Along time ago in ancient Greece there lived a famous mechanic by the name of Deadalus.  On a visit to the island of Crete the king of the island King Minos became very upset with him and ordered him locked up in a tower that faced the sea.  Daedalus managed to escape from this tower with the help of his son Icarus only to be caught and imprisoned once again!  Several times he tried to bribe himself onto a vessel and escape but every time he failed, as King Minos had a strict edict for all ships to be carefully searched upon departing from the island of Crete.

Deadalus's spirit however could not be subdued and the genius artist said to his son, "The King may control the land and the sea yet he does not control the sky, we must escape from the sky!"  Deadalus told his son to collect all the gulls feathers he could find from the beaches around Crete and bring them to him.  Deadalus then melted wax forming the skeleton of a bird's wings to which he would attach the feathers.  He then took all the feathers tying the large one's to the skeletal structure, and pressing the small one's into the wings.

When Deadalus had completed the wings he placed them on his back and oh to his surprise!  Deadalus rose high above the ground and as he flapped his wings he soared through the heavens.  Deadalus then quickly made another set of wings, smaller then his own for his son.  His son's wings though smaller were constructed far better and appeared more elegant, they were fitting for the son that he so dearly loved.

On  a clear day Deadalus decided it was time to teach is son how to fly.  He told the boy to mimic the birds in their actions, to be graceful and to not beat the wings to heavily.  As Icarus put on the wings he sailed far out above the sea flying up high and then diving low above the sea like a child with a new toy.  

Deadalus watched his son with concern as he knew that the wings were far from a toy.  He called on his son and as his son returned he told him, "Son, it is time for us to attempt our escape, you must stay by side, never venturing far away, as if you fly to low your wings will become damp from the fog, if you fly to high the wax on the wings will melt from the sun."  Icarus smiled at his father and told him that there was no reason for him to worry.

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