Soaring Over Agriculture

1166 Words3 Pages

All the way back to Leonardo da Vinci the human race has been fascinated with the concept of flight. Though many different people have made discoveries and sketched many different versions of the airplane, probably the most famous people were Wilbur and Orville Wright. They began their work on the problem of powered flight in 1896. They read many books and journals to gain as much knowledge on the concept of flight as possible. They built many different models, which they began testing in 1900, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They did not like any of the results that they concluded from using other people’s models so, they decided to design and test their own wings. They developed the perfect wing; they called the wing the aeroplane. The term aeroplane was then used for all heavier than air winged craft. The brothers filed their patent application even before the first flight. They called it their “Flying Machine”. The wings had a curved upper surface, just as described in Bernoulli’s Principle; this then created the lift that the Flying Machine needed. There were two propellers mounted to the rear wing each one going in different direction to create a forward motion and prevent torque twisting of the aircraft during flight. They then built their own gasoline powered internal-combustion engine for propulsion. The engine was rated at twelve horsepower. The overall design of the plane consisted of two wings assembled one above another with connected struts and wires, much like today’s biplane. Successes was reached when the Wright Flyer took off on December 17, 1903 and people’s interest with aircraft has not stopped since. Agricultural Aviation is a strong industry that is made up of multiple aircraft and pilots that are commit... ... middle of paper ... ... itself as they were creating their “Flying Machine”. Works Cited "About Agricultural Aviation." National Agricultural Aviation Association. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. . "Agricultural Pilots." Careers in Focus: Aviation. New York, NY: Ferguson, 2005. 26-33. Print. California Agricultural Aircraft Association. Psyberware Inc., 2008. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. . Carlisle, Rodney P. Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries: All the Milestones in Ingenuity--from the Discovery of Fire to the Invention of the Microwave Oven. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Print. "Federal Aviation Missions." GSA Home. 30 Aug. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. . National Agricultural Aviation Association. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. .

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