In the beginning of the 1900’s the invention of the airplane was becoming more and more popular. People around the world were experimenting with different types of aircraft. With all the aircraft that were being invented people started creating places to land these aircraft and so they started making airfields. One of the very first airfields that was available to pilots to land on was on Governors Island. Governors Island is located in Upper New York Bay and has 172 acres of land on it. Looking back in the past of Governors Island we see how Wilbur Wright and Glenn Curtiss first start the idea of Governors Island becoming an airfield. As we become more familiar with the past we will also see how the airfield was used as a training facility and then became a military base. We will also talk about the present how the airfield was used for the coast guard up until 1996 and now how construction is taking place as we speak for a future park that will open in May of 2014. To understand Governors Island we need to look at the past, the present and future of governor island then we can get a better grasp on what the airfield was like and will be later on in the future.
On October 4th 1909 Wilbur Wright was one of the first pilots who started landing on Governors Island. “Wilbur Wright made a demonstration flight, on 4 October 1909, along the Hudson River from governor’s island in New York harbor to president grant’s tomb and back, witnessed by over a million spectators.” (r.g grant) Wilbur Wright tried to win 15’000 dollars for flying more than 10 miles but fell short.After Wilbur Wright tried to win 15,000 dollars promised by organizers Glenn Curtis was offered 10,000 dollars to complete a flight from Albany to Governors Island. So on M...
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... there’s a lot of talk about Governors Island because in April 2010 mayor Bloomberg and governor Paterson reached an agreement on the future of Governors Island they created a trust and through that trust will transform Governors Island. In the summer of 2012 the construction for phase one began. Phase one will consist of six acre plaza that features moveable seating, public art, water features and seasonal plantings, 10 acres with 1,500 new trees and hammocks, 14 acres including lawn and two natural turf ball fields for play. The city will also put in hills on the island “The Hills will rise 25 to 80 feet above the Island, and the summit of the tallest Hill will provide visitors with a 360-degree panorama of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and the Lower Manhattan skyline.” The project will cost more than $260 million and is hoping to re-open in May of 2014.
Looking back upon the decade, the 1920s has been filled with many individuals who have changed our society. But there is one person who stands out among this group of people, Charles Augustus Lindbergh. Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo overseas, thus winning the Orteig Prize for his accomplishment. Nicknamed “The Lone Eagle”, Lindbergh has opened up the possibilities of overseas travels to us.
Once the Yankees take over the island, the government gives aid to all the runaway
It was the year 1919 when Raymond Orteig – a hotel owner- offered a $25,000 prize to the first successful pilot, or group of pilots, in the flight between New York and Paris. By the year 1923 the prize still lay unclaimed and the only attempt was a nonstop flight of 2,500 miles from San Diego to New York. Being the courageous and adventurous soul he is, Charles Lindbergh desired to take the challenge as soon as he discovered this news (Hanson, 1999, p._?_). Having much experience wit...
The Albany Airport has been around since 1908 when it was on a field in Loudonville Road. .In 1909 the airport was moved to Westerlo Island which was located in Albany, but at the time was the town of Bethlehem.At the time it was named Quentin Roosevelt Memorial Field, after Teddy Roosevelt’s son Quentin. Quentin was a World War One pilot who was shot down in combat. He fought with france, but was shot down by the germans on July 10, 1918. In honor of Roosevelt’s youngest son the airport was named after him.On 1928 Mayor John Boyd Thacher the second decided to build a modern airport on a Shaker site on 737 Albany-Shaker Road. This is where the airport stays today and on June 1,1928 the Albany Airport was opened for mail going west and on October 1, 1928 the airport was opened for mail and passengers going from Montreal to Albany to Newark and return. Since the airport has first started in 1908 it has had many famous people travel through the airport. Charles A. Lindbergh landed his “Spirit of St.Louis” at Quentin R...
The preflight arrangements for Charles A. Lindbergh’s flight began in early 1927. Charles A. Lindbergh presented his proposal to Knight, Bixby, and other St. Louis businesspersons whom were impressed with Lindbergh’s confidence and agreed to sponsor his flight. Lindbergh had setup a $15,000 budget and $2,000 of which was Lindberghs. A name, the Spirit of St. Louis, was established. Lindbergh was to choose the plane and decide on all other aspects of the proposed flight. According to Lindbergh, a single-engine plane, rather than a multiengine plane increased the chance of success. His theory was the less weight, the more fuel, the greater range. The experts would say that a solo flight across the Atlantic was simply suicide. The burden on the pilot was considered too great—he would have to stay awake for over thirty hours, enduring constant stresses. Immediately, Lindbergh began searching for the right plane at the right price. He contacted a number of aircraft companies. Some did not respond and some turned him down. Things were not looking good for Lindbergh. In early February 1927, the Ryan Airlines Corporation of San Diego, California, had responded within twenty-four hours of receiving Lindbergh’s telegram regarding a plane for his proposed transatlantic flight. Yes, they could produce a plane that could fly nonstop from New York to Paris. It would cost $6,000 not including the engine, and would take three months to build. The Ryan workers worked on the Spirit of St. Louis morning, noon, and night, seven days a week. Voluntary overtime became a normal operating procedure, and work on most other planes had nearly stopped. After meeting with the company’s president, they decided to modify an existing Ryan model by outfitting the plane with extra fuel tanks and increasing the wing area, thus would give the plane a maximum range of 4,000 miles, more than enough to reach Paris. In the picture to the right, it shows how the main fuel tank in the fro...
Before the war, African-American pilots weren't able to fly in battle due to segregation, even though blacks have been flying for a while beforehand, including pilots such as Bessie Coleman, Charles Alfred Anderson, and more, who'd fought oppression to become pilots (George 5). Army officials thought blacks couldn't fight, aren't as smart as whites, and weren't worthy enough of operating machines as complicated as airplanes. There was hope for African Americans who wanted to fly in the 1930s, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began to build up the U.S. armed forces, thinking of military-related ideas such as teaching civilians to fly, passing the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) in April 1939, which would provide training for 20,000 college students yearly as private pilots, and soon allowed the Secretary of War to lend equipment to schools for African-American pilot training (George 6). While this program was being developed, Edgar G. Brown, an African-American spokesman for government employees, arranged an unusual flight. Two black pilots from the National Airmen's Association, Dale White and Chauncey Spencer, would fly from Chicago, IL to Washington, D.C. in a run-down biplane. They met with Missouri senator and future president Harry S. Truman on May 9, 1939. Aviation was fairly new and a feat like this was impressive, and thus, it had impressed the president. Harry S. Truman was going to help them, and with the ...
While Topsail is now plagued by torrents of tourists and vastly spiking in development, in its early history, the island had many uses ranging from a Native Indian hunting ground, a hideout for pirates, and the home to a secret missile project, showing that even in its earliest history the island was not used for human inhabitance. Although frequently visited in the 1700s and 1800s by Tuscarora Indians and roaming pirates in the coastal waters, no bridge existed between the mainland and the island until the United States created Camp Davis during World War II and seized the island for military maneuvers and anti-aircraft exercises. Between...
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 1930’s is considered the Golden Age of Flight due to the rapid advances in technology regarding the introduction of flight in World War I and an increase of mass production ability. As the first commercial flights began during the beginning of the decade, approximately only 6,000 passengers boarded a plane. By 1934, there were about 450,000 and in 1938 there were bout 1.2 million passengers (Air Transport). Improvements in air travel during the 1930’s made traveling for both leisure and vacation easier and faster, yet it remained a luxury mainly for the wealthy, politicians and celebrities.
The largest passenger plane in the world, The Airbus A380 is a startling sight. The plane can handle up to 853 passengers and travel with one full tank of fuel up to 15, 700 kilometers. The airbus A380 is an amazing feat of aviation technology and it never ceases to amaze anyone that sees it. The exterior is only the beginning of the wonders you get to experience when you get to fly in the A380, but the interior never ceases to amaze any passenger that gets to fly in this magnificent plane.
Wilbur and Orville Wright are known as “the Fathers of Modern Aviation.” Wilbur and Orville Wright came from a family with five children. Their father, Milton Wright, was a bishop and often traveled around as a result. Their mother was Susan Catherine Koerner and their father brought toys for their children when he comes back from his trips. Wilbur was born on April 16, 1867 and Orville was born in 1871. In 1878, when Wilbur was about 11 years old and Orville was about 7 years old, their father brought back a small model helicopter. It peaked their interest so much that this gift from their father helped develop their love of aeronautics. The model helicopter was made of materials such
In 1958, the United States government created the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) because of increasing safety concerns due to aviation accidents. However, they were not the first government organization that regulated air transportation. Even in 1958, the FAA shared certain responsibilities with other organizations. The responsibilities of the FAA at the time were limited when compared to their functions today, but it was an important step to effectively create a safe air transportation environment. To truly understand why the FAA was created, one must first understand the government’s role within the country’s transportation system.
Cruising on a seven-forty-seven, a frequent occurrence in current American society, but a pretty young industry in the broad scope of the United States’ history. It was only a little over one hundred years ago that the first airplane glided for twelve seconds. The impact of air travel can clearly be examined by looking at how humanity operated and communicated without it, how flight was innovated, and how the aviation industry changed different aspects of american life on a national scale.
* Engineers must be able to work as part of a team. The ability to
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).