AVIATION HISTORY
Results
 Mid Term : 40%
 Assignment: 10%
 Final Exam: 50%
 Total: 100%
INTRODUCTION TO AVIATION
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What is Aviation ??
By definition, aviation is the
design, manufacture, use, or
operation of aircraft - in
which the term aircraft refers
to any vehicle capable of
flight.
Lighter-than-air vs. Heavierthan-air
Aircraft can either be lighter-thanair or heavier-than-air.
Lighter-than-air craft including
balloons and airships
heavier-than-air craft including
airplanes, gliders, helicopters.
Aircraft vs. Airplane
 Aircraft is the more general term, and refers to any
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heavier-than-air craft
An airplane is a heavier-than-air craft that is
propelled by an engine and uses fixed aerodynamic
surfaces (i.e. wings) to generate lift.
So, every airplane is an aircraft, but not every
aircraft is an airplane!
Gliders are aircraft that are not airplanes.
The Space Shuttle is definitely an aircraft, but it is
not an airplane. It does not carry engines for
propulsion.
Helicopters are also aircraft that are not airplanes
because their aerodynamic surfaces are not fixed they rotate.
Aircraft vs. Airplane
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Introduction
For centuries, man has dreamed of flying and soaring like an
Eagle high above the world below. Men starting imagined
how it must be to take to the air.
That dream and imagination is now reality.
In a short one hundred years, aviation technology was
transformed from the often unreliable wooden, clothcovered biplanes to supersonic jets and international
airliners. What was it that provoked such rapid progress?
Aviation: From Dream to Reality
Man jumping with wings
Critical Thinking
WHY HUMAN CAN’T FLY LIKE A
BIRD ??
The First Attempt
Chapter 1
The Early Attempts to Fly
Aviation: From Dream to Reality
Man jumping with wings
First Attempts
 Legends of flight attempts date to 2000 B.C.
 Many believed flying was for the mythical gods
 Others tried to copy bird flight-unsuccessfully
 Chinese invented kites about 1000 B.C.
 17th century A.D. kites carried soldiers aloft
 Leonardo da Vinci, 15th century Italian artist
 First recorded scientific study of aeronautics
 Experimented to prove feasibility of mechanical
flight
 Drew sketches and plans to construct flying
machines
First Attempts, 1500
 Leonardo da Vinci, scientist, architect,
painter….
 In 1500 he gathered data on the flight
of birds ..and then drawings of flying
machines with flapping wings.
Second Attempts at Flight
 By 17th Century, ancient ideas inspired
scientific theories and experiments.
 Characteristics of the atmosphere and the
discovery of gasses and properties led to
lighter-than-air (balloon) experiments
Lighter-Than-Air Definition
 Lighter-than-air:
 Any craft which sustain their weight by displacing
an equal weight of air. For example, balloons
(also known as dirigibles or airships)
 Their structure when filled with a sufficient
volume of gas lighter than air (heated air,
hydrogen, or helium), displaces the surrounding
ambient air and make it floats.
 They have a source of propulsion and can be
controlled in all three axes of flight.
 Balloons usually very large, and they were
capable of relatively high speeds.
1783: Montgolfier Brothers
 Inventors of the first practical
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balloon
1782: discovered that heated
air in a paper or fabric bag
made the bag rise
1783: “flew” a sheep, a duck,
and a rooster for 8 minutes
Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
were witnesses
November 1783: first human
flight
However, balloon lack of
directional control
Balloons Application
 US first used balloons for military
purposes during the Civil War.
 After the war ended, the military service
change to transportation, shooting off
fireworks and aerobatic shows.
 Until World War 1 (1914) more than 1,780
balloons had safely carried 27,700
passenger.
Lighter-Than-Air Balloon
 Improvements: Elongated-like balloons with engines or power
plants was introduced. Also known as ‘dirigible’ which means
controllable.
 Dirigible inventor: Count Ferdinant von Zeppelin
 In the early 1930's the German Graf Zeppelin machine was able
to make a Trans-Atlantic flight to the United States.
 One such airship was 3 times larger than a Boeing 747 and
cruised at 68 mph.
Dirigibles-elongated bags filled with gas , fitted with engines, propellers and rudder
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
 The Zeppelin Company was credited with developing the first
airliner.
 It provided air service between Europe and America in the
1920s and 1930s
 The Hindenburg explodes, May 6, 1937 at Lakehurst Naval Air
Station.
 The Hindenburg marked the end of large scale Zeppelin travel.
The Disadvantages of Balloons
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It is impossible to construct balloons of sufficient
strength. Thus, balloons unable to withstand routine
operation under all weather conditions.
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Example: U.S. hot-air-balloon breaking up in a storm.
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Critical challenge to maintain the shape of gas bags. If
the bags were only partially filled, the balloons hang
down loosely.
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Extremely difficult to control. Can be hazardous during
landing in high winds.
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The large Hindenburg was equally successful until it was
destroyed by fire while attempting a landing in 1937 in
Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Otto Lilienthal, First
Successful Pilot a Glider
(1890s)
 Accomplished over 2500 successful glider flights
 Control depended upon movements of his body. To
reduce these requirements he devised a movable
elevator.
 Died in a glider accident in 1896
The Powered Flight
1843: William S. Henson, 1st plane
with an engine
 Grew up in the age of steam. They had
witnessed the use of steam in powering
trains.
 He designed his own steam engine for
airplane.
 After one unsuccessful try the inventor
gave up.
1896: Samuel P. Langley, First
Successful Airplane
 Samuel P. Langley of the United States flew a
steam powered model plane.
 First Successful Airplane Flight in 1896
 Unfortunately, launching gear failure caused
his plane to crash
CHAPTER 2
THE FIRST MAN TO FLY
1896-1903
Contribution of Wright Brothers to Aviation
 (1899 - 1902) – Research on how things
fly.
 literature search to find out the state of
aeronautical knowledge at their time
 read about the works of Cayley, and Langley,
and the hang-gliding flights of Otto Lilienthal
 studied the problems which had been
encountered by previous flyers and they
talked about possible solutions to the
problems
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Contribution of Wright Brothers to
Aviation….
 (1901 - 1902) – Tested Theories
 1901 - built a wind tunnel and developed model-
testing techniques including a balance accurately
determine the lift and drag
 They tested over two hundred different wings
and airfoil models to improve the performance of
their gliders.
 Today, NASA engineers at Ames, Langley, and
Glenn Research Centers use sophisticated models
and wind tunnels to study a variety of problems
associated with modern aircraft design
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Contribution of Wright Brothers to
Aviation….
 (1900 - 1902) – Developed the first flight
control systems
 ideas for control were tested on a series of
unpowered between 1900 and 1902 – Kites to
obtain aerodynamic performance
 flying object had to be controlled about all
three primary axes; roll, pitch, and yaw
 Their aircraft were built with movable
surfaces on the wing, elevator, and rudder
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Contribution of Wright Brothers to
Aviation….
 (1903 - 1920's) - Developed Propulsion Systems
 first to fly a self-propelled, heavier than air
machine
 The thin, high speed propellers which they
designed were based on wind tunnel tests and
were unlike any other propellers being used
at that time
 Between 1903 and 1913 the engine power
increased from 12 horsepower to nearly 75
horsepower
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Contribution of Wright Brothers to
Aviation….
 (December 17, 1903) - The First Flight
 (1904 - 1907) - Flight Development
 continued to perfect their machine with a
series of aircraft built between 1903 and
1905. flight testing from Kitty Hawk to their
home town of Dayton, Ohio
 new, more powerful aircraft, they were able
to stay aloft for up to a half hour, to fly
figure eights, and to even take passengers up
for a ride
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Wright Bro. Solved 3 Problems
 How to obtain Lift
 How to Control
 How to generate Thrust
Roll Around Longitudinal Axis
Pitch Around the Lateral Axis
Yaw Around the vertical Axis
1900: Test the Lift force
1901: Built the Hangar to store
the aircraft
1901: Make 50 Glides, but
unsatisfied Performance
1901: Wing design proved to be
faulty
1901: Built a Wind Tunnel
Test 200 shape of airfoil
1902: Solve the control
problem………
Move from 1902 Glider to the 1903
powered aircraft. Add a engine.
17th December 1903, finally
successful
Heavier-Than-Air Definition
After 1903…….
The brother write to the war department
to try and obtain a contract for a
“practical flying machine” but are turned
down.
They decide to halt flying operations until
they get a contract and the patent rights.
They won’t be seen in the air again until
1907 but they continue to work on
increasing the power of their engines.
1908…formed the Wright Company
 Finally in 1908 the War Department signed a
contract for a Wright Flyer, provided it could
meet certain tests.
 A month later a plan was instituted for the
formation of a Wright company in France.
 After the successful development of the first
airplane, the Wright Brothers continued to
be involved in aerospace technology.
 Orville was one of the original members of
the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics
(NACA) which is the parent organization of
the current NASA.