The Flying Thingy of Planes is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Dan Havilliand with a fair hand, and renowned for its national health service, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 9.994 billion Planesians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bombardier-Boeing-Airbus city. The average income tax rate is 90.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Planesian economy, worth a remarkable 1,115 trillion Engines a year, is highly specialized and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing and Information Technology. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 111,665 Engines, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The running costs of homeless shelters are so high that it would be cheaper to buy houses for the homeless, people stand their fridges back-to-front to benefit from the free heating, rural children are told reading's important (for other people), and code enforcement officers circle wealthy Planesians like vultures. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Planes's national animal is the Syrian Hamster, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Airplane Worship.

Planes is ranked 11,635^th in the world and 509^th in The North Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 98.36 law-abiding acts per hour.