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Historical development of aircraft
Historical development of aircraft
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Most textbooks teach us that on December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright literally flew into history when they completed the world’s first powered flight. However, since that flight, controversy has been raging over who actually achieved first in flight. Although the Wright Brothers have been historically proven to have achieved the first, sustained, powered, controlled, heavier-than-air, manned flight, they were not truly the first fly. In order to accurately understand why the Wright Brothers were not actually the first to achieve flight, we must first consider all of the previous successful flights, using machines, such as, balloons, gliders, and aircraft.
Some of the first manned flights occurred during the late 1700’s using hot air balloons. The hot air balloon was originally invented by the Mongolfier Brothers (Civil Air Patrol 7). The Mongolfier Brothers saw a force at work in a fire; the force caused sparks and smoke to rise into the air. However, the Brothers did not understand what this force was; and, consequently, they thought that the fire created a new, lighter-than-air gas, which they named Mongolfier gas (Civil Air Patrol 7). The Mongolfier gas was actually nothing more than heated air, which is less dense than cold air. Because hot air is less dense than colder air, it raises into the atmosphere, carrying with it anything that it is contained within. In order to harness this force, the Mongolfier Brothers needed to create something to keep it contained.
The Mongolfier Brothers first created a small, silk bag with an opening in the bottom (Civil Air Patrol 7). They attached a small basket underneath of the bag with which they lit a fire in. The fire heated the air inside the balloon, which made th...
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Although the Wright Brothers did not achieve the first flight, they have been historically proven to have achieved the first powered, manned, sustained, controlled, heavier-than-air flight, while also continuously improving upon their designs and marketing their aircraft to the military. Even though the Wright Brothers have their rightful place in history, we must not forget about those other early aviation pioneers who successfully constructed and flew many other aircraft designs well before December 17, 1903.
Works Cited
Bellis, Mary. History of Airships and Balloons. n.d. 12 February 2014.
Civil Air Patrol. Aerospace: The Journey of Flight. Ed. Jeff Montgomery. Maxwell Air Force Base: Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters, 2000.
Goyer, Robert. "Wright Brothers Not First?" Flying (2013): 8, 10.
Who flew before the Wright Brothers? n.d. 16 January 2014.
Critique of “First Flight” The “First Flight” is an excellent short story that made pathos for the reader to portray in the life of an everyman who has to deal with exclusion and people’s bad choices. Gregory is an 18 year old who just wants to be sociable but everyone just shuts him out and doesn’t pay attention to him. He stops in a train station to warm up and is ridiculed on a false accusation of stealing a pilot uniform. W.D Valgardson perfectly shows both of the main themes.
Lindbergh’s passion for mechanics didn’t come as a surprise to many. As a young boy, Charles seemed to be very interested in the family’s motorized vehicles, such as the Saxon Six automobile and Excelsior motorbike. But after starting college in the fall of 1920 as a mechanical engineer, his love for aviation started to bloom. Deciding that the field of aviation was more exciting, he dropped out within 2 years. He then decided to take lessons at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and was up in the air for the first time on April 9, 1922 when he was in a two seat biplane as a passenger. But his solo flight would not be until May 1923 at the Souther Field in Americus, Georgia, an old flight training field where Lindbergh came to buy a World War I Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane. It only took half an hour to practice with another pilot at the field to decide that Lindbergh was ready to fly the plane himself. After a week of practicing, Lindbergh took off on his biplane on his first solo cross country flight and few weeks after that, achieving his first nighttime flight near Arkansas, both marking huge milestones for the young pilot.
The history of flying dates back as early as the fifteenth century. A Renaissance man named Leonardo da Vinci introduced a flying machine known as the ornithopter. Da Vinci proposed the idea of a machine that had bird like flying capabilities. Today no ornithopters exist due to the restrictions of humans, and that the ornithopters just aren’t practical. During the eighteenth century a philosopher named Sir George Cayley had practical ideas of modern aircraft. Cayley never really designed any workable aircraft, but had many incredible ideas such as lift, thrust, and rigid wings to provide for lift. In the late nineteenth century the progress of aircraft picks up. Several designers such as Henson and Langley, both paved the way for the early 1900’s aircraft design. Two of the most important people in history of flight were the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers were given the nickname the “fathers of the heavier than air flying machine” for their numerous flights at their estate in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright created a motor-powered biplane in which they established incredible feats of the time. The Wright Brothers perfected their design of the heavier than air flying ma...
Airmen: An Illustrated History: 1939-1949.” Oct. 2012. Vol. 65 Issue 4, pg. 316-319. 4p. Ebsco Host. Tucker, Phillip Thomas, 1953. Web.2014.
McNeely, Gina. "Legacy of Flight." Aviation History. Mar. 1998: Academic Search Premier. 8 Nov. 2003.
"History of the Air Force part 2." www.airforce.com. U.S. Air Force, 4 12 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013.
“I cut the emergency switch just in time to keep ‘Winnie Mae’ from making an exhibition of herself by standing on her nose. That would have been fatal to our hopes.” –Wiley Post Throughout his incredible career, Mr. Wiley H. Post unceasingly strived for excellence and continuously pushed the envelope in aviation. Despite several hardships and the obstacles he faced, he never knew the meaning of giving up. He made numerous breakthroughs during the era of the Golden Age of Aviation. In these following paragraphs you will see several “snapshots” of the amazing life of a one-eyed pilot who drastically changed aviation. Wiley H. Post, the pilot who put it all on the line to fly not only a little faster, at a little higher altitude, but a little farther than everyone else, just one more time.
Wilbur and Orville Wright spent their lives building and working with mechanical devices. They began with little toys as children and then grew up and began working with bicycles. These works lead them towards their work with airplanes. The Wright Brothers tried for many years to build a successful flying machine and succeeded. The Wright Brothers laid the foundation for aviation when they made history by being the first to create a successful flying machine.
Lowe, A. (1998). Air Marshal William Avery Bishop. [WWW Document]. Retrieved May 2nd, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.billybishop.net/zone/bishop.html
Planes have developed immensely through the years. The Wright brothers developed the first plane in 1903.
Thesis- The Wright Brothers took a stand in history by not only creating the first airplane but by developing aviation technology that influenced the modern world air travel
Rinard, J. E. (2001). The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Flight. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc.
The trials and tribulations of flight have had their ups and downs over the course of history. From the many who failed to the few that conquered; the thought of flight has always astonished us all. The Wright brothers were the first to sustain flight and therefore are credited with the invention of the airplane. John Allen who wrote Aerodynamics: The Science of Air in Motion says, “The Wright Brothers were the supreme example of their time of men gifted with practical skill, theoretical knowledge and insight” (6). As we all know, the airplane has had thousands of designs since then, but for the most part the physics of flight has remained the same. As you can see, the failures that occurred while trying to fly only prove that flight is truly remarkable.
The folio entitled “Codex on the Fight of Birds” acknowledged his attempts to design and create a man-powered aircraft/gliding device. Leonardo’s efforts however did not succeed (LEONARDO, MARINONI, p2-3). Despite this research and study it was not until the 19th century when Sir George Cayley proposed the blue prints for the modern aeroplane. Cayley’s proposition was a machine that that had separate systems for lift, control and propulsion. In 1853 he built his first glider with passengers (Britannica 2013). Between 1850 and 1900 dozens of inventors and innovators had worked on the concept of flight taking on from one another. This lead to the greater understanding of aviation. It was not until 1903 until we saw the famous Wright brothers develop the first sustained heaver than air flight recognised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) (FAI 2007). From here the development of aeronautics was accelerated. In 1905 the Wright Flyer III was developed and could be fully controlled by the user. Shortly after in 1906 Alberto Santos Dumont developed the first known flight without the use of a catapult, certified by the FAI. By 1908 the Bleriot VII was innovated the first aircraft to have a joystick and rudder. This was the replaced but he Bleroit XI in 1909 (Crouch 1982, p21-22). Ten of these aircraft were produced and sold to Romanian Air Force (one of the very first