Aviation History Midterm Review
A work in progress don’t @ me yet. Will add flashcards when notes finished. Last updated 2/20
I take his notes then add to them from the reading, then make flashcards which will be linked to this note (prob the more important part here)
Names
Models
Dates
December 17, 1903
Chapter 1
Working on my notes rn
Section A
Montgolfier family
Wealthy
Owned 2 paper mills
Supportive
Fathers rules
Joseph-Michel de Montgolfier
1740-1810
12th child
Creative
Jacques-Etienne de Montgolfier
1745-1799
15th child
Business & organizational skills
Both interested in Science & Mechanics
Aviation was Joseph’s Idea
Heard of previous works:
1774 study on oxygen
1766 discovery of hydrogen
Experiments:
Heat
Steam engines
Heat pumps
Smoke / clouds
Use of Invention
Communications
Scientific experiments
Transport people
Drop bombs
Transport goods
First Public Ascension
Annonay, France
June 4, 1783
Coincided with the legislative assembly for the district of Vivarais
Why?
The Invention: Hot Air Balloon
Also called the Montgolfiere
Height: 3,000 ft
Distance: 1.5 miles
Unmanned
Wooden frame
Fabric panels:
Linen sackcloth
Lined with rag paper
1,800 buttons
Fuel: Wood & straw fire
The Competition
J.A.C. Charles
Physicist & Lecturer
Invented the hydrogen balloon
Also called the charliere
Height: 1,500 ft
Distance: Over 13 miles
August 27, 1783
Paris, France
Hydrogen is extracted from reaction between acid and metal
Wasn’t used by Montgolfiers because
Expensive
Not easily available
Funded by French Academy of Sciences
The First Passengers
Montgofier’s & the French Academy of Sciences
September 19, 1783
Paris, France
Witnessed by King Louis XVI
Balloon had varnish-coated taffeta
Carried a sheep, duck, and rooster
Height: 1,500 ft
Distance: 2 miles
First Manned Flight
Paris, France
October, 1783
Etienne Montgolfier (first airman)
Most of history recorded two others as conducting the first manned flight because wasn’t public as father didn’t want them in the plane
First public manned flight
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent
November, 21, 1783
Section B
Women in Aviation
First: Marie Elisabeth Thible
June 4, 1784
Lyon, France
First women fatality
Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard
Aerial performer
Widow of Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Fireworks ignited balloon
July 7, 1819
First Fatality
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier
Pierre Romain
Trying to cross the English Channel
France to Engalnd
June 15, 1785
Crossing the English Channel
Jean-Pierre Blanchard
French balloonist
Dr. John Jeffries
Expatriate
Loyalist
1st balloon voyage
London
Dropped cards addressed to friends
1st Airmail?
2nd balloon voyage
Crossed the English Channel
England to France
Military Aviation
French Revelation begins in 1789
King Louis XVI is executed in 1793
Who does military aviation begin with?
Napoleons Republic Army – Air Arm
Confiscated balloon starts the Company of Balloonists (1793)
What were these balloons used for?
Observers against the Austrians (1793)
Observers against Italians (1796)
Disbanded (1799)
Aviation Goes International
Italy
February 25, 1784
Paolo Andreani, Charles Gerli, & Augustin Gerli
First manned flight outside of France
By the end of 1784 others followed:
Ireland
Scotland
England
United States
More to come…
American Flights
The First American Manned Flight*?
June 24, 1784
Baltimore, MD
Flyer: Edward Warren (13)
Inventor: Peter Carnes
* tethered
The First American Manned Untethered Flight?
January 9, 1793
Philadelphia, PA
Flyer: Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Distance: 15 miles
First successful parachute jump?
October 22, 1797
Andre Jacques Garnerin
Exhibition Flying
Richard Clayton
1835 world distance record
Ohio to Virginia: 350 miles
Charles Green
1836 world distance record
England to Germany: 480 miles
What did he invent?
Dragline (1830):
Slows the speed of descent or ascent
John Wise
1859 world distance record
Missouri to New York: 809 miles
Record held until 1900
France to Russia: 1,195 miles
Attempted Atlantic Ocean Crossing
First successful crossing of Atlantic Ocean?
August 10, 1978 (five days)
Abruzzo, Anderson, & Newman
Exploration
Goal: Fly balloon over North Pole
Salmon Auguste Andree
Professor Nils Strindberg
Engineer Knut Fraenkel
Left Spitsbergen on July 11, 1897
Forced down on July 14, 1897
Travelled over ice to White Island
Remains found during 1930 Norwegian scientific expedition
Diaries and undeveloped film was also found
Section C
Dirigible
An aircraft that can be directed or steered
French for “to direct, to aim
Non-rigid
Requires:
Power
Directional control
Airship
Semi-rigid or Rigid Dirigible
Rigidity
Rigidity refers to form:
Non-rigid:
Form maintained by internal pressure
Semi-rigid:
Form maintained by internal pressure & keel structure
Rigid:
Form maintained by structure or internal framework
Jean Pierre Blanchard
1784 flights had wings/oars:
Not a dirigible
Could neither steer or add power
Only able to spin the aircraft
Henri Giffard
Engineer
First dirigible
September 24, 1852
Paris, France
Type of dirigible:
Hydrogen balloon
144 ft long
40 ft in diameter
Engine:
Steam engine
3 horse-power
Weighed 350 lbs
Flight:
17 miles @ 6 miles per hour
What’s new?
Demonstrated directional, horizontal control
Engine Development
Paul Haenlein
German Engineer
1872
1st internal combustion engine airship
3.6 horse-power
Tethered flight
Albert & Gaston Tissandier
French balloonists
1883
Electrically powered
1.5 horse-power
3 miles per hour
Money Motivates
Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe
Competition: 100,000 francs
Fly from Aero Club of France to Eiffel Tower & back
Less than 30 minutes
~ 14 miles per hour
Winner?
Albert Santos-Dumont
October 19, 1901
Third attempt in Airship No. 6
Improvements?
Pinewood keel
Aluminum joints
Wire instead of rope
12 horse-power engine
Section D
David Schwartz
Austro-Hungarian
Designed all metal ships
12 horse-power engine, 3 propellers
Died just before it was completed
Inspired the most famous of airship designers:
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
North Pole Expeditions
Walter Wellman
Chicago journalist
North Pole Expeditions:
First attempts since S.A. Andree (1897)
1906
Did not launch – engine problems
1907
First motorized flight in the Arctic
Did not reach the North Pole
1909
Lost dragline
Towed back to base
Atlantic Ocean Crossing
1910
Lost one engine
First wireless message from airship to shore
October 15, 1910
The Premier Airships
Luftschiff-Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich von Zeppelin
Retired Calvary Officer
What was his concern?
Military Aviation
What did he want?
Aircraft with long-range, fly in bad weather, carry bombs, arms and aircrew
Built 7 airships for DELAG:
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts A.G.
World's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service
1910 - 1914
Transported 34,000 people
Speed: 40 mph
Chapter 2
Just his notes rn
Section A
Two Technologies
Kite
Chinese invention
1st century
What is this technology?
Wing
Primitive airplane
Windmill
Originated in Rome
What technology?
Propeller
Recognized by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley
Wealthy land owner in England
Defined the problem of mechanical flight
1st to conceive of this idea?
Modern airplane
Silver disc dated 1799
Engraved diagram of forces of flight:
Lift
Drag
Weight
Thrust
Engraved drawing of airplane
1804 Glider
First Manned Heavier-Than-Air Flights
Cayley’s full-size gliders
1809 Glider
Wing area = 200 sq/ft
Unmanned
“Problem of power”
1853 Glider
Ten year old boy
Towed by rope
1853 Glider
Larger
Cayley’s reluctant coachman
Henson and Stringfellow
William Samuel Henson
English
Experimented with gliders
Designed Aerial Steam Carriage (1842)
Never built
John Stringfellow
English
Launched balloons
Together:
Organized early airline
Aerial Transit Company (1842-1843)
Tried to raise funds
Built twenty-foot model (failed to fly)
Controversy
First unmanned, powered, winged flight?
Stringfellow’s launch-by-wire monoplane (1848)
Short flight after launch by wire
Felix du Temple’s Steam powered model (1874)
Took a hop after rolling down an incline
Otto Lilienthal
German Engineer
Published book on bird flight
Tested fixed-wing gliders (1891-1896)
Nearly 2,000 flights up 750 ft
Contribution: Demonstrated man could fly heavier-than-air craft without an engine
Octave Chanute
Civil Engineer – Railway bridges
Designed some bridges here in KC
Collected information on flight
“Progress in Flying Machines” (1894)
Designed/built man-carrying gliders
Hired a man to fly (Chanute was in his 60’s)
Contributions:
Introduced Pratt Truss’s (from bridges) to brace wings
Became trusted colleague of the Wright brothers
Section B
Wright Brothers
Wilbur Wright
Bald
Older
Neat
Controlled
Outgoing
Thoughtful
Public speaker
Airplane was his idea
Orville Wright
Younger
Timid
Impulsive
Optimistic
Mechanical
Quick thinking
First to fly the airplane
Lived in Dayton, Ohio
Jobs:
Worked in a print shop
Bicycle mechanics
Bicycle sales & repair shop
Built their own bicycles
What inspired them toward aviation?
News of Lilenthal’s death in 1896
Studied birds
Wrote to Smithsonian
Responded w/ a reading list
Chanute’s Progress in Flying
First Steps
Started with kite (1899)
Attempted to solve
Control
Horizontal Rear Stabilizer
Adjustable Center of Gravity
Lateral Stability
Stability and Maneuverability
Stability:
The tendency of the airplane to return to equilibrium once it is disturbed
Maneuverability:
The ability to turn, climb, descend, roll, and yaw
What is the outcome of a plane that is too stable?
Hard to maneuver
What was the Wright brothers solution?
Designed a relatively unstable plane
Next Step
Full Size Glider?
1900
What did they attempt to solve?
Improve Controllability
Had Wing Warping
Movable forward elevator
Found new testing site
Kill Devil Hills
South of Kitty Hawk, NC
Known for strong, steady winds
Problems and Solutions
Problem:
Glider needed more lift
Solution:
Next version had larger wingspan
Problem:
Glider’s wings flexed making it uncontrollable
Solution:
Next version added middle spars to brace the wings
Problem:
Glider went into stall spins
Solution:
Next version added a movable rudder to counter….?
Adverse yaw (slippage)
Power
Where did the power come from?
Four-stroke gasoline engine
200 lbs
• 4 cylinder
12 horsepower
Water cooled
Who designed/built the engine along with the Wright Brothers?
Charles Taylor
Without these power from the engine would not matter?
Propellers
The Wrights discovered that they were rotating airfoils
First manned, powered, controlled, sustained flight
December 17, 1903
Orville Wright pilot
Distance: 120 ft
Duration: 12 seconds
Section C
Patent
Government document granting certain rights to an inventor for a specific period of time
Exclusive right to manufacture
Exclusive right to sell
Where does the authority to grant patents come from?
US Constitution
Article I Section 8. Clause 8
Patent and Copyright Clause
“Power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries”
Wright’s Patent
1st applied for on March 23, 1903
Patent Office dismissed application as a nuisance
Wrights sent additional information
Dismissed again
Hired patent attorney
1904 – Patent awarded by:
Belgium
France
Great Britain
1906 – Patent awarded by:
United States
Major Areas of the Patent
Control & Construction
Wings were airfoils
Wing warp controlled by hip movement
Wing Warp:
Any construction whereby the angular relations of the lateral margins of the wings may be varied in opposite directions
Vertical Rudder
Canard
What was not included (that maybe should have been)?
Engine
Section D
Coming Home
After Kitty Hawk, where did the Wrights further develop their invention?
Huffman Prairie
8 miles east of Dayton, OH
The First Airfield
First Airplane to use this airfield?
Wright Flyer No. 2
Wright Flyer No. 2
1904
Changes?
Less camber
More horsepower
New propeller gearing
Assisted takeoff device
Taught themselves how to fly
Flew low over the field
Determined to develop a practical aircraft
Wright Flyer No. 3
1905
Changes?
All new except engine
Separated control for rudder
Longest flight was:
38 minutes
24 miles
No. 3 met the criteria for a practical airplane
Grounded
October 1905, Wright brothers grounded themselves. Why?
No patent
Fearful of military or commercial spies
Began to market their invention
December 1907, US Army Signal Corps invited proposals for a heavier-than-air flying machine.
41 bids
Only 3 met the criteria
Wright brothers awarded contract (February, 1908)
Resume flying (May, 1908)
Flying Again
May 1908
Wrights begin flying again in a refurbished No. 3
Changes?
2 seats
Levers replace hip cradle
First Airplane Passenger?
Charlie Furnas (mechanic)
The First Fatal Airplane Accident
September 17, 1908
Fort Myer, Virginia
Lieutenant T. E. Selfridge
Military Sales
Army Model A
Army’s first airplane
Based on Flyer No. 3
Engine: Wright model 4
25 horsepower
40 mph
Involved in Selfridge accident (1908)
Army Model B
Rebuilt Model A
June 1909
While Orville worked with the US Army, Wilbur was touring Europe
Won Michelin Cup for longest flight (2 hrs 18 min)
Army Model B
1910
Began using wheels
Engine
30 horsepower
42 mph
Army Model C
1912
Triad Scout Planes
Moved elevator to the rear
Engine
50 horsepower
48 mph
Chapter 3
Section A
Octave Chanute lectured in Paris in 1903 on his gliders and the Wright gliders, including info about wing warping and rear rudder
“Thanks to the Montgolfier brothers, Aviation was a French invention, and so too should be the airplane”
National pride & the adventure spurs an industry
Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Failed to reproduce Wrights glider
Made Europe skeptical of US aviation news
Tried again with his own glider design that had ailerons and flew in Oct. 1904
Alberto Santos-Dumont
Brazilian Aviation Pioneer
Went from Dirigibles to Airplanes
Designed the 14-bis
Named because it was tested hanging under dirigible 14 so aircraft twice
Biplane with boxkite wings and front unit
Front was both elevator and rudder
Used 50 horsepower Antoinette motor
Built by Gabriel Voisin in 1906
November 12, 1906
14-bis was the first manned, powered flight in Europe
Lasted 22 seconds and 722 feet
Thought of as the 1st to fly for 2 years until Wilbur’s 1908 Europe tour
Gabriel Voisin
French aviator
1905 organized Syndicat d’Aviation, one of the first companies organized to make heavier-than-air craft
2 gliders that took off from Seine towed by motorboat
Constructed 14-bis for Dumont
Boxkite airplanes style
After he built 14-bis he…
Built his own airplane production business
Joined his brother in forming Voisin Freres
Influenced by Wilbur Wrights European tour of 1908 to created a pusher biplane with forward elevator and tail rudder
Produced 20 aircraft by WWI 1914
Henry Farman
Englishman, born & raised in France who got citizenship and becomes France’s leading aviator
Ordered first plane from Voisin in 1907 after a racing accident
Added ailerons and modified the tail
Europe’s first flight around a circular route which shows the pilot has control
Ordered 2nd plane from Voisin in 1908
Voisin sold it to another so Farman made his own production company building biplanes
First to fly over 100 miles
Short Brothers
Horace, Albert, and Hugh Short
Organized first company to build airplanes in Britain (1908)
Experienced balloon makers
Failed their own design so in 1909 Albert obtained a license to manufacture 6 Wright airplanes
First in the world to produce planes in a series
Learned enough from building Wright flyers to design/build their own
Short biplane No. 2 was first successful
Made a seaplane with folding wings in 1913
Louis Bleriot
1909 built his first aircraft, a monoplane called Bleriot XI
3-wheel undercarriage, pylons supporting wings, rectangular fuselage, small rudder, rear elevator
Wing warping from Wright’s for lateral control
For marketing purposes he chose to fly for a prize from the London Daily Mail
Fist powered flight across the English Channel July 25, 1909
Hubert Latham attempted to cross, but had engine problems so bailed
Significant because preparations included receiving weather via wireless telegraph
Igor I.Sikorsky
Studied at Russian Naval Academy
Read of Zeppelin & Wright Brothers
Idea: flying machines lifted by the propeller
Built two helicopters (1908 & 1910) but neither could fly so he switched to airplanes
First successful aircraft: S-2
S-5 had 50 horsepower Argus engine with rudder pedals then a wheel for aileron and elevator
1911 qualification for pilot’s license (Federation Aeronauticque Internationale #64 by Imperial Aero Club of Russia)
Helicopters come later
The Grand (1913)
Enclosed cabin and observation platform
German Developments (Not in Furedy Slides)
Lagged behind other countries so got permission to build foreign planes to begin catching up
Taube (the plane design of Austrian Igo Etrich) gave Germany full rights, no patent
Had 25 aircraft production companies before WWI
DFW company established with government backing but still heavily influenced by other countries
First aviator to obtain German pilot’s license August Euler who made Voisin biplanes
Section B: American Developments
Aerial Experiment Association
Organized in 1907 by Alexander Graham Bell
Purpose: Build a practical airplane (4 in 1908)
Members:
J.A.D. McCurdy (Canada)
Lt. Thomas Selfridge (US Army)
Thomas Baldwin (balloonist)
Glenn Curtiss (bicycle/motorcycle maker)
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 1 Red Wing
Biplane
Forward elevator
Fixed rear stabilizer
Movable rear rudder
No lateral stability systems like wing warping or ailerons
Ice skids for takeoff and landing on frozen lake
All two flights flown by Baldwin crash landed (1908)
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 2 White Wing
Biplane
Tricycle gear
Movable control surfaces on all four wingtips (ailerons)
Three successful flights by Baldwin, Curtiss, and McCurdy
McCurdy crashed it after
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 3 June Bug
Biplane
Continue to improve from no. 1 and 2
Curtiss flew it to win the Scientific American Trophy (June 1908)
Awarded by Aero Club of America
Fly one kilometer in a straight line
Named The Loon when added pontoons
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 4 Silver Dart
Biplane
First flew at Hammondsport, NY, home of Curtiss Company
50 horsepower, water cooled, V8 engine
Second flight was at Baddeck, Nova Scotia (Bell’s summer home)
First airplane flight in Canada (Feb. 23, 1909)
Flown by J.A.D. McCurdy
AEA disbands in March 1909
Completed its agenda
Applied for several patents
Lasting legacy of AEA:
Aircraft manufacturing company: Herring-Curtiss
Disagreements between the two led to:
Curtiss Aeroplane Company (1910)
Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company (1911)
Glenn Hammond Curtiss
Motorcycle/motor manufacturer
Thomas Baldwin requested a motor for his dirigible that was lightweight & powerful
Curtiss rode in Baldwin dirigibles
Joined AEA in 1907
Founded 1st aircraft manufacturing company in the US (1909)
Designed both pusher & tractor type airplanes and hydroplanes and flying boats
Pusher plane has propeller behind engine and trailing edge of wing
Tractor plane has powerplant in front
Curtiss Pusher Airplane – Model D
Curtiss Tractor Airplane – Model J
Hyrdoplane– Triad
Flying boat– NC-4
Eugene Ely
January 18, 1911
Landed / took-off from USS Pennsylvania
Curtiss pusher biplane
Proved practicality of using ship-based aircraft
Exhibition and Stunt Flying
Exhibition Flying:
The first were the designers
Wright brothers
Glenn Curtiss
Santos-Dumont, Bleriot, and Farman in Europe
Then the designers made teams of exhibition flyers to compete with each other
Eventually turned more towards stunt flying
Purpose: Exhibit the airplane & promote aviation
Stunt Flying:
Performed stunts/races in order to excite the crowds & make money
Lincoln Beachey
Loops
Race cars
Flew through the mist of Niagara Falls
Section C
Aero Clubs
Main purpose to promote aviation
Started with ballooning
What were the first eight national aero clubs that formed the International Aeronautical Federation in Paris in 1905?
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom & the United States
Key activity was to provide “official” recognition of aviation achievements/events
Aero Club of America was the 1st “official” support of the Wright brothers claims
Issued 1st licenses/certificates (1910 - 1927) and they were international
Promote safety
Excluded unlicensed pilots from competing or breaking records
Insurance
1st five went to well known aviators (in alphabetical order)
Glenn Curtiss
Lt. Frank Lahm
Louis Paulhan
Orville Wright
Wilbur Wright
6th (Clifford B Harmon) had to pass test
Requirements (21 years old, 3 solos in front of club, demonstrate safe flight skills)
First licensed women were
Baroness Raymonde de la Roche in France in 1910
Harriet Quimby for the US in 1911 (#37)
Air Shows
First international air show in Rheims, France (August 1909)
23 aircraft
Competed in speed, distance, & duration
In attendance: Glenn Curtiss, Louis Bleriot, Henry Farman…
Daily Mail of London Aviation Competitions
1906 – Assigned Harry Harper as the 1st full-time aviation reporter
1907 – Fly-off for model aircraft
1909 – Fly one continuous mile in British-made airplane
1909 – English Channel crossing (Bleriot)
1910 – London to Manchester race (Paulhan)
1911 – Five-day race around Britain
1913 – Hydro-Aeroplane Trial
US Newspapers Competitions
1910 New York World – 1st flight between New York & Albany (Glenn Curtiss)
1910 New York Times & Philadelphia Public Ledger – Round trip (Charles Hamilton)
1911 Publisher William Randolph Hearst – 1st transcontinental flight (Cal Rodgers)
First time flown in 49 days (19 days too long)
Won in Wright Model B “Vin Fiz”
Gordon Bennett Races
James Gordon Bennett Jr. was publisher of New York Herald
1st Annual Gordon Bennett International Cup balloon race (1906)
France
16 contestants
Frank Lahm (US) won
Bennett cup changes based on locations of winner
Aero Club of America sponsored 1907 race
Annual Gordon Bennett Blue Ribbon Race (1909)
Rheims, France
Glenn Curtiss (US) won
The Race for an Atlantic crossing in an airplane was disrupted by war
Section D
Patent Wars
By 1910 Europe led the world in aviation
What could be happening in the US that might explain why they are falling behind?
Patent Wars: Wright brothers vs
Glenn Curtiss
International Meet Association
Louis Paulhan
Manufactures all over Europe
Aero clubs had to settle with Wrights by only doing events with Wright permission
Germany
Rep: German Wright Company
Court found the patent invalidated because Octave Chanute lectures described wing warping before patent
France
Rep: General Company for Aerial Navigation
Court found in favor of the Wright brothers
Remained in French courts until 1917 (patent expired)
Wright’s Final Contribution
Automatic Stability
“Automatic Pilot for Straight & Level Flight”
Tested on gliders in 1911
Pendulum detected changes in Yaw & Roll
Vane detected changes in pitch
Wrights failed to keep pace with competitors
Gyroscopic Stabilizer vs Pendulum and Vane
Ailerons vs Wing Warping
Control Wheel vs Levers
Engine Production
Laurent & Louis Seguin
Relatives of the Montgolfier brothers
Automobile engine manufacturers for company Societte des Moteurs Gnome
1907 airplane engine, one of the first in production
7 cylinder rotary engine
165 lbs
50 horsepower
United States production
34 manufacturers
2 to 16 cylinders
Vertical, horizontal, radial, V, opposed, or tangent
90 to 325 lbs
25 to 200 horsepower
French production
3 manufacturers
70 to 85 horsepower
German production
9 manufacturers
Flight Schools
1911 Bleriot’s 500th airplane made
Planes need pilots so they opened flying schools in
France: Etampes & Canbois
Britain: Hendon
If bought Bleriot plane, then lessons were free, but if not there was a fee plus any damage cost
By 1913 there were 17 schools in Britain
Airports
Early airfields were just fields
Army leased field at College Park (1909)
Developments: Clearing field, 4 wooden hangars, barracks, digging a well, installing phone lines
Selection Criteria
Size of open space
Access
Weather
Hangars
Maintenance equipment
Facilities for pilots
Lights
Who maintained early airports?
Municipal governments or Aero Clubs
French Aero Clubs urged for “aerial roads”
Line of visual aids set to guide pilots visually along a route
Germany used red balloons w/ electric lights for guidance
Belgium used white cross for guidance
Publications
Jane’s All the World’s Airships by Fred T. Jane (1909)
International Aerial Laws (1911)
First International Congress of Aerial Law, Paris (1910)
Airmail
Before WWI all were single-flight / short-lived services
1909 – Hans Grade: privately run service in Germany
1910 – C.S. Rolls: one-time delivery over English Channel (1st roundtrip)
1911 – Bleriot & Grahame-White ran mail for two weeks between flying schools in Britain
1911 – US Postmaster General named Earle Ovington Air Mail Pilot No. 1
Commercial Aviation
Thomas Benoist (aircraft manufacturer) & Paul Fansler (engineer)
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line
1st scheduled airline using fixed wing aircraft
December 1913 – April 1914
St. Petersburg subsidized the service
Military
1907 – US Army established Aeronautical Division within the Signal Corps
1908 – Brazil organized balloon corp
1909 – Austria formed military air unit
1910 – France, Romania, & Russia created air units
1911 – Belgium organized a military air unit
1912 – Argentina, Australia, Britain, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal, & Turkey
1911 – Italian Flotilla 1st aerial bombing (Italo-Turkish War)
1913 – Combatants dropped bombs & engaged in 1st air-to-air combat (Mexican Revolution)
Pilots: Dean Ivan Lamb & Phillip Rader
Chapter 4
Just his
Section A
The Spark
June 28, 1914
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Assassin?
Gavrilo Princip
19 years old Bosnian Serb
Member of Young Bosnia
Black Hand
Why?
Protest Austrian rule over Bosnia
Snowball effect:
Alliance system
Nationalistic & imperialistic objectives
June 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918:
70 million soldiers
9 million military casualties
7 million civilian casualties
Triple Entente vs Central Powers
WWI Timeline:
June 28 – Assassination of Ferdinand
July 5 – Germany gives Austria a “Blank Check”
July 23 – Austria sends ultimatum to Serbia
July 28 – Austria declares war on Serbia
July 30 – Russia mobilizes in support of Serbia
Aug 1 – Germany declares war on Russia
Aug 3 – Germany declares war on France
Aug 4 – Germany marches 1.5 million troops through neutral Belgium
Aug 4 – Britain declares war on Germany for violating Belgium
Sept 6 – Battle of the Marne outside of Paris
German Airships
1914:
Army had 6 airships
Navy had 2 airships
No strategy
Uses?
Reconnaissance flights
Occasionally drop small bombs
Which was more effective?
Reconnaissance
Navy
Army dismantled airship program in 1916 – Why?
Navy continued use until the end of the war
Dirigible Raids on England
First raid
January 1915 - Yarmouth
Early raids = docks, war production, & military targets
Battleships could do more damage….why do it?
Morale = German & British
German = raised
“Most modern air weapon, a triumph of German inventiveness and the sole possession of the German military…”
British = Startled, but rallied
Total of 53 raids
24 hour round-trip
Dangers?
Weather (storms or temp), mechanical, observation
balloons/planes, wire nets, anti-aircraft guns
What brought down more?
Defenses developed
Wires held by tethered balloons to entangle airships
Searchlights
Observation patrols
German Army vs. Navy
1917 – Germany Army replaces airship bombers with airplane bombers
250 missions total
Navy continues using airships
200+ bombing missions
1,000+ reconnaissance missions
German official estimated 80 airships cost as much as 1 battleship….but:
Expensive to maintain (money & manpower)
Army & Navy lost:
79 of its 125 airships
441 men
England suffered 556 casualties
German Outcomes
Airship raids failed to demoralize civilian population
Revealed civilian vulnerability
Demonstrated failure of airship as a land bomber
Demonstrated effectiveness for naval reconnaissance
France Dirigibles & Airships!
Similar to Germany
Initially used for:
Reconnaissance
Artillery ranging
Used mostly at night
Increasingly for naval rather than army
Issues in France:
Friendly fire / failure to identify origin
Vulnerable to aircraft & ground fire
1917 Army transferred aircraft to navy
Effective @ sea vs. aircraft:
Longer range
Higher bomb-carrying capacity
British Dirigibles & Airships
Advantage of being an island nation
Aircraft were used as naval weapons
Highly effective for:
Reconnaissance
Surveillance
Produced over 200 dirigibles
Provided some to allies
At the end of the war Britain had the largest fleet of lighter-than-air craft (103)
British Sea Scout (SS) Blimp
Small 2,000 – 3,000 cubic meters
Designed for:
Patrolling costs
Spotting floating mines
Spotting submarines
Drachen & Free Balloons
Both sides used:
Free balloons
Drachen ballons
Balloon tethered to the ground or to naval vessel
Also known as a kite balloon
Used as observation, sector reconnaissance, artillery spotting, & verification of demolition
What was their advantage over airships & airplanes?
Direct connection by telephone line
Better direction
Eventually used radios
The Caquot
1st devised by a British Captain
Albert Caquot (1916)
Dangled light cables down
Purpose:
Entangle enemy airplanes
Deployed in defensive barrages up to 50 miles long
Willy Coppens
Belgian Ace
What is an Ace?
Usually considered to be 5 or more downed aircraft
What was Willy Coppens known for?
Balloon killer
Why was this dangerous?
Balloons were often protected by:
Ring of anti-aircraft batteries
Hanging cables
Coppens would dive from above
Used French incendiary bullets
Section B
Combatant Forces
Beginning of the War (1914)
Which Country had the most military aircraft?
Germany – over 230 airplanes
Russia – 190 airplanes
France – 160 airplanes
Austria-Hungary – 110 airplanes
Great Britain – 80 airplanes
Japan – 28 airplanes
United States – 15 airplanes
Aircraft Insignia
Great Britain RAF Roundel
France Roundel
German Iron Cross
US Army Roundel
Russia Roundel
Germany
August 1914
Two military forces:
Large Army air force
Small Naval air force
4 battalions
15 army flying schools
230 airplanes
1,000 airplanes (goal)
Two Basic Types:
Taube or monoplane
Arrow or biplane
Austria-Hungary
August 1914
Two military forces:
Large Army air force
110 airplanes
60 monoplanes
50 biplanes
Small Naval air force
Numbers unknown
Mostly German make
Relied on German production
Albatros, Lohner-Daimler, & Etrich-Taube
France
August 1914
Leading air force among the allies
Organization:
21 flights
Six airplanes each
50 men each
300 on order
Two aviation laboratories
Naval technical center
Great Britain
August 1914
Royal Flying Corps
British Expeditionary Force
Arrived in France on Aug. 13
755 men & 63 planes
Avro
Bristol
Sopwith Scouts
Russia
August 1914
50 aircraft
100 pilots
Consisted of:
Sikorsky (Russian)
Deperdussin (French)
Farman (French)
Nieuport (French)
Albatros (German)
Aviatik (German)
Bristol (British)
Italy
August 1914
Only country to have:
Prewar aerial combat experience
Italo-Turkish War
Large Naval aviation due to vast coastal area
Large number of airships & seaplanes
Macchi M.7
United States
August 1914
Did not enter the war until 1917
Some flew with:
Canadian Royal Flying Corps
British Royal Flying Corps
French Foreign Legion
LaFayette Escadrille
August 1914
Originally Escadrille Americaine
Germany protested (US was neutral)
Changed name
Trained and served as American unit within French Foreign Legion
Most transferred back to US in 1917
Not Eugene Bullard:
1st black American military aviator
Race to the Sea
September 12 – October 30
The Air war began with:
Germany’s invasion of Belgium
Central Powers & Allied Forces
Race toward strategic ports
Dawn of trench warfare
German aircraft dominate the skies
First British air casualty of the war happens on August 22, 1914 – ground fire
Airfields
Ideal airfield?
Wide
Smooth
Grass
During the retreat from Mons & The Race to the Sea airfields were created as they moved
One Night Stands:
Takeoff from one field in the morning
Land later in the day at another
Eventually, that fall, front lines stabilized
Stalemate!
Expansion
After the war started armies started to expand.
Numbers:
Recruiting
Training
Organizing
Capabilities:
Wireless officers
Observers got cameras
German aircraft industry:
Production of new aircraft
Train pilots, observers, and ground crews
Helped maintain dominance from 1914 into 1916
France’s initial response to war disrupted military aviation for the allies:
Anticipation of a short war
Canceled airplane orders
Sent aviation factory workers to the front lines
Great Britain & Russia depended on French airplanes
Aircraft observations:
Spotted German troop movements at the Marne
Stopped German advancement toward Paris
France reorganized/strengthened military aviation
Aerial Combat
Early pilots carried pistols for defense
Sometimes shooting at each other – mostly too far
October 5, 1914:
French Voisin biplane shot down German Aviatik biplane
Beginning of air-to-air combat
Bombing
War changed these terms:
Bomber?
A soldier who tosses small pocket bombs at the enemy.
Bombardment?
Artillery shells
From aircraft, bombs were small, inaccurate, and ineffective
Artillery Spotting
1915, British Royal Air Corps begins cooperating with the artillery
Aircraft sent wireless messages to guide the gunners
Problems with wireless:
Heavy
Require second person
Skilled in Morse code
Danger of fire
Communications
Air to ground:
Signaling by lamps
Dropping message bags
Grubb reflector
Sound
Prearranged maneuvers
Smoke signals
Shooting signal guns / colored flares
Ground to air:
Placing white canvas on landing strips
Flashing colored lights in code
Artillery fire (get aircrafts attention)
Semaphore
Forward Firing
March 1915
French Flying Corps
Pilot: Roland Garros
Raymond Saulnier added metal deflector plates to blades
Roland Garros
Downed 5 German airplanes in April 1915
First ace of WWI
Enemy fire severed fuel line / crashed / Germans captured him & aircraft
Anthony Fokker, Dutch Engineer
Developed machine gun with synchronized interrupter gear
Initiated:
“Fokker Scourge” - Allies called their aircraft “Fokker Fodder”
Germany dominated the skies late 1915 – early 1916
Allies adapted from captured German machine gun
Max Immelmann & Oswald Boelcke
Received first two Fokker forward firing
Advantage went to above & behind
Loop & climb toward desired position
Aces: Immelmann = 16, Boelcke = 40
Manfred von Richthofen
Known as:
“Red Baron”
Student of Oswald Boelcke
Experienced bomber pilot
Specialized in attacking reconnaissance aircraft
Downed 80 allied aircraft
Aimed for fuel tanks (jump or burn)
April 21, 1918 – shot down by:
Canadian Pilot, Roy Brown?
Australian ground fire?
Provided formal burial with honors
Fighter Planes
Not just new technology
Fighters brought new tactics:
Formation flying
Squadrons (Jastas) up to 10 aircraft
Wings (Geschwader) up to 50 aircraft
Aircraft duels declined after 1916
German Air Force Reorganized
Elevated to Separate Army Corps (1917)
Created 3 Army air squadrons:
Reconnaissance Squadrons
Pursuit Squadrons
Bomber Squadrons
Bombers
Bomber aircraft at the beginning of the war were designed by:
Giovanni Caproni, Italy
Igor Sikorsky, Russia
Mostly night time bombing (difficult to find)
Anti-aircraft guns & spotlights
France developed Breguet XIV bomber
Allowed daylight bombing
France dropped the most bombs
US delivered no American-made bombers
First Air Force
What country established the first independent military air force?
Great Britain
April 1, 1918
What is the Block Buster?
Largest bomb of the war
Dropped by new British Independent Air Force
October 14, 1918
Section C
Aircraft Production
Who was the leading producer of aircraft before and during World War I?
France
1917 – 1918 British production caught up
Issues:
Western front was in France
Lack of standardization
Lack of training
Lack of parts
Maintenance challenges
Great Britain
55,092 aircraft
France
51,700 aircraft
German
35,000 aircraft
United States
> 20,000 aircraft
Stimulant vs.Disruption
War was a grand stimulant & a disruption to the aviation industry
Pros:
Government contracts
Subsidized expansion
New buildings
Cons:
Britain purchased magnetos from Germany
Germany imported raw materials from the allies
British Production
Government interference increased as the need for more aircraft increased.
Why?
Protect the government from profiteering
Ensure adequate production
Forms of government interference?
Rationing raw supplies
Price fixing
Control of distribution
Control of labor pool
Prevent labor slowdowns/stoppages
What was one of the most famous British World War I aircraft designs?
D.H.4
Designed by who?
Geoffrey de Havilland
Produced by what company?
Aircraft Manufacturing Company
United States Production
How did WWI end the Patent wars?
US waited until it joined the war in 1917 to initiate production
Companies involved in litigation for the last decade
Government created MAA:
Manufacturers Aircraft Association
Patent Pool
Cross-licensed their inventions for a fee
Largest fees?
Wright & Curtiss companies ($2 million)
US Navy
Where did the Navy establish a Naval Aircraft Factory?
Philadelphia Naval Yard
What was the first aircraft it designed & built?
N-1 Davis Gun Carrier (1918)
(a flying cannon)
US Army
Decision to concentrate production on one aircraft
Bolling Commission
Headed by?
Raynal C. Bolling – United States Steel
Commission chose?
de Havilland 4
British granted free use of license
French required royalties
Problems with Production
Delays in getting designs & drawings
Delays in getting machine tools
Program was run by people with no aviation experience
Contracts awarded to companies with no aviation experience
Manufactures inflated costs
One aircraft for all US needs was folly
Highlight of US Production
What aircraft?
JN-4 Jenny
Trainer
Made By?
Curtiss
Produced 5,221 aircraft (1/3)
Section D
Armistice
What is an Armistice?
An agreement to stop fighting
Treaties/negotiations would follow
Multiple Armistice Agreements:
Russia – Germany: November 8, 1917
Bulgarian/Macedonian line: September 29, 1918
Ottoman Armistice: October 30, 1918
Austria-Hungary: November 3, 1918
Germany: November 11, 1918
End of War & Aviation
Governments canceled existing contracts
Governments canceled pending orders
Companies/governments negotiated unfinished contracts
Workers were laid off
Factories closed
Companies went out of business
Companies reorganized
Treaty of Versailles
Paris Peace Conference at Versailles
1919 – 1920
France – Georges Clemenceau
United States – Woodrow Wilson
Italy – Vittorio Orlando
Britain – David Lloyd George
Russia?
Did not attend
Revolution / civil war
People
Models
Things I’ve Missed Before
Otto Lilienthal
Octave Chanute
Wright Flyer Models and each upgrade,
Axis stability
Wright bros places
Previous jobs of characters
Canard- wing up front of aircraft
Sir George Cayley
How far and long flights were
Voisin
Bleriot
aero club purposes
Stunt people and first besides wright bros to succeed in stuff
Wright bo last contributions
Eugene Ely
Wars used
News reporters like harry harper
Places
Gordon Bennett Races (there are 2 differnt ones!!!)
Curtiss
Lahm
Cal Rodgers
Patent Wars and what was covered in patent
Short Bros
Aero club models and features
Sikorsky
Farman
JAC Charles
Big change engines (like huuge leap in technology)
Ballon types
First females
First Fatalities
Engine types (Steam, water, gas)
People they were trying to impress (Montgolfiers and King Louis XVI)
David Schwartz
Zeppelin
Messages and weather
Rigid vs nonrigid
Dirigible vs not dirigible
Santos-Dumont
MIlitary shit. Please look at it girl
Which bros do what
Goals of certain ships/trips
Firsts
Lasts
Wheres
Hows
Whys
Aviation History Midterm Review
A work in progress don’t @ me yet. Will add flashcards when notes finished. Last updated 2/20
I take his notes then add to them from the reading, then make flashcards which will be linked to this note (prob the more important part here)
Names
Models
Dates
December 17, 1903
Chapter 1
Working on my notes rn
Section A
Montgolfier family
Wealthy
Owned 2 paper mills
Supportive
Fathers rules
Joseph-Michel de Montgolfier
1740-1810
12th child
Creative
Jacques-Etienne de Montgolfier
1745-1799
15th child
Business & organizational skills
Both interested in Science & Mechanics
Aviation was Joseph’s Idea
Heard of previous works:
1774 study on oxygen
1766 discovery of hydrogen
Experiments:
Heat
Steam engines
Heat pumps
Smoke / clouds
Use of Invention
Communications
Scientific experiments
Transport people
Drop bombs
Transport goods
First Public Ascension
Annonay, France
June 4, 1783
Coincided with the legislative assembly for the district of Vivarais
Why?
The Invention: Hot Air Balloon
Also called the Montgolfiere
Height: 3,000 ft
Distance: 1.5 miles
Unmanned
Wooden frame
Fabric panels:
Linen sackcloth
Lined with rag paper
1,800 buttons
Fuel: Wood & straw fire
The Competition
J.A.C. Charles
Physicist & Lecturer
Invented the hydrogen balloon
Also called the charliere
Height: 1,500 ft
Distance: Over 13 miles
August 27, 1783
Paris, France
Hydrogen is extracted from reaction between acid and metal
Wasn’t used by Montgolfiers because
Expensive
Not easily available
Funded by French Academy of Sciences
The First Passengers
Montgofier’s & the French Academy of Sciences
September 19, 1783
Paris, France
Witnessed by King Louis XVI
Balloon had varnish-coated taffeta
Carried a sheep, duck, and rooster
Height: 1,500 ft
Distance: 2 miles
First Manned Flight
Paris, France
October, 1783
Etienne Montgolfier (first airman)
Most of history recorded two others as conducting the first manned flight because wasn’t public as father didn’t want them in the plane
First public manned flight
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent
November, 21, 1783
Section B
Women in Aviation
First: Marie Elisabeth Thible
June 4, 1784
Lyon, France
First women fatality
Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard
Aerial performer
Widow of Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Fireworks ignited balloon
July 7, 1819
First Fatality
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier
Pierre Romain
Trying to cross the English Channel
France to Engalnd
June 15, 1785
Crossing the English Channel
Jean-Pierre Blanchard
French balloonist
Dr. John Jeffries
Expatriate
Loyalist
1st balloon voyage
London
Dropped cards addressed to friends
1st Airmail?
2nd balloon voyage
Crossed the English Channel
England to France
Military Aviation
French Revelation begins in 1789
King Louis XVI is executed in 1793
Who does military aviation begin with?
Napoleons Republic Army – Air Arm
Confiscated balloon starts the Company of Balloonists (1793)
What were these balloons used for?
Observers against the Austrians (1793)
Observers against Italians (1796)
Disbanded (1799)
Aviation Goes International
Italy
February 25, 1784
Paolo Andreani, Charles Gerli, & Augustin Gerli
First manned flight outside of France
By the end of 1784 others followed:
Ireland
Scotland
England
United States
More to come…
American Flights
The First American Manned Flight*?
June 24, 1784
Baltimore, MD
Flyer: Edward Warren (13)
Inventor: Peter Carnes
* tethered
The First American Manned Untethered Flight?
January 9, 1793
Philadelphia, PA
Flyer: Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Distance: 15 miles
First successful parachute jump?
October 22, 1797
Andre Jacques Garnerin
Exhibition Flying
Richard Clayton
1835 world distance record
Ohio to Virginia: 350 miles
Charles Green
1836 world distance record
England to Germany: 480 miles
What did he invent?
Dragline (1830):
Slows the speed of descent or ascent
John Wise
1859 world distance record
Missouri to New York: 809 miles
Record held until 1900
France to Russia: 1,195 miles
Attempted Atlantic Ocean Crossing
First successful crossing of Atlantic Ocean?
August 10, 1978 (five days)
Abruzzo, Anderson, & Newman
Exploration
Goal: Fly balloon over North Pole
Salmon Auguste Andree
Professor Nils Strindberg
Engineer Knut Fraenkel
Left Spitsbergen on July 11, 1897
Forced down on July 14, 1897
Travelled over ice to White Island
Remains found during 1930 Norwegian scientific expedition
Diaries and undeveloped film was also found
Section C
Dirigible
An aircraft that can be directed or steered
French for “to direct, to aim
Non-rigid
Requires:
Power
Directional control
Airship
Semi-rigid or Rigid Dirigible
Rigidity
Rigidity refers to form:
Non-rigid:
Form maintained by internal pressure
Semi-rigid:
Form maintained by internal pressure & keel structure
Rigid:
Form maintained by structure or internal framework
Jean Pierre Blanchard
1784 flights had wings/oars:
Not a dirigible
Could neither steer or add power
Only able to spin the aircraft
Henri Giffard
Engineer
First dirigible
September 24, 1852
Paris, France
Type of dirigible:
Hydrogen balloon
144 ft long
40 ft in diameter
Engine:
Steam engine
3 horse-power
Weighed 350 lbs
Flight:
17 miles @ 6 miles per hour
What’s new?
Demonstrated directional, horizontal control
Engine Development
Paul Haenlein
German Engineer
1872
1st internal combustion engine airship
3.6 horse-power
Tethered flight
Albert & Gaston Tissandier
French balloonists
1883
Electrically powered
1.5 horse-power
3 miles per hour
Money Motivates
Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe
Competition: 100,000 francs
Fly from Aero Club of France to Eiffel Tower & back
Less than 30 minutes
~ 14 miles per hour
Winner?
Albert Santos-Dumont
October 19, 1901
Third attempt in Airship No. 6
Improvements?
Pinewood keel
Aluminum joints
Wire instead of rope
12 horse-power engine
Section D
David Schwartz
Austro-Hungarian
Designed all metal ships
12 horse-power engine, 3 propellers
Died just before it was completed
Inspired the most famous of airship designers:
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
North Pole Expeditions
Walter Wellman
Chicago journalist
North Pole Expeditions:
First attempts since S.A. Andree (1897)
1906
Did not launch – engine problems
1907
First motorized flight in the Arctic
Did not reach the North Pole
1909
Lost dragline
Towed back to base
Atlantic Ocean Crossing
1910
Lost one engine
First wireless message from airship to shore
October 15, 1910
The Premier Airships
Luftschiff-Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich von Zeppelin
Retired Calvary Officer
What was his concern?
Military Aviation
What did he want?
Aircraft with long-range, fly in bad weather, carry bombs, arms and aircrew
Built 7 airships for DELAG:
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts A.G.
World's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service
1910 - 1914
Transported 34,000 people
Speed: 40 mph
Chapter 2
Just his notes rn
Section A
Two Technologies
Kite
Chinese invention
1st century
What is this technology?
Wing
Primitive airplane
Windmill
Originated in Rome
What technology?
Propeller
Recognized by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley
Wealthy land owner in England
Defined the problem of mechanical flight
1st to conceive of this idea?
Modern airplane
Silver disc dated 1799
Engraved diagram of forces of flight:
Lift
Drag
Weight
Thrust
Engraved drawing of airplane
1804 Glider
First Manned Heavier-Than-Air Flights
Cayley’s full-size gliders
1809 Glider
Wing area = 200 sq/ft
Unmanned
“Problem of power”
1853 Glider
Ten year old boy
Towed by rope
1853 Glider
Larger
Cayley’s reluctant coachman
Henson and Stringfellow
William Samuel Henson
English
Experimented with gliders
Designed Aerial Steam Carriage (1842)
Never built
John Stringfellow
English
Launched balloons
Together:
Organized early airline
Aerial Transit Company (1842-1843)
Tried to raise funds
Built twenty-foot model (failed to fly)
Controversy
First unmanned, powered, winged flight?
Stringfellow’s launch-by-wire monoplane (1848)
Short flight after launch by wire
Felix du Temple’s Steam powered model (1874)
Took a hop after rolling down an incline
Otto Lilienthal
German Engineer
Published book on bird flight
Tested fixed-wing gliders (1891-1896)
Nearly 2,000 flights up 750 ft
Contribution: Demonstrated man could fly heavier-than-air craft without an engine
Octave Chanute
Civil Engineer – Railway bridges
Designed some bridges here in KC
Collected information on flight
“Progress in Flying Machines” (1894)
Designed/built man-carrying gliders
Hired a man to fly (Chanute was in his 60’s)
Contributions:
Introduced Pratt Truss’s (from bridges) to brace wings
Became trusted colleague of the Wright brothers
Section B
Wright Brothers
Wilbur Wright
Bald
Older
Neat
Controlled
Outgoing
Thoughtful
Public speaker
Airplane was his idea
Orville Wright
Younger
Timid
Impulsive
Optimistic
Mechanical
Quick thinking
First to fly the airplane
Lived in Dayton, Ohio
Jobs:
Worked in a print shop
Bicycle mechanics
Bicycle sales & repair shop
Built their own bicycles
What inspired them toward aviation?
News of Lilenthal’s death in 1896
Studied birds
Wrote to Smithsonian
Responded w/ a reading list
Chanute’s Progress in Flying
First Steps
Started with kite (1899)
Attempted to solve
Control
Horizontal Rear Stabilizer
Adjustable Center of Gravity
Lateral Stability
Stability and Maneuverability
Stability:
The tendency of the airplane to return to equilibrium once it is disturbed
Maneuverability:
The ability to turn, climb, descend, roll, and yaw
What is the outcome of a plane that is too stable?
Hard to maneuver
What was the Wright brothers solution?
Designed a relatively unstable plane
Next Step
Full Size Glider?
1900
What did they attempt to solve?
Improve Controllability
Had Wing Warping
Movable forward elevator
Found new testing site
Kill Devil Hills
South of Kitty Hawk, NC
Known for strong, steady winds
Problems and Solutions
Problem:
Glider needed more lift
Solution:
Next version had larger wingspan
Problem:
Glider’s wings flexed making it uncontrollable
Solution:
Next version added middle spars to brace the wings
Problem:
Glider went into stall spins
Solution:
Next version added a movable rudder to counter….?
Adverse yaw (slippage)
Power
Where did the power come from?
Four-stroke gasoline engine
200 lbs
• 4 cylinder
12 horsepower
Water cooled
Who designed/built the engine along with the Wright Brothers?
Charles Taylor
Without these power from the engine would not matter?
Propellers
The Wrights discovered that they were rotating airfoils
First manned, powered, controlled, sustained flight
December 17, 1903
Orville Wright pilot
Distance: 120 ft
Duration: 12 seconds
Section C
Patent
Government document granting certain rights to an inventor for a specific period of time
Exclusive right to manufacture
Exclusive right to sell
Where does the authority to grant patents come from?
US Constitution
Article I Section 8. Clause 8
Patent and Copyright Clause
“Power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries”
Wright’s Patent
1st applied for on March 23, 1903
Patent Office dismissed application as a nuisance
Wrights sent additional information
Dismissed again
Hired patent attorney
1904 – Patent awarded by:
Belgium
France
Great Britain
1906 – Patent awarded by:
United States
Major Areas of the Patent
Control & Construction
Wings were airfoils
Wing warp controlled by hip movement
Wing Warp:
Any construction whereby the angular relations of the lateral margins of the wings may be varied in opposite directions
Vertical Rudder
Canard
What was not included (that maybe should have been)?
Engine
Section D
Coming Home
After Kitty Hawk, where did the Wrights further develop their invention?
Huffman Prairie
8 miles east of Dayton, OH
The First Airfield
First Airplane to use this airfield?
Wright Flyer No. 2
Wright Flyer No. 2
1904
Changes?
Less camber
More horsepower
New propeller gearing
Assisted takeoff device
Taught themselves how to fly
Flew low over the field
Determined to develop a practical aircraft
Wright Flyer No. 3
1905
Changes?
All new except engine
Separated control for rudder
Longest flight was:
38 minutes
24 miles
No. 3 met the criteria for a practical airplane
Grounded
October 1905, Wright brothers grounded themselves. Why?
No patent
Fearful of military or commercial spies
Began to market their invention
December 1907, US Army Signal Corps invited proposals for a heavier-than-air flying machine.
41 bids
Only 3 met the criteria
Wright brothers awarded contract (February, 1908)
Resume flying (May, 1908)
Flying Again
May 1908
Wrights begin flying again in a refurbished No. 3
Changes?
2 seats
Levers replace hip cradle
First Airplane Passenger?
Charlie Furnas (mechanic)
The First Fatal Airplane Accident
September 17, 1908
Fort Myer, Virginia
Lieutenant T. E. Selfridge
Military Sales
Army Model A
Army’s first airplane
Based on Flyer No. 3
Engine: Wright model 4
25 horsepower
40 mph
Involved in Selfridge accident (1908)
Army Model B
Rebuilt Model A
June 1909
While Orville worked with the US Army, Wilbur was touring Europe
Won Michelin Cup for longest flight (2 hrs 18 min)
Army Model B
1910
Began using wheels
Engine
30 horsepower
42 mph
Army Model C
1912
Triad Scout Planes
Moved elevator to the rear
Engine
50 horsepower
48 mph
Chapter 3
Section A
Octave Chanute lectured in Paris in 1903 on his gliders and the Wright gliders, including info about wing warping and rear rudder
“Thanks to the Montgolfier brothers, Aviation was a French invention, and so too should be the airplane”
National pride & the adventure spurs an industry
Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Failed to reproduce Wrights glider
Made Europe skeptical of US aviation news
Tried again with his own glider design that had ailerons and flew in Oct. 1904
Alberto Santos-Dumont
Brazilian Aviation Pioneer
Went from Dirigibles to Airplanes
Designed the 14-bis
Named because it was tested hanging under dirigible 14 so aircraft twice
Biplane with boxkite wings and front unit
Front was both elevator and rudder
Used 50 horsepower Antoinette motor
Built by Gabriel Voisin in 1906
November 12, 1906
14-bis was the first manned, powered flight in Europe
Lasted 22 seconds and 722 feet
Thought of as the 1st to fly for 2 years until Wilbur’s 1908 Europe tour
Gabriel Voisin
French aviator
1905 organized Syndicat d’Aviation, one of the first companies organized to make heavier-than-air craft
2 gliders that took off from Seine towed by motorboat
Constructed 14-bis for Dumont
Boxkite airplanes style
After he built 14-bis he…
Built his own airplane production business
Joined his brother in forming Voisin Freres
Influenced by Wilbur Wrights European tour of 1908 to created a pusher biplane with forward elevator and tail rudder
Produced 20 aircraft by WWI 1914
Henry Farman
Englishman, born & raised in France who got citizenship and becomes France’s leading aviator
Ordered first plane from Voisin in 1907 after a racing accident
Added ailerons and modified the tail
Europe’s first flight around a circular route which shows the pilot has control
Ordered 2nd plane from Voisin in 1908
Voisin sold it to another so Farman made his own production company building biplanes
First to fly over 100 miles
Short Brothers
Horace, Albert, and Hugh Short
Organized first company to build airplanes in Britain (1908)
Experienced balloon makers
Failed their own design so in 1909 Albert obtained a license to manufacture 6 Wright airplanes
First in the world to produce planes in a series
Learned enough from building Wright flyers to design/build their own
Short biplane No. 2 was first successful
Made a seaplane with folding wings in 1913
Louis Bleriot
1909 built his first aircraft, a monoplane called Bleriot XI
3-wheel undercarriage, pylons supporting wings, rectangular fuselage, small rudder, rear elevator
Wing warping from Wright’s for lateral control
For marketing purposes he chose to fly for a prize from the London Daily Mail
Fist powered flight across the English Channel July 25, 1909
Hubert Latham attempted to cross, but had engine problems so bailed
Significant because preparations included receiving weather via wireless telegraph
Igor I.Sikorsky
Studied at Russian Naval Academy
Read of Zeppelin & Wright Brothers
Idea: flying machines lifted by the propeller
Built two helicopters (1908 & 1910) but neither could fly so he switched to airplanes
First successful aircraft: S-2
S-5 had 50 horsepower Argus engine with rudder pedals then a wheel for aileron and elevator
1911 qualification for pilot’s license (Federation Aeronauticque Internationale #64 by Imperial Aero Club of Russia)
Helicopters come later
The Grand (1913)
Enclosed cabin and observation platform
German Developments (Not in Furedy Slides)
Lagged behind other countries so got permission to build foreign planes to begin catching up
Taube (the plane design of Austrian Igo Etrich) gave Germany full rights, no patent
Had 25 aircraft production companies before WWI
DFW company established with government backing but still heavily influenced by other countries
First aviator to obtain German pilot’s license August Euler who made Voisin biplanes
Section B: American Developments
Aerial Experiment Association
Organized in 1907 by Alexander Graham Bell
Purpose: Build a practical airplane (4 in 1908)
Members:
J.A.D. McCurdy (Canada)
Lt. Thomas Selfridge (US Army)
Thomas Baldwin (balloonist)
Glenn Curtiss (bicycle/motorcycle maker)
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 1 Red Wing
Biplane
Forward elevator
Fixed rear stabilizer
Movable rear rudder
No lateral stability systems like wing warping or ailerons
Ice skids for takeoff and landing on frozen lake
All two flights flown by Baldwin crash landed (1908)
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 2 White Wing
Biplane
Tricycle gear
Movable control surfaces on all four wingtips (ailerons)
Three successful flights by Baldwin, Curtiss, and McCurdy
McCurdy crashed it after
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 3 June Bug
Biplane
Continue to improve from no. 1 and 2
Curtiss flew it to win the Scientific American Trophy (June 1908)
Awarded by Aero Club of America
Fly one kilometer in a straight line
Named The Loon when added pontoons
Aerial Experiment Association Aircraft No. 4 Silver Dart
Biplane
First flew at Hammondsport, NY, home of Curtiss Company
50 horsepower, water cooled, V8 engine
Second flight was at Baddeck, Nova Scotia (Bell’s summer home)
First airplane flight in Canada (Feb. 23, 1909)
Flown by J.A.D. McCurdy
AEA disbands in March 1909
Completed its agenda
Applied for several patents
Lasting legacy of AEA:
Aircraft manufacturing company: Herring-Curtiss
Disagreements between the two led to:
Curtiss Aeroplane Company (1910)
Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company (1911)
Glenn Hammond Curtiss
Motorcycle/motor manufacturer
Thomas Baldwin requested a motor for his dirigible that was lightweight & powerful
Curtiss rode in Baldwin dirigibles
Joined AEA in 1907
Founded 1st aircraft manufacturing company in the US (1909)
Designed both pusher & tractor type airplanes and hydroplanes and flying boats
Pusher plane has propeller behind engine and trailing edge of wing
Tractor plane has powerplant in front
Curtiss Pusher Airplane – Model D
Curtiss Tractor Airplane – Model J
Hyrdoplane– Triad
Flying boat– NC-4
Eugene Ely
January 18, 1911
Landed / took-off from USS Pennsylvania
Curtiss pusher biplane
Proved practicality of using ship-based aircraft
Exhibition and Stunt Flying
Exhibition Flying:
The first were the designers
Wright brothers
Glenn Curtiss
Santos-Dumont, Bleriot, and Farman in Europe
Then the designers made teams of exhibition flyers to compete with each other
Eventually turned more towards stunt flying
Purpose: Exhibit the airplane & promote aviation
Stunt Flying:
Performed stunts/races in order to excite the crowds & make money
Lincoln Beachey
Loops
Race cars
Flew through the mist of Niagara Falls
Section C
Aero Clubs
Main purpose to promote aviation
Started with ballooning
What were the first eight national aero clubs that formed the International Aeronautical Federation in Paris in 1905?
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom & the United States
Key activity was to provide “official” recognition of aviation achievements/events
Aero Club of America was the 1st “official” support of the Wright brothers claims
Issued 1st licenses/certificates (1910 - 1927) and they were international
Promote safety
Excluded unlicensed pilots from competing or breaking records
Insurance
1st five went to well known aviators (in alphabetical order)
Glenn Curtiss
Lt. Frank Lahm
Louis Paulhan
Orville Wright
Wilbur Wright
6th (Clifford B Harmon) had to pass test
Requirements (21 years old, 3 solos in front of club, demonstrate safe flight skills)
First licensed women were
Baroness Raymonde de la Roche in France in 1910
Harriet Quimby for the US in 1911 (#37)
Air Shows
First international air show in Rheims, France (August 1909)
23 aircraft
Competed in speed, distance, & duration
In attendance: Glenn Curtiss, Louis Bleriot, Henry Farman…
Daily Mail of London Aviation Competitions
1906 – Assigned Harry Harper as the 1st full-time aviation reporter
1907 – Fly-off for model aircraft
1909 – Fly one continuous mile in British-made airplane
1909 – English Channel crossing (Bleriot)
1910 – London to Manchester race (Paulhan)
1911 – Five-day race around Britain
1913 – Hydro-Aeroplane Trial
US Newspapers Competitions
1910 New York World – 1st flight between New York & Albany (Glenn Curtiss)
1910 New York Times & Philadelphia Public Ledger – Round trip (Charles Hamilton)
1911 Publisher William Randolph Hearst – 1st transcontinental flight (Cal Rodgers)
First time flown in 49 days (19 days too long)
Won in Wright Model B “Vin Fiz”
Gordon Bennett Races
James Gordon Bennett Jr. was publisher of New York Herald
1st Annual Gordon Bennett International Cup balloon race (1906)
France
16 contestants
Frank Lahm (US) won
Bennett cup changes based on locations of winner
Aero Club of America sponsored 1907 race
Annual Gordon Bennett Blue Ribbon Race (1909)
Rheims, France
Glenn Curtiss (US) won
The Race for an Atlantic crossing in an airplane was disrupted by war
Section D
Patent Wars
By 1910 Europe led the world in aviation
What could be happening in the US that might explain why they are falling behind?
Patent Wars: Wright brothers vs
Glenn Curtiss
International Meet Association
Louis Paulhan
Manufactures all over Europe
Aero clubs had to settle with Wrights by only doing events with Wright permission
Germany
Rep: German Wright Company
Court found the patent invalidated because Octave Chanute lectures described wing warping before patent
France
Rep: General Company for Aerial Navigation
Court found in favor of the Wright brothers
Remained in French courts until 1917 (patent expired)
Wright’s Final Contribution
Automatic Stability
“Automatic Pilot for Straight & Level Flight”
Tested on gliders in 1911
Pendulum detected changes in Yaw & Roll
Vane detected changes in pitch
Wrights failed to keep pace with competitors
Gyroscopic Stabilizer vs Pendulum and Vane
Ailerons vs Wing Warping
Control Wheel vs Levers
Engine Production
Laurent & Louis Seguin
Relatives of the Montgolfier brothers
Automobile engine manufacturers for company Societte des Moteurs Gnome
1907 airplane engine, one of the first in production
7 cylinder rotary engine
165 lbs
50 horsepower
United States production
34 manufacturers
2 to 16 cylinders
Vertical, horizontal, radial, V, opposed, or tangent
90 to 325 lbs
25 to 200 horsepower
French production
3 manufacturers
70 to 85 horsepower
German production
9 manufacturers
Flight Schools
1911 Bleriot’s 500th airplane made
Planes need pilots so they opened flying schools in
France: Etampes & Canbois
Britain: Hendon
If bought Bleriot plane, then lessons were free, but if not there was a fee plus any damage cost
By 1913 there were 17 schools in Britain
Airports
Early airfields were just fields
Army leased field at College Park (1909)
Developments: Clearing field, 4 wooden hangars, barracks, digging a well, installing phone lines
Selection Criteria
Size of open space
Access
Weather
Hangars
Maintenance equipment
Facilities for pilots
Lights
Who maintained early airports?
Municipal governments or Aero Clubs
French Aero Clubs urged for “aerial roads”
Line of visual aids set to guide pilots visually along a route
Germany used red balloons w/ electric lights for guidance
Belgium used white cross for guidance
Publications
Jane’s All the World’s Airships by Fred T. Jane (1909)
International Aerial Laws (1911)
First International Congress of Aerial Law, Paris (1910)
Airmail
Before WWI all were single-flight / short-lived services
1909 – Hans Grade: privately run service in Germany
1910 – C.S. Rolls: one-time delivery over English Channel (1st roundtrip)
1911 – Bleriot & Grahame-White ran mail for two weeks between flying schools in Britain
1911 – US Postmaster General named Earle Ovington Air Mail Pilot No. 1
Commercial Aviation
Thomas Benoist (aircraft manufacturer) & Paul Fansler (engineer)
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line
1st scheduled airline using fixed wing aircraft
December 1913 – April 1914
St. Petersburg subsidized the service
Military
1907 – US Army established Aeronautical Division within the Signal Corps
1908 – Brazil organized balloon corp
1909 – Austria formed military air unit
1910 – France, Romania, & Russia created air units
1911 – Belgium organized a military air unit
1912 – Argentina, Australia, Britain, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal, & Turkey
1911 – Italian Flotilla 1st aerial bombing (Italo-Turkish War)
1913 – Combatants dropped bombs & engaged in 1st air-to-air combat (Mexican Revolution)
Pilots: Dean Ivan Lamb & Phillip Rader
Chapter 4
Just his
Section A
The Spark
June 28, 1914
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Assassin?
Gavrilo Princip
19 years old Bosnian Serb
Member of Young Bosnia
Black Hand
Why?
Protest Austrian rule over Bosnia
Snowball effect:
Alliance system
Nationalistic & imperialistic objectives
June 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918:
70 million soldiers
9 million military casualties
7 million civilian casualties
Triple Entente vs Central Powers
WWI Timeline:
June 28 – Assassination of Ferdinand
July 5 – Germany gives Austria a “Blank Check”
July 23 – Austria sends ultimatum to Serbia
July 28 – Austria declares war on Serbia
July 30 – Russia mobilizes in support of Serbia
Aug 1 – Germany declares war on Russia
Aug 3 – Germany declares war on France
Aug 4 – Germany marches 1.5 million troops through neutral Belgium
Aug 4 – Britain declares war on Germany for violating Belgium
Sept 6 – Battle of the Marne outside of Paris
German Airships
1914:
Army had 6 airships
Navy had 2 airships
No strategy
Uses?
Reconnaissance flights
Occasionally drop small bombs
Which was more effective?
Reconnaissance
Navy
Army dismantled airship program in 1916 – Why?
Navy continued use until the end of the war
Dirigible Raids on England
First raid
January 1915 - Yarmouth
Early raids = docks, war production, & military targets
Battleships could do more damage….why do it?
Morale = German & British
German = raised
“Most modern air weapon, a triumph of German inventiveness and the sole possession of the German military…”
British = Startled, but rallied
Total of 53 raids
24 hour round-trip
Dangers?
Weather (storms or temp), mechanical, observation
balloons/planes, wire nets, anti-aircraft guns
What brought down more?
Defenses developed
Wires held by tethered balloons to entangle airships
Searchlights
Observation patrols
German Army vs. Navy
1917 – Germany Army replaces airship bombers with airplane bombers
250 missions total
Navy continues using airships
200+ bombing missions
1,000+ reconnaissance missions
German official estimated 80 airships cost as much as 1 battleship….but:
Expensive to maintain (money & manpower)
Army & Navy lost:
79 of its 125 airships
441 men
England suffered 556 casualties
German Outcomes
Airship raids failed to demoralize civilian population
Revealed civilian vulnerability
Demonstrated failure of airship as a land bomber
Demonstrated effectiveness for naval reconnaissance
France Dirigibles & Airships!
Similar to Germany
Initially used for:
Reconnaissance
Artillery ranging
Used mostly at night
Increasingly for naval rather than army
Issues in France:
Friendly fire / failure to identify origin
Vulnerable to aircraft & ground fire
1917 Army transferred aircraft to navy
Effective @ sea vs. aircraft:
Longer range
Higher bomb-carrying capacity
British Dirigibles & Airships
Advantage of being an island nation
Aircraft were used as naval weapons
Highly effective for:
Reconnaissance
Surveillance
Produced over 200 dirigibles
Provided some to allies
At the end of the war Britain had the largest fleet of lighter-than-air craft (103)
British Sea Scout (SS) Blimp
Small 2,000 – 3,000 cubic meters
Designed for:
Patrolling costs
Spotting floating mines
Spotting submarines
Drachen & Free Balloons
Both sides used:
Free balloons
Drachen ballons
Balloon tethered to the ground or to naval vessel
Also known as a kite balloon
Used as observation, sector reconnaissance, artillery spotting, & verification of demolition
What was their advantage over airships & airplanes?
Direct connection by telephone line
Better direction
Eventually used radios
The Caquot
1st devised by a British Captain
Albert Caquot (1916)
Dangled light cables down
Purpose:
Entangle enemy airplanes
Deployed in defensive barrages up to 50 miles long
Willy Coppens
Belgian Ace
What is an Ace?
Usually considered to be 5 or more downed aircraft
What was Willy Coppens known for?
Balloon killer
Why was this dangerous?
Balloons were often protected by:
Ring of anti-aircraft batteries
Hanging cables
Coppens would dive from above
Used French incendiary bullets
Section B
Combatant Forces
Beginning of the War (1914)
Which Country had the most military aircraft?
Germany – over 230 airplanes
Russia – 190 airplanes
France – 160 airplanes
Austria-Hungary – 110 airplanes
Great Britain – 80 airplanes
Japan – 28 airplanes
United States – 15 airplanes
Aircraft Insignia
Great Britain RAF Roundel
France Roundel
German Iron Cross
US Army Roundel
Russia Roundel
Germany
August 1914
Two military forces:
Large Army air force
Small Naval air force
4 battalions
15 army flying schools
230 airplanes
1,000 airplanes (goal)
Two Basic Types:
Taube or monoplane
Arrow or biplane
Austria-Hungary
August 1914
Two military forces:
Large Army air force
110 airplanes
60 monoplanes
50 biplanes
Small Naval air force
Numbers unknown
Mostly German make
Relied on German production
Albatros, Lohner-Daimler, & Etrich-Taube
France
August 1914
Leading air force among the allies
Organization:
21 flights
Six airplanes each
50 men each
300 on order
Two aviation laboratories
Naval technical center
Great Britain
August 1914
Royal Flying Corps
British Expeditionary Force
Arrived in France on Aug. 13
755 men & 63 planes
Avro
Bristol
Sopwith Scouts
Russia
August 1914
50 aircraft
100 pilots
Consisted of:
Sikorsky (Russian)
Deperdussin (French)
Farman (French)
Nieuport (French)
Albatros (German)
Aviatik (German)
Bristol (British)
Italy
August 1914
Only country to have:
Prewar aerial combat experience
Italo-Turkish War
Large Naval aviation due to vast coastal area
Large number of airships & seaplanes
Macchi M.7
United States
August 1914
Did not enter the war until 1917
Some flew with:
Canadian Royal Flying Corps
British Royal Flying Corps
French Foreign Legion
LaFayette Escadrille
August 1914
Originally Escadrille Americaine
Germany protested (US was neutral)
Changed name
Trained and served as American unit within French Foreign Legion
Most transferred back to US in 1917
Not Eugene Bullard:
1st black American military aviator
Race to the Sea
September 12 – October 30
The Air war began with:
Germany’s invasion of Belgium
Central Powers & Allied Forces
Race toward strategic ports
Dawn of trench warfare
German aircraft dominate the skies
First British air casualty of the war happens on August 22, 1914 – ground fire
Airfields
Ideal airfield?
Wide
Smooth
Grass
During the retreat from Mons & The Race to the Sea airfields were created as they moved
One Night Stands:
Takeoff from one field in the morning
Land later in the day at another
Eventually, that fall, front lines stabilized
Stalemate!
Expansion
After the war started armies started to expand.
Numbers:
Recruiting
Training
Organizing
Capabilities:
Wireless officers
Observers got cameras
German aircraft industry:
Production of new aircraft
Train pilots, observers, and ground crews
Helped maintain dominance from 1914 into 1916
France’s initial response to war disrupted military aviation for the allies:
Anticipation of a short war
Canceled airplane orders
Sent aviation factory workers to the front lines
Great Britain & Russia depended on French airplanes
Aircraft observations:
Spotted German troop movements at the Marne
Stopped German advancement toward Paris
France reorganized/strengthened military aviation
Aerial Combat
Early pilots carried pistols for defense
Sometimes shooting at each other – mostly too far
October 5, 1914:
French Voisin biplane shot down German Aviatik biplane
Beginning of air-to-air combat
Bombing
War changed these terms:
Bomber?
A soldier who tosses small pocket bombs at the enemy.
Bombardment?
Artillery shells
From aircraft, bombs were small, inaccurate, and ineffective
Artillery Spotting
1915, British Royal Air Corps begins cooperating with the artillery
Aircraft sent wireless messages to guide the gunners
Problems with wireless:
Heavy
Require second person
Skilled in Morse code
Danger of fire
Communications
Air to ground:
Signaling by lamps
Dropping message bags
Grubb reflector
Sound
Prearranged maneuvers
Smoke signals
Shooting signal guns / colored flares
Ground to air:
Placing white canvas on landing strips
Flashing colored lights in code
Artillery fire (get aircrafts attention)
Semaphore
Forward Firing
March 1915
French Flying Corps
Pilot: Roland Garros
Raymond Saulnier added metal deflector plates to blades
Roland Garros
Downed 5 German airplanes in April 1915
First ace of WWI
Enemy fire severed fuel line / crashed / Germans captured him & aircraft
Anthony Fokker, Dutch Engineer
Developed machine gun with synchronized interrupter gear
Initiated:
“Fokker Scourge” - Allies called their aircraft “Fokker Fodder”
Germany dominated the skies late 1915 – early 1916
Allies adapted from captured German machine gun
Max Immelmann & Oswald Boelcke
Received first two Fokker forward firing
Advantage went to above & behind
Loop & climb toward desired position
Aces: Immelmann = 16, Boelcke = 40
Manfred von Richthofen
Known as:
“Red Baron”
Student of Oswald Boelcke
Experienced bomber pilot
Specialized in attacking reconnaissance aircraft
Downed 80 allied aircraft
Aimed for fuel tanks (jump or burn)
April 21, 1918 – shot down by:
Canadian Pilot, Roy Brown?
Australian ground fire?
Provided formal burial with honors
Fighter Planes
Not just new technology
Fighters brought new tactics:
Formation flying
Squadrons (Jastas) up to 10 aircraft
Wings (Geschwader) up to 50 aircraft
Aircraft duels declined after 1916
German Air Force Reorganized
Elevated to Separate Army Corps (1917)
Created 3 Army air squadrons:
Reconnaissance Squadrons
Pursuit Squadrons
Bomber Squadrons
Bombers
Bomber aircraft at the beginning of the war were designed by:
Giovanni Caproni, Italy
Igor Sikorsky, Russia
Mostly night time bombing (difficult to find)
Anti-aircraft guns & spotlights
France developed Breguet XIV bomber
Allowed daylight bombing
France dropped the most bombs
US delivered no American-made bombers
First Air Force
What country established the first independent military air force?
Great Britain
April 1, 1918
What is the Block Buster?
Largest bomb of the war
Dropped by new British Independent Air Force
October 14, 1918
Section C
Aircraft Production
Who was the leading producer of aircraft before and during World War I?
France
1917 – 1918 British production caught up
Issues:
Western front was in France
Lack of standardization
Lack of training
Lack of parts
Maintenance challenges
Great Britain
55,092 aircraft
France
51,700 aircraft
German
35,000 aircraft
United States
> 20,000 aircraft
Stimulant vs.Disruption
War was a grand stimulant & a disruption to the aviation industry
Pros:
Government contracts
Subsidized expansion
New buildings
Cons:
Britain purchased magnetos from Germany
Germany imported raw materials from the allies
British Production
Government interference increased as the need for more aircraft increased.
Why?
Protect the government from profiteering
Ensure adequate production
Forms of government interference?
Rationing raw supplies
Price fixing
Control of distribution
Control of labor pool
Prevent labor slowdowns/stoppages
What was one of the most famous British World War I aircraft designs?
D.H.4
Designed by who?
Geoffrey de Havilland
Produced by what company?
Aircraft Manufacturing Company
United States Production
How did WWI end the Patent wars?
US waited until it joined the war in 1917 to initiate production
Companies involved in litigation for the last decade
Government created MAA:
Manufacturers Aircraft Association
Patent Pool
Cross-licensed their inventions for a fee
Largest fees?
Wright & Curtiss companies ($2 million)
US Navy
Where did the Navy establish a Naval Aircraft Factory?
Philadelphia Naval Yard
What was the first aircraft it designed & built?
N-1 Davis Gun Carrier (1918)
(a flying cannon)
US Army
Decision to concentrate production on one aircraft
Bolling Commission
Headed by?
Raynal C. Bolling – United States Steel
Commission chose?
de Havilland 4
British granted free use of license
French required royalties
Problems with Production
Delays in getting designs & drawings
Delays in getting machine tools
Program was run by people with no aviation experience
Contracts awarded to companies with no aviation experience
Manufactures inflated costs
One aircraft for all US needs was folly
Highlight of US Production
What aircraft?
JN-4 Jenny
Trainer
Made By?
Curtiss
Produced 5,221 aircraft (1/3)
Section D
Armistice
What is an Armistice?
An agreement to stop fighting
Treaties/negotiations would follow
Multiple Armistice Agreements:
Russia – Germany: November 8, 1917
Bulgarian/Macedonian line: September 29, 1918
Ottoman Armistice: October 30, 1918
Austria-Hungary: November 3, 1918
Germany: November 11, 1918
End of War & Aviation
Governments canceled existing contracts
Governments canceled pending orders
Companies/governments negotiated unfinished contracts
Workers were laid off
Factories closed
Companies went out of business
Companies reorganized
Treaty of Versailles
Paris Peace Conference at Versailles
1919 – 1920
France – Georges Clemenceau
United States – Woodrow Wilson
Italy – Vittorio Orlando
Britain – David Lloyd George
Russia?
Did not attend
Revolution / civil war
People
Models
Things I’ve Missed Before
Otto Lilienthal
Octave Chanute
Wright Flyer Models and each upgrade,
Axis stability
Wright bros places
Previous jobs of characters
Canard- wing up front of aircraft
Sir George Cayley
How far and long flights were
Voisin
Bleriot
aero club purposes
Stunt people and first besides wright bros to succeed in stuff
Wright bo last contributions
Eugene Ely
Wars used
News reporters like harry harper
Places
Gordon Bennett Races (there are 2 differnt ones!!!)
Curtiss
Lahm
Cal Rodgers
Patent Wars and what was covered in patent
Short Bros
Aero club models and features
Sikorsky
Farman
JAC Charles
Big change engines (like huuge leap in technology)
Ballon types
First females
First Fatalities
Engine types (Steam, water, gas)
People they were trying to impress (Montgolfiers and King Louis XVI)
David Schwartz
Zeppelin
Messages and weather
Rigid vs nonrigid
Dirigible vs not dirigible
Santos-Dumont
MIlitary shit. Please look at it girl
Which bros do what
Goals of certain ships/trips
Firsts
Lasts
Wheres
Hows
Whys