Since 1903 to date, aviation has passed through some major developments to be how it is today. The advancement of aviation has succeeded through the assistance of various people, events, and technological developments. At the beginning, the issue of aviation started with the Wright brothers who made the first attempt to come up with airplane flight (FAA 203 ). This was a great initiative as it lasted for twelve seconds in the air and managed to cover up a distance one hundred and twelve feet. This was just the first attempt, as they also made some more three attempts and managed the longest flight of fifty nine seconds and managed to cover a distance of eight hundred and fifty two foot. Through these events the Wright brothers were in apposition to encounter challenges, which they later found some ways of solving them. A successful airplane was through solving the challenges that were faced by the Wright brothers.
The initial development of aviation was to make the airplane move from the ground at ease. This was a major challenge from the beginning. The application of the Bernoulli’s principle made this step a success (AIAA 17). The Bernoulli’s principle assisted in the shaping of the airplanes wings such that the air on top of the wings has a different pressure with the air underneath the wings. This difference in pressure was possible through the various speeds created by the shape of the wings. The difference in air pressure ensures the wings moves towards the upward direction, making the airplane to stay in the air.
Another major development of the aviation was getting a light engine to ease the flight. During this engine development, the aviation advanced a great deal, where efficient engines were available. Engines were made light to reduce the empty space of aircraft and hence its payload. At this point, airplane engines were then reliable and safe to suit the temperature, and fast speeds. To ensure the less weight of the engine, they were small enough to occupy a small surface area and cause only a small drag. The achievement of light engine also brought the idea of engines that are fuel efficient to fit into various design required in the aviation industry (Anderson 203). Through the advancement of a light engine and the application of the Bernoulli’s principle, the airplanes were now able to move from the ground without much resistance. The remaining challenge was on how to maintain it in the air.
Another major aviation development was through maintaining the stability of the airplane. During the first flight by the Wright brothers, it was challenging to keep the airplane stable in the air. They used to shift themselves from time to time to maintain the stability. This was a major advancement of making the airplanes to be in equilibrium when taking a flight (Lorell 45). This was through ensuring that all the forces on the airplane when in move are equal to zero. For instance, when an airplane is unstable on the move, and may be there is some atmospheric turbulence making the nose of the airplane to tilt slightly, the airplane may loose equilibrium completely and may diverge causing it to land on the ground unexpectedly. This stability advancement was a success as airplanes were designed later with all types of stability to maintain them in the air like static stability, dynamic stability, longitudinal stability etc.
Works Cited
Aerospace Industries Association of America(AIAA). Aerospace. New York: Aerospace Industries Association of America, 2006.
Anderson, David. The Airplane, a history of its technology. London: AIAA, 2002.
Federal Aviation Administration(FAA). Airplane Flying Handbook. New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc, 2007.
Lorell, Mark. The U.S combat aircraft industry 1909-2000: structure, competition, innovation, issues. New York: Rand Corporation, 2003.