Flight impacted several aspects of life in the twentieth century (both “good” and “bad). One impact is that it changed the way wars were fought. It added a whole new dynamic to warfare (pg 10). Many cities and lives were destroyed because of the use of planes. Even though flight caused destruction of cities, it also lead to the formation of nations. Flight helped western nations become even more dominant. Flight allowed more exotic diseases to spread from one country to another quickly (pg 11). This caused problems for other countries because they did not have the immunity for these new diseases. Many people died because of diseases spreading by flight. Flight led to the homogenization of cultures because of people from different countries being able to travel all over the world. People's lives had start to experience more cultures as a result. Flight allowed friends and family members to keep in personal touch no matter how far away they were (pg 11). Airplanes also led to countries being able to aid countries that were in need (pg 11). They were now able to transport food, vaccines, and other supplements quickly to these more deprived countries. Flight made life easier for people in those poor countries. Flight has shown to have a large impact on everyone's life.
Modern aviation began with the
incredibly intelligent man named Sir George Cayley. He identified many different solutions to
several problems with aviation. He was
the first person to conduct the, “first whirling-arm tests of wing surfaces at
low angles of attack” (pg. 32) and created the “flying parachute”. The flying parachute became the, “first
successful model glider” (pg. 32).
Cayley also wrote several articles known as the “triple paper”. These articles helped paved the way for
future aeronautical research. The triple
paper helped confirm previous ideas about wings in flight and, “explained how
to calculate the performance of an aircraft” (pg. 33). He also had many insights that led to the advancement
of aviation. One example is, “he had
achieved pitch stability by positioning the horizontal tail at a slight negative
angle” (pg. 34). Cayley was the first to
show that fixed wings were superior compared to balloons. This lead the way to modern aviators to think
differently. Cayley
was also viewed as the first aeronautical engineer. He created and established many different
principles of aerodynamics. The first model
glider gave people “the taste for flight” (pg. 35) and it helped motivate more
people to study flight. The Wright brothers thought he was a great man and that his work was a, "most important contribution to science" (pg. 35). He truly was the start of modern aviation.
6.)
At first, the United States government was not interested in
the invention. This is because of the
Langley debacle that occurred just a few years back. The United States tried to use the Langley
model but it did not work. The Army was
accused they had, “wasted precious resources on a pipe dream.” (pg. 82). The army also wanted proof that the flights occurred
with pictures or demonstration flights.
The governments of Europe however were more intrigued about the Wright’s
invention. The British army came to
Dayton to talk to the Wright Brothers. They
later decided to not to buy their invention because the British wanted to have
their “own aeronautical talent” (pg. 83).
The French had the most interest in the invention and talked with the
brothers in 1905. The French also wanted
to see a demonstration flight just like the United States army. Even in 1907 when the Wright Brothers received
assistance from Charles Flint and Company to help sell their invention, they
still did not get an immediate bargain in Europe. Finally, in 1908 the US army accepted the
Wright Brother’s invention. Then a
couple months after that, they signed a contract to a French syndicate (pg.
83). At first, most militaries were
against the idea of the invention, but as time progressed they decided to buy
it.
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