Walter Mittelholzer
http://www.seaplanes.ch/up/ckeditor/files/spas_2005.pdf
Walter Mittelholzer started in Zurich and took his adventurous flights to Africa and the North Pole. His flights are internationally reported as the first flights over the Oceans. People were particularly interested at that time in aviation and so it is not surprising that newspapers give testimonials from his small excursions on their front-pages.front-pages.His aircraft manufacturing company, founded in 1919 on Lake Zurich by Alfred Comte Walter Mitterlholzer, known as Mittelholzerstrasse Co. It was a pioneering company and was driven by their shared enthusiasm. In the late twenties they also restored aircraft and made new designs. The main customer was the Swiss Army. At the beginning its activities in 1921 five, Comte bought flying boats from the Lohner works in Vienna. These flying boats gave mainly sightseeing flights rom Zurich in central Switzerland. But, unfortunately by the end of the following summer in 1927 flight operations had to be cancelled. There were simply not enough 'tourism' passengers and according to statistics, about a third of the passengers were then made up of MPs, journalists and celebrities. The company took the new name of "Ad Astra".
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Fascinating and no surprise at all. The nature nurture argument (as with most theories) is only a guide as nature (your genes) provide a propensity, a natural talent, but not direction, that comes from within. Personal circumstances, (nurture) influence how those natural tendencies are directed. I would argue that if you grew up in an urban city centre, you may have had less opportunity to explore aviation. You may well have developed the same love of photography but directed your wanderlust elsewhere. Also, don't underestimate the power of subconscious influence from family. You may have heard tales of your "great uncle" Walter in early childhood and this is nurture.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, nature vs nurture is a fascinating discussion point but ultimately irrelevant. You choose your own destiny according to your own passions. Where they come from is of scientific interest only but shouldn't make any difference to what you do.