Frank Speranza Wings #6

1. In your opinion, what was the most significant impact aviation had on our world in the first one hundred years of flight?

I think that the most significant impact that aviation had on the world was the accessibility offered by air travel. The world became much smaller with the invention of airplanes. What was once a very dangerous and long voyage across the ocean is now able to be safely flown in relative comfort in just a few short hours. The amount of people that are moved around the globe on a daily basis is amazing. Very remote location in the world are easily accessed by airplane. This not only influences our daily life but it has changed the way that war is waged and the way that countries can defend themselves. Nations can mobilize their armies in just a few hours with the use of an air force. The world is now interconnected in way that was not possible one hundred years ago. Trade and commerce around the world is now possible. I can order a product of a country on the other side of the world and receive it at my door in just a few days. This would have taken months if not years before the invention of airplane.

2. What do you think the future holds for aviation in the twenty first century?

I think that the future of aviation will be improvements in speed and interplanetary travel. Being able to travel at supersonic speeds in an airliner would be very favorable to companies because they could have that many more flights with fewer total planes in their fleets. The Concorde was ahead of its time I think and I also propose that supersonic air travel will resume soon. I also think that improvements in rocketry and reusable spaceships will lead to easier space travel. Whether this is used solely for scientific research or eventually commercial use, I think that there will be manned flights to nearby planets and moons. If we reached the moon with analog technology and very basic computers almost fifty years ago, there is so much more that we could do with the technology that we have today.