HISTORY OF AVIATION

HISTORY OF FLIGHT work over the next half decade. What was known
AVIATION at that time in each of these three critical areas
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-age and what additional research was required are
considered below.
In the history of flight, the most important Construction of the sustaining wings: the
landmarks and events include an understanding of problem of lift
the dynamic reaction of lifting surfaces (or The dream of human flight must have begun with
wings), building absolutely reliable engines that observation of birds soaring through the sky. For
produce sufficient power to propel an airframe, millennia, however, progress was retarded by
and solving the problem of flight control in three attempts to design aircraft that emulated the
dimensions. At the start of the 20th century, the beating of a bird’s wings. The generations of
Wright brothers demonstrated that the basic experimenters and dreamers who focused their
technical problems associated with heavier-than- attention on ornithopters—machines in which
air flying machines had been overcome, and flapping wings generated both lift and
military and civil aviation developed quickly propulsion—contributed nothing substantial to
afterward. the final solution of the problems blocking the
This article tells the story of the invention of the route to mechanical flight.
airplane and the development of civil aviation Thus, the story of the invention of the airplane
from piston-engine airplanes to jets. For a history begins in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, with
of military aviation, see military aircraft; for the first serious research into aerodynamics—the
lighter-than-air flight, see airship. See airplane for study of the forces operating on a solid body (for
a full treatment of the principles of aircraft flight instance, a wing when it is immersed in a stream
and operations, aircraft configurations, and of air). Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei in
aircraft materials and construction. For a Italy, Christiaan Huygens in the Netherlands, and
comparison of select pioneer aircraft. Isaac Newton in England all contributed to an
The invention of the airplane understanding of the relationship between
On the evening of Sept. 18, 1901, Wilbur Wright, resistance (drag) and such factors as the surface
a 33-year-old businessman from Dayton, Ohio, area of an object exposed to the stream and the
addressed a distinguished group of Chicago density of a fluid. Swiss mathematicians Daniel
engineers on the subject of “Some Aeronautical Bernoulli and Leonhard Euler and British
Experiments” that he had conducted with his engineer John Smeaton explained the relationship
brother Orville Wright over the previous two between pressure and velocity and provided
years. “The difficulties which obstruct the information that enabled a later generation of
pathway to success in flying machine engineers to calculate aerodynamic forces.
construction,” he noted, “are of three general George Cayley, an English baronet, bridged the
classes.” gap between physical theory, engineering
 Those which relate to the construction of research, and the age-old dream of flight. He
the sustaining wings. gathered critical aerodynamic data of value in the
design of winged aircraft, using instruments
 Those which relate to the generation and
developed in the 18th century for research into
application of the power required to drive ballistics. Cayley was also a pioneer of aircraft
the machine through the air. design, explaining that a successful flying
 Those relating to the balancing and machine would have separate systems for lift,
steering of the machine after it is actually propulsion, and control. While he did produce
in flight. designs for ornithopters, he was the first
experimenter to focus on fixed-wing aircraft.
This clear analysis—the clearest possible Cayley found the secrets of lift in the shape of a
statement of the problem of heavier-than-air bird’s wing, surmising that an arched, or
flight—became the basis for the Wright brothers’ cambered, wing would produce greater lift than a

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flat wing because of lower pressure on top of the Beginning in November 1901, the Wright
curved surface (see Bernoulli’s theorem). His brothers used a wind tunnel of their own design
observations of birds in flight led him to to gather information that enabled them to
recognize the superiority of relatively long and calculate the values of lift and drag for an entire
narrow (in modern terminology, high-aspect- series of airfoils at various angles of attack and to
ratio) wings for soaring. As a practical matter, measure the performance of wings with differing
however, he designed biplane and multiplane aspect ratios, tip shapes, and other design
wings (the first of their kind) as a means of features. That information culminated in the
providing maximum surface area in a strong and Wright glider of 1902, a breakthrough machine
easily braced structure. whose wing design enabled the Wright brothers
Addressing the first meeting of the Aeronautical to take the final steps to the invention of the
Society of Great Britain in 1866, Francis H. airplane.
Wenham provided a concise and forceful Which event, described as a breakthrough, paved
restatement of Cayley’s most important ideas the way for the invention of the airplane?
regarding wings. Five years later, in cooperation a) The first meeting of the Aeronautical Society
with John Browning, Wenham built the first wind of Great Britain
tunnel, a device that would have a profound b) The fatal glider crash of Otto Lilienthal
effect on the study of wings and the development c) The demonstration of the Wright glider of
of improved airfoils. Horatio Phillips, a fellow 1902
member of the Aeronautical Society, developed d) The address of Wilbur Wright to Chicago
an even more effective wind tunnel design, and engineers in 1901
he patented (1884) a two-surface, cambered- e) The patenting of the cambered-airfoil design
airfoil design that provided the foundation for by Horatio Phillips
most subsequent work in the field.
Beginning in the 1870s, Otto Lilienthal, a Who among the early aviation pioneers
German mechanical engineer, undertook the most emphasized the importance of separate systems
important studies of wing design since the time of for lift, propulsion, and control in a flying
Cayley. His detailed measurements of the forces machine?
operating on a cambered wing at various angles a) George Cayley
of attack provided precise bits of data employed b) Francis H. Wenham
by later experimenters—including, in the United c) Otto Lilienthal
States, the engineer Octave Chanute and the d) Octave Chanute
Wright brothers—to calculate the performance of e) John Browning
their own wings. Having published the results of
his research, Lilienthal designed, built, and flew a Which individual's observations of birds in flight
series of monoplane and biplane gliders, influenced the design of relatively long and
completing as many as 2,000 flights between narrow wings for soaring?
1890 and the time of his fatal glider crash in a) Isaac Newton
August 1896. b) George Cayley
At the outset of their own aeronautical c) Francis H. Wenham
experiments, the Wright brothers carefully d) Otto Lilienthal
studied the work of their predecessors and e) Horatio Phillips
decided that there was little need for them to
focus on wing design. “Men already know how to What pivotal development enabled later
construct wings…,” Wilbur explained in 1901, experimenters like the Wright brothers to
“which when driven through the air at sufficient calculate the performance of their own wings?
speed will not only sustain themselves but also a) The first meeting of the Aeronautical Society
that of the engine, and of the engineer as well.” of Great Britain
Two years of experimenting with gliders, b) The fatal glider crash of Otto Lilienthal
however, demonstrated the need to pay c) The development of the first wind tunnel
considerably more attention to wing design. d) The publication of Lilienthal's research results

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e) The address of Wilbur Wright to Chicago powered machines off the ground for short
engineers in 1901 distances, although none of these craft was
capable of sustained or controlled flight. In the
Prior to their own experiments, what did the United States, Samuel Pierpont Langley achieved
Wright brothers initially believe about the the first sustained flights in 1896 when he
existing knowledge of wing design? launched two of his relatively large steam-
a) There was a need for entirely new wing powered model aircraft (see Langley aerodrome
designs No. 5) on aerial journeys of up to three-quarters
b) There was little need to focus on wing design of a mile (1.2 km) over the Potomac River.
c) Wing design is the most crucial aspect of flight As the end of the 19th century approached, the
d) The need for ornithopter-like wings was internal-combustion engine emerged as an even
underestimated more promising aeronautical power plant. The
e) The need for larger wing surface area was process had begun in 1860, when Étienne Lenoir
emphasized of Belgium built the first internal-combustion
engine, fueled with illuminating gas. In Germany,
PART II Nikolaus A. Otto took the next step in 1876,
producing a four-stroke engine burning liquid
The generation and application of power: the fuel. German engineer Gottlieb Daimler
problem of propulsion pioneered the development of lightweight high-
At the beginning of the 19th century, sustained speed gasoline engines, one of which he mounted
powered heavier-than-air flight remained an on a bicycle in 1885. German engineer Karl Benz
impossibility because of the lack of suitable produced the first true automobile the following
power plants. The level of technology that would year, a sturdy tricycle with seating for the
permit even limited powered flight lay over a operator and a passenger. In 1888 Daimler
century in the future. Clockwork mechanisms and persuaded Karl Woelfert, a Lutheran minister
other sorts of spring-powered systems were who longed to fly, to equip an experimental
clearly unsuitable for human flight. While airship with a single-cylinder gasoline engine that
electricity powered several airships during the developed all of eight horsepower. The initial test
last quarter of the century, the poor power-to- was marginally successful, although the open-
weight ratio of such systems made it difficult to flame ignition system presented an obvious
imagine an electrically propelled airplane. danger to a hydrogen-filled airship. In fact,
The aeronautical potential of propulsion systems Woelfert perished when an internal-combustion
ranging from hot-air engines to gunpowder to engine finally did set a much larger airship on fire
compressed air and even to carbonic-acid power in 1897.
plants was discussed during the course of the At the beginning of their career in aeronautics,
century. The Australian Lawrence Hargrave, in the Wright brothers recognized that automotive
particular, experimented with compressed-gas enthusiasts were producing ever lighter and more
propulsion systems. Nevertheless, steam and powerful internal-combustion engines. The
internal-combustion engines quickly emerged as brothers assumed that if their gliding experiments
the choice of most serious experimenters. As progressed to the point where they required a
early as 1829, F.D. Artingstall constructed a full- power plant, it would not be difficult to buy or
scale steam-powered ornithoptor, the wings of build a gasoline engine for their aircraft.
which were smashed in operation just before the They were essentially correct. Having flown their
boiler exploded. A lightweight steam engine successful glider of 1902, the Wright brothers
developed by the English pioneer Frederick were confident that their wings would lift the
Stringfellow in 1868 to power a triplane model weight of a powered flying machine and that they
aircraft survives in the collection of the could control such a craft in the air. Moreover,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. three years of experience with gliders, and the
Russian Alexandr Mozhaysky (1884), information gathered with their wind tunnel,
Englishman Hiram Maxim (1894), and enabled them to calculate the precise amount of
Frenchman Clément Ader (1890; see Ader Éole power required for sustained flight. Unable to
and Ader Avion) each jumped full-scale steam-

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interest an experienced manufacturer in of a flying machine would find it difficult or
producing an engine meeting their relatively impossible to exercise full control over a machine
narrow power-for-weight specifications, the that was free to operate in all three axes of motion
brothers designed and built their own power at once. As a result, far more thought had been
plant. given to the means of achieving automatic or
Charles Taylor, a machinist whom the brothers inherent stability than to active control systems.
employed in their bicycle shop, produced a four- Cayley, for example, suggested dihedral wings
cylinder engine with a cast aluminum block that (wingtips angled up from the midpoint of the
produced roughly 12.5 horsepower at a total wing) as a means of achieving a measure of
weight of some 200 pounds (90 kg), including stability in roll; he also recommended the use of a
fuel and coolant. It was by no means the most pendulum to control pitch. French aviation
advanced or efficient aeronautical power plant in pioneer Alphonse Penaud was the first to produce
the world. Langley, who was also building a full- an inherently stable aircraft, the Planophore
scale powered flying machine, spent thousands of (1871), which featured a pusher propeller
dollars to produce a five-cylinder radial engine powered by twisted rubber strands. The hand-
with a total weight equal to that of the Wright launched model featured dihedral wings for
engine but developing 52.4 horsepower. Langley stability in roll and a horizontal surface set at a
produced an engine far superior to that of the slight negative angle with regard to the wings to
Wright brothers—and an airplane, the aerodrome provide stability in pitch. With the addition of a
No. 6, that failed to fly when tested in 1903. The vertical surface for stability in yaw, this was the
Wright brothers, on the other hand, developed an approach taken by virtually all experimenters
engine that produced exactly the power required with model aircraft, including Langley.
to propel their flyer of 1903—the world’s first Model builders were forced to employ automatic
airplane to demonstrate sustained flight. stability, but those experimenters who built and
The design of the propellers for the 1903 airplane flew gliders had to develop active flight controls.
represented a much more difficult task, and a Virtually all of the pre-Wright brothers glider
much greater technical achievement, than the pilots, including Lilienthal, used hang-gliding
development of the engine. The propellers not techniques, in which the pilot shifted his weight
only had to be efficient but had to produce a in order to alter the position of the centre of
calculated amount of thrust when operated at a gravity of the machine with regard to the centre
particular speed by the engine. It is important to of pressure. Weight shifting was dangerous and
recognize, however, that once powered flight had limiting, however. If simple movements of the
been achieved, the development of more operator’s body were to have a significant impact
powerful and efficient engines became an on the motion of the machine, the wing area had
essential element in the drive to improve aircraft to be reasonably small. This limited the amount
performance. of lift that could be generated. Moreover, it was
Balancing and steering the machine: the by no means difficult for such an aircraft to reach
problem of control a stall or some other uncontrolled position from
Having decided that the design of wings and the which weight shifting could not effect a
development of a power plant were fairly well in recovery—as demonstrated by the deaths of
hand, the Wright brothers focused on the element Lilienthal (1896) and the English experimenter
of control. Other experimenters had given some Percy Pilcher (1899) in glider crashes.
thought to the subject. Cayley was the first to use Determined to avoid those problems, the Wright
an elevator for control in pitch (directing the nose brothers created a positive control system that
up and down). Throughout the second half of the enabled (indeed, required) the pilot to exercise
19th century, airships had used rudders for yaw absolute command over the motion of his
control (directing the nose to the right and left). machine in every axis and at every moment.
It was far more difficult to conceive of a way to Others had rejected that goal because they feared
control an aircraft in roll (that is, balancing the that pilots would be overwhelmed by the
wingtips or banking the aircraft). Moreover, most difficulty of controlling a machine moving in
experimenters were convinced that the operator three dimensions. The Wright brothers, however,

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had recognized how easily and quickly a bicycle e) By installing gyroscopic stabilizers
rider internalized the motions required to
maintain balance and control, and they were What role did Lawrence Hargrave play in early
certain that it would be the same with an airplane. aviation experimentation?
Recognizing the dangers inherent in attempting to a) He pioneered the development of lightweight
rely on control of the centre of gravity, the gasoline engines.
Wright brothers devised a system to control the b) He conducted experiments with compressed-
movement of the centre of pressure on the wing. gas propulsion systems.
They achieved this by enabling the pilot to induce c) He achieved the first sustained flights with
a twist across the upper and lower wings in either steam-powered model aircraft.
direction, thus increasing the lift on one side and d) He introduced the concept of dihedral wings
decreasing it on the other. This technique, which for stability.
they called “wing warping,” solved the crucial e) He designed the first successful airplane
problem of roll. Meanwhile, an elevator (a propeller.
horizontal surface placed at the front of the
aircraft) provided the means of pitch control. What significant innovation did the Wright
When the Wright brothers introduced a rudder to brothers introduce in their airplane design in
their design in 1902, this device was used to 1905?
compensate for increased drag on the positively a) Independent yaw control
warped side of the aircraft. In 1905 they b) Inverted flight capability
disconnected the rudder from the wing warping c) Multi-engine configuration
system, enabling the pilot to exercise independent d) Vertical takeoff and landing capability
control in yaw for the first time. The Wright flyer e) Jet propulsion system
of 1905 is therefore considered to be the first
fully controllable, practical airplane.
PART III
What technological challenges hindered sustained
powered heavier-than-air flight at the beginning Other aviation pioneers
of the 19th century? The work of the Wright brothers inspired an
a) Lack of suitable airframe materials entire generation of flying-machine
b) Absence of skilled pilots experimenters in Europe and the Americas. The
c) Difficulty in controlling aircraft in three Brazilian experimenter Alberto Santos-Dumont,
dimensions for instance, made the first public flight in Europe
d) Inadequate propulsion systems in 1906 in his 14-bis. Frenchman Henri Farman
e) Limited understanding of aerodynamics made his first flight the following year in the
Farman III, a machine built by Gabriel Voisin.
Prior to the emergence of internal-combustion Farman also completed the first European circular
engines, what were some of the alternative flight of at least 1 km (0.62 mile) early in 1908.
propulsion systems discussed for aircraft? On July 4, 1908, the American Glenn Hammond
a) Wind turbines Curtiss, a leading member of the Aerial
b) Nuclear reactors Experiment Association (AEA), organized by
c) Gunpowder engines Alexander Graham Bell, won the Scientific
d) Steam-powered engines American Trophy for a flight of 1 km in the AEA
e) Hydrogen fuel cells June Bug.
The Santos-Dumont, Voisin, and Curtiss
How did the Wright brothers address the issue of machines were all canard (elevator on the nose)
control in their aircraft design? biplanes with pusher propellers that were clearly
a) By implementing weight-shifting techniques inspired by what the designers knew of the work
b) Through the use of automatic stability systems of the Wright brothers.
c) By employing a system of wing warping By 1909 radical new monoplane designs had
d) By relying solely on rudder adjustments taken to the air, built and flown by men such as
the French pioneers Robert Esnault-Pelterie and

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Louis Blériot, both of whom were involved in the fabric-covered biplanes of the early postwar era.
development of the “stick-and-rudder” cockpit In-line engines, with cylinders aligned one behind
control system that would soon be adopted by the other or positioned in two banks in a V-type
other builders. Blériot brought the early installation, required a radiator and the circulation
experimental era of aviation to an end on July 25, of a liquid coolant. Radial engines, with cylinders
1909, when he flew his Type XI monoplane arranged in a circle around the crankshaft, had
across the English Channel. numerous small fins on the cylinder that radiated
The following five years, from Blériot’s Channel heat to the passing airstream in order to keep the
flight to the beginning of World War I, were a engine cool. These relatively straightforward
period of spectacular growth and development in piston-engine designs made long-range flights
aviation. Concerned about the potential of possible and opened a new era of passenger
military aviation, European leaders invested travel.
heavily in the new technology, spending large The headliners
sums on research and development and working Although airlines ran newspaper advertisements
to establish and support the aircraft and engine after World War I, the biggest aviation headlines
industries in their own countries. (For an account belonged to fliers in relatively primitive piston-
of the aerial arms race, see military aircraft.) In engine aircraft that challenged the Atlantic and
addition to practical developments in the areas of transcontinental distances. In May 1919 a U.S.
propulsion and aircraft structural design, the Navy Curtiss NC-4 (successor to the Curtiss
foundations of modern aerodynamic theory were Model E flying boat) made it from Newfoundland
laid by scientists and academics such as Ludwig to Portugal by way of the Azores Islands before
Prandtl of Germany. With the possible exception flying on to Great Britain, compiling 54 hours 31
of flying boats (see Curtiss Model E flying boat), minutes in the air over its 23-day trip. The
an area in which Curtiss continued to dominate, following month, former British Royal Air Force
leadership in virtually every phase of aeronautics (RAF) pilots John Alcock and Arthur Brown
had passed by 1910 from the United States to made the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic,
Europe, where it would remain throughout World requiring 16 hours 28 minutes for the journey
War I. from Newfoundland to Ireland in a Vickers Vimy
Pistons in the air bomber.
During World War I several farsighted European By 1924 the U.S. Army had completed plans to
entrepreneurs, emboldened by wartime progress make the first aerial circumnavigation of the
in aviation, envisioned the possibilities of world, sending a quartet of single-engine Douglas
postwar airline travel. For many months after the “World Cruisers” westward toward Asia. These
war, normal rail travel in Europe remained fabric-covered biplanes featured interchangeable
problematic and irregular because of the shortage landing gear—replacing wheels with floats for
of passenger equipment and the destruction of water landings. One plane crashed in Alaska,
tracks and bridges. In addition, chaotic political forcing the two-man crew to hike out of a
conditions in central and eastern Europe often snowbound wilderness. Near the end of the
disrupted schedules. The situation opened many expedition, a second aircraft, en route to Iceland,
possibilities for launching airline routes. went down between the Orkney and Faroe
Although few airfields existed, aircraft of the islands. With support from the U.S. Navy, U.S.
postwar era could and did use relatively short sod State Department, and overseas American
runways for years, meaning that locating suitable officials during an odyssey of 23,377 miles
airports near most cities was not the formidable (37,622 km) that consumed 175 days, the
engineering challenge that emerged in subsequent remaining pair of planes arrived back in Seattle.
decades. Characteristically, organizers of the first All this happened before Charles Lindbergh,
postwar airlines relied on stocks of inexpensive flying a single-engine Ryan monoplane, made his
surplus military planes, especially bombers, such nonstop solo flight in 33 hours 30 minutes from
as the De Havilland DH-4, that could be modified New York to Paris in 1927. Lindbergh’s flight, in
to accommodate passengers and mail. Two basic particular, demonstrated the essential reliability
types of piston engines powered the typical of improved radial engines.

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In Britain, overland flights connecting colonial miles (550 km) per hour, were contributing to the
interests down the length of Africa drew designs that led to the legendary Spitfire fighters
considerable attention. Departing London, of World War II. Behind the headlines, the
another pair of ex-RAF pilots battled capricious collective technology and operational know-how
winds, sudden storms, equatorial updrafts, and of the record-seekers contributed to modern
assorted adventures before arriving at Cape Town airline travel.
after 45 days and three planes. Alan Cobham
repeated the feat in a single-engine commercial What factors influenced the growth and
plane, surveying a route for Imperial Airways development of aviation in the five years
Ltd. from 1925 to 1926. Other British pilots following Blériot's Channel flight?
persevered in reaching Australia by way of India a) Technological advancements in engine design
(brothers Ross and Keith Smith, 1919) and across b) Concerns about military aviation
the Pacific (Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles c) Investment in research and development by
Ulm, 1928). The challenge of polar flights also European leaders
engaged a number of daring fliers. Piloting a d) All of the above
Fokker trimotor, Richard Byrd made claim to the e) None of the above
first flight over the North Pole in 1926, followed
by his pioneering expedition with a Ford Motor What challenges did early postwar airlines face in
Company trimotor over the South Pole in 1929. Europe?
The 1930s brought a new round of record flights a) Shortage of passenger equipment
by Americans. In 1931, with navigator Harold b) Destruction of tracks and bridges
Gatty, Wiley Post piloted a Lockheed Vega 5B c) Chaotic political conditions
monoplane (named Winnie Mae for Post’s d) All of the above
daughter) around the world in slightly less than 8 e) None of the above
days 16 hours. Two years later, with the aid of an
autopilot, Post broke his world record during a How did postwar airlines adapt surplus military
solo flight of 7 days 19 hours. In 1932 Amelia planes for passenger travel?
Earhart became the first woman to complete a a) By installing larger fuel tanks
solo transatlantic flight. Five years later, during a b) By removing wings and adding floats for water
global attempt, she disappeared somewhere over landings
the Pacific. Aviator and industrialist Howard c) By modifying bombers to accommodate
Hughes, piloting a twin-engine Lockheed Model passengers and mail
14 (similar to Earhart’s Lockheed 5B Vega d) By adding additional engines for increased
airplane) with a four-man crew, completed a speed
global flight in 1938 in the record time of slightly e) By replacing fabric-covered wings with metal
more than 3 days 19 hours. Flights like these ones
demonstrated aviation’s ability to overcome
geographic barriers and shrink time-distance What significant achievement marked the end of
relationships. the early experimental era of aviation?
In addition to long-distance records, speed a) Glenn Hammond Curtiss's flight in the AEA
records continued to rise. For example, the June Bug
Schneider Trophy races, conducted in Europe b) John Alcock and Arthur Brown's nonstop
between 1913 and 1931, pitted single-engine crossing of the Atlantic
racing planes equipped with floats against each c) Louis Blériot's flight across the English
other. With entrants carrying the colours of their Channel
respective countries, considerable international d) Richard Byrd's claim to the first flight over the
prestige and technological recognition was North Pole
attached to the outcome. Designers focused on e) Amelia Earhart's solo transatlantic flight
high-performance engines and streamlined
fuselages. By the early 1930s, successful British What impact did the Schneider Trophy races have
racers from Supermarine, reaching about 340 on aviation development?

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a) They promoted international collaboration in
aircraft design
b) They focused on the development of high-
performance engines and streamlined fuselages
c) They led to the creation of record-breaking
aircraft
d) All of the above
e) None of the above

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