Introduction
At the turn of the 20th century, flying machines took to the air, probing further into skies already explored by hot air balloons. After the previous century's numerous technical innovations, Europe's churches had quit considering the realm of technology as the outrage against “Creation” some had seen fit to revile upon the appearance of the first steam engines, or perceiving it as a new competing religion. And yet, more than other inventions, aviation fired up popular imaginations yielding an epic discourse often bordering on religious worship and betokening an interesting moment in the march of secularization.
Even today the history of air travel frequently blends scientific, nay knowledge to an epic tale redolent with religiosity. Flight pioneers may be described as prophets, aviators as angels: from the thirties on, Jean Mermoz[1] would remain known as the Archangel. Professional historians are not always exempt from this fascination as shown by this quote from a recent biography: « “Thus is woven the legend of a modern hero who, servant and prophet of the new cult of flight, captured the imagination of a society and shone as a beacon for its aspirations” »
(Michel Faucheux, Mermoz, 2013). The author coincidentally makes interesting observations on the airman's mystical insights.
Promptly used for missionary purposes, notably by the Catholics, aviation, after causing believers to reconsider what was meant by “heaven”, favoured pilgrimages in the Euro-Mediterranean space, calling for varied appropriations of planes and airports - locales unheard of until the 20th century.
