The evolution of mordern aviation .Chapter 5

An attempt to fly was predated by thousands of years of trial and errors by mankind and especially the case of little children in the sportish passion to merely fly a kit.Simply through ordinary passion to conquer the sky the love to fly subsequently snowballed from the era of kite flight to the mordern era of revolutionary jet engines.

Early Evolution.(1400-1980)

In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci drew a plan for flying machine.There's no doubt popular history agrees that Da Vinci's dream of flight laid the commonly accepted conceptual foundation for the universal vision of human flight . Cutting edge designs such as the "Ordnithoper " which mimicked the flagellation and motion of birds' wings was credited to his pantheon of monumental discoveries.Although never got constructed became the singing tone of designers in this field ever since and raptured human imaginative amusement at conquering the sky till date.

In sept.18,1901 Wilbur wright a business man from Dayton Ohio lectured a group of distinguished engineers with the title "Some Aeronautical Experiments."which he conducted with his brother Orville Wright two years before.In the prior period they had gathered an immense research and drew inspiration from manifold empiricism of scientists to experiment successfully in the later years.

The era of balloons and gliders that came in the 18th and 19th centuries .The Montgolfier brothers in France in 1783 launched the first manned hot air balloon and displayed mankind's practical step at conquering the sky.Then came the father of aerodynamics Sir George Cayley,in late 1800s developed the first successful gliders introduced the concept of rudders and fixed wings.

Nevertheless commercial aviation has changed alot since 1903 when the Wright Brothers from Ohio made the first successful attempt to fly in the sky.This is quite amusing considering the unbroken sustainability that persisted down to the world of propeller driven jet airliners in the era supposedly dubbed the golden age of commercial aviation.The making of the then almost impossible dream of long distance travel and safest travel come alive is deemed as one of the seventh wonders of the world .

On December 17,1903 the Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur wright right there at kitty hawk , North Carolina made history and took history by the neck to unleash this seemingly impossible innovation and launched their flying machine Wright Flyer successfully into the air in a sustained flight.The first attempt in 1903 was a simple and it flew 37 meters and lasted 12 seconds .The third aircraft Wright Flyer 111,in 1905 stayed airborne much longer in a controlled flight .With better engine coolant and larger tank fuel, accelerated prolonged operation the third flight recorded 39 minutes and covered over 38 kilometers.They quickly dissembled it to avoid been copied by competitors and not until in 1908 when they got a contract in France did it flew again.This time they carried a passenger Charles Furnas became the first passenger in aviation history.The first passenger service started in 1914 from St.Peterburg - Tampa  airboat line between st.peterburg vs Tampa across Tampa bay in Florida and it was about 20 minute flight another significant milestone.This was begun the era of commercial aviation.

Glen Curtis and Loius Bleriot further developed the technology following the success of wright brothers.When in 1909 Bleriot became the first person to fly across the English channel he not only opened another milestone in the aviation history but moved mankind closer to the golden age of mordern aviation that erupted like a big bang in the 1920s and 1930s.Charles Lindbergh's solo flight aboard the spirit of St.Louis demonstrated the evidence of long distance travel . Airlines like Pan Am and Lufthansa consolidated this golden age era of aviation civilisation.They offered commercial flights that pioneered global aviation network.

Another milestone erupted during world war 2 when new waves of rapid advancements in military aviation technology necessitated the emergence of bombers such as B-29 Superfortress,down to fighter planes like  P-51-mustang .The era witnessed Radar technology and improvement in air combat and navigation.

They understood the principles of aerodynamics with their carefully built aircraft including the use of movable rudders and ailerons that paved way for evolution of mordern technology behind the aviation industry.The historic flights sparked similarly mordern evolution in aircraft design and technology with this first powered sustained and controlled airplane flight to storm the sky.Hence from the arrival of several iconic aircraft models like Douglas DC-3 like the Lockheed Constellation celebrated for its speed and comfort, that emerged thereafter and became efficiency workhorse of the skies ,the road to airspace reliability and welfare of the travellers was finally guarranteed.

Flying a modified Vickers military aircraft the first transatlantic flight took place in 1919 with John Alcock and Arthur whitten-Brown .They were paid £10,000 in the offer prize from Daily Mail in London, England.It was successful flight of about continuous 72 hours from USA, Canada, Newfoundland,any point in England or Ireland. Technological delivery was sustainable and subsequently led to the birth of the transatlantic flight beginning from 1927 when Charles Lindbergh's solo flight to conquered the Atlantic in the shocking forays of the commercial transatlantic services added another significant milestones in aviation history.Lindbergh secured £25,000 prize money for the first solo non stopping crossing of the Atlantic whereas Charles Kingsford Smith and crew from Australia was the first to cross the pacific in 1928 and in 1929 was the first to travel around the world. This kind of technological confidence consequently over time made mankind crossing diverse continents in hours rather than days of what appeared to be almost impossible dream for millennial.

With mordern advancements in propeller technology safety and comfort in airspace travel ballooned beyond stratosphere.The evolution of variable pitch propellers advanced the efficiency and safety of these flying machines in addition to the use of lighterweight materials like aluminum in aircraft construction improved quality of flight in the aerospace.This brings better performance and reliability and catapulted comfort into unprecedented heights adorned with spacious hubs,gourmet meals and flight refreshments and attractive services.

This spiral of sustainable evolution led to emergence of jet age in the 1950,which revolutionise commercial aviation.The de Havilland comet as the first commercial jet airliner entered flight in 1952 and inspire of initial flaws paved way for future jet airliners. Although the development of jet engines was begun in the 1930s and 1940s,the use of this jet engines as opposed to propeller driven aircraft made planes faster at much higher speed and altitudes and characterized by new designs and optimized for high speed and high altitude machines.

They shrunk distance much more efficient and opened new horizons for passengers.The era of mass travel that unleashed amazing introduction of jet engines that allowed faster planes and debut iconic jet airliners such as Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 catapulted efficiency and accessibility in air travel.Boeing 707 entered service in 1958 to prove the grand possibiity of mass air travel.Despite its high flight cost with limited adoption, Concorde's first flight introduced the world into supersonic passenger travel .Evolution of jet engines by Frank Little in great Britain and Hans Von Ohain  in Germany made mankind proud at the same time dignified the relics of history.The first operational jet aircraft was German Heinkel He 178 in 1939 and later Messerschmidt Me 262 and experienced military service from 1947.Military aircraft Jet powered B47 by Boeing came in 1947.

There was a great boom in aviation history and industry with these jetliners due to the nature of high accessibility and affordability .It changed travellers perspectives,the velocity of air travel and turnover in addition to making massive impact in globalisation and global connectivity shrinking distance making the world a global village.Air traffic control system and safety protocols also improved exponentially.While Boeing 787 Dreamliner consumed advanced materials for reduced weights and grew fuel efficiency, cutting edged avionics system inclusive of fly-by-wire controls and GPS navigation.

Mordern challenge 1980-2004

Mordern challenge in aviation stem from climate change friendly machines clean energy and electric and hybrid aircraft deployment of the use of sustainable aviation fuels(SAF).Space tourism began anew with Blue origin by Jeff bezos and Space X by Elon musk.From the era of da Vinci's sketches to the blown era of jet engines mankind's voyage of innovative prospect hold the charm to break into wonders heights making mankind a multiplanetary species being the main vision of this author.