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____________________________________________________________________ Volume 6; Issue 2 February/March 2003 |
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** Administrator Visit **
First and Second Decades |
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_____________________________________________________________________ First and Second Decades of Aviation By Barbara H. Para _____________________________________________________________________ |
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The Wright Brothers began with a very small home-built engine to power their aircraft. As the aircraft got bigger, heavier, and more complicated, the power source needed to be larger. By 1910, the horsepower vs. engine weight got better by more than 75% with more power to move heavier aircraft. In years between 1903 and 1912, the airplane was used for entertainment and was not meant as a means of transportation. Aircraft improvements were dramatic, but the public had no idea as to the significance of airplanes. Many of the early flyers were wealthy sportsmen who were less interested in an emerging industry than they were in their personal entertainment. In order for the industry to progress, aviation capabilities had to be more widespread. After Louis Bleriot’s flight over the English Channel on July 19, 1909, in his Type XI Monoplane, Europeans began to see the possibilities of aircrafts and sales increased. Many realized that air transportation could become a thriving industry. Others realized that aircraft could also be a formidable weapon. Thus, Germany and France went to work developing fleets of aircraft, spending more than $22 million. Other countries soon followed. Russia spent $12 million, Great Britain $8 million, while the U.S. was only spending $400,000 on their fleet. In August 1914, World War I began with the Germans well prepared for air conflicts. The Allies were left scrambling to catch up in both pilots and aircraft. During the final period of World War I, the Germans were anxious to achieve victory before the Americans could arrive in Europe. The Allies began considering the use of aerial warfare on a scale never before considered. Bombings, night raids and reconnaissance were all up for grabs. The Zeppelin forays were already in use over London and the Allies needed something to counteract the Germans. The question still remained: Were the Allies’ planes powerful enough to carry heavy bombs, high-powered telescopes, or able to get behind enemy lines? Since the Allies were playing catch-up and trying to compete with the German air superiority, several key areas were neglected – aircraft maintenance, replacement of spare parts and pilot training. This caused many aircraft to be destroyed. American assembly lines were developed to produce large bombers for Italy, France and England, but not a single aircraft had come off the assembly line as the war effort was winding down. In just four years, aviation had changed the scope of war. William S. Brancker of the British Air Council stated that, “The progress of aviation during the last four years has been little short of marvelous. War has been the making of aviation.” However, in America, the airplane had not achieved such distinction. A major problem that the Allies faced was getting equipment to the needed areas. The effectiveness of the German U-boats was making shipping very difficult. The bombers had to be built to fly across the ocean for the 1919 counteroffensive. The problem – no one had ever flown across the ocean. It was daring enough to fly from England to France. When the war broke out, the aircraft being developed were little more than flying machines in their infancy. Many in the U.S. thought the idea of building the aircraft here and flying them across the Atlantic was outlandish. Still, volunteers were assembled, but the odds were against them. There were no navigational tools except the sextant that needed a fixed horizon, weather reporting was very sketchy, primitive direction wireless was in use, but poor signals were attained, and last but not least the North Atlantic was notoriously cloudy. The Navy on Long Island was hard at work building the Navy-Curtiss or NC-1, the largest aircraft being built at the end of World War I and one with ocean-flying capabilities that was supposed to be the salvation for the U.S. Developed by Glenn Curtiss, the aircraft had been just completed when the Armistice was signed. It was the largest aircraft built just before the end of WWI. The U.S. was in a race to complete this aircraft that was to change our capabilities in the war, but it was a few months too late. Richard Byrd wanted to be one of the first to fly the aircraft to Europe, but instead ended up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada looking for a suitable place to beach it. Orders came from Franklin D. Roosevelt, then an assistant secretary of the Navy, that the planes would be refueling, and Byrd was in charge of this task. Byrd developed the sextant for aerial use, one that carried its own horizon. His second invention was the drift indicator to solve other navigational problems. As useful as these inventions were, the war ended and aviation fell into a dilemma. Everything up to this point had been for the war effort, and there was an enormous stockpile of aircraft, engines, and pilots. Admiral William S. Benson, the chief of naval operations, made a post-Armistice pronouncement. “The Navy doesn’t need airplanes. Aviation is just a lot of noise,” he said. History would prove him to be wrong, as evidenced by the modern aircraft carrier, which combines a one-two, air-sea punch in times of war. Names like Eddie Rickenbacker, Billy Bishop, Igor Sikorsky, Tony Fokker, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, Billy Mitchell and Glenn Curtiss were heroes. The war to end wars was over, but the future of aviation was just beginning.
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