Outline of Plans - Palo Verde High School AFJROTC · Outline of Plans The pages of this text are designed for reading aloud, discussion, presentation on visual projectors, and/or

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Social Studies In Flight Outline

educationinflight101.com

Outline of Plans

The pages of this text are designed for reading aloud, discussion, presentation on visual projectors, and/or photocopying for distribution

to students. Pace changes, extensions, enhancements, and diversions relevant to each teacher’s specific classes are encouraged.

Lesson 1Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 4Class Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 4Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 5Homework: Research of unusual aircraft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 5

Lesson 2Review and Discuss HomeworkAviation Firsts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 6History of Flight Photos and Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 7-8History of Flight Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 9-11Time Line Assignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 11

Lesson 3Men and Women Aviators Photos and Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 12-13Men and Women Aviators Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 14Aviation Advancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 15

Lesson 4Aircraft Photos and Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 16-18Unit Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 19-20

Supplementary ActivitiesAlpha Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 21

Teacher's Notes and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 22

Astronaut Cover Photo Credit: NASA

Writer Editor Educator Review Board Judy Beverly Sharon Sailor John Hineman Ben Saxon Peter J. Kappas Gainesville, FL Gainesville, FL Monaca, PA Ocala, FL Freedom, PA

Social Studies In Flight Lesson 1

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1. Make a list of at least 10 functions provided by aircraft.

Project yourself into a society in which there are no aircraft. How could each of those functions be accomplished in an aircraft-less society? Compare

the times each function would take by air and alternate means of transporta-tion.

2. List events in history that provided an acceleration of growth in the aviation industry.

As soon as Orville Wright completed the first successful heavier-than-air powered flight, fliers advanced into the frontiers of the sky in search of greater speed, greater heights and longer distances. The daring, brave men and women pilots became the heroes of the sky as many firsts were recorded and numerous records were broken. New and improved plane designs and engines trans-lated to greater, more daring performances

in the air. Following World War II, high altitude research planes rocketed to unheard of speeds, flying faster than the speed of sound. Several decades later, man rocketed to the Moon. Since 1903, many advances have been made in the aviation and aero-space industries. Both men and women have broken many records, and there continue to be pioneers in the air and in space.

Introduction

Class Discussion

September 18, 1947:The Air Force is born

In the aftermath of World War II, President Harry S. Truman approved the Na-tional Security Act of 1947 that realigned and reorga-nized the United States’ armed forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus. President Tru-man also issued Executive Order 9877 that by presi-dential directive outlined the duties of the three services. Each service was respon-sible for the area in which it operated — ground, sea, and air, although the Navy retained an air arm and the Marine Corps. The new National Military Establish-ment, along with a majority of the provisions of the Na-tional Security Act of 1947 took effect on September 18, 1947; the day after the Senate confi rmed James V. Forrestal as the fi rst Secre-tary of Defense. Along with the military reorganization, the act established the Na-tional Security Council, a central place of coordination for national security policy in the Executive Branch, and the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States’ fi rst peacetime intelligence agency. The bill signing took place aboard Truman’s C-54 presidential aircraft “Sacred Cow,” the predecessor of Air Force One.


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Activity

AviationK W L H

What do you know about aviation? (list facts, vocabulary, and ideas you already know from past experience and reading)

What do you want to find out? Write at least 2 ques-tions you'd like to have answered.

What did you learn about aviation?

How can you learn more?

The ConvAirCar was a commuter’s dream. Imagine flying to your destination, detaching the fiberglass car body and driving away! The ConvAirCar, nicknamed “The Flying Car,” was a 725 pound car-plane that had an engine/airfoil assembly attached to a fiberglass car body. The car was road worthy and would actually drive like a regular car. In 1947, it took off into the sky, circling San Diego for one hour and eighteen minutes! Unfortunately, its success was short-lived. On one of its next test flights the ConvAirCar ran out of gas and crashed in the desert.

The Gen H-4 is billed as the world’s smallest co-axial helicopter. It can fly for approximately one hour,

depending on the weight of the flier, on a 5 gallon tank of fuel with a maximum speed of 55 mph.

The Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo was a nine wing flying boat. It had three sets of triple wings and eight engines. It was designed in hopes of becoming a transatlantic airliner, but it crashed after one flight.

Activity

Using the internet or other sources, find out what other unusual aircraft made it off the drawing board and into the sky.

Have students construct a K-W-L-H chart which will be used throughout the lessons. After reading the introduction and participating in the class discussions,

students are to independently fill in the K and W col-umns of the K-W-L-H aviation chart. The L and H columns will be completed during Lesson 4.

Homework



1903 — First successful powered flight. (Orville Wright)

1904 — Col. Langley experiments with air planes as a military vehicle/weapon.

1914 to1918 — World War I first conflict featuring large scale use of airplanes as war machines Maj. Billy Mitchell and

Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker become America’s first air aces.

1927 — First solo nonstop transatlantic flight. (Charles Lindbergh)

1947 — First piloted supersonic flight in an airplane. (Charles “Chuck” Yeager in a Bell XS-1)

1949 — First round-the-world nonstop flight. (Boeing B-50A Superfortress flies around the world nonstop: 23,452 mi in 94 hr., 1 min., with four aerial refuelings.)

1950 — First nonstop transatlantic jet flight. (David Schilling flew 3,300 miles in 10 hours, 1 minute.)

1951 — First solo across North Pole. (Charles Blair, Jr.)

1952 — First jetliner service. (The DeHavilland Comet flight between London and Johannesburg, South Africa.)

First transatlantic helicopter flight. (Vincent McGovern and Harold Moore piloted two Sikorsky H-19s from Massachusetts to Scotland.)

1957 — First around the world nonstop jet flight. (45 hours, 19 minutes)

1958 — First Titan launch.

1960 — First flight of X-15.

1961 — First American in space. (Alan Shepard)

1962 — First Saturn I launch.

1963 — First American to orbit Earth. (John Glenn, Jr.)

1968 — First Saturn V launch.

1969 — First man to walk on the moon. (Neil Armstrong)

1975 — Apollo-Soyuz joint space mission, first USA-USSR international space mission.

1976 — First regularly scheduled commercial supersonic transport (SST) flights begin. (Concorde)

1981 — First space shuttle orbital flight. (Columbia)

1983 — First American woman in space. (Sally Ride)

1984 — First untethered spacewalk. (Bruce McCandless)

First recovery and repair of satellite in space. (Solar Max)

First satellite recovery and return to earth. (Discovery/ Palapa B and Westar 6)

1986 — First nonstop flight around the world without refueling. (Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in Voyager)

1995 — First Russian-U.S. spaceflights.

2000 — First manned International Space Station.

2003 — Concorde Retired

2004 — SpaceShipOne becomes the first private manned spacecraft to exceed an altitude of 328,000 feet twice within the span of a 14-day period.

2006 — US Air Force Memorial dedicated.

2007 — US Air Force 60th Anniversary (September 18, 2007)

Aviation Firsts

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History of Flight Photos and Facts

“Lucky Lady II,” a B-50A, was flown on the first nonstop around the world flight. The 94 hour, 1 minute flight covered 23,452 miles, requiring 4 midair refuelings.

The SR-71 Blackbird can fly over 15 miles high at a cruise speed over three times the speed of sound.

The Thunderbirds, the U.S. Air Force Demonstration Squadron, are famous for fly-ing F-16 jets in close formation, with some planes as close as 18” apart.

The B-2 bomber has a wing design that has minimum vertical surfaces and a dark coat-ing on the plane that absorbs radar energy rather than reflecting it, helping it avoid detection by radar.

Jumbo jets, like the Boeing 747, are designed to carry hundreds of passengers.

TheBerlin Airlift

The Berlin Airlift (June 24, 1948 to May 11, 1949) was one of the fi rst major cri-ses of the new Cold War. Following the Allied vic-tory in World War II, the Soviet Union pushed the Allies for reparations from West Germany’s industrial plants, though this had not been agreed to. When U.S. President Harry S. Truman refused to give the Soviet Union reparations, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin split off the Soviet sector of Ger-many as a Communist state and blocked railroad and street access to West Ber-lin. The U.S. circumvented the blockade by organizing a massive airlift. Hundreds of aircraft were used to fl y in a wide variety of cargo, ranging from large supply containers to small packets of candy for the children of Berlin. Sick children were evacuated on return fl ights. The crisis abated after the Soviet Union did not act to stop American, British, and French humanitarian airlifts of food and other provisions to the Western-held sectors of Berlin. At its height, the Berlin Airlift delivered a record 12,940 tons in a 24-hour period. The Berlin Airlift ended on September 30, 1949. 149 allied aircraft carried 2,343,301.5 tons of supplies, including more than 1.5 million tons of coal, on 277,264 fl ights, and U.S. planes carried 1,783,826 tons.



History of Flight Photos and Facts

The Space Shuttle program has deployed many government and commercial satellites and has facilitated research aboard the Space Stations.

The Learjet 23, a business jet, was the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production.

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager circled the globe in Voyager without refueling.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) aircraft.

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The stealth F-117A Nighthawk with its dark coating, uncommon angles and hidden engines doesn’t resemble typical aircraft.

The Tuskegee Airmen

President Harry S. Truman called for an end to segrega-tion in the military in 1948 with Executive Order 9981. On May 1st, 1949 the Air Force issued Air Force Let-ter 35-3, which called for equal treatment and oppor-tunity for black servicemen and women and marked an end to legal discrimination in the Armed Forces. The U.S. Air Force was the fi rst military service to announce an end to racial segregation in its ranks. During World War II the famous Tuskegee Airmen, formed into the all-black 332nd Fighter Group, had claimed 113 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down (includ-ing 3 Me-262 jets), a pa-trol boat run aground by machine gun fi re, and nu-merous fuel dumps, trucks and trains. The group fl ew more than 15,000 sorties on 1,500 missions, and they never lost a single bomber to enemy aircraft (only to fl ack) in their role as escort fi ghters. The unit received recognition through offi -cial channels, and won two Presidential Unit Citations, 744 Air Medals, 150 Dis-tinguished Flying Crosses, fourteen Bronze Stars, and several Silver Stars. In 1948 the Tuskegee Airmen found themselves in high demand throughout the newly formed U.S. Air Force.



The first two decades following World War II contained many record firsts for aviation as the quest for greater speed, heights and distances continued. In 1947, Charles “Chuck” Yeager made history as the first person to break the sound barrier. Flying a Bell X-1 rocket plane, he achieved Mach 1.06 (approximately 700 miles per hour) at 45,000 feet, flying faster than the speed of sound. On his second supersonic flight, Yeager rocketed to a speed of Mach 1.35, almost 900 miles per hour. Six years later, Yeager again made history by being the first person to fly at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. By the late 1950’s, the speed record was 2,094 miles per hour (mph). The golden age of the high speed, high altitude rocket planes spanned 21 years. It had begun with the first flight of the X-1 in 1947 and ended with the final flight of the X-15 in 1968. The X-15 set speed records, from 2,196 mph in 1960 to 4,534 mph in 1967. The speed and distance records con-tinued to fuel man’s quest to stretch further into the frontiers of air and space.

In the post World War II years, the field of aviation expand-ed greatly. There were dramatic advances in aircraft design and performance. Commercial aviation benefited greatly from the technological advances in aviation. Jet airplanes were being built that could fly at unprecedented speeds. Jet liners, like the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8, were developed in the mid 1950’s, flying at higher altitudes to avoid turbulence and taking twice as many travelers to their destinations twice as fast as the earlier generation of propeller driven airliners. The first 707 was flown in 1954 and it made its first commercial flight in 1959. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, airplanes had surpassed ships and trains as the main mode of passenger transportation. By the 1970’s, jet aircraft had replaced most propeller driven planes on many airlines. The next generation of jet airplanes after the Boeing 707 was the Boeing 727, which used fuel efficient turbofan engines. Passengers took to the sky for air transportation in record numbers. With the increase in

passenger and cargo traffic came a need for larger jetliners. When jumbo jets, like the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, were introduced in the 1970’s, commercial aviation expanded worldwide as the wide-bodied jumbo jets transported hundreds of passengers greater distances than ever before. Jet transportation helped world trade expand. Cargo, as well as passengers could travel greater distances in less time. Jet technology continued to revolutionize pas-senger transport, leading the way for the development of a supersonic commercial transport airliner. Beginning in 1976 until its retirement in 2003, the British Aerospace / French Aerospatiale Concorde, the world’s only supersonic transport (SST), made it possible for people to fly between Europe and North America in less than four hours. Air travel has grown faster than any other mode of transporta-tion. With aviation passenger traffic expected to increase by almost fifty percent from 2001 to 2011, aviation continues to shape our world as we rely on it as an essential form of transportation.

The field of general aviation also expanded greatly after World War II. General aviation includes flights that are non-military and are not flown on a regular schedule. General aviation activities range from pleasure flying to spraying crops to providing transportation for passengers and cargo to providing emergency services. After World War II, thousands of Americans took to the sky when com-panies like Beechcraft and Cessna created small, affordable single-engine planes, and later business jets. Planes like the Beechcraft Bonanzas and the Cessna 172 were used for both personal and business purposes. The Learjet 23 was the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production. Today, general aviation is an important element within our nation’s air transportation system, with more than 210,000 active general aviation aircraft registered in the United States.

Spaceflight became a reality in the 1960’s. The Space Age became powered by the Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. The competition made long-range missiles an integral element of our nation’s defense in the 1960’s, and with it came rapid advances in nuclear weaponry and rockets. Space soon became a vital part of our national security. The early dreams of going into space became more realistic with the pioneering stud-ies of the use of liquid fuel rockets. German-born engineer Wernher von Braun helped to develop missiles that were

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History of Flight Notes

Bell X-1




used against Great Britain in World War II. After the fall of the Third Reich, along with other German engineers, he was offered a contract to continue research in the United States. He helped to build America’s postwar missile program and developed the Redstone battlefield rocket. A modified Redstone put the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, into orbit in 1958. Three years later, in 1961, Mercury Redstone rockets launched Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom on sub-orbital flights, paving the way for John Glenn’s first orbital flight in 1963. Von Braun continued to develop rockets that later sent astronauts to the moon. The Saturn rockets were developed to support the Apollo program. Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon in 1969. The Space Shuttle program was authorized in 1972. History was made in 1981 when Columbia, the first reusable spacecraft was launched. Columbia landed like an airplane two days later. Since then, the shuttle program has deployed many government and commercial satellites and has facilitated research aboard the Space Stations. In 2004, SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded aircraft to make a spaceflight, opening the possibility of space travel for private citizens.

United States military activities in the air can be traced to the use of hot-air balloons as early as the Civil War (1861 – 1865), when the Union Army used them for reconnais-sance, information gathering. Aeronauts, aerial observers, used balloons again to observe enemy positions and move-ments during the Spanish – American War (1898). In 1905, two years after Orville Wright piloted the first heavier-than-air craft that had left the ground by its own power, Orville and Wilbur Wright offered to sell their flying machine to the United States government. Aviation was still in its early stages and only balloons, lighter-than-air flying machines, had proven value, so the government was not interested in their offer. It would be several years and vast improvements later before the heavier-than-air craft, the airplane, would be developed to the point of being accepted as a useful, practi-cal machine. President Theodore Roosevelt showed an inter-est in the airplane in 1907. That same year, the Army estab-lished an Aeronautical Division in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. Its staff of three was given the assignment of looking into the military applications of the airplane. The Aeronautical Division issued its first specifications that year for a military airplane. After improvements were made, the Wright brothers’ plane met the requirements, and in 1909, the Army bought the Wright’s airplane for $20,000.00. The

Wright brothers also received a $5,000.00 bonus because the airplane exceeded the minimum average speed require-ment of 40 miles per hour (mph). The Wright Brothers’ plane, the first military plane, averaged 42 ½ mph. From this early beginning grew into what is now the United States Air Force.

The military plane became more and more viewed as valu-able in battle as improvements in aircraft designs and its firepower-carrying capability revolutionized older methods of conducting war. The first all-metal bomber was built in 1931. In 1935, the Army tested the first B-17, the Flying Fortress, which was armed with machine guns. In a span of five years from 1939 to 1944, the Air Corps, the Army Air Force’s predecessor, expanded from 20,000 men and 2,400 planes to almost 2.4 million personnel and 80,000 planes of the Army Air Force. In 1947, President Harry Truman, recognizing the importance of air power, created the United States Air Force as a new branch of the armed services. All military air activities were transferred from the Army to the Air Force and the Air Force became an equal partner with the Army and Navy.

The first jet airplanes had been developed for military use, and the jet technology brought many changes to the mili-tary, some of which included a dramatic shift from ground to aerial combat. During the Korean War (1950 – 1953), dog fights between jet fighters occurred for the first time. After the Korean War, Air Force aircraft underwent many changes, ranging from changes in aircraft design to the use of nuclear weapons. The propeller aircraft rapidly became obsolete. Jet engines now powered most Air Force aircraft. Some planes, such as the B-52 bomber, even carried nuclear

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B-52 Stratofortress




In groups of 2 – 3, prepare a time line highlight-ing the important events in the history of avia-tion. Use the information located in this booklet, the internet and any other materials available. Include at least ten significant events and at least

five graphics relative to the events listed on the time line.

Each group will present their time line to the class during the final lesson.

weapons. In 1957, the Air Force successfully fired its' first intercontinental ballistic missile, helping to secure the United States’ position as the world’s most powerful air force.

Air power has become the crucial component in modern war. Advances in aviation led to the use of jet fighters, rocket powered planes and supersonic bombers during the Cold War, Korean War and Vietnam War. The Cold War competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union continued to fuel the advancements of mili-tary aviation. The Cold War escalated in 1962 when Air Force U-2 reconnaissance aircraft photographed evidence that Soviet ballistic mis-siles were being brought into Cuba. Operation Rolling Thunder commenced in 1965 with Air Force and Navy fighter planes bombing North Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, the Air Force introduced laser-guided bombs. The SR-71 Blackbird, a supersonic plane built during the 1960’s with the capability to fly over 15 miles high, had the capability to cruise at a speed over three times the speed of sound. The Northrop B-2 Spirit, a stealth bomber, was unveiled in 1988, and had the capability of flying undetected by radar. After Iraq occupied Kuwait in 1990, the Air Force began an extensive airlift. During a six month time period, the Air Force transported over 577,000 tons of supplies and 498,000 mili-tary passengers to Mid East destinations. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the Air Force

had over 37,000 combat flights, some of which included Patriots intercepting Scud missiles. Air assaults by F-117 stealth fighter-bomb-ers, designed to be nearly invisible to radar, were able to concentrate firepower with accu-racy and speed, helping to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield and the subsequent liberation of Kuwait further illustrated the military capability of modern air power. Also in 1991, the Balkans Air Campaign began. The Air Force helped end a war between Bosnian Serbs and government forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They provided relief to Bosnian Muslims under siege. In 1999, the Air Force participated in NATO air attacks against Serbia to end Serbian attacks on ethic Albanians in Kosovo. Following 9/11 attacks, the Air Force began a military campaign in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qa’ida, which led to the overthrow of the Taliban gov-ernment. The Air Force was deployed during the Iraq War. Their air attacks helped end the rule of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. With approxi-mately 360,000 men and women on active duty and over 180,000 serving in the Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard, the Air Force continues to be a leader in air power, dominating the sky with speed and precision, and continues to be a leader in our national defense in air and space, scientific research, cyberspace, unmanned flight and humanitarian relief. Aviation contin-ues to shape the world in which we live.

History of Flight Time Line Assignment

The“Space Race”

Sputnik 1 was the world’s fi rst artifi cial satellite to be put into orbit, on October 4, 1957. At the height of the Cold War, the launching of Sputnik caught the West by surprise, and led to a wave of self-recriminations in the U.S. The launching started a movement to reform sci-ence education. Prior to Sputnik’s launch, the United States had been working on satellites, primarily through teams working for the US Navy. Their fi rst launch was originally intended to be be-fore the Sputnik launch, but was delayed several times and eventually exploded on the launch pad. A rush ef-fort then started under the U.S. Army’s Jupiter project and succeeded in launching Explorer I in January 1958. This is considered the start of the Space Race between the two superpowers, which was a prominent aspect of the Cold War. The Space Race became an important part of the cultural, tech-nological, and ideological rivalry between the USSR and the United States. Both nations attempted to out-do each other in space explora-tion, eventually culminating in the launch of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon.



Men and Women Aviators Photos and Facts

Jacqueline Cochran, in 1953, was the first female to break the sound barrier. Thirty years later, Sally Ride had the distinction of being the first American woman in space.

Benjamin Davis, Jr., founder of the Tuskegee Airmen, was the first black Air Force General.

Major Nicole Malachowski, USAF, the first woman pilot selected to fly as part of the Air Force Demonstration Squadron, joined the Thunderbirds in 2006.

Lieutenant Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN was the first U.S. astronaut launched into space.

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The“Domino” Theory

On February 8, 1965 the U.S. Air Force performed its fi rst retaliatory air strike in North Vietnam. A North American F-100 Super Sa-bre fl ew cover for attacking South Vietnamese fi ghter aircraft, suppressing ground fi re in the target area. Many U.S. leaders used the “dom-ino” theory during the Cold War to justify U.S. inter-vention in the Vietnam War. President Dwight D. Eisen-hower and his top advisers applied the domino theory in 1954 to describe the pros-pects of communist expan-sion in Asia if Indochina were to fall. After the U.S. left Vietnam, the North took over the South, and Cambo-dia and Laos had also turned to Communism, although Cambodia is no longer a communist state. The dom-ino theory was a 20th Cen-tury foreign policy theory that speculated if one land in a region came under the infl uence of Communists, then more would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory indicates that some change, small in itself, will cause a similar change near-by, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence, by analogy to a falling row of dominoes standing on end.



Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager, USAF, in front of the Bell X-1 rocket-propelled experimental aircraft, was the first man to exceed the speed of sound.

Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, USMC became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth in 1962.

Air crew and ground crew personnel associated with black flying units of the Army Air Forces during World War II were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Edward White made history in 1965 by tak-ing part in the first spacewalk.

Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF, who had been the first woman space shuttle pilot in 1995, became the first woman space shuttle mission commander.

Men and Women Aviators Photos and Facts

Additional FactsIn a Blackbird SR-71, Captain Eldon W. Joersz and Major George T. Morgan set a world record for speed (2193.16 mph) over a straight course in 1976.

Colonel David Schilling piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight in a jet aircraft.

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Since the early beginnings of flight, men and women have sought to stretch the limits of possibility in the air, making the imaginable a reality.

Captain “Chuck” Yeager was a World War II fighter pilot who became famous in 1947 for being the first pilot to break the sound barrier. His supersonic flight was made in a rocket-powered Bell XS-1. In 1953, he made history again by being the first person to fly at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound.

Also in 1953, American Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier and she later became the first woman to fly at twice the speed of sound. Jackie Cochran earned her pilot’s license in 1932 and from early on in her career became a vocal advocate of women’s equal-ity with men in the air. In 1958 she also lobbied for a corps of woman astronauts but died almost three years before the first woman would fly in space in 1983. By her death in 1980, Jackie Cochran held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any other pilot of either gender. Jackie Cochran is also noted for organizing and directing the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) trained to fly military air-craft in noncombatant missions during World War II.

In 1964, Geraldine Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world. In 1986 Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, in the Voyager, made the first nonstop-unrefueled around-the-world flight. In 1993, Vicki Van Meter became the young-est pilot to fly coast to coast from east to west across the United States and the youngest pilot to set a distance record of 2,900 miles. In the summer of 1994, at age thirteen, she piloted a plane from the United States to Europe.

In June 1936, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became the first black cadet from West Point. He was in the first military pilot

training class for black Americans and became a member of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. He was the first black American to earn his wings. Benjamin Davis was also the first black American to become a lieutenant general in the U. S. Air Force.

Daniel “Chappie” James was also a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. He graduated from the Army Air Corps Cadet Program at the top of his class. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean War and Vietnam. In 1975 he became the first black U. S. four-star general.

After spending many hours in the air and breaking many flight records Geraldyn Cobb became the first woman to test for astronaut training in 1960. Frank Borman com-manded the first manned flight around the moon in 1968 accompanied by James Lovell and William Anders. In 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon with Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin while Michael Collins circled the moon in the command module. John Glenn, Jr. became the first United States astronaut to orbit the earth in 1962, and in 1998 at age seventy-seven he became the first senior citizen in space. Shannon Lucid holds the American record for the most time spent in space on the Russian space station Mir. Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen were aboard the launch of the first space shuttle Columbia in 1981. In 1985, Frederick Gregory became the first black American to pilot a space shuttle mission. He also became the first black American commander of a space shuttle mission in 1989. Bernard Harris, Jr. was the first black American to walk in space in 1995. On that mission, Bernard Harris and fellow astronaut Michael Foale spacewalked for almost five hours. In 1990, Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman accepted for astronaut training as a pilot. She piloted a space shuttle in 1995 and in 1999 became the first woman commander of a spacecraft.

In 2006, Capt. Nicole Malachowski, a 1996 United States Air Force Academy graduate, was the first woman pilot selected to fly as part of the Thunderbirds, the Air Force Demonstration Squadron.

Since 1903 many advances have been made in the aviation and aerospace industries. Both men and women have bro-ken many records, and there continue to be pioneers in the air and in space.

Men and Women Aviators Notes

Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)



Aviation Advancements

Using this graphic organizer, briefly describe the major advancements in general, commercial and military aviation and spaceflight since World War II.

Post World War II

General AviationCommercial Aviation

SpaceflightMilitary Aviatio

n

Air Force Academy opens to women

It literally took an act of Congress to open the United States Military Academies to women. In 1975, then Presi-dent Ford signed Public Law 94-106 requiring the ser-vices to open the hallowed halls of West Point, Annapo-lis, and the Air Force Acad-emy to women. In the fall of 1976 female cadets began their education and military orientation, as the “Class of ‘80” became the fi rst coed class. On June 28, 1976 the U.S. Air Force Academy became the fi rst of the big three service academies to admit women cadets when it admitted Joan Olsen. The transition wasn’t easy, and the lingering male chauvinist attitude didn’t help matters but for the most part women cadets succeeded in ignor-ing the micro-minded while acing the academics. Aca-demic failure was twice as high for the men. Later that year the fi rst of two groups of women-pilot candidates entered undergraduate pilot training at Williams AFB, Ariz. A year later the fi rst class of woman pilots gradu-ated - with the fi rst class of woman navigators graduat-ing a month later. In May 1980, for the fi rst time, 97 women were among those receiving commissions as second lieutenants in gradu-ation ceremonies at the U.S. Air Force Academy.



Aircraft Photos and Facts

Satellites are set into space through coop-erative efforts of the Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Air Force One, part of the Presidential fleet consisting of two Boeing 747 – 200B airplanes, is the aircraft that carries the President of the United States.

The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor, with the vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) capability of a helicopter and the high speed of a turboprop aircraft.

The Space Shuttle program has deployed many government and commercial satellites and has facilitated research aboard the Space Stations.

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The Gulf War (1990-1991)

The Gulf War (1990–1991) was a confl ict between Iraq and a coalition force of ap-proximately 20 nations led by the United States and mandated by the United Nations to liberate Kuwait. The war began with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Au-gust 2, 1990, following Iraqi contentions that Kuwait was illegally slant-drilling petro-leum across Iraq’s border. The invasion was met with immediate economic sanc-tions by the United Nations against Iraq. Beginning in the early morning hours of January 17, 1991 the coali-tion launched a massive air campaign code named Op-eration Desert Storm with more than 1,000 sorties launching per day. The Per-sian Gulf War is sometimes called the “computer war” because of the advanced weapons used in the air cam-paign. Despite Iraq’s better-than-expected anti-aircraft capability, only one coali-tion aircraft was lost in the opening day of the war. The sorties were launched most-ly from Saudi Arabia and the six Coalition aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf, resulting in a decisive vic-tory for the coalition forces, which drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait with minimal damage to coalition forces. The main battles were aerial and ground combat within Iraq, Kuwait, and bordering areas of Saudi Arabia.



Aircraft Photos and Facts

Tanker planes, like the KC-10 tanker, refuel other planes in flight.

The Boeing 747, designed to carry hundreds of passen-gers, was the first jumbo jet.

The X-15 set speed records, from 2,196 mph in 1960 to 4,534 mph in 1967. (X-15 shown with test pilot Major Robert M. White.)

The F-117A stealth combat plane was used in Operation Desert Storm.

On April 12, 1981, history was made when Columbia, the first reusable spacecraft was launched.

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Ultralights, developed from hang gliders, are powered by small engines. An ultralight is a single-seater plane that weighs less than 300 pounds and carries no more than five gallons of fuel. It flies slowly close to the ground with a maximum speed around 60 mph.

Computer automation has changed the way in which aircraft are designed and built. Onboard computers are used to operate navigation in both commercial and military aircraft. Military unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) like the Predator (top photo) and Global Hawk (bottom photo) can be guided by pilots safely on the ground miles away. In 2001, the Global Hawk flew nonstop from the U.S. to Australia.

Three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses com-pleted a 24,325 mile around-the-world non-stop flight in 45 hours, 19 minutes. It was the first nonstop around-the-world flight in a jet airplane.

The Voyager was flown nonstop around the world without refueling. The Voyager was lighter than its own fuel, weighing 935 pounds empty and carrying 8,400 pounds of fuel.

Air taxi services use small twin-engine planes to carry passengers on short trips.

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Aircraft Photos and FactsThe U.S. Air

Force Memorial

On October 14, 2006 the president of the United States accepted the Air Force Memorial in a dedi-cation ceremony in Wash-ington D.C. attended by military leaders of the past and present, political and business representatives and thousands of ordinary citi-zens and Airmen alike. The U.S. Air Force Memorial honors the service and sacri-fi ces of the men and women of the U.S. Air Force and its predecessor organizations, including the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps; the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps; the Division of Military Aeronautics, Secretary of War; the Army Air Service; the U.S. Army Air Corps; and the U.S. Army Air Forces. More than 54,000 airmen have died in combat while serving in the Air Force and these histori-cal service arms of the mili-tary, the second highest of any of America’s four armed services. The Air Force was the only branch of service without any memorial in the Washington D.C. area com-memorating its service to the nation.

Social Studies In Flight Unit Quiz


Name __________________________________ Date __________ Class period _____

Unit Quiz – Social Studies in Flight

1. The world’s only commercial SST was a) Boeing 747 b) Bell X-1 c) Learjet d) Concorde

2. The plane flown on the first nonstop flight around the world was a) Shooting Star b) Blackbird c) Lucky Lady II d) Nighthawk

3. What was the first Space Shuttle launched? _________________________________

4. She was the first woman pilot to break the sound barrier. a) Geraldine Mock b) Sally Ride c) Eileen Collins d) Jacqueline Cochran

5. He was the first person to fly at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. a) Hap Arnold b) Charles Yeager c) Archie Od d) Russell Brown

6. The first black Air Force General was a) David James b) Benjamin Davis c) James Jabara d) David Schilling

7. What was the significant aviation breakthrough in 1947?

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8. How has aviation shaped our world? Support your answer with at least three examples.

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Social Studies In Flight Unit Quiz


Name __________________________________ Date __________ Class period _____

Unit Quiz – Social Studies in Flight

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9. What factors accelerated the growth of aviation after World War II? Support your answer with details.

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10. How has the Air Force helped our nation over the last 60 years? Cite at least three examples in your answer.

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After completing the Unit Quiz, complete columns L and H on your K-W-L-H chart. Summarize what you learned and record it in column L. In the H column, record new questions and ideas for exploration and record how you could learn more about the topic.

Groups will present Aviation Time Line to class.

Social Studies In Flight Supplementary Activities


Alpha Aviation

Using aviation as the theme, brainstorm words, names, or phrases that begin with the letters A through Z. Fill the words in the spaces provided and write a brief

statement as to how it relates to aviation. Three spaces have already been filled in for you.

A AviationThe operation or production of heavier-than-air aircraft.

B C D

E F G H

I J Jumbo JetWide bodied planes able to carry hundred of passengers.

K L

M N O P

Q R S T

U V W XYZ YeagerFirst person to break the sound barrier.

Documents

Outline of Plans - Palo Verde High School AFJROTC · Outline of Plans The pages of this text are designed for reading aloud, discussion, presentation on visual projectors, and/or