1. Summarize the new aviation technologies that emerged as a
result of WWII.
Many new technologies came about by the end of the war or
were under development by the end of World War II. Large-scale changes to
airplane design such as sweeping the wings back for more stability at higher
speeds was under development in Germany. In fact, most of the developing
technologies were being researched in Germany. Jet power was taking hold in
Germany with the Me 262. This was the first jet-powered aircraft to be used in
combat. The flying wing design was also under research in Germany when discovered
by Allied troops (p. 444). An array of new weapons, mostly rockets, designed to
be used from the air or ground and aimed at targets in either the air or on the
ground were also designed. New technology such as radar used for navigation and
weapons systems was also being developed. With the advent of jet engines, very
high speed flight was attainable and this brought about many new technologies
and fields of study. Propulsion and aerodynamics were studied intently to
figure out the intricacies of each new step towards supersonic flight.
3. What role did the helicopter play in the development of
aviation technology?
Designing the helicopter proved quite the challenge to early
aviators. The helicopter was thought of as a rotating wing and the same principles
of flight were applied to it, however the control of the machine was quite
challenging. It took a lot of time to produce a manageable machine. Research started
around 1908 with Louis Breguet and a reliable helicopter was not produced until
1942 by Igor Sikorsky (p. 466, 470). Sikorsky figured out the best
configuration of the propellers and how to control them. This was very
difficult though as noted by Grover Loening. Loening said that. “Any notion …
that everybody is going to fly helicopters right after the war is nonsense”
(p.470). The same milestones that regular aviation went through were there for
helicopters. Length of flight, speed and altitude records were set for
helicopters just like for general aviation. Power was a big issue for
helicopters just as it was for airplanes. Finding the right balance between
power and weight was the problem. Until the dawn of jet engines, helicopters
were very limited in their uses. Jet power, like in airplanes, provided the
power that was needed without the huge increase in weight.
5. How did the U.S. view the launch of the Russian satellite
Sputnik and what was the reaction?
Americans viewed the launch of
Sputnik as a “technological Pearl Harbor” (p. 485). This was a great intrusion
in the minds of Americans. To have a Soviet satellite flying over their homes
was very unnerving during the time of the Cold War. If the Soviets were to use
that new avenue of travel in space as a way to deliver weapons or to spy on
Americans, that would be unacceptable to them. American leadership decided to
try to force the Soviets into using space as only means for scientific
research. NASA was formed under this principle of civil research. Americans
wanted to separate the military aspect of space from the scientific research that
could take place there. NASA received a lot of funding during the 1960s. Their
budget increased over 1,000 percent in five years all the way to $5.25 billion (p. 485).
This was an incredible amount of money then. This money was spread out among
contractors and federal employees. During the Apollo program around 500,000
people were employed either directly or indirectly by NASA (p.486).
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