Essay - Aviation - Evolution and History the Evolution and History of...

Aviation - Evolution and History

THE EVOLUTION AND HISTORY OF MODERN AVIATION

Background ***** History:

***** Wright brothers achieved the first powered flight in 1903, with a 59-second flight that covered a modest 852 feet at an altitude of 10 feet (SASM, 2007). With***** little more than a decade from this most humble of beginnings, ***** aircraft flight evolved sufficiently for pilots to face each other in aerial combat to the death in the first generation ***** military combat aircraft featuring full-sized machine guns in World War I.

By ***** end of the war in 1918, bombers capable ***** dropping nearly 2000 pounds of explosive ordinance were in use by the British and German forces (Jackson, 2003).

*****, as is the case ***** all human ********** progress, nothing accelerates the development ***** new technology faster than *****fare and ***** preparation for future warfare, and the ***** industry saw explosive growth in the period between the World War I and World War *****I. Following the end of ***** War II in 1945, ***** Cold

***** provided new *****centive for the major powers ***** continue developing aviation technology, both in preparation ***** future conflicts, as well as for their deterrent value ***** preventing armed conflict.

***** the middle of the twentieth century, aviation ***** had progressed far beyond what had seemed possible only fifty years before: jet power enabled supersonic speeds and *****s measured in miles instead of feet, ***** aircraft were capable of engaging each o*****r from many miles away with high-tech air-launched m*****siles, ***** man was on the verge of space flight. The same technology that *****owed nation states to conduct sophisticated aerial warfare also trickled down to ***** civilian aviation industry, making intercontinental flight al***** routine. By the end ***** the *****, airline travel is so ubiquitous that commuters book business and vacation flights practic*****ly without a second thought of the complexity and technological sophistication that makes air travel possible.

***** First Generation of Po*****d Aircraft:

*****in ten years of ***** first powered flight, the delicate canvas wings and bicycle motor of ***** first flying machines had evolved into fixed-wing aircraft boasting *****0+ horsepower combustion engines that r*****ed speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour ***** altitudes of thousands of feet. Daredevils thrilled crowds with feats ***** wing walking and ***** performed breathtaking aerial acrobatics ***** seemed to defy all physical laws.

Even the U.S. post office ***** begun experimenting with mail delivery by aircraft.

***** World War I broke out in 1914, the available aircraft of the time were immediately converted for use as aerial recognizance platforms to monitor enemy troop concentrations ***** movements. Initi*****y, World ***** I pilots shot at each o*****r using hand-held pistols and dropped ***** explosives one at a time on enemy *****s below, with very little success on both counts. Within only a few years, pilots had figured out how to mount automatic machine guns to their wings, and ***** invention in particular ***** pioneered by ***** ***** ***** allow more accurate