The Evolution of Air Transportation

World War One

Seaplanes

In 1915 the German aircraft designer Hugo Junkers built the world's first metal aircraft, the Junkers J 1 monoplane. The J1 was first flown on December 12th 1915. 12 years after the Wright brothers flew their plane. The J1 was a revolutionary development in aircraft design. Non wooden planes were used in WW1. During WW1, lightweight aluminum began to replace wood as the essential ingredient for airplane manufacture. WW1 was the first major war where airplanes were used as a significant part of the military. When the war first began, aircraft played a small role in warfare, but by the end of the war, the Air Force had become an important branch of the armed forces. Early forms were usually unarmed and used in the reconnaissance, the airplanes would fly above the battlefield and determine the enemy's position. The planes in WW1 had better engines and performed much better than the Wright Brother's plane

March 28th, 1910 was the day that Henri Fabre flew the first successful powered seaplane (aka Hydroplanes). A seaplane is an aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. His first successful take off and landing by a powered seaplane inspired other aviators and he designed floats for several other flyers. A few people have tried to build and fly a seaplane before him but failed, Henri Fabre was the first to succeed.

Their use gradually decreased after World War 2 but Seaplanes are still useful for many other things like dropping water on forest fires, air transport around archipelagos (a sea or big body of water containing many islands) and access to roadless areas.

Helicoptors

The 1st Airplane

The Junkers J1 monoplane

Though the first helicopter wasn't built until the 1940's, it is believed that Leonardo Da Vinci's sketches from the late 15th century were predecessor to the modern day flying machine. Like many of Leonardo Da Vinci's ideas, he never actually built and tested it but his notes and drawings mapped out exactly how the device would operate.

The world's first helicopter was made by Igor Sikorsky and was flown on September 14th, 1939. It was piloted by Igor Sikorsky, unfortunately the flight only lasted for a few seconds. It was called the VS -300 and was put on display at the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn Michigan on October 7, 1943, and to this day, it still remains on display.

On December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first airplane. The Wright brothers made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk (a town in North Carolina) The frame of the plane was made from Sitka Spruce and ash, many of the surfaces were covered with a fabric called muslin. At the time, automobile engines were very heavy and didn't deliver enough power to take off, so the Wright brothers built a special engine made from aluminum. While the plane did indeed fly, it was underpowered and difficult to control. The brothers found they had much to do to perfect their invention. They named their plane, "Flyer"

The 1st helicopter

Hot Air Balloons

After Ornithopters, came hot air balloons.

The hot air balloon is the first successful human carrying flight technology. The first untethered hot air balloon flight was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes on Nov 21, 1783 in a balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers. They used the smoke from a fire to blow hot air into a silk bag. The silk bag was attached to a basket and the hot air then rose, allowing the balloon to be lighter-than-air.

The first passengers in the balloon were a sheep, rooster, and a duck.

The Evolution of Air Transportation

Ornithopters

In the beginning, humans tried to imitate birds, they built wings to strap onto their arms or machines with flapping wings called Ornithopters.

In 1485, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched out a flying contraption, the first Ornithopter. It is unknown wether the machine was actually built and tested or not but soon after sketching, Leonardo Da Vinci realized that he wouldn't have enough power to get off the ground. Ornithopter is a combination of two Greek words, ornithos - bird & pteron - wing

A life size model of the Ornithopter

By: Angel G