Laurel Easterling

Aviation: The History of

Flight

• Humans have always been intrigued with flying and anything associated with it.• For example, the Greek myth about Daedalus and Icarus shows that ancient cultures were interested in flight too.

Fascination with Flight

•The Chinese were the first to invent kites.•They invented them for ceremonies, festivals, and recreation.

Leonardo da Vinci•Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian who designed many things.•He made over 100 drawings of flight machines.•Also, he invented the Orinthopter, a device similar to today’s helicopters.

Montgolfier Brothers•On June 4, 1783, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier created the first hot air balloon, carrying a rooster, a duck, and a sheep.•October 15, 1783, another balloon carried two passengers.

Otto Lilienthal was the first to create a glider that would carry a human for long distances.

Sir George Cayley greatly contributed to aviation by realizing that a machine needs a rotating device and not a flapping device in order to fly.

Wright Brothers

•On December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright created the first biplane that lifted off of the ground in Kitty Hawk, NC. It traveled 127 feet in 12 seconds

• After the Wright Brothers, flight quickly evolved.• Postal Services began to transport packages, making delivery time shorter. US Postal Service first announced their new air transportation system in 1925.• Other postal services followed suit. This created immense air traffic, resulting in air regulations that limited the number of postal services transporting mail by air.

• Air crafts have been essential in warfare. The first bomb dropped from an airplane was on January 7, 1911.• Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947. He did this with two broken ribs.

Commercial Airlines

At first, flight travel was not popular due to safety concerns.It wasn’t until the 1950s that commercial airlines like American Airlines became popular. This is in part due to celebrities like Shirley Temple who purchased tickets and encouraged others to do so. During the 1970s, commercial travel increased in popularity again.

• Wood (Spruce) made the frame and braces• Fabric (mainly canvas, occasionally linen)• Wires

Early Materials Used for Gliders

Materials Used in Modern Airplanes

Modern airplanes are made of many different materials

including the following:

• Metals (steel, aluminum)

• Cloth

• Rubber

• Fiber glass

• Plastics

To Summarize:

• Kites are the first known flying device. Invented by the Chinese.• Early airplanes used wood and fabric along with wires.• Modern airplanes use fiberglass, metals, and plastics.• Throughout history, many people have contributes to aviation such as Leonardo da Vinci, the Montgolfier brothers, the Wright brothers, and many others. • Commercial flight was not popular until the 1950s and underwent another increase in popularity in the 1970s.

Bibliography• Not Given. History of Flight, (not dated) NASA September 8, 2010, [http://www.veet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/historyofflight.html]• Not Given. Aviation Timeline, (not dated) [http://www.century-of-flight/Aviation%20history/aviation%20timeline/timeline.htm]• Boyd, Lydia. Brief History of the U.S. Airline Industry, (January 25, 2008) September 9, 2010 [http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/airline-history.html]• Not Given. Chuck Yeager, (2007) Ace Pilots, September 9, 2010 [http://www.acepilots.com/usaaf_yeager2.html#top]• Not Given. Materials and Technology, (not dated) Britanica, September 10, 2010 [http://www.britanica.com/Ebchecked/topic/11014/airplane/64165/Materials-and-consturction]ImagesImage01 http://www.old-picture.com/wright-brothers/pictures/Wright-Brothers-Airplane-001.jpgImage02 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/FA-18_Hornet_breaking_sound_barrier_(7_July_1999)_-_filtered.jpgImage03 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/FedEx_MD-11E_n607FE.jpgImage04 http://www.wfmpo.com/admin/assets/Pictures/passengers.jpgImage05 http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/images/2007/08/10/kites_in_sky_460_460x300.jpgImage06 http://www.thinkgeneology.com/wp-content/uploads/leonardo_da_vinci_helicopter_and_lifting_wing.jpgImage07 http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/Montgolfier-Balloon/IMAGES/Montgolfier-balloon.jpgImage08 http://www.old-picture.com/wright-brothers/pictures/otto-Lilienthal-Glider-1895.jpgImage09 http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/aviation%20timeline/images2/10.jpgImage10 http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/smart-bomb-6.jpgImage11 http://falyza.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/daedalus1.jpgImage12 http://intlxpatr.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/blue-angels-formation-02.jpg

Laurel Easterling

Aviation: The History of

Flight