Fokker has a long history in aviation, starting in 1910 when Anthony Fokker built and flew the first Dutch-built plane to fly in the Netherlands. This plane was called, “the Spin (Spider)” which was the base for many more aircraft. In 1911 Anthony gained fame in the Netherlands, by flying the Spin around the tower of the St-.Bavokerk in Haarlem. Anthony saw a brighter future in Germany and decided to set up his first factory near Berlin. He started out by building a number of versions of “the Spin“, for the German military.
During World War 1, Fokker built military aircraft for the Germany air force. Anthony was able to capitalize on WW1 because he had already sold aircraft to the German government.
At this time he also developed a machine gun which was mechanically linked to the engine of the aircraft. This allowed the machine gun to be mounted directly behind the propeller and fire bullets without destroying the propeller. This new development brought about a year of
Germany air force superiority called, “Fokker Scourge” or “Fokker Scare”. The years after
WW1, from 1920 to 1930, ar...
There were many technological developments in WWl. Machine guns were invented to help soldiers kill many people at the same time. Machine guns could fire
As World War One broke out, the use of aviation became more common for scouting purposes and Fokker looked to sell his planes to the countries involved. Due to the fact that the Netherlands was a neutral country throughout the entire course of the war Fokker geared his sights on other European countries, which he explains about his autobiography:
Lindbergh’s passion for mechanics didn’t come as a surprise to many. As a young boy, Charles seemed to be very interested in the family’s motorized vehicles, such as the Saxon Six automobile and Excelsior motorbike. But after starting college in the fall of 1920 as a mechanical engineer, his love for aviation started to bloom. Deciding that the field of aviation was more exciting, he dropped out within 2 years. He then decided to take lessons at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and was up in the air for the first time on April 9, 1922 when he was in a two seat biplane as a passenger. But his solo flight would not be until May 1923 at the Souther Field in Americus, Georgia, an old flight training field where Lindbergh came to buy a World War I Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane. It only took half an hour to practice with another pilot at the field to decide that Lindbergh was ready to fly the plane himself. After a week of practicing, Lindbergh took off on his biplane on his first solo cross country flight and few weeks after that, achieving his first nighttime flight near Arkansas, both marking huge milestones for the young pilot.
The name General Carl ‘Tooey’ Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. Famous engineers have taken the Wright-Brothers design and made great improvements to them while slowly integrating these new powerful means of transportation, weaponry and communication aids into the military. Since the onset of World War I there has been a debate on how to most effectively use these new airplanes in the Army’s collection. Most individuals believed that airplanes should be under control of the Army theater commander, while very few felt that these airplanes should be a separate entity from the Army. One of these few people who believed that the Air Force should be separate is General Spaatz. General Spaatz possessed perseverance, leadership attributes and military knowledge; all factors leading him becoming a substantial proponent of a separate Air Force. Spaatz legacy continues to live on; his leadership skills continue to influence people today as General Spaatz is still able to impact air power in the 21st century.
The gun was a hand-crank-operated weapon with six barrels revolving around a central shaft. Having a gun that revolves was very difficult because the barrels would not always line up correctly when being fired. The original gun was actually designed to fire the standard military issue paper cartridge of the day, .58 caliber. A .58 caliber bullet has a diameter of an inch and is capable of damaging anything it hits. The paper cartridge was placed inside a steel or brass chamber with a percussion nipple on the back end just like the muzzle loading rifles and pistols of there time.
World War One was known as the war that would end all wars. At first, airplanes in the war were thought to have just little combat use. An unknown British general even commented, " The airplane is useless for the purpose of war." In the beginning of the First World War, the airplanes were pretty simple and raw. By the end of the war, aircraft had become more advanced and had split off into fighters, bombers and long-range bombers. The specifications of the airplanes were changed to meet the war's requirements. When the War started in August of 1914, British airmen were associated with the British army and their commissioned officers had army ranks. Before the United State’s declaration of war in 1917, American nationals had enlisted in British and French air services including the Lafayette Escadrille. By the time the war ended in November of 1918, the Royal Flying Corps no longer prevailed and was absorbed into the recently developed Royal Air Force. The Royal Air Force now had its own command structure away from the army and provided its own ranks.
On December 17, 1903 the first ever powered flying machine named the Kitty Hawk was successfully tested by the Wright Brothers. Three and a half years later on August 1, 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps formed the first aeronautical division in the military (History of the Air Force Part 1). During World War One American planes were still very primitive compared to the other nations; most skilled American pilots were flying French planes because they were more advanced and trustworthy than their own American planes. And thanks to the Army Reorganization Act of 1920 that made the Air Service a combat arm of the military, and in 1926 the Air Corps Act was established and the Air Service changed its name to the Air Corps on July 2nd 1926 (History of the Air Force Part 2). After Adolf Hitler kicked off World War two by invading Poland, The Army Air Corps began a steady growth from twenty six thousand and less than two thousand air craft to eighty thousand air craft and over two point four million personal.
However, he knew that American involvement was inevitable, so he and his advisors agreed that the best way to rapidly mobilize the economy was to give industry an incentive to move quickly. One way the government encouraged companies to help prepare for the war effort was through cost-plus contracts. These contracts meant that the government covered the cost for a company to produce military goods as well as paid them a percentage of the profit. The goal of the cost-plus contracts was to encourage companies to switch the production of their businesses to help manufacture more military supplies; and the more a company produces, and the faster it accomplishes its task, the more money it earns.... ... middle of paper ...
"1920's Aviation." The 1920's - Roaring Twenties - The Nineteen Twenties in History. 2005. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
...sky and his invention of the helicopter had an important impact on the way people travel.
War has been a recurring part of America’s history for the past hundreds of years. From the 1700s to the present, America has gotten into numerous situations and turmoil, which eventually lead to the wars we currently study and know about today. Technological advancements in warfare were necessary and a great obligation during times of war. This was pursued with drastic improvement. From the transformation of the use of smoothbore muskets during the Civil War to the industrial revolution leading to weaponry innovations post civil war, the nature of warfare dramatically changed. These developments proved to be proficient in battle. In the midst of these hundreds of years, while many technological advances demonstrated to be efficient in battle, the machine gun was one of the most significant advancements in technology that changed the face of warfare through its transformation of operations and strategy.
The inventors of the airplane were none other than Orville and Wilbur Wright. The two brothers were the pioneers of the airplane. Both born during the late 1800s, the older of the two, Wilbur, was born on April 16, 1867. Wilbur was born in the town of Millville, Indiana. The younger sibling, Orville, was born August 19, 1871. Orville, unlike his older brothers, was born in Dayton, Ohio.
Planes have developed immensely through the years. The Wright brothers developed the first plane in 1903.
"Wright Brothers Information Packet: Primary Sources - Special Collection & Archives." Wright State University Libraries, www.libraries.wright.edu/special/wrightbrothers/packet/primary.
No other weapon in my opinion has changed the face of the battlefield as has the machine gun. It's design and and association with mass death makes it a great and powerful weapon. Two men, Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, made huge impacts in the development of the Machine Gun and bringing it to use in the military. These two brilliant men designed capable and reliable versions of Machine guns in a time when everyone was making unreliable models. However before we get into discussion about the inventions of Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, it's important to understand how machine guns were developed.