Interesting facts about hot air balloons

I found an article containing 10 strange facts about hot air balloons. Some of the ones that particularly piqued my interest were:

• ·      CHAMPAGNE AFTER FLIGHT ORIGINATED TO APPEASE FARMERS
• ·      THERE WAS EVEN A BALLOON DUEL.
• ·      SMOKE BALLOONS WERE CRAZY CARNIVAL ATTRACTIONS

So…champagne after hot air balloon flights? I didn’t know that was even a tradition. Supposedly this idea came about in the balloonists’ attempts to appease the angry farmers whose crops they had just destroyed. I’m not sure how I feel about this peace treaty. I doubt I would be so easily quelled after having my livelihood squashed in a careless landing. That would have to be some quality champagne.

Now about the balloon duel; in classic fashion, this duel began as a fight over a lady. Her name was Mademoiselle Tirevit and legend has it that in 1808 she inspired two Frenchmen to take to the skies in an effort to win her hand. One competitor plummeted to his death after a bullet punctured his balloon. The victor took Mademoiselle Tirevit.

Finally, as part of carnival attractions in the 1800’s stuntmen (and women) were strapped to a parachute and harnessed to a basket-less balloon. The balloon would rise into the air and at the appropriate height the stuntmen would release their ties to the balloon. The crowd would cheer as they sailed to the ground with the aid of their parachutes. There was video embedded in the article of this actually happening, and it looks terrifying.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/52180/10-strange-facts-about-hot-air-balloons

Wings #5

With the days being switched from tuesdays to thursdays I totally forgot to post! Here they are:

1. Summarize the new aviation technologies that emerged as a result of WWII.

A great deal of new aviation technologies were a result of WWII. German engineering produced a significant amount of these new technologies. As the Allied troops invaded their camps, they discovered planes being built by slave labor, secret plants, and the P1101, which was near completion yet had not been flown. This plane had an incredible design, with wings that swept so that it could fly in a great deal of conditions. American engineers used this to design the Bell X-5 with sweeping wings. 

One of the most radical discoveries by the allies, however, was the Horton Ho IX V3. This was a twin jet-powered flying wing. It was not yet completed, but was the next generation of the Ho IX V2, which had topped speeds of 497 miles per hour. However, it was destroyed in a landing. These were not the only jets they discovered. There was also the Me 261, He 162, and the Me 163 which was rocket powered. 

Planes were not the only topic of aviation interest for the germans. In addition to these many planes, the Germans had also developed the most advanced high-speed wind tunnel. This was also discovered, along with those who had created it. 

2. Discuss the beginning of supersonic flight research in the United States and whether or not this technology was a priority.

This time period was also considered the jet age by aviation standards. Typically these planes maxed out under 125 miles per hour. In 1941, a german engineer created a Me 163 Comet, which was both rocket powered and swept wing. This plane reached speeds of over 500 miles per hour. This was the fastest plane of its time and was the first operational rocket plane. Although the gas turbojet engine seemed as though it would be less successful than the rocket, it proved otherwise. 

The concept of high speed flight was not of great importance to most. Despite this, two different men, Frank Wittle and Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain, conceived a notion for a turbojet engine independently from one another. Neither Wittle nor von Ohain were successful in gaining a contract from manufacturers, leaving them to independent sponsors. The result was an engine in which the impeller sends air through diffusing chambers to be compressed and then sent into the combustion chambers. They had developed similar engines ultimately, however there was still a need for a smaller, more fuel efficient engine. This engine would be created by Anselm Franz. It wasn’t until there were successful engines that the US reluctantly became interested in this venture. 

3. What role did the helicopter play in the development of aviation technology?

The helicopter was a result of several different people working together. Even as early as Leonardo da Vinci people have been designing a machine that could lift straight up. Initially, once they were being built, they were very difficult to land and ultimately caused many dangerous situations. These were called autogiros, and they were very unstable, leaving much need for improvement. It wasn’t until World War II that helicopters became practical. It quickly became an important part of the military. The turning point for the helicopter was the invention of the turboshaft engine. It increased the performance so greatly that it rotary-wing flight became reasonable. This leap in helicopter capabilities lead to an advancement in the military uses. It was suddenly a great option for rescue missions, and dropping people in places too tight for a plane to land. The ability to maintain lift while stationary was truly revolutionary, although it seems that it often does not get much attention. From the very beginning, those who had designed autogiros and other variations of the helicopter had predicted that helicopters could be used beyond the military—and that they have. They are crucial resources for hospitals, film crews, sign seers, and those who can afford a fun ride. Ultimately, helicopters helped the aviation industry branch even farther into the daily lives of civilians. 

Wings #5 Danny Keltner

1. Summarize the new aviation technologies that emerged as a result of WWII.

There were many new aviation technologies that were created because of WWII.  Germany, during their time of desperation, decided to try new ideas and technologies to hopefully create a super plane/weapon that could aid them in the defeat of the allies.  So many of the inventions were as a result of Germany’s engineers.  They worked to create the P1101 but the allies discovered it before it could been flown. This had sweeping wings which means that these planes could alter their planes to meet certain conditions, making the planes more efficient (pg. 444).  This information of sweeping wings helped the Americans create the Bell X-5 with sweeping wings.  Germany also had an important factor in the creation of jet planes as a result of WWII.  The Allied troops also found the Horton Ho IX V3 which was a twin jet-powered flying plane that was only somewhat complete.  There were several other jets discovered, such as the Me 261, He 162, and the rocket-propelled Me 163 (pg. 443).  Germany also had created the, “world’s most advanced high-speed wind tunnel facility in the Hartz Mountains” (pg. 444).  The Germans also had a mass amount of information about aviation that would be used for later technological advancements.  There were also weapons that were created by Germany for air combat.  Germany created several different types of missiles that could be attack air or ground.      

5    5.)    How did the U.S. view the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and what was the reaction?

When Sputnik was launched in 1957, Americans did not take it very well.  They viewed is as a, “technological Pearl Harbor” (pg. 485).  Since this was during the Cold War, Americans feared that Russians could use the technology to either spy on them or something even worst.  Dwight Eisenhower decided to try to influence Russia separate ballistic missiles and military space efforts, and use space as scientific objectives only.  Also, he wanted to have an open-sky agreement with Russia (pg. 485).  The result of Sputnik helped create NASA for the purpose of the nation’s civil space program.  NASA began to rise exponentially because of the American’s view of the “space race” against the Soviets.  Americans wanted to defeat the Soviets in that race desperately that they decided to help aid the funding of NASA.  In only five years NASA’s budget increased 1000 percent from 523.6 million to 5.25 billion $ in 1965 (pg. 485).  The billions of dollars that they received were given to several contractions and employees (pg. 486).  NASA also was able to create eight new centers in only the first decade of its life.  Sputnik created a lot of scare for the American people at the time, but it also motivated the United States to undergo more research on space aviation.  Later on, the Apollo missions were created and the America was able to put the first man on the moon on July 20^th, 1969.          

7   7.)    What effect did the invention of the computer have on aviation technology?

The invention of the computer had a very important factor in aviation technology.  The computer came into aviation when countries were having problems with flutter in the 1930s, which was vibration in the wings that could tear an airplane apart in mid-air.  There were so many complex calculations with flutter that even a large number of people could not do all of them (pg. 512).  So a German aviation research organization (the DVL) supported the work of an engineer named Konrad Zuse who was working on an experimental computer.  Then in WWII several engineers worked on fixing IBM punch-card tabulators.  Then ten out of the first nineteen computers were bought by different companies with an emphasis in aviation.  Computers, “gave birth to computational fluid dynamics” (pg. 512).  Computers were used to transform the mathematical data given by wind tunnels (through calculations) into visual images of fluid flow.  Computers also helped reshape the way airplanes were created.  Before, there were several draftsmen that would create many conceptual drawings of airplanes.  Also lofting changed, which was making sure that each line on the design was correct and that was tedious.  In 1961, an MIT student designed a software program for the purpose of advanced graphical processing.  This software started to replace drawing boards 2 years later.  The early 1980s also had the invention of CAD/CAM programs.  These programs offered the precision that was required for the aerospace industry and ended several industry traditions (like spending several hours on a drawing board) (pg. 514).  The CAD also performed all of the necessary calculations and created a three-dimensional image of any part of the plane that the engineer could observe (pg.514). Computers allowed engineers to quickly design airplanes in a more accurate way.      

Ricker WINGS #5

#3. What role did the helicopter play in the development of aviation technology?

Believe it or not, the helicopter is not a recent invention, says Tom Crouch in his book Wings.  In fact, it has played a pivotal role in aviation technology several times – even before the first airplane was invented!  As far back as the 15^th century, there is evidence of a flying toy – an early helicopter (Crouch 25).  Various versions popped up over the years, but the Wright brothers’ father bought them a toy helicopter when they were young boys, and this stimulated their desire to invent a flying machine, thus connecting it as a direct influence on the first airplane (Crouch 26).  In the 1920s, engineers found a way to place an airplane body under a rotor assembly to make an “autogiro” (Crouch 465).  Juan de la Cierva, the Spanish engineer credited with inventing the autogiro, notes aviation historians, “deserves recognition as one of the great innovators in the history of rotary-wing flight” (Crouch 466).  But these autogiros were largely unstable because they were hard to balance.  Many inventors worked to refine and improve the design, though, and by WWII helicopters were a valued part of the military and had entered the realm of every kid’s sci-fi dreams.  Inventors considered the possibilities of domestic uses for helicopters and began to devise ways to make the machines less weighty and more maneuverable.  When the turboshaft engine was invented for the helicopter, it “provided a revolutionary jump in performance and marked the single most important turning point in the history of rotary-wing flight” (Crouch 472).  This, in turn, impacted military uses – particularly in rescue missions and dropping personnel into tight or inhospitable locations.  They are now used (as early dreamers had foreseen) in civilian life – ferrying critically injured people, movie crews, and even Donald Trump.  In turn, the market for these expensive flying machines has been a boon for the aviation industry.

#4. What was the relationship between the government/military and the science and technology industry immediately following WWII?

According to Tom Crouch in his book Wings, the breadth of scientific discovery and advancement during World War II shook the foundations of governments (477).  “‘By the time the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,’ historian A. Hunter Dupree noted, ‘the entire country was aware that science was a political, economic, and social force of the first magnitude’” (qtd. in Crouch 477).  The United States began taking an interest in the previously ignored research scientists – even going so far as to “marshal the scientific resources of the nation for the war effort, and to coordinate all of the basic research undertaken by the federal government” (Crouch 477).  Suddenly, large universities, which once found it hard to scrape together enough funds to have their scientists live on while they conducted their research, began to receive large chunks of government dollars in the form of grants.  This collaboration spanned the wartime and has never ended.  One early problem during this era was that government funded researchers tended to operate like government agencies – to a prescribed agenda and set of rules which generally excluded “free-thinkers.”  As a result, just after the war, there was a sense that government funded projects were a bit behind private researchers.  U.S. Army Air Corps General Hap Arnold was one of these “free-thinkers” – someone who knew that major technological advances were just around the corner, so to speak.  He enlisted Caltech professor Theodor von Karman to be one of his main advisors and, after the war, sent Karman out all over Europe to investigate every major technology being developed (Crouch 480-81).  The U.S. Navy also had their research traditions, and after the war continued to influence technology.  So, Hap Arnold’s vision of an explosion of technology became reality, in many ways because of Arnold and the U.S. government’s support.

#8. What were some of the aviation technology advances that emerged as a result of the Cold War?

There is nothing like some saber-rattling to get the old war machines revved up, and there was a lot of saber-rattling going on between the United States (with it’s Western allies) and the Soviet Union (with it’s Eastern allies) during the Cold War, which generally spans from 1947 to the early 1990s.  Says Tom Crouch in his book Wings, “The era was marked by a permanent war economy that supported great national scientific and technological projects aimed at the creation of advanced weapons systems” (486). During this time, military expenditures fueled the aviation industry – for instance, by the late 1950s “the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked the aviation industry as the largest employer in the manufacturing sector” (Crouch 506).  One major technological advance during the Cold War was the helicopter.  Another was the turbojet, which “not only revolutionized the performance of military aircraft, it gave birth to the era of mass commercial air travel” (Crouch 506).  Advances in aviation electronics also occurred during this time.  This included “black boxes,’ new types of joystick controls, more modern instrument displays, and satellite-based global positioning systems” (Crouch 507). Aircraft became “stealthy” (Crouch 579).  Weapons became “smart” (Crouch 591). Once the Earth’s atmosphere was mastered, military and civilian researchers began reaching for the stars.  It wouldn’t do to have one’s mortal enemies gain the upper hand in the space race. Soon, aviation industry leaders began transitioning to “aerospace” technology.  Investments were made to the “Apollo lunar program,” and all the bells and whistles that went with it (think rockets, satellites, satellite trackers, computers, monitoring equipment, and even new tools with which to fix the new gadgets) (Crouch 508-09). 

Wings #5

1. Summarize the new aviation technologies that emerged as a result of WWII.

There were many new aviation technologies that emerged as a result of WWII.  These include nuclear weapons, jet aircraft, guided missiles, long-range rockets, and an array of electronic systems.  “From these dazzling achievements of directed research, governments harnessed the forces of science and industry to produce wonder weapons scarcely imagined a decade before.” (476)  With these new technologies came a new pattern of research in the United States, as well as the rest of the globe.  A quarter of a billions of dollars in research grants were awarded to two hundred universities during the course of the war, in which a major share of the funds went to a handful of prestigious institutions.  It was these institutions that developed the technology that was used during WWII.  For example, the engineers at Caltech were the leading pioneers of rocketry, and the radiation and servomechanism laboratories of MIT developed the radar and fire-control systems.  The author summarized the effects of these technologies best at the end of chapter 12; “Nor could conventional weapons be abandoned in an era of perpetual tension and frequent regional conflicts… The ultimate result, of course, was a restructuring of government, the economy, and society.  What had begun as a wartime partnership between government, science, and industry became a central feature of American life.”  The development of new technologies during WWII restructured the relationships of society.

7. What effect did the invention of the computer have on aviation technology?

The invention of the computer allowed for more complex aircraft to be created, as well as reshaping the way in which airplanes were designed.  Faster aircraft came with increased stress and unpredictable problems.  In order to fix these problems more complex calculations had to be made, “but these equations were so complex that aircraft firms had to employ large numbers of “computers,” humans who calculated.” (512)  However, these human computers were still not fast or advanced enough, that is until actual computers came out that could use “scientific computation” and would “manipulate that information, transforming incredibly complex mathematical equations into accurate visual representations of fluid flow.” (512)  The more advanced aircraft also called for a more advanced method of designing.  The traditional method began with concept drawings and ended with a large number of blueprints that detailed every feature of the plane.  Preparing and checking these drawings, and copying them to go to the shop floor, took up an overwhelming amount of time.  The computer and drafting programs that later came with it allowed for much quicker changes to the designs and allowed for single drawings or entire sets to be sent anywhere, at any time, with the touch of the button.  It greatly sped up the design process. 

9. How did the development of the jet affect commercial aviation?

The development of the jet affected commercial aviation by boosting the industry.  Postwar military spending took up over 50 percent of the federal budget and with that came the development of new technologies, including the jet.   The author calls the period of the Cold War the “jet age.”   He states that “The turbojet not only revolutionized the performance of military aircraft, it gave birth to the era of mass commercial air travel.”  He further compares the sudden jump in mass commercial air travel to other transportation; “Overnight, it seemed, jetliners had made the transcontinental trains and ocean liners obsolete.” (506)  It was not until 1992, however, that the value of commercial sales surpassed that of military production.  The time had come when military sales no longer dominated the aviation industry, and commercial air was taking over.

Wings #5 - Rachael Kneice

3. What role did the helicopter play in the development of aviation technology?

The helicopter was an entirely new machine to take to the air. The most influential person in this line of research was Igor Ivan Sikorsky. An immigrant to the United States, he and a small team were able to produce a successful helicopter in early 1942. This was of great interest to the military because of its ability to make vertical flight. It could also have a role in urban and regional transportation. During these years, improvements were made on the rotor and blade design, such as more blades, the angle of the blades, and maintaining the position of the rotor disk (Crouch, 470-471). A large step happened when Charles H. Kaman brought the helicopter into the jet age. His aircraft utilized a turboshaft engine powering the vehicle. This allowed for much quicker ascent time, and encouraged the introduction of light and yet powerful turboshaft engines.  Helicopters were experimented with to drop soldiers into battle. This allowed for wars where soldiers could drop down from the sky, fight, and then disappear again. Mobility was the “key to success, and the helicopter the key to mobility” (Crouch, 473). Another side of the fighting, the “Jolly Green Giants” are well known for being heavy-lifting transport choppers, and were used to pick up the wounded.

5. How did the US view the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and what was the reaction?

Many Americans were bitter about the fact that the Soviets launched the first satellite into space in 1957. According to the book, they considered it to be a “technological Pearl Harbor” (Crouch, 485). President Dwight Eisenhower wanted to persuade the Soviets to accept an open-skies policy. He also decided that there should be a separation between the missile and military space research that was happening to a strong civilian space program. This led to the discontinuing of NACA and the launching of NASA in America. Research was the name of the game at this point in history. The space race was now underway, and NASA became one of the most well-known agencies. NASA was separate from the research that the US Air Force and Navy were doing, but they still held many collaborations with them. During the 1950s, NASA doled out as much as 80 percent of the federal research budget for the company. NASA also distributed much of its money to contractors and subcontractors for more research opportunities. By the time the Apollo moon program had reached its peak in the 1960s, NASA had brought jobs to around half a million American citizens (Crouch, 486). 

7. What effect did the invention of the computer have on aviation technology?

The original computers for airplanes were the humans doing the calculations. This slowly developed into the discussion of a computer that was able to perform scientific computation in the late 1940s by IBM. One of the other struggling points with airplanes was that putting together a bunch of engineers to design a three-dimensional object, but making them use two-dimensional pieces of paper was very hard. Finally in the 1980s, a CAD (Computer-Assisted-Design) program allowed for the precision that was needed to do this. Airplane design had moved from the drawing board to the computer screen, making complex curves and sketching much easier and more precise (Crouch, 513-514). All of the necessary details for the planes could be done with just a few key strokes as well. The new computer system could do all of the required calculations and then assemble an accurate three-dimensional image of any part that the engineer wanted to see, and allowed him to rotate it in any direction he wished. And if the engineer wanted to change something, it was easily done through a few clicks of a button, which then triggered the computer’s algorithms to quickly make the necessary calculation adjustments.

Poor Muttnik

This cute little husky-mix, Laika was aboard the Russian satellite Sputnik 2. I have heard of Sputnik of course; the satellite that started the Space Race. Yet, I never knew that there was a dog on board. Laika, a name that resembles the word for "husky" in Russian, was found as a stray and chosen to go into space because researchers figured that she knew how to adapt to harsh conditions. She was trained for the mission by being kept in small spaces and eating a special gel containing nutrients that she would be forced to eat while in the satellite.

Americans called her "Muttnik" as a play on words. Laika's journey was unsuccessful as the power to her life support system gave out before a return mission could be enacted.
Laika was not the first animal in space, fruit flies and two Rhesus monkeys Albert I and Albert II were sent into space before her. The first animals to make it to space and return alive were two dogs from the Soviet Union, Belka and Strelka, on Aug. 19, 1960.

http://io9.com/the-first-animals-in-space-1399364861

Wings #5 - Carissa Wolfe

Wings #5

Carissa Wolfe

2. The beginnings of supersonic flight research in America began in 1918 with the wind tunnel tests of MIT graduate Frank Caldwell. Caldwell’s tunnel tests showed that planes would lose lift and experience increased drag at speeds of 450 mph. When approaching the speed of sound air condenses and creates a shock wave that increases wing pressure to a point where the pilot could no longer operate the controls. This was obviously a significant barrier to high-speed aircraft, and required innovation in propulsion and structural design. In 1933, Jacob Ackeret invented the first Mach 2 wind tunnel. Various systems of propulsion were tried in Germany, France, and America such as rocket-propulsion, steam turbines, and gas engines. Frank Whittle and Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain were revolutionary in rejecting these methods in favor of a pure turbojet engine. Their inventions were tested in 1937 and shown successful. However, the idea of supersonic flight was viewed as impractical and was not taken seriously by most big-name aviation companies, like NACA, the Air Ministry, and the National Academy of Sciences. Britain on the other hand was already devoting time and money to this type of research. It wasn’t until U.S. General Arnold discovered that Britain was preparing to fly a jet engine plane that the United States finally began to take note of the possibility of supersonic flight (445-453).

7. The invention of the computer revolutionized the aviation industry. In the 1930s the problem of wing and tail vibration mid-air (flutter) required a team of mathematicians to perform the complex calculations needed to determine design factors. Engineers would travel from company to company doing these calculations. One can imagine the potential error involved with this method. The invention of the computer allowed for these operations to be performed almost instantaneously. Computers could interpret information from wind tunnels and transform it into visual images of fluid dynamics. Computers also changed the way airplanes were built and the speed of their production. Instead of having to draw out hundreds of blueprints, software programs with advanced graphics processing did the monotonous work in seconds. One such program was the CAD/CAM (computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing), which was capable of producing a three-dimensional image of the plane. Additionally, special-purpose machines enabled plane construction and assembly to happen at a much faster rate. Machines were able to heat aluminum in a way that made it lighter and better suited for flight. Captain Luis de Florez played a large role in creating ground-based technology like missile-tracking, navigation, and simulation systems. In the 1960s the Autonetics Division of North American Rockwell produced a navigation system that had included circuit chips (microchips) that were less bulky than those used previously. This introduced the concept of microchips into everyday society. (511-521).

10. Aviation was certainly the most important military technology since gunpowder. Although computers and nuclear weapons were undeniably impactful they came after aviation had already created a new type of warfare. Secondly, their original function was to serve aviation by making more efficient and dangerous aircraft. Aviation allowed for massive attacks that happen rapidly, in a way that naval and land warfare could never accomplish. It is important to note that computer technology used for precision aiming has reduced civilian casualties overall. Even so, the stakes were higher with aerial warfare and that fact alone created tension between nations that influenced all of the wars since the beginning of the 20^th century. No single factor can affect the outcome of a war like a country’s air power. This was demonstrated during the Berlin Airlift when the United States was able to send supplies to those on the ground, who prior to aviation would have had to surrender. In Desert Storm the United States Army and Afghan rebel troops on land were able to operate in conjunction with air forces in order to defeat the Taliban. However, this point can be best summed up by military historian John Keegan: “There are certain dates in the history of warfare that mark real turning points…Now there is a new turning point to fix on the calendar: June 3, 1999, when the capitulation of President Milosevic proved that war can be won by air power alone” (519-521, 585-590).