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Emerging Aviation Technology
Over the past one hundred years, aviation has allowed the United States to make huge technological advancements. These advancements have shaped and influenced the American culture in a positive way, providing Americans an enriched, productive way of life.
From the first flight of the Wright Brothers in December, 1903, to the Rocky Mountain Airshow in August, 2013, one can observe how aviation technology has advanced over the years. The Rocky Mountain Airshow in August of 2013 exhibited aircraft from World War II to the modern F-22 Raptor. Thousands of people flocked to see demonstrations of new and older aviation technology firsthand. During the demonstration of the F-22 Raptor, the latest and greatest fighter aircraft for the United States military, the feeling of supremacy and pride could be felt among the entire crowd as chills shot up and down the spectators’ spine. The sound, speed, agility, technological advances, and sheer size of the aircraft were awe-inspiring. Being on the receiving end of such dominance and power for whatever reason is exhilarating. To witness the Raptor firsthand in 2013, a person cannot help feeling thunderstruck and astounded about the advancements made in aviation over the past one hundred years.
Imagine what the current economy would be like without aviation! Today, practically every business depends upon its many services. Aviation is an integral part of how companies in the United States do business throughout the world. Mailing packages that used to take weeks or months to deliver can now be delivered in a matter of hours. Because commerce has become industrious, companies rely solely on products being delivered throughout the world. FedEx’s average daily volume i...
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..., from 2011 Annual Report: http://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/2/45099/115316/pub/html/16.html
Dunbar, B. (2011, December 5). Kepler-22 System. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/kepler-22b-diagram.html
FedEx. (2014, March 19). About FedEx. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from FedEx: http://about.van.fedex.com/fedex_corporation
The U.S. Travel Association. (2012, June 6). U.S. Travel Answer Sheet. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from PoweofTravel.org: http://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/page/2009/09/USTravelAnswerSheet_June2012.pdf
Tobin, J. (2003). To Conquer the Air The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight. New York: Free Press.
U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innnovative Technology Admininistration. (2014, ). TranStats. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from RITA: http://www.transtats.bts.gov/
In today’s world, the use of airplanes in wars or in everyday life has become a part of how we live as human beings. Removing the air forces of the world is like taking a step back in time when wars were only fought on land or sea. WWI began only eleven short years after the Wright brothers achieved powered flight in 19031 and yet aircrafts were being used for surveillance and eventually combat purposes. It is understood that these aircrafts were primitive, but they laid down the foundation for what we know today as fighter jets. The Fokker Eindecker “revolutionized air combat by successfully employing a synchronized forward -firing machine gun mounted on the engine cowling”2. Because this airplane became the first to successfully use a synchronized machine gun, it allowed its pilots to become the first aerial combat tactitions3.
The history of flying dates back as early as the fifteenth century. A Renaissance man named Leonardo da Vinci introduced a flying machine known as the ornithopter. Da Vinci proposed the idea of a machine that had bird like flying capabilities. Today no ornithopters exist due to the restrictions of humans, and that the ornithopters just aren’t practical. During the eighteenth century a philosopher named Sir George Cayley had practical ideas of modern aircraft. Cayley never really designed any workable aircraft, but had many incredible ideas such as lift, thrust, and rigid wings to provide for lift. In the late nineteenth century the progress of aircraft picks up. Several designers such as Henson and Langley, both paved the way for the early 1900’s aircraft design. Two of the most important people in history of flight were the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers were given the nickname the “fathers of the heavier than air flying machine” for their numerous flights at their estate in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright created a motor-powered biplane in which they established incredible feats of the time. The Wright Brothers perfected their design of the heavier than air flying ma...
The roots of today’s aviation regulations extend back to December 17, 1903 when the Wright Brothers first took to the skies in North Carolina. The Wright Brothers set the stage for aviation regulation. After World War I returning pilots bought some surplus war airplanes and went into business. These pilots were known as the barnstormers. These barnstormers performed acrobatic shows and gave local people rides. During this period of time the public perception of the aviation industry was that of a daredevil or reckless. Aviation took off very slowly because it was too expensive for most consumers. Primarily the wealthy were able to take trips to the East Coast. Uses of aviation included advertising, aerial photography, crop dusting and carrying illegal shipments of alcohol during the prohibition.
McNeely, Gina. "Legacy of Flight." Aviation History. Mar. 1998: Academic Search Premier. 8 Nov. 2003.
Armies and Navies have clashed since antiquity, but the airplane that enables aerial combat is barely a century old. Airplanes saw widespread combat in the First World War, and, despite the doubts and financial concerns of military leaders of the time, the brave men who fly them have gained their own dedicated military division, the United States Air Force. Billy Mitchell, through his charisma and an image that endeared him in American culture, was an instrumental figure in developing the modern Air Force.
Travelling across the country in an old Ford Model T would never be easy; but, traveling in a Model T on a bumpy dirt road with ruts and holes, is almost unbearable. Thankfully, many advances in America’s roadway systems came about in the 1900s. Traveling from one city to another has become not only quicker and easier, but also safer, thanks to the many innovations that roadways have experienced over the last century. Many engineers put in a lot of time and effort to make these innovations, and need to be accredited for their scientific achievements. However, getting to the roadway system that we take for granted today did not happen overnight.
Surface Transportation Board (2012). FY 2012 Annual Report. Washington, DC: Chairman Daniel R. Elliott III
A switch from premium overnight services to lower – margin deferred services and ground delivery services is an advantage to Airborne Express. With existing assets including trucks, tracking systems, regional hubs and sorting facilities, they only need minor initial investments to develop fully these kinds of services. They should use these assets wisely and effectively.
Wilbur Wright once said, “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.” He changed American culture forever when he made the first flight alongside his brother Orville. This invention would have an even greater impact on our culture than cars. Although cars are used every day in America, planes have had the largest impact on American culture. Without planes, our lives would be drastically different, but not in a good way. Airplanes had a major impact on military, commerce, and travel.
"The Wright Brothers | The Aerial Age Begins." National Air and Space Museum |, Alcoa, airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/age/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.
Howard, F. (1987,1998). Wilbur And Orville A Biography Of The Wright Brothers. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Few things escaped the shadow cast by World War II, and the aviation industry was no exception. For 60 wearisome months, United put aside its quest for growth and
Airline and travel industry profitability has been strapped by a series of events starting with a recession in business travel after the dotcom bust, followed by 9/11, the SARS epidemic, the Iraq wars, rising aviation turbine fuel prices, and the challenge from low-cost carriers. (Narayan Pandit, 2005) The fallout from rising fuel prices has been so extreme that any efficiency gains that airlines attempted to make could not make up for structural problems where labor costs remained high and low cost competition had continued to drive down yields or average fares at leading hub airports. In the last decade, US airlines alone had a yearly average of net losses of $9.1 billion (Coombs, 2011).
The aviation industry is constantly evolving as each day brings new and better technology than the last. As a student pursuing a future career in the aviation industry it is very important to understand all the technologies being used within it—especially those related directly to the flight aspect. This CNN article contains a lot of valuable information regarding the Concorde as the first commercial plane with supersonic capabilities—as well as the improvements and the future technological advancements to come. As a future pilot, it is absolutely necessary to understand the different types of flight within the world, especially the controversy surrounding certain types of flight—like supersonic flight—as it won’t be long before the current aviation students are the ones running the industry. In a history class such as Aviation History and Development it is important to study supersonic flight, as the debate surrounding it isn’t a new problem, but rather a reoccurring one of many years past. Often times fear of technology, such as the fear of super speed flight, come from the uncertainty and lack of knowledge regarding the subject. If one looks to the past they often can discover information regarding how the technology works and it can often quell fears as one can read about the thousands of improvements made since the original model. This article was selected based on its substantial information regarding past and future technologies, as well as its discussions regarding the evolution of high-speed flight. After reading this article about the Concorde and the future of supersonic flight, one will feel much more confident not only regarding the knowledge of the past but also about the future technology as it comes into use.
The humble aeroplane commonly known as the airplane or just plane has become a staple of everyday life for the majority of us. Aeroplanes are used for a vast variety of reasons, the most common being transporting people long distances in a very short amount of time. However, this is not the only role that they play in society, they are used for many other things such as; transportation of goods, recreation, military and research. Aeroplanes are a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust, usually from a jet engine or propeller. This essay will discuss the history of how this technology that we know and love came to fruition and how it reached the market through diffusion.