Aviation In World War 1 Essay

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Aviation in World War 1
Historical Context They first unpowered flight occurred in 1902 by, brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright on a beach in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers completed over 700 flights with their gliders. Having mastered glided flight, the brothers strived for powered flight. The brothers began by searching for a light, powerful engine that they could use, however, no automobile manufacturer could provide such an engine. So, the Wright brothers designed and built their own. And on December 17, 1903 Orville Wright piloted the first powered aircraft over a wind-swept North Carolina beach. “The body [was] supported by a pair of wings that run its length, their inclination being controlled by a pilot wheel, so that the …show more content…

The first uses of aircraft in WW1 was reconnaissance on the enemies. In March 1915 the first surveillance squadrons were formed to fly the Western Front with three main duties. The first of the duties was photographic recon. The photographs were used to form mosaic maps of enemy trenches. “Aerial photography was crucial to the conduct of military operations on the ground. The mapping and analysis of evidence brought back on film provided the best source of information on enemy emplacements” (Winter …show more content…

The rotary engine consisted of a stationary crankshaft with the entire engine block rotating around it, unlike the radial engine which had a stationary engine block and rotating crankshaft. The rotary engine achieved great success during the war due to three key factors. The first factor was the very smooth running of the engine. Rotaries delivered power very smoothly because there are no reciprocating parts, and the relatively large rotating mass of the crankcase, or cylinders acted as a flywheel. The second factor was the increased cooling of the engine. When the engine was running the rotation of the cylinders created its own fast moving airflow, even when the aircraft was

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