History of Aviation (Essay Sample)

History of Aviation
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The airplane invention story begun in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries where the research into aerodynamics was first started. Christian Huygens of the Netherlands, Isaac Newton of England, and Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci of Italy had immense contribution to the understanding of the relationship between factors like density of a fluid and surface area of an object exposed to the stream and resistance. British engineer John Smeaton and Swiss mathematicians Leonhard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli explained the relationship between velocity and pressure and also provided information that later enabled their predecessors to calculate the forces of aerodynamics.
A British baronet called George Cayley bridged the gap between engineering research, the age-old dream of flight and physical theory. The baronet gathered crucial valued aerodynamics data in the winged aircraft design. He used instruments that were developed in the 18th century that were used for research into ballistics. He was also one of the aircraft design pioneers. He explained that any successful machine that is flying would have separate systems for control, propulsion and lift. He was the pioneer designer to focus on fixed-wing planes, and he also produced the ornithopters designs.
Using the shape of the wings of a bird, Carley found the secrets of lift. He surmised that a cambered or arched wing would produce a lift that is greater than a flat one. The curved surface will have a lower pressure on top than the flat surface. The observations he also made recognized the superiority of relatively narrow and long wings for soaring (1). Carley is also attributed to the design of the multi-plane and biplane wings. It was meant for providing maximum surface area in an easily braced and strong structure.
The people who made significant progress in the aviation industry were the Wright brothers. When they began their aeronautics career, the brothers recognized that enthusiasts of automobiles were producing more powerful and even lighter internal combustion engines (2). The Wright brothers had an assumption that in a situation where their gliding experiments would progress to the point of requiring a power plant, it would then not be expensive and difficult to build or buy a gasoline engine for their aircraft.
The brothers were essentially correct in their assumptions. They had a successful glider flight in 1902. The brothers were confident in their wings lifting the weight of a flying machine. The wings were also capable of controlling an aircraft in the air (3). The three-year experience obtained from the gliders and their wind tunnel knowledge enabled them to come up with the precise amount of power that can sustain a flight. The Wright built their power plant when they became unable to get an experienced manufacturer that could produce an engine that could meet their specific, narrow power-for-weight specifications.
The pioneer era in the aviation industry was followed by world war era and post world war era where there were tremendous growth improvements in the industry. The two eras ended in the 1970s. The current digital age began in the 1980s
The first aircraft to be flown around the world refueled was called the Rutan Voyager flown by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan in 1986 without landing. Bertrand Piccard was the first person in 1999 to go round the world in a balloon. In the digital age, an aircraft is allowed by digital fly-run-fly systems to be designed with relaxed stability that is static (4). The system increases maneuverability of planes and is also used to decrease drag on commercial airliners. When the 21st century was beginning, the aviation industry was so advanced that digital technology was used to propel aircrafts instead of pilots. The digital technology in the era allowed subtonic aviation in the military industry to begin eliminating pilots in favor of either completely autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles or remotely controlled aircrafts. An unmanned aircraft called global hawk in April 2001 flew to Australia from Edwards AFB in the United States nonstop and refueled (5). The...