Season 9, Episode 12: Featherless Biped + exclusive content (Patreon)

This week on MSB, Thom returns to Zeta Gundam to talk about the Homo Avis flying machine and, for the first time as far as we can tell, reveal its real world inspiration! Stay tuned after the credits for a brief Patrons-only chat about the piece.

Show Notes

The Real Historical Homo Avis Design:

• "Technology Update: Strap-on plane." Popular Mechanics, July 1982. 
• The first mention of the Homo Avis was in this New York Times article: Fred Ferretti, "Inventors Meet in the City and Find that a Little Necessity Helps." New York Times. May 14, 1981.
  • "Igor Dmitrowsky of Queens, for example, designer of the ''Homo-Avis,'' a winged jet-pack, would like to see everyone strapped onto and soaring about on his aluminum wings instead of hang gliders, which he considers ''of World War II vintage, in an engineering sense.'' And if someone decides to manufacture the ''Homo-Avis,'' Mr. Dmitrowsky thinks it can be brought in for ''no more than $10,000 or $15,000.''
• A 1983 article describes a patent secured by inventor Dmitrowsky for a back-mounted aircraft: Stacy V. Jones, "Patents; Aircraft is Attached To the Pilot's Back." New York Times, April 16, 1983.
  • "An aircraft patented this week is to be attached to the pilot's back in saddle fashion, fitting around his sides and shoulders. A support forward is to be provided for his head and one at the rear for his feet, with power supplied by two jet engines."
• Patents for the Homo Avis were granted to Dmitrowsky in 1981 (Patent # US4253625A - https://patents.google.com/patent/US4253625A) and in 1983 (Patent # US4379532A - https://patents.google.com/patent/US4379532A).

Igor Dmitrowsky's Career After the Homo Avis Failed:

• A 1991 article talks about his shift from designing small personal aircraft to founding a start-up airline: Agis Salpukas, "No Funds, No Planes: It's Baltia Air!" New York Times, June 8, 1991.
• In 1992 he was named to the 40 Under 40 in Crain's New York Business.
• The airline he founded, Baltia Air Lines, is now known as USGlobal Airways. 
• In 1996, Baltia Air Lines had big plans to fly nonstop from New York to St. Petersburg.
• In 2009, Baltia was finally looking to purchase a plane and got enough attention to become a novelty for industry insiders. Tom Luly of The Airline Blog called it 'Baltia Air Lines, the 20 year old startup.' 
• In 2011, David Parker Brown of Airline Reporter wrote several articles about Baltia and its acquisition of two planes: "Baltia might actually take off," and "Baltia Air Lines gets second 747-200 and finally a livery." 
• In 2013, Bernie Leighton of Airline Reporter wrote that Baltia was training a flight crew and preparing for its first passenger flights. 
• In 2014, Ben Schlappig of the One Mile At a Time blog wrote a hopeful profile on Baltia Air Lines, while Dan McCrum of the Financial Times wrote a more skeptical one titled "Baltia: the oldest, newest, airline that isn't." 
• Dmitrowsky passed away in January 2016. An obituary was posted here.
• In March 2016, Ben Schlappig of One Mile At a Time wrote "Baltia Air Lines: You're Drunk, Give Up Already." 
• In August 2016, the Securities Exchange Commission fined a Baltia Airlines executive $1 million for securities violations related to the company.
• In October 2016, Menachem Kaiser of Michigan Radio investigated the background of a Baltia Air Lines plane that had been sitting parked at an airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan for years. 
• In November 2016, Soo Kim of The Telegraph wrote "The world's worst airline? In 27 years, it's never flown a single passenger" about Baltia.
• By December 2016, the One Mile At a Time blog was calling Baltia "America's Most Corrupt 'Airline.'" 
• In 2018, One Mile At a Time wondered "Is The End Finally Here For Baltia, America's Oldest Imaginary Airline?." 

Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

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