History of Aviation Development - Essay Example

Running Head: AEROPLANE TO AIRBUS Wright Aeroplane to Airbus A380: 100 years of aviation Wright Aeroplane to Airbus A380: 100 years of aviation “Wha kens perhaps yet but the warld shall see / Thae glorious days when folk shall learn to flee: When, by the powers of steam, to onywhere,/ Ships will be biggit that can sail i the air Wia as great ease as on the waters now/ They sail, an carry heavy burdens too.” Verse by Andrew Scott, 1757-1839 Scotland (Americanized version in Appendix I) (as quoted in Gibbs-Smith, 1954, p. 24) Nearly one hundred years prior to the first powered flight, the Scottish poet / prophet, Andrew Scott, penned the above verse. At the time it was science fiction but the hundred years since the Wright Brother first controlled powered flight have made it science fact. The need to fly has haunted mankind since first viewing the birds in flight and has became an archetype in many legends an myths, such as the wax wings of Icarus. However, sustained assisted flight only became practical with the culmination of the Wright Brothers’ innovations in the early 1900’s. Since then it has not only become practical but extremely profitable as well and was also another step in the globalization of world culture along with the wireless communication, satellite technology and the World Wide Web. While the Wright brother were not the first to fly, nor were they the first to think of it, they were the first to put all the properties and inventions in place to make it practical. The principle of fluid dynamics that makes flight possible was realized and systematized by Daniel Bernoulli in the mid 1700’s and subsequently called Bernoulli’s principal. Stated simply, if a fluid or gas such as air moves faster its ambient pressure becomes lower. Using this principle on the wing of a plane, the curved top cause the air passing it to move faster than the air below lower the pressure above the wing and higher pressure below it causes what in aerodynamics is referred to as lift. In the mid 1800’s Otto Lilinethal put this principal to work in gliders which he launched off of mountaintops. And they soared well but eventually would run out of power when the wind was unfavorable. Unfortunately it was also an unfavorable wind that blew to well that led to his death in Glider #11 in 1896. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 38) Power was one of the problems and creating enough air moving fast enough to sustain lift was one of the Wright Brother’s goals. The other was the need for more precise control over that power and the aerodynamics of the plane itself. The fluid dynamics of air was proving to be difficult to handle in any simple solution. The Wright brothers were able to help solve both these issues in very utilitarian ways. While most plane builders were concentrating on creating more powerful engines, the Wright brothers realized that it wasn’t necessarily the engine that was the initial problem but the design of the propeller that was the issues. Using their wind tunnels test they found that by changing the curve of the blade to be more like the curve of the wing they were able to create more wind force with less power. This gave them the ability to use more lightweight engines for their design. Good propellers were important, to make the best use of the available power, and the Wrights thought they could learn from the screw propellers of ships. They found nothing useful, and fell back again on their aeronautical experience, visualizing a propeller blade as an airplane wing that whirled rather than traveling in a straight line. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 43) They were also able to create a more stable method of control utilizing a three-axis orientation than the traditional approach. These two accomplishments made them “First in Flight” on December 13th, 1917 and the first controlled powered fixed wing flight became history. It was not long after the Wright brothers’ flight that the excited public was looking to then President Theodore Roosevelt to harness the power of the new flying machines for national defense. It was certainly in World War I where aircraft found their more practical uses in defense of the country. First used for observation, they became a more valuable assets as they dropped bombs and were able to advance to more offensive uses. (Walters, 2004, p. 38) At the start of the First World War, pilots simply dropped improvised explosives from their planes, but by the end of the conflict, specialized bombers had been equipped with bomb racks and sights and mechanical release systems. Destroying bridges and terrorizing troops, these craft clearly demonstrated the importance of air supremacy. (Walters, 2004, p. 39) Then after World War I came to an end aviation took its turn at commercialism Inglis Uppercu, a plane builder, began one of the first commercial airlines. He had just come from working on boat aircraft for the Navy. His concept was to use the air to create fast transport to Cuba and the Bahamas. As prohibition was about to be enacted these two countries would become havens for barflies. While there was certainly no shortage of water transportation, “Uppercu thought that some party animals would want to use his planes to get to their watering holes more quickly.”( Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 153) He began operations in 1919 and the timing created a great success. He also was awarded and airmail contract for Cuba and he also began another service called the “ Highball Express” which serviced the East Coast corridor from New York and points south. However, safety standards had not yet been set and several severe accidents and lost lives for his endeavors and others dampened this original entrepreneurial thrust. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 154) But that was not to last long, delivering the mail became the new moneymaker for the airlines and after Congress passed The Mail Act of 1925 this gave the fledgling airline industry: … a steady source of revenue, this law encouraged the growth of start-up airlines that had considerably better prospects than those of Uppercu. These start-ups carried mail, not passengers; if they indeed carried paying travelers, it was merely as a sideline. But they provided day-by-day scheduled flights along marked routes, thereby laying groundwork for the passenger lines of subsequent years. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 155) The spurt of growth for airlines in the 1920’s could not have been timed better. Several companies benefited greatly when Charles Lindbergh went on his famous flight. Lindberghs flight to Paris touched off an aviation boom. In 1926, prior to his flight, only 5,800 people took to the air. A year later, at the time of his flight, the nation had only thirty aircraft that could even count as airliners, offering no more than two hundred seats. But in 1930, even with the Depression under way, the number of passengers soared to 417,000. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 155) The next great stride was B-9 bomber, which began flying in April 1931. It introduced a host of upgrades such as all-aluminum construction, monoplane wing design, engine enclosures that reduced drag and noise and retractable landing gear. This made it faster and lighter and these new concepts are still part of most airline designs today. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 102) Then In 1933, Boeing launched what many consider to be the first modern passenger airliner the Boeing 247. It could carry ten passengers. Next came the DC-3 in 1936. It could carry 21 passengers, in greater comfort. Plastic insulation reduced the noise levels and the seats were set in rubber shock absorbing material. It could cross the US in 16 hours. (Walters, 2004, p. 39) Next came the first jet aircraft, the German Heinkel He 178 on August 12, 1939 and later the Allied version, the Gloster E.28/39, which made its first flight on May 15, 1941. While neither side managed to exploit the technology effectively during the war, in the years that followed the new engines became ever more powerful and efficient in combination and soon both the military and passengers could move beyond the speed of sound. (Walters, 2004, p. 40) Jet Aircraft became the wave of the future with speed and size ever increasing until finally reaching the Airbus A380 whose maiden flight was on April 27, 2005. The Airbus A380 will hold 555 passengers, versus about 412 in a 747-400. “The A380 wing is one of the mightiest structures ever created--9,100 square feet of ribs, spars, and skin able to thrust itself out 147 feet into nothingness and give lift to its half of 1.235 million pounds.” (ORourke, 2005, p. 172) It is the heaviest plane ever flown with a takeoff weight of 1.235 million pounds, which is more than 170 tons heavier then the next biggest jet. (ORourke, 2005, p. 172) Interestingly there is a trend hardening back to the days of the Air Postal Service and moving away from passenger growth: LEADING AIRCRAFT BUILDER Airbus Industrie sees a promising future for the air freight industry, with business continuing to grow faster than the passenger sectors. Shipments to, from and within Asia, especially China and India, will be the main drivers of this growth but African business will develop firmly too. ("Firm Future for Air," 2007, p. 30) References Firm Future for Air Freight: Airbus Expects the Global Cargo Market to Develop Faster Than Passenger Traffic through 2025. Business with China Will Be the Main Driver but Routes Serving Africa-Including to and from the Far East-Will Show. (2007, September). African Review of Business and Technology, 43, 30-35. Gibbs-Smith, C. H. (1954). A History of Flying. New York: Frederick A. Praeger. Heppenheimer, T. A. (2001). A Brief History of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and beyond. New York: Wiley. ORourke, P. (2005, November). The Mother Load: "Oh, My God-Southwest to Tampa with a Thousand People!" in France Our Correspondent Gets an Inside Look at the New Airbus A380, the Worlds Biggest Passenger Plane-And Actually Kind of Likes What He Sees. The Atlantic Monthly, 296, 170-177. Walters, J. (2004, January). A Century in the Sky: A Century after Wilbur and Orville Wright Took to the Air for the First Time, Aviation Expert Joanna Walters Looks at the History of Flight and Discusses How the Wrights Feat Changed the Way We See the Planet. Geographical, 76, 37-44. Appendix I What can perhaps yet the world but spy The glorious days when folk shall learn to fly When, by the powers of steam to anywhere Ships will be built that can sail in the air. With as great an ease as on the waters now They Sail, and carry heavy burden as well. by Andrew Scott Read More

Destroying bridges and terrorizing troops, these craft clearly demonstrated the importance of air supremacy. (Walters, 2004, p. 39) Then after World War I came to an end aviation took its turn at commercialism Inglis Uppercu, a plane builder, began one of the first commercial airlines. He had just come from working on boat aircraft for the Navy. His concept was to use the air to create fast transport to Cuba and the Bahamas. As prohibition was about to be enacted these two countries would become havens for barflies.

While there was certainly no shortage of water transportation, “Uppercu thought that some party animals would want to use his planes to get to their watering holes more quickly.”( Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 153) He began operations in 1919 and the timing created a great success. He also was awarded and airmail contract for Cuba and he also began another service called the “ Highball Express” which serviced the East Coast corridor from New York and points south. However, safety standards had not yet been set and several severe accidents and lost lives for his endeavors and others dampened this original entrepreneurial thrust.

(Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 154) But that was not to last long, delivering the mail became the new moneymaker for the airlines and after Congress passed The Mail Act of 1925 this gave the fledgling airline industry: … a steady source of revenue, this law encouraged the growth of start-up airlines that had considerably better prospects than those of Uppercu. These start-ups carried mail, not passengers; if they indeed carried paying travelers, it was merely as a sideline. But they provided day-by-day scheduled flights along marked routes, thereby laying groundwork for the passenger lines of subsequent years.

(Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 155) The spurt of growth for airlines in the 1920’s could not have been timed better. Several companies benefited greatly when Charles Lindbergh went on his famous flight. Lindberghs flight to Paris touched off an aviation boom. In 1926, prior to his flight, only 5,800 people took to the air. A year later, at the time of his flight, the nation had only thirty aircraft that could even count as airliners, offering no more than two hundred seats. But in 1930, even with the Depression under way, the number of passengers soared to 417,000.

(Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 155) The next great stride was B-9 bomber, which began flying in April 1931. It introduced a host of upgrades such as all-aluminum construction, monoplane wing design, engine enclosures that reduced drag and noise and retractable landing gear. This made it faster and lighter and these new concepts are still part of most airline designs today. (Heppenheimer, 2001, p. 102) Then In 1933, Boeing launched what many consider to be the first modern passenger airliner the Boeing 247.

It could carry ten passengers. Next came the DC-3 in 1936. It could carry 21 passengers, in greater comfort. Plastic insulation reduced the noise levels and the seats were set in rubber shock absorbing material. It could cross the US in 16 hours. (Walters, 2004, p. 39) Next came the first jet aircraft, the German Heinkel He 178 on August 12, 1939 and later the Allied version, the Gloster E.28/39, which made its first flight on May 15, 1941. While neither side managed to exploit the technology effectively during the war, in the years that followed the new engines became ever more powerful and efficient in combination and soon both the military and passengers could move beyond the speed of sound.

(Walters, 2004, p. 40) Jet Aircraft became the wave of the future with speed and size ever increasing until finally reaching the Airbus A380 whose maiden flight was on April 27, 2005. The Airbus A380 will hold 555 passengers, versus about 412 in a 747-400. “The A380 wing is one of the mightiest structures ever created--9,100 square feet of ribs, spars, and skin able to thrust itself out 147 feet into nothingness and give lift to its half of 1.

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