8. Why does the author compare
the air races of the twenties and thirties with stock car racing?
I think that perhaps the author compares the air races of the twenties
and thirties with stock car racing due to it becoming less popular and more for
a certain audience, as well as the machinery used. More specifically, he is referring to the
Thompson and Bendix races. These were for pure entertainment and are on a
closed-course. NASCAR typically is only
attractive to only one certain kind of audience, and is not as broad and
popular as football or baseball (Not meaning to sound stereotypical, I am a
huge NASCAR fan and this is merely observation). It is also an American sport, not popular
worldwide like soccer or Formula 1 racing.
The Thomson and Bendix races were not internationally popular like the
Schneider Trophy, another type of aerial race.
As for machinery, the author states that “Production airplanes were now
flying faster than specialized racing aircraft.” (289) This is what led to the
end of the air races in America. The
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has specific cars, specific
rules for the way these cars are made in order for you to race, and they are
not good for driving on anything other than the racetrack. At the end of the aerial racing era,
technology had surpassed their specially made racing aircraft. It was not practical for these planes to be
used like this any longer, just as it’s not practical to purchase a racecar to
drive to work.
9. What opportunities existed
for women and African Americans in aviation during this period?
With aviation came the idea that “… a mastery of flight would banish
the notion that some were less capable than the white males who had dominated
the new technology.” (307) It provided an opportunity for groups that were
discriminated against, such as women and African Americans, to prove they were
just as good as the white man. Women, despite
the doubts from men about their mental capacity to handle flight, had been able
to fly from the beginning, albeit their numbers were one-third that of the
number of male pilots. This is proven by
the fact that Amelia Earhart is arguably the second-most recognizable aviator
in America. African Americans, on the
other hand, did not get off as easy as women did. There were African American pilots, less in
number than women pilots, however it did not change the general social
discrimination against them, and their achievements “…remained virtually
unknown to white newspaper readers.” (312)
10. What role did airships and
clipper ships play in aviation between the wars?
After WWI, airships were hoped to bring a new era of intercontinental
transportation. However, with the crash of
the British R 101 in 1960 killing all of the passengers this idea was
abandoned. After the war the Germans
were the ones who had mastered the airship designs with their Zeppelins. Between the wars the U.S. and Germany
continued to work on airships, trying to find the best design and function, but
ultimately failed. The era of the
airship ended with the invention of the large flying boats. “The story of the rigid airship illustrates
the role of transitional technologies that flourish until more appropriate
means of performing a task reach fruition.” (295) These large flying boats, or clipper ships,
were another means of trying to link continents when land-based aircraft was
not able to yet. Ultimately it was much
more successful than the airships. It
served as a peaceful aviation goal during the interwar years that the U.S.,
Britain, and France could focus on. Sadly, with the ease and practicality of
modern air travel, the “sense of adventure offered by an aerial voyage aboard a
Clipper is gone forever.” (355)
