Role Of The Aviation In Shaping Our History - Term Paper Example

Role Of The Aviation In Shaping Our History Introduction When the Wright brothers began doing serious aeronautical research in 1899, they agreed the three major problems of flight involved creating lift, propelling the aircraft, and maintaining control. The Wrights also understood that flight requires not only a working machine, but a skillful pilot who could fly and not simply hang on for the ride. Instead of relying solely on automatic stability, they designed an aircraft that could be controlled in three dimensions: roll, the movement around the longitudinal axis through the length of the aircraft; pitch, movement around the lateral axis through the wingspan; and yaw, the movement around the vertical axis. To control roll the Wright brothers designed a wing warping system for their gliders and airplanes. Moving the hip cradle located beside the pilot warped the trailing edge of one wing up and the other down, rolling the aircraft to control it. (Crouch, 2002) By combining roll with yaw produced by the rudder they could initiate a turn. To control the yaw, the Wright brothers first added a rudder to their basic design in 1902 to compensate for the increased drag on one side when the wing was warped. With experience the brothers learned to make turns with the rudder linked to the wing warping. In 1905, the controls for the rudder and wing warping were separated. The early Wright gliders and powered flyers had an elevator mounted forward of the wings. By tilting the elevator, the pilot could pitch the machine up or down to increase or decrease the altitude and the angle of attack. The added lift of the elevator also helped prevent a nose-dive into the sand after a stall. For the machine the Wrights had flown in 1903 to be practical, however, it had to be capable of more than short, straight-line hops. It had to make turns and operate over less forgiving terrain than the sandy beaches. To increase their opportunities for experiment and practice, the brothers obtained permission to use a local cow pasture outside Dayton, Ohio, known as Huffman Prairie. In the decade after the Wright brothers' success, powered flight captured the world's imagination. The first international air meet was held in Reims, France in 1909. In 1911, American Cal Rodgers flew coast to coast in an attempt to win a $50,000 prize. It was offered for the first flight across the United States in thirty days. Unfortunately, it took Rodgers eighty four days to finish the long, dangerous trip. His Wright plane crashed 19 times. In a crash near the end of the 84 day trip, Rodgers broke both legs and his collarbone. In 1912, Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the United States, became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. "She was later killed when a gust of wind overturned her plane. With no seatbelt, she fell to her death. Amazingly, the plane landed by itself." After Wright Brothers The decade after the Wright brothers' success was also a time for new inventions in the aviation world. Glenn Curtiss, a motorcycle racer, also built and flew airplanes. He became a competitor of the Wright brothers, and was even sued for using ideas similar to theirs. One of the planes Curtiss built was the Hydro plane. The craft was one of the earliest seaplanes. It used ailerons, moveable wing devices, in place of the Wright brothers' wing-warping method to bank and to turn the plane. His best known plane, however, was the "Jenny," which became a World War I trainer. During World War I When World War I broke out in 1914, nobody thought airplanes would play an important role. The Germans and Allies each had just a few hundred planes. Most could fly only about sixty to seventy miles per hour. At first, the planes were used for reconnaissance, or gathering information behind enemy lines. These planes were unarmed. Enemy pilots even waved to each other. After a while, however, reconnaissance pilots took aerial photographs. These allowed military leaders to see enemy troop locations, trenches, and arms supplies. They used information on the enemy's position to plan attacks. Now, to chase away enemy aircraft, pilots carried guns. These early planes were called "scouts." Today, they are called "fighters." Fighters quickly developed into weapons of war. They were built for speed and equipped with machine guns. The planes whirled after each other in duels called "dogfights." Pilots who shot down five or more planes became legendary "aces." Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was America's highest scoring ace in World War I. He flew only from March to November of 1918, yet he scored 26 victories. Before the war, Rickenbacker was a world-famous race car driver. When the United States entered the war in 1917, he trained as a pilot though he was considered old at age 27. He joined and later commanded the first American squadron to fight the Germans. Rickenbacker became a famous war hero and later served as president of Eastern Airlines. German Manfred von Richthofen was the highest-scoring ace of the war and one of the most famous pilots of all time. He commanded his own squadron, called the "Flying Circus" because of the planes' bright colors. (Chiles, 2008) Richthofen's planes were brilliant red, earning him the nickname "Red Baron." The Red Baron relished the hunt of dogfights. He had silver cups made with descriptions of each of his victims. He shot down 80 Allied planes before he himself was shot down in 1918. During the war, pilots developed expert skill at dogfighting, and aircraft companies turned out faster, more agile planes. By the war's end, fighter planes could fly 130 miles per hour and climb to over 20,000 feet. Climbing high allowed faster attack speed in diving. Both German and Allied pilots developed dogfight strategies: surprising an enemy by diving from behind, sneaking up from behind, or attacking from the sun, hidden by the glare. In the early days of the war, there were no specialized bombers. Pilots simply dropped small bombs and grenades from their cockpits. But by 1915, Germany had sent a new fleet of thirty giant airships, called Zeppelins, to bomb England. Named for their designer, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, these enormous airships filled with hydrogen stretched over 640 feet long. They could stay up several days and carry many tons of bombs. Looming over the English landscape, the Zeppelins terrorized the people. They destroyed homes and killed hundreds of civilians. Yet they were vulnerable to British fighter planes, which shot them down with incendiary, or explosive, bullets. By 1917, both sides were building fast, powerful bomber airplanes. (Koop, 1998) Golden Age of Aviation Following the end of the war came the period of time known as the Golden Age. After the war ended in 1918, thousands of military planes were available at cheap prices. Many war pilots, now out of work, wanted to keep flying. They bought surplus airplanes and traveled the countryside as entertainers. Alone, or in troupes, they gave shows in farm fields, sleeping in barns or by their planes. Called barnstormers, these fliers thrilled audiences with daring displays. They performed flying acrobatics with loops, spins, rolls, and dizzying dives. Some did stunt flying. They performed tricks on the wings of a flying airplane or hung upside-down from the plane wheels. Some even hung by their teeth. In one stunt, two pilots flew their planes side by side, locked controls, and scrambled over wings to change places. Pilots often gave rides to people for money or a meal. Many women, as well as men, became famous barnstormers. During the Golden Age people believed anything was possible. Designers worked constantly to build better performing planes. Fliers pushed the limits of flying. They set new records for distance, speed, duration, and altitude. In 1933, Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world. Post flew the 15,596 miles trip solo in 7 days and 19 hours. In 1935, Post died in a crash with his friend, Will Rogers. (Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dave. 2004) One of the most famous early distance flights was that of the Douglass World Cruisers in 1924. They were the first planes ever to go around the globe. Built for the U.S. Army Air Service, the World Cruisers were open-cockpit biplanes. They had landing gear that could be changed from wheels to floats so the craft could land on ground or water. Named for four cities, the planes were the Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, and Seattle. On April 6, 1924, the four planes with two-man crews took off from Seattle, Washington. They flew west over Alaska, around Asia, across the North Atlantic, and back across the United States. On the trip, the Seattle crashed in Alaska, and the Boston went down in the North Atlantic. With the approach of World War II, came the end of the Golden Age for aviation. Airplanes were now made for the upcoming war. America produced fighter planes to escort bombers into enemy territory. These planes were very different from the flimsy biplanes of World War I. The fighter aircraft of World War II were tougher, faster, and more efficient. Allied nations, including the United States, produced thousands of aircraft to fight Germany and Japan. One of the most popular American fighter planes was the P-51 Mustang. The Mustang could fly at 440 miles per hour and was fitted with a drop tank so it could fly extra miles to go deep inside Germany. Other popular American fighter planes were the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the P-38 Lightning, and the Republic P-47. Fighting alongside the American planes was the British Spitfire. The Spitfire was fast and nimble and could outmaneuver the German Bf 109. Germany's Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the main opponent of the P-51 Mustang and the British Spitfire. With a top speed of 385 miles per hour, it could climb swiftly, dive, and turn in dogfights. This plane was accompanied by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. On the other side of the world in the Pacific, the Americans were fighting the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero. The United States produced thousands of bombers during World War II. Among the most famous was the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which could carry over 17,000 pounds of bombs and was armed with 12 machine guns for defense against enemy fighters. Later U.S. bombers included the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and B-24 Liberators. America entered World War II after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. During the next years, much of the war took place at sea. From 1941 to 1945, the United States and Japan battled in the Pacific. Their most powerful weapon was aircraft carriers. These huge ships known as "flattops" were 820 feet long and carried up to 100 warplanes. Fighters and bombers took off and landed on their flat decks, creating floating airfields. The carriers allowed great mobility of air attack. In 1942, Japan launched an attack on Midway Islands with four carriers. Navy dive bombers from three U.S. carriers surprised and attacked the Japanese fleet. They sank all four Japanese carriers. With the ships, Japan lost 250 planes and most veteran pilots. This was a crippling blow that marked the turning point against Japan in the Pacific. Vietnam War and Aviation From 1961 to 1973, the United States again fought Communist forces, this time in the Vietnam War. U.S. bombers dropped more tons of bombs in this war than both sides dropped in World War II. Helicopters played a critical role in Vietnam. Over the last decades, wars have demanded a more advanced military aircraft. The development of more sophisticated technology in radar, navigation, and weapons systems has produced faster, stronger and more complex jet fighters and bombers. Today's jet fighters are the fastest planes ever built. The F-16 Fighting Falcon, for example, can fly twice the speed of sound. Modern fighters use "fly by wire" flight. (Everett-Heath, 1992) This means physical cables no longer pull on control surfaces such as the rudder. Instead, computers send signals along electric wires to motors that move control surfaces. To increase speed, supersonic fighters have streamlined bodies with pointed noses and swept-back or arrow-shaped wings. Some have ultra-thin wing edges to reduce drag and cut through air easily at high speeds. Most fighters intercept and attack other aircraft. They may also attack ground targets. Pilots today locate targets electronically and fire deadly radar-guided or heat-seeking missiles. Modern fighters can cost up to $30 million each. Most of the cost is for the highly sophisticated technology, including the radar which is used for the aircraft's flight and navigation system. Conclusion Aviation has played a very important role in shaping our history. People like Charles Yeager and Amelia Earhart pushed the bounds of not only flight but also human will, and changed the way people viewed flight. The use of aircraft in both world wars helped determine the outcome of the wars, and now, spy planes are used to monitor the world and give warning of possible conflicts. Over the past century, aviation has come a long way. But for future generations, the best is yet to come. References Chiles, James R. The God Machine: New York: Bantam Dell, October 2008. Crouch, Tom D. First Flight The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Airplane. Washington, D.C.: National Park Handbooks, 2002. Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dave. Aviation Century The Golden Age. New York: Boston Mills Press, 2004. Everett-Heath, John. Helicopters in Combat The Fifty First Years. New York: Arms and Armour, 1992. Koop, Matthew. "Aviation History." 1998. Aviation Resource Center. 4 March 2009. Read More