods, chain drives and gears, like the revolving paddlewheels of Mississippi riverboats.

 

Lightweight wings extend outward horizontally like solar panels on a satellite in space, gathering light and lift for the marvelous impossible journey.

 

            “Cast away lines!

            Fore burner afire!

sternwheel one quarter slow!

            Aft burner now!

Airfoils at ten degrees westerly!

            Steady as she goes…�