1. Did flight have any influence outside of aviation? If
so, how?
The
new discoveries being made with flight influenced and intrigued much more than just
the aviators of the day. Artists and poets became excited. Pablo Picasso was
involved in building model airplanes, and produced a piece entitled “Still
Life: Our Future is in the Air.” This piece was reflecting on how important
aviation was becoming to the defense of countries. An Italian poet wrote about
planes, and was the leader of a new artistic movement called Futurism, and believed
that “artists should participate in technologies that will shape the future”
(Crouch, 122). Popular culture was also impacted. Theater presentations, toys,
puzzles, postcards, and comic books; all were being swept up in the aviation
movement.
6. How did the military use the airplane prior to and
during WWI?
Before
the war, militaries around the world started experimenting with aircraft.
During the Balkan Wars, the countries of Turkey and Bulgaria each had aircraft
and used them as reconnaissance planes. Everyone could see how this would change
and that “the sky has become a new battlefield” (Crouch, 150). During the First
World War, airplanes quickly took over the cavalry’s role of being the
long-range eyes and ears of the armies (Crouch, 153). France and Germany were
the main leaders of the war in the air. In 1915, machine guns were mounted on
planes so that they could bring down enemy planes while in the air. Tactical
maneuvers and group missions began to evolve and develop between the countries.
7. What was the cult of the heroic airman?
The
author states that the cult of the heroic airman “began as a natural extension
of the adulation lavished on the aeronautical heroes of the prewar era”
(Crouch, 156). France already greatly honored their racing and exhibition
pilots, and so they considered it heroic and worthy of celebration when these
pilots and others went off to defend their country. The news of the great deeds
and courage of these men in the air inspired others to put on uniforms and
enlist. The author also puts emphasis on these great men, and states that “aviators
would emerge as the most celebrated heroes of war” (Crouch, 158).
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