Introduction
Aviation refers to all activities that are carried out in setting up and operating aircraft and mostly airplanes. The first airplane was invented in the year 1903 in North Carolina by Orville and Wilbur who were brothers and at that time operated a bicycle-manufacturing shop in Ohio. They set up their plane after they had studied the written work done by the preceding pioneers in aviation and after testing with gliders, wind tunnels, and kites.
A few years later, other airplane manufacturers came up, especially in Europe and the United States of America. Today, airplanes have affected people’s lives in one or the other all over the world. Giant airplanes carry people and cargo from one place to another all over the world within hours. The helicopters and planes play a major role in saving people’s lives by supplying medicines promptly to even the deepest jungles and the island that are very far. More so, the airplanes are used by the farmers to take the number of livestock, seed fields and to spray their crops. In addition to this, aviation has played a major role in transforming the way countries operate in wars. Modern fighting skills are dependent on the efficiency of the striking capability of jet fighters and bombers and the quick supply ability of jet transports. Of importance also in military aviation is the availability of helicopters among other special aircraft (Brian, 2007: Para. 1).
German Aviation
Germany occupies a unique position in civil aviation history, that is, of possessing an airship service as its earliest airline (also regarded by many people as being the original passenger airline in the world). The German entrepreneurs came up with a company called DELAG (Deutsche Luftschiffahrt Gesellschaft) in the year 1909. This company made use of one among the big airships constructed by a military officer who was retired by the name Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin. These DELAG airships transported rich foreigners within Germany.
Just like in most of the European nations, Germany’s civil air transport was a reasonable product of the armed forces’ exploit of aircraft in the course of World War I. During the time the war was approaching its end, the manufacturers of aircraft in Germany dwelt on the idea of changing their production of aircraft to civil use. However, these manufacturers were not expecting the 1919 Treaty of Versailles terms signed by the whole of the world’s major powers which strictly limited the development of weapons by Germany. Consequently, civil aviation was retarded by the lack of aircraft that was there and thus several main manufacturers collapsed.
Fortunate enough, not all the most important manufacturers of aircraft collapsed. Among the survivors was the Junkers firm that was founded by Hugo Junkers who was also an inventor of engines and boilers. In the course of the war, Hugo Junkers had come up with all-metal aircraft, the first-ever, which the German air force used. Among the Junker’s most renowned contributions in the field of civil aviation was the low-wing Junkers F 13 that was an all-metal monoplane that some of the historians regard as the initial true transport airplane in the world, that is, the one that was not changed from armed forces use to be used by civilians but specifically designed to transport passengers (Airlines and Airliners, not dated: Para. 4).
Still dwelling on the Junkers, most of the Junkers airplanes played a major role in terms of bringing out development in the field of flight. The “Bremen”, manufactured by the Junkers Company was the pioneering airplane to go across the Atlantic in a very complicated East–West direction (Chritoph, 2005: Para 1).
Among the rest of the companies that went on constructing civilian aircraft are Heinkel and Dornier. These manufacturing companies came up with various models which were sold to other countries regularly. The countries to which these companies exported their products include Poland, Sweden, Iran, the Soviet Union, and Turkey. They also manufactured aircraft for their domestic use in the country. Because the Germans had been restricted by the Treaty of Versailles from constructing military aircraft, the German government constructed “dual-use” aircraft which could, with speed, be changed secretly to be used by the military.
When the First World War was over, the German government supported the initial efforts at money-making aviation. Seventy percent of the costs were paid by the government and this encouraged companies like A.E.G to offer the fundamental airlines services. Until the mid-twenties, in Germany, several civilian passenger services were small. Unfortunately, just a few were able to withstand the high inflation and unfavorable economic situation that prevailed during that season. At the start of the year 1926, the government decided to merge two of these companies; these were the Junkers and Deutsche Lloyd (DAL), and renamed the newly formed company as Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH). The government went ahead and gave the company a yearly subsidy of eighteen million marks to make sure that the company’s future was stable. At that time, the company was having an effective monopoly on the country’s air transport. During the late 1920s, DHL started intensifying its services after getting shares from Deruluft which was a joint German-Soviet airline that operated fashionable international services. DHL was later renamed Lufthansa in the year 1933. This name is the one inherited by the modern German airline.
Contrary to what the rest of the European airlines of that period were going through, Lufthansa was getting very large profits. This resulted from the government’s eagerness to intensify its influential power the world over. The profitability also resulted from the removal of the restrictions on German money-making aviation and this occurred in the year 1928. During this year, the Lufthansa traveled a longer distance and transported more people than the rest of the companies in Europe when combined. This company was having 300 highly trained pilots and the best of all civil aircraft all over the world, constructed by Dornier and Junkers. The Lufthansa routes and other places were mainly used by the Junkers Ju-52.
German aviation was greatly affected by the Nazi seizure of power. Air power was utilized by the Nazis to spread their influence all over Europe and Asia and over the world at large. The boundary that divided between military and civil aviation was removed and distinguishing between the two became difficult because the passenger aircraft and the combat aircraft were both painted with the Nazi swastika that became a strong symbol of the aspirations of Nazi (Airlines and Airliners, not dated: Para. 9).
Another pioneering work in aviation in Germany during the interwar period was done by Heinkel Company. Heinkel He-178 invented in the year 1939 was the first turbojet-powered aircraft that came two years before the invention of the British Gloster E28. The most unique feature of this plane was it’s being powered by a gas turbine. The original turbojet engines were not very much more powerful as compared to the piston engines that were larger at that time but their power improved as the constructing and operating experience progressed. Among the challenges encountered in the process was to come up with developed metals that resist the stress as well as the heat that was produced in the engines but this problem was soon thereafter solved. The company powered the Heinkel He-178 by its HeS 3b gasoline-burning engines with an effectual rating of as low as 1,100 pounds of thrust (Heinkel He-178-World’s First Turbo Jet 1939, 1994; Para 3).
The invention of the He 178 was a major stepping stone to a new world of more developed and improved jet aircraft that assisted in boosting the High command’s interest in turbojet technology of Germany. This invented airplane featured a design aspect that would turn out to be typical with several post-war jet aircraft and that is, the nose which is open and takes in the air that stretches through to the extreme tail of the design (Staff Writer, 2003: Para 1).
More so, in the year 1935, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was invented in Germany. After its invention, this aircraft went through tests to become a fresh fighter on the increasing German Air force and won the test. This airplane was an all-metal monoplane, low-lying and having a cockpit that was enclosed and had retractable landing gear. This aircraft was the first-ever such fighter to be used in war. The Bf 109 was principally the smallest Airframe constructed by Willy Messerschmitt and attached to a very powerful engine. The Bf 109 remained to be regarded as the most superior fighter all over World War II (Chuck, 2003: Para 4).
However, although Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the most advanced fighter airplane for Germany during World War II, it had its weaknesses. These weaknesses provoked Walter Horten, a fighter pilot who was serving in the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), to come up with new ideas. For instance, he was not pleased as he watched his unit losing men over the unfriendly territory within the confines of the combat range. As a trend, a short time after flying in combat the soldiers return most frequently to their bases or get themselves having inadequate or no fuel and these led to much ineffectiveness. More so, the Bf 109 was not sufficiently effective and posed a big risk since it had only one engine and this could be easily destroyed by a single bullet.
Therefore, Horten saw the need for the Luftwaffe to have a new airplane that could fight more effectively designed to perform better than the British spitfire which was Britain’s greatest fighter at that time. The new plane was to be designed to a sufficient range in which it had to fly up to England, move around for a reasonable duration and participate in combat, and safely come back. He believed that it was only a two-engine plane that could provide pilots with a fair opportunity of coming back with considerable combat harm or still, the failure of one engine.
Later in 1943, the all-wing Horten 229 was invented and portrayed a lot of potential of being the best performer. Many technical problems plagued unusual design and the lone powered case gone down after numerous test flights but the plane is still among those most unique combat aircraft tested during World War II (Horten Ho 229 V3, not dated: Para 1)
Conclusion
In conclusion, from the discussion, it has been seen that Germany has been a very active player in bringing about developments in the aviation industry. Of much and which can be regarded as the most important move to bring about advancement in the field of aviation is the coming up with all-metal aircraft. This kind of aircraft set a new direction in the industry that the subsequent aircraft manufacturers followed. Under this invention, the problems associated with bad weather, especially during the rainy season that was encountered during the time of using wooden structures were overcome. More so, the use of metals could facilitate the construction of more strong and lighter aircraft that could be designed to fly higher. Among the airplanes that were invented during the interwar period, the He 178 is seen to be among the most important since its invention served as a major stepping stone to a new world of more developed and improved jet aircraft that assisted in boosting the High command’s interest in turbojet technology of Germany. This invented airplane featured a design aspect that would turn out to be typical with several post-war jet aircraft. Germany’s success in the aviation industry may be attributed to the support it obtained from the government and that is probably why Germany was always ahead of other countries and always coming up with new ideas and implementing them. This can be seen at the time the Lufthansa Company was dominating other aircraft operators all over the world and making huge profits. More so, the invention of a turbojet aircraft was done in Germany. Heinkel He-178 invented in the year 1939 was the first turbojet-powered aircraft that came two years before the invention of the British Gloster E28. Well, it is said that, as Germany was coming up with new inventions, other countries were also coming up with their inventions. For instance, in the early 1930s, the U.S came up the bomber called the B-9 bomber produced by the Boeing Company which was a pioneering combat aircraft with all-metal cantilever monoplane design, half-rectangle undercarriage and changeable pitch propellers (Military aircraft, 2009: Para. 5).
Works Cited
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