About Aviation

Aviation can be defined as the flying or operating of aircraft. It involves the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft. In the modern-day concept, aviation refers especially to heavier-than-air aircraft.

According to researchers aviation is derived from the word avis, the Latin word for bird. Aviation activities revolve around the aircraft. Aircraft is defined as an airplane, helicopter, or other machine capable of flight. Synonyms for aircraft include airplane, aeroplane, plane, and ship. These words are used in different parts of the world to refer to aircraft.

An aircraft is a machine that can fly by getting support from the air or atmosphere. It overcomes gravity by using static or dynamic lift of its structure or, in some cases, the downward thrust from jet engines.

Therefore, aviation refers to activity around aircraft. Aircraft are normally flown by pilots on board the aircraft. However, aircraft can also be unmanned and may be remotely controlled.

Aircraft operations are usually classified by their intended use. For example, aircraft may be classified for purposes of private use, aerial work, or public transport (passengers and cargo).

Aviation History

Humans first achieved flight using hot air balloons. A scientist by the name of Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier is believed to have launched the first hot air balloon in Paris, France, September 19, 1783. de Rozier was a French national. He was a teacher of chemistry and physics. This balloon was known as Aerostat Reveillon. In this balloon were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. The balloon was in the air for fifteen minutes before crashing to the ground. de Rozier worked with another French national by the name of Marquis d'Arlandes to launch the first manned balloon on November 21, 1783. Two French brothers named Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier manufactured this balloon. de Rozier later died while attempting to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon. He and his companion on that flight, Pierre Romian, were the first humans to die in an air crash.

The first people to successfully fly across the English Channel were Jean Pierre Blanchard, a French balloonist, and John Jefferies, his American co-pilot, in 1785. At the time, the English Channel was considered great distance to cover by flight, so this was a historical event.

Fixed-wing aircraft

The story of the aviation industry as we know it today started at the beginning of the twentieth century. On December 17, 1903, the first powered, piloted aircraft took off.

Brothers Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright are credited with this first flight. The Wright brothers were inventors. They designed and built the aircraft that became known as e Flyer. Its main parts were the structure, motor, and propeller, and it weighed about 700 pounds (which is equivalent to about 320 kilograms).

To launch e Flyer, the Wright brothers built a movable downhill track to help the aircraft gain enough speed to take off. After two attempts, Orville Wright took The Flyer for a sustained, twelve-second flight December 17, 1903. With this, history was made. This was the first successful, powered, and piloted flight in history. The aircraft flew at a height of twenty feet and took place at Kitty Hawk, a beach in North Carolina, United States.

On November 9, 1904, the first flight lasting more than five minutes was achieved by Wilbur Wright in an aircraft known as e Flyer II.

From here onwards, it became known that it was possible to build an aircraft and actually fly it. Many other inventors started to design and build aircraft. This aircraft-building trade spread across nations. Many different types of aircraft were built for various purposes, including air transportation for private use, air transportation for hire and reward, air ambulances for speedy transportation for medical purposes, aerial photography, aerial mapping, and weapons of war.

World War I (1914 to 1918)

World War I was fought mostly by soldiers in trenches. This was the first major war where airplanes were used. Balloons had been used for observation purposes, including artillery spotting, reconnaissance, and strategic bombing, in earlier wars. As aeroplanes were just coming into military use at the beginning of the war they were used mainly for reconnaissance. Pilots and engineers were learning on the job, and they later developed many specialised aircraft types, such as fighters, bombers and ground-attack aeroplanes.

Pilots were able to acquire specialised skills as fighter pilots. The impact of aircraft on the course of war was mainly tactical rather than strategic. Most importantly was the direct cooperation with ground forces, especially ranging and correcting artillery fire. The first signs of the strategic roles of aircraft in future wars became apparent at this time.

These events led to the rapid development of aviation industry with players from different parts of the world.

World War II (1939 to 1945)

By the time the Second World War started, the aircraft industry and aviation in general had developed dramatically in relation to the end of World War I.

The use of the aircraft as a weapon fuelled the technological development of the aircraft. The countries with air power were perceived to be much stronger militarily. This was due to the added advantage of being airborne and therefore higher than the firing power on the ground. The speed and agility of aircraft was also key.

The countries involved in the manufacture of aircraft invested resources in research and development and intensified the production of more advanced aircraft for both military and civil use.

New aircraft were developed to carry more passengers and travel at higher speeds for longer distances. The carriage of cargo by air became a faster way to transport trade goods and became an advantage for landlocked countries. Heavy loads were lifted by air for military and commercial civil purposes alike. Air transportation technology developed at a higher pace.

Modern aviation

After World War II, the aviation technology developed into other forms of research, eventually leading to the development of rockets and aerospace vehicles used for space exploration. Humans landed on the moon in 1969, just sixty-six years after the Wright brothers' first flight.

Other developments also included the jet engine and the helicopter. Helicopters have greater agility with the ability to perform vertical take-offs and landings as well as hover.

Helicopters now perform many civil and military roles. They are able to hover, fly backwards and sideways, and perform other desirable manoeuvres. Helicopters are also known as rotary wing aircraft or choppers. The aeroplane is also known as the fixed wing aircraft.

Fixed wing jet aircraft were also designed to be able to hover, fly backwards and sideways, and perform other desirable manoeuvres mainly for military purposes.

The 1980s saw further development of aviation, and manufacturers in the United States and Europe were competing to develop more advanced aircraft and aviation support systems such as air traffic management systems.

The 1990s and...