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Long and straight Not long after the Wrights' initial success, airports began to spring up. Pilots flocked to them immediately, finding their characteristic long, straight strips of pavement ideal for taking off and landing airplanes.
Besides pilots and airplanes, airports seem to attract a distinct segment of the population. Everyone in this group likes airplanes. Almost all are men, and more than a few have more than a few grey hairs. They seem to have lots of extra time on their hands, and they spend lots of it at the airport. Not in the terminal building or the FBO pilots' lounge, but out in the hangars. Where the airplanes are.

These people are called "airport bums".
A typical airport bum
Only some airport bums are unsavory characters External appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, not all airport bums are shiftless vagrants. The diagram proves it. In fact, you can't tell much of anything about an airport bum just by looking at him, except maybe whether he's ugly or not. For example ...