How Airplanes Designs Affect the Performance of the Airplane - Essay Example

The major concern of the aircraft that were designed in the early 20th century, starting with the breakthrough that was made by the Wright brothers who developed the first fully operational aircraft in 1903, was to develop an aircraft that was lighter than air (Anderson, 12). Therefore, the ancient designs focused on making lighter aircraft and therefore entailed changes in the materials used to make the aircraft. Further, the aircraft design influences the performance of the aircraft by further introducing new performance requirements, especially during the first world war, when it became apparent that there was no way the war could have been won without air combat.

As a result, the war crafts were designed to consist of greater maneuverability, coupled with high speed and the ability to fly at high altitudes (Stokes, 147). Later, the design influenced the size of aircraft, making large aircraft to fly, while also allowing heavy loads to be flown in the air, without the impact of the weight of the aircraft bringing the aircraft down (Wragg, 31). Thus, simply put, the design of the aircraft affects the performance of the airplane by determining the speed, maneuverability, load, and weight capacity, usage for example in wars, and the safety of the aircraft while taking off, flying, and landing.

How designs changed over time The ancient Airplane Designs entailed the use of twin tractor propellers as their engine, and a fitted horizontal tail, while the aircraft was powered by compressed air, with the aircraft being fitted with an air tank that acted as a fuselage (Anderson, 7). This was later advanced to a single-flight engine that was developed by the Wright brothers for their aircraft, which was fitted with a 2 hp water-cooled four-cylinder, with fuel injection (Wragg, 56). Further, in 1926, more advancement was made in engine modification and an air-cooled radial engine, which was lighter, was introduced, marking the beginning of the transformation of the Airplanes Designs from engine-focused to size modification, considering that the lighter, air-cooled radial engine made it possible for the aircraft to fly for longer and carry more weight (Stokes, 153).

The Airplanes engine designs advancement was further achieved courtesy of a V-8 engine that was an improvement on the previous four-cylinder engine, which then introduced the aspect of direct fuel injection in aircraft engines, as well as the evaporative water cooling concept that allowed the water cooling the engine to evaporate, thus making the aircrafts even lighter, making it possible for the engine to generate a high power of 50 hp (Anderson, 44). The advancement in Airplane Design saw the rise of the 3-cylinder semi radial fan-engine, which forthwith introduced the concept of an aircraft engine using a fan, as opposed to the previous cooling of the engine using water, in 1909 (Wragg, 51).