When asked what superhuman ability people would most want to have, the answer which almost always wins out is “I want to be able to fly”.  If the question at hand is whether or not someone would want to be able to fly like Superman, the answer is typically “without a doubt”, but allow me to pose this hypothetical to GuysNation and see where our readers stand on the issue.

Lets assume that the ability to fly doesn’t mean you can just effortlessly leave the ground and zoom around wherever you want.  Let’s assume there are some restrictions in place and some side-effects involved with taking flight.

I’ve come up with a list of scenarios, and I’d like to know which one you’d be willing to endure if it meant you weren’t to be limited by gravity anymore.  Obviously if you were willing to fly given the conditions of Scenario 1, you’d find Scenario 2, 3, 4 (etc) more attractive, but it’s letting us know under what conditions you’d be willing to take flight on a regular basis (not saying you HAVE to fly somewhere instead of walking / jogging / driving / trains / planes / elevators).   Primarily the question at hand is this:  Would you endure flying if it was very physically taxing?

Scenario 1:

Since this is the top of the list, I want to know if flying is such a desired ability that you’d be willing to endure massive headaches upon landing which could only be overcome by sleeping for a time period equal to twice the duration of the flight time?

This scenario doesn’t end there, because I’d also like to assume that in this scenario, you can’t fly any faster than you can run (though just like running, through daily practice, you could build more muscle mass, enhance muscle memory and get faster, but no faster than a person of your height / weight / muscle mass could sprint).  In addition to the aforementioned headache?  Your cardio-vascular fitness and stamina would determine how long you’d be able to fly before getting winded, and your muscles would ache after flying the same way they would after running.  And for this scenario, flying at a pace any slower than a mild jog would result in loss of altitude – typically leading to hitting the ground.  Also keep in mind that you’re not from a different planet, so you still breathe oxygen.  The higher you fly, the thinner the air, the harder it is to breathe.  Thinking about flying up into space?  Forget about it, your head would explode, and in space, no one’s there to hear you scream.

Landing?  Imagine jumping from a given height.  You’ll probably want your last few moments of flight to be from a relatively low altitude, so as not to kill yourself.

Another thing to consider is that you’re not made of steel, so any birds or other objects you run into are going to hurt.

If Scenario 1 isn’t for you, we’ll have other scenarios for you to choose from, but only the TRULY hardcore.

Scenario 2:

This is a much more mild option than Scenario 1.  You’d have to be willing to endure massive headaches upon landing,  but instead of the long nap you’d have to take given the first option, these headaches could be overcome by sleeping for a time period equal to the duration of the flight time.

Just like the last scenario, you can’t fly any faster than you can run, and flying at any pace is acceptable and wouldn’t cause you to lose altitude – making it a lot easier to avoid painful landings.   The altitude / oxygen stuff still applies from scenario 1.

Landing?  Imagine jumping from HALF a given height.  You’ll probably want your last few moments of flight to be from a lower altitude, so as not to hurt your ankles / shins / knees too bad.

Still not made of steel, so be wary of birds and trees and powerlines.  Don’t even think about going near an airport.

Scenario 2 is a lot less hardcore, though I could still imagine some people not being too psyched about flying given the headache and athleticism involved.

Scenario 3:

No longer do you have to be willing to endure massive headaches upon landing.  No nap time required.

Just like the first two scenarios, you can’t fly any faster than you can run, and flying at any pace is acceptable and wouldn’t cause you to lose altitude – making it a lot easier to avoid painful landings.

Landing?  Imagine jumping from a FOURTH of a given height (landing from 20 feet off the ground is like jumping down from something 5 feet off the ground).  Makes landing much more manageable.

Scenario 4:

No massive headaches upon landing.  No nap time required.

Somehow you are able to fly twice as fast as you can run, and you can fly at whatever pace you want without losing altitude – making it a lot easier to avoid painful landings.  You still have to factor in endurance, though.

Landing?  We’ll stay at the 4:1 ratio from the previous scenario (landing from 20 feet = jumping down from something 5 feet off the ground).

Scenario 5:

No longer do you have to be willing to endure massive headaches upon landing.  No nap time required.

Somehow you are able to fly three times as fast as you can run, and you can fly at whatever pace you want without losing altitude – making it a lot easier to avoid painful landings.  You still have to factor in endurance, though.

Landing?  We’ll go with a 10:1 ratio, which makes it possible to land from higher buildings without breaking every bone from the waist down, but you still have to give it some consideration.  Also, the laws of physics apply, so you really have to figure out how to slow yourself down, or else you’ll destroy things.

Scenario 6:

No massive headaches upon landing.  No nap time required.

Somehow you are able to fly four times as fast as you can run, and endurance is still not a problem.

Landing?  No ratio, but remember what I said about the laws of physics.  Your legs won’t break, but other things will (like the sidewalk, the roof of your house, etc).

Scenario “S”:

Basically, this scenario is for the people who would only want to be able to fly if they were Superman.

Superhuman strength – bring a couple friends with you on a trip somewhere and carry their lugage too.

Superhuman speed – get there super quick.  Speed of sound?  Not a problem.  Speed of light?  Not quite, but close to it.

Superhuman toughness – Birds / trees / buildings shouldnt concern you.  Wall made of diamond?  Your clothes probably won’t hold up, but you would.

Superhuman stamina – fly for hours and only get a little tired.

Breathing in space?  Not a problem.

With the Superman option, people are going to expect you to save cats out of trees and fight extra-terrestrial monsters looking to destroy the Earth, so do keep that in mind, along with the fact that you’re not getting the X-Ray vision, heat vision, ice-breath or nifty logo shirt.