Man and Aviation
Man's dream of flying has been apparent almost as long as mankind himself. However, the concept of an aircraft has only been around for approximately two hundred years. Before this time, man tried to fulfill this dream by mimicking the birds. They first built machines called ornithopters to utilize mans own power to propel himself through the air. It did not take long for the inventors to realize that this concept was not practical for human flight. It took about twenty more years for technology to catch up.Beginning around 1783, a few aeronauts, as they were known, made daring uncontrolled flights in "lighter-than-air" balloons, but it was soon realized that this was not a practical way to fly either. It wasn't until the early nineteenth century that Sir George Cayley designed the first true fixed wing flying machine. His design used a kite mounted to a stick with a moveable tail and rows of flappers under the wings for thrust. Cayley's craft however, still did not utilize the principle of engine propulsion. In 1900, a man named of Gustave Whitehead had been building and flying gliders for the Boston Aeronautical Society when he decided to start experimenting with a flying machine of his own. His design, which had foldab
The most remarkable gains in aviation occurred during the years of World War I and World War II. During this time many countries realized the potential that the airplane possessed on the battlefield. This transition from experimental to recreational to tactical aircraft gave way to more advances that any other period. The most significant advantage was the bomber plane. The earliest bombers were very crude. Due to their ability to only carry small loads, they were somewhat limited throughout WWI. Later throughout WWII, these bombers paved the way for the passenger aircraft we have today. This period also saw many other uses for aircraft in the military to include fighter, reconnaissance, and transport regimes. Overall improvements in aircraft speed, range, maneuverability, load capacity and the introduction of electronics contributed to vast gains throughout this period. In the forthcoming years, many test pilots sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of surpassing this obstacle. It wasn't a lost cause thanks to one of the greatest engineer/test pilots ever Chuck Yeager, that the sound barrier was broken on October 14, 1947 while flying a Bell X-1. In this time frame, jet engines were taking aviators to a new height literally. Today we still see many of those supersonic aircraft in use to include the British Concorde, which flies at mach 2.0 and the U.S. made SR-71 Blackbird whose top speed is still classified to this day (above mach 3.0). On September 1, 1974 when the SR-71 broke the world speed record from New York to London in less than two hours with an average speed in of 1817 miles per hour, it was proven the Sound Barrier was no longer a barrier. One hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds to be exact. (Leland Haynes 1996, www.wvi.com ~lelandh/sr-71~
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Approximate Word count = 1190
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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