I guess that this has always been a dream of humanity throughout the ages. This was finally practically realized by the Wright brothers in the early 20th century. Helicopters are another variation of flying like a bird. Rockets and space shuttles are an even more complicated design that have allowed people to leave Earth. I also recently listened to a lecture on someone who is studying how flies fly, and applying it to various aerodynamics applications.
Leonardo da Vinci came up with a design for a flying machine, which I recently saw a video of someone who realized da Vinci's design and can actually fly from it. I have for a long time wanted an even simpler contraption that would allow people to fly. Icarus from Greek mythology seems to come close to something simple. It would be helpful to have it just as simple as putting on your roller skates or rollerblades.
One reason that a convenient flying design would be helpful would be, for example, in an earthquake. People could just perhaps use a simple flying apparatus to temporarily remove themselves from the rumbling Earth underneath. Commuting by easy flying would also be quite convenient. The easier the flying contraption to put on, the faster one could maneuver from one place to another for various purposes.
