Wings #6 Danny Keltner

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

I believe the most significant impact aviation has had is space aviation.  Before aviation was thought of, people thought the moon was a place that no one could ever reach.  It was a mystery that would never be solved.  Then the Wright Brothers came along and created an invention that changed the mindsets of everyone.  Then in 1968, Apollo 8 landed on the moon and the mystery was no more.  Space aviation is so important for the world because it has the potential to keep the human race alive even after the Earth is gone (or run out of resources).  Space aviation has also lead to satellites being created.  These satellites have been influential for communication around the world and television.   Not only that, it has led to a better understanding of the universe.  Space aviation can solve one of the greatest mysteries of all time, where did we come from?  The human race has only hit the tip of the iceberg in space aviation, and I think the more we discover about it, the more it will help mankind.            

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

            I think that there is so much that will occur in the future in aviation.  I believe that we will be able to take people to Mars fairly soon.  Fuel will also be improved for planes, so less fossil fuels will be used when flying.  For the military, I think that there will be less planes flown by people.  There will be more drones created and will keep the pilots safe from action.  Not only that, drones will be created for commercial airlines as well.  So pilots won’t be in the plane to fly the commercial airplanes, but they will still monitor the plane from a safe distance.  This could help avoid situations such as what occurred in a German airplane recently.  I also think the future holds the idea of individual planes.  Planes could become more individualized where most people could ride them with the development of more simple controls and maybe even automatic controls.  Airplanes could possibly become so individualized that they would become the top transporter instead of cars.