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Role of Airships during World Wars
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The History of The Airship
Airships. In the early years of War, these beasts were known for their majestic presence in the sky and were icons of a country's power and prestige. They reigned mostly as reconnaissance and transport utility aircraft but there was something about this "lighter-than-air" ship that made it far more than a mere utility workhorse. In this essay, I will discuss the ever-popular and ever- living king of the sky; the Airship.
Airships, or dirigibles, were developed from the free balloon. Three classes of airships are recognized: the non-rigid, commonly called blimp, in which the form of the bag is maintained by pressure of the gas; the semi-rigid airship, in which, to maintain the form, gas pressure acts in conjunction with a longitudinal keel; and the rigid airship, or zeppelin, in which the form is determined by a rigid structure. Technically all three classes may be called dirigible (Latin dirigere, "to direct, to steer") balloons. Equipped with a bag containing a gas such as helium or hydrogen which is elongated or streamlined to enable easy passage through the air, these Airships could reach speeds up to
10mph with a 5hp steam engine propeller.
The first successful airship was that of the French engineer and inventor Henri
Giffard, who constructed in 1852 a cigar-shaped, non-rigid gas bag 44 m (143 ft) long, driven by a screw propeller rotated by a 2.2-kw (3-hp) steam engine. He flew over Paris at a speed of about 10 km/hr (about 6 mph). Giffard's airship could be steered only in calm or nearly calm weather. The first airship to demonstrate its ability to return to its starting place in a light wind was the
La France, developed in 1884 by the French inventors Charles Renard and Arthur
Krebs. It was driven by an electrically rotated propeller. The Brazilian aeronaut Alberto Santos-Dumont developed a series of 14 airships in France. In his No. 6, in 1901, he circled the Eiffel Tower.
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the German inventor, completed his first airship in 1900; this ship had a rigid frame and served as the prototype of many subsequent models. The first zeppelin airship consisted of a row of 17 gas cells individually covered in rubberized cloth; the whole was confined in a cylindrical framework covered with smooth-surfaced cotton cloth. It was about
128 m (about 420 ft) long and 12 m (38 ft) in diameter; the hydrogen-gas capacity totaled 1,129,842 liters (399,000 cu ft). The ship was steered by forward and aft rudders and was driven by two 11-kw (15-hp) Daimler internal- combustion engines, each rotating two propellers.
Ever since I was little I was amazed at the ability for a machine to fly. I have always wanted to explore ideas of flight and be able to actually fly. I think I may have found my childhood fantasy in the world of aeronautical engineering. The object of my paper is to give me more insight on my future career as an aeronautical engineer. This paper was also to give me ideas of the physics of flight and be to apply those physics of flight to compete in a high school competition.
Major Ted Tolman’s F-105 Thud fighter/bomber streaked through the air at just under the speed of sound. His aircraft performed modestly at best, struggling to maintain its speed and altitude under the heavy load of ordinance and fuel it carried under its wings (Patrick).
The First World War was monumental in history because of all the new technology that was introduced. One particular area that developed during the Great War was the use of airplanes by the German and Allied militaries. In comparison, they both had different mentalities towards an invention that was only made successful less than a decade before the outbreak of war in 1914 by the Wright Brothers in North Carolina, United States. The German Military welcomed the idea with open arms, investing in its potential for military uses, whereas the Allies remained reserved and hesitant, claiming that aircraft could not be used for anything more offensive than reconnaissance missions. These differences in opinions later affected the development of each air force. The German military kept making consistent improvements to their equipment whereas the allied pilots were slow in their respective air force evolution. However, there was a common progression that both militaries had which was the slow phasing out of the cavalry on either side due to the effectiveness of the aircrafts reconnaissance and battle capabilities. During the World War One, the German military took advantage of the new technology available to them, which gave significant results, whereas the Allies had a more traditional mindset and followed behind at a slower pace.
Over 60 years ago, airships were the "queens of the skies." In the early 1900s, a stubborn, yet brilliant German count, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, took keen interest in balloon flights and was devoted to the design and construction of airships. At first, he had many difficulties and setbacks but soon his airships were able to accommodate passengers as well. This lighter-than-air vehicle will later be known as a zeppelin.
It was about 8 A.M. on March 21st, 1993 in New York. A mechanic spinned the propellers on the front of the “Spirit Of St. Louis” then the roar of the plane started with over 400 gallons of gas in the engine. If this trip was completed then Lindbergh would win $25,000. “The engine is turning a bit slow,” a mechanic said. “It’s the wetness in the air”. (Collins 54) It was raining late in the night and that caused the wet mud. “The Spirit Of St. Louis moved forward forward like a heavy truck. The wheels cut into the mud. Still, the airplane gained speed. Finally Charles pulled the throttle back. The wheels left the ground.” (Collins 56) Charles took off on the smooth dirt runway in New York from the rain earlier and started lifting off into the air and close to hitting the telephone poles at the end of the runway. At 9:52 A.M. he was 500 feet in the air and of course had a lot of turbulence and he still had a long time until paris over 3,000 miles to go. Then at 11:52 A.M the wind picks up and goes up to 9 mph and lowers to about 20 feet from the water because he was feeling tired. “Suddenly a thick storm cloud closed around the plane. Charles pulled his safety belt tighter. The air within the storm cloud shook the plane.”(Collins 57) Another hour has passed and wind has picked up and he is starting to end up in a storm. “Charles circled the airport. Slowly he dropped lower. At 10:24 P.M., the Spirit Of St. Louis landed. The 3,600-mile flight had taken 33 1/2 hours”(Collins 62) At 10:24 PM the next day he touches down in Bourget Aerodrom, Pari...
Yet as all younglings do, the hurricane drifted away from its progenitors. Borne upon its own winds, the hurricane whirled westward at speeds between 12 and 15 miles per hour (Longshore). It was like a newborn foal discovering its legs for the first time and thus altogether too eager to move of its own volition. A sense of wanderlust for the world infused the entity’s essence.
World War II was one of the deadliest military conflicts in history. There were many different battles that took place within this war; some more important than others. World War II began once Germany’s new dictator, Adolf Hitler, decided that he wanted to gain power for Germany and for himself. One of Hitler’s first moves in power was invading Poland on September 1, 1939. Many other countries became involved in this war because of the alliance system. The two sides during this war were the Allies and Axis powers. German, Italy and Japan were on the Axis powers; France, Britain, and the United States were on the Allies. Germany first began with the Blitzkrieg tactic meaning “lightning war”. This tactic is based on speed, surprise and was the most popular tactic. It is set up with military forces based around tanks which are supported by planes and infantry. The Blitzkrieg tactic lead to air wars with airplanes between countries. All of the countries were allowed to participate in the air wars but the four main countries were United States, Japan, Britain, and Germany. During the 1920’s and 1930’s airplanes grew in size and structure giving them more power, and making planes more effective. Planes made it easier to drop bombs, or plan attacks. All of these countries fought over air superiority. Air superiority is the position in which the air force has control over all of the air warfare and air power of the opposing forces. Germany began with air superiority but they lost it when Britain defeated them at the Battle of Britain. Gaining control over the air is a very big advantage because it is easier to plan an attack on an opposing country. All of the countries relied on their aircrafts during this war. The issue about the use of...
"Impact of Wright Flyer | The Wright Flyer." The Wright Flyer. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
The Wright brothers were engineers and pioneers of aviation. Wilbur Wright was born April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana. He was the middle child in a family of five children. His father, Milton Wright, was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. His mother was Susan Catherine Koerner. When Wilbur was a child, his playmate was his younger brother, Orville Wright, born in 1871. The Wright brothers achieved the first powered, and controlled airplane flight. They surpassed their own milestone two years later when they built and flew the first fully practical plane.
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.
The brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, possibly the two most renowned representatives of American aeronautics, were the first to experience controlled, continuous flight of a powered airplane in history. Despite being autodidactic in the area of engineering, the duo proved to be extraordinarily successful, testing and refining their strategies to overcome successive challenges that arose with the building of a plane (Crouch 226). The two were so far ahead in the race for flight that they even anticipated and found solutions to problems that more learned scientists could not have even begun to predict. Successful, man-controlled, powered flight was a fundamental turning point in history; it transformed the methods of how the United States fought its battles, powered developmental and technological change, revolutionized travel and trade, and provided help in forming the world into what it is today.
Benson, Tom. "Overview of the Wright Brothers' Invention Process." Re-Living the Wright Way -- NASA, 12 June 2014, wright.nasa.gov/overview.htm. Accessed 22 Nov. 2016.
Since the development of the steam engine people had been interested in creating self-powered vehicles, this manifested during the industrial revolution as the train. However, as time went on people became interested in creating a vehicle that wasn’t confined to tracks. The earliest attempts were moderately successful but served little practical purpose. Automobiles first began to truly spread with the invention of the electric motor which created cheaper, more powerful, and safer automobiles. Still the automobile still had numerous problems and were mainly in the hands of the rich. It was the development of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line that was truly able to create a practical vehicle that could be used by all and propelled the automobile into the heart of American culture and made it one of the most significant inventions of the post-industrial revolution era, resulting in a complete revolution of society.
plane and a boat's sail lifts and pushes it forward. Imagine the sail of a boat
There are many inventions of the future that people either know or hope will happen and some inventions that people have never thought that would happen in this or the next lifetime. For instance, one piece of future technology that I believe may come to pass is the invention of flying cars. Since the time of being young and watching the Jetsons, many people have been waiting to see the first flying car. While bringing up the idea of a flying car to a lot of people would seem absurd or downright impossible to some, I actually believe that it is very much so possible to create given how far technology has come in the past few decades. I think that it is a very logical conclusion to assume that at some point in the future engineers, car makers, and others will start to pursue other alternatives to avoiding traffic jams and other problems on the road, and instead begin to examine the possibilities of taking to the air as an alternative solution. There is much talk about it over the internet and many people would like to try flying cars. While it would greatly improve traffic for those that prefer staying on the ground, it may prove dangerous in the beginning because of accidents in the air with other cars, planes, trees, and buildings. Some would say though, that the convenience would outweigh the risks because there would not be traffic jams, or detours because of road work. These cars would need something like a GPS system and an anti-wrecking system so people would not run into each other or other objects (How Flying Cars Will Work).