Carissa Wolfe - Wings #2

Wings #2

Carissa Wolfe

1. The reality of flight was fascinating to a global audience due to its novelty and risk. This new innovation impacted practically every industry and household. Media was significantly changed; comic books, literature, newspapers, film, photography, advertising, and music all drew inspiration from the advancements in flight. Examples of this are musician Tim Pan Alley’s hits “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine” and “My Little Loving Aero Man”, the writings of Kafka, D’Annunzio, and Kamensky, and flying pulp-fiction protagonists Motor Matt, Tom Swift, and Franke Reade. In addition to the media, aviation also affected the design and distribution of popular merchandise. Toys, homewares, and office supplies featured images of pilots, planes, or hot air balloons. Aviation-based propaganda was commonly used to target a wide audience of consumers.
   Similarly, the field of engineering boomed as countries around the world competed to create better, bigger, faster flying machines. This stimulated the economy by creating more jobs as people were able to get hired at a factory producing airplane parts. (pp. 122-124)

9.) Post-war airplanes symbolized the tragedy of the war, and left a bitter taste in the mouth of civilians. Demobilization was a prominent theme in most countries, even in the United States. Though history tells us that America experienced an economic boom, post-war the production of planes, number of workers, and financial budget for aviation decreased dramatically. Yet, World War I had set the precedent that countries with the best air force would be the most successful. The Treaty of Versailles sought to eliminate Germany’s air force by preventing them from producing or importing planes for six months following the war. Still, nations felt intense pressure to protect themselves in the future conflicts, which seemed inevitable. Lenin built the Soviet air fleet as a means of sending a warning signal to the world. This fear spurred on a competitive industry which eventually led to the Space Race during the Cold War, and exists today in the development of nuclear weapons. (pp. 195-196, 222)

7.) The cult of the heroic airman was not a tangible society as one might expect from the name, but rather a general term encompassing the famous aces of the air. These pilots brought honor to their country and ignited patriotism in the heart of civilians. The French were especially prone to viewing talented pilots as demigods. In fact, they would create imaginary war stories, such as the tale of Roland Garros, who sacrificed himself to bring down a German plane. “It mattered little that the story was not true; the French needed heroes” (pg. 156). One of the reasons why airmen were held in such high esteem was that they were able to have some control over how they died – it was determined by their skill alone. In contrast, soldiers on the ground were prey to unfortunate circumstances such as snipers, poison gas, and disease. The deaths of these men were tragic, but the deaths of pilots were considered martyrdom.