Innholdsfortegnelse for All About History Book Of Flight i All About History

But it was with balloons that the first successful human flights were made. On 21 November 1783, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes made the first free flight, in a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier Brothers. They flew from Paris for eight kilometres (five miles) at a height of 900 metres (3,000 feet). Work on hydrogen-filled balloons had been taking place in parallel with the Montgolfier’s experiments, and on 1 December 1783, Jacques Charles and a companion lifted off from Paris for the first manned ascent in a hydrogen-filled balloon. The first balloon crossing of the English Channel was made only two years later by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries. Ballooning became a popular sport but practical uses were also found for balloons in nineteenth-century warfare, either…

Reims set the pattern for the many air meetings that followed across Europe and the United States. Undoubtedly crashes were part of the attraction of these spectacles; 32 pilots, out of fewer than 600 worldwide, were killed in 1910. Crowds also came to expect more complex and dangerous flying. French pilot Adolphe Pégoud was the first to include the “loop the loop” stunt in his display in 1913, a year in which the French also dominated record and distance flying. Roland Garros made the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean from France to Tunisia, Marcel Prévost set a new speed record of 204 kilometres per hour (126.7 miles per hour) and Edmond Perreyon, Blériot’s chief test pilot, reached an altitude of 6,120 metres (20,079 feet). In the United States, development…

Of more consequence were raids on London and Paris by large German Gotha multi-engine bombers and the even larger R-planes. These started in May 1917 and in June of that year, London was hit by two dramatic daylight raids. Public outrage led to an immediate improvement in the city’s defences. These became so effective that by September, the bombers had to attack by night. The raiders continued to get through, but as the air defence system, which included observer posts, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, barrage balloons and fighters organized from control rooms, was improved, the Gothas suffered heavier losses. These, together with the German’s need to use the bombers on the Western Front, led to the raids’ ending in May 1918. The raids did not affect the Allies ability to make…

However, aircraft designed specifically for civil aviation soon replaced wartime types. These grew in numbers and sophistication and by the 1930s, large luxurious biplanes, sleek new monoplanes and colossal airships and flying boats were regularly criss-crossing the world along a network of air routes run by efficient airlines. Designers worked to build better performing aircraft which set new records for distance, speed and altitude. Air races attracted large crowds and record-breaking flights – and the pilots who made them – continued to capture the public’s imagination. The Schneider Trophy race, a competition for seaplanes, was won by France in 1913 with an average speed of 74 kilometres per hour (46 miles per hour). A Supermarine S6B, designed by R J Mitchell, won the trophy for Britain in 1931 with a…

Soon, to minimize losses, the RAF switched from day to night attacks, and accuracy suffered further. In 1941, a survey reported that during this phase of the offensive, only one out of every three bombers managed to drop its bomb load within eight miles (13 kilometres) of its target. In February 1942, the British government reappraised the role of Bomber Command. Precision attacks were deemed too difficult to carry out successfully; instead it was to focus on area bombing. The aim was to destroy the morale of the enemy populace, smash German industry and wear down their ability to make war. The morality of this decision – effectively putting German civilians in the front line of battle – was debated even at the time, and would continue to be controversial…

The aircraft’s ability to see over the horizon, harking back to the artillery spotting duties of the First World War, continued to be vital even in “traditional” big-gun naval actions, such as the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, when a Fairey Seafox launched by HMS Achilles helped the cruiser’s guns target the Graf Spee pocket battleship. Catapult-launched seaplanes were an important addition to most large surface vessels for just this purpose. Large flying boats, with their fantastic endurance (the American PBY Catalina could stay airborne for 24 hours) provided anti-submarine patrols, particularly helping to protect vital convoys on their way across the oceans. Land-based maritime patrol aircraft, such as the Consolidated Liberator, helped turn the tide in the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic in 1943. Even the mightiest…

This was particularly true in the United States, where Boeing led the field. In 1958, they introduced the 707, which could carry more than double the number of passengers of the re-introduced Comet 4. They were hugely popular and the Douglas Aircraft Company attempted to match Boeing’s success with the larger DC-8. Although these models both served in large numbers, 707s outsold DC-8s, firmly placing Boeing in front. As technology improved and jets became more efficient and reliable, they even began to replace turboprop airliners on shorter journeys. A notable aircraft in this class was the French Sud Aviation Caravelle, a medium range jet airliner that was introduced on US internal routes. Boeing 747 The 747 was developed by Boeing but its expensive $2 billion development costs could only be…

At the start of the twenty-first century, it is important to remember just how large an industry aviation is. It employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, building, servicing, flying, and supporting aircraft. The craft themselves are so expensive to produce that, more often than not, international co-operation is the only viable way to build them. Even the United States makes use of international contractors to supply systems for state-of-the-art aircraft. One consolation of this massive expenditure is the increased length of operational service. Aircraft built in the first half of the twentieth century were often obsolete within a few years, whilst an air force or airline today can now expect to obtain decades of work from a modern technological marvel. In parts of the developing world where problems are…

They initially focused on “control”, surmising that sustained flight would be achieved if adjustments could be continually made to the balance of a craft in order to keep it stable. To achieve this goal, Wilbur and Orville developed the idea of “wing warping”; a process that involved twisting the flying surface to alter the flow of air and thus change the direction of the machine. By September 1900, the Wrights had perfected the first of their experimental gliders and chosen Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as a suitable location for trials. The glider was a success and the all-important wing warping control system worked well. But it did not generate as much lift as they had hoped. Further trials on a new glider, with redeveloped wings based on the work of…

At the start of the war, the main combatant nations – Britain, France and Russia on the one side and Germany and Austro-Hungary on the other – could muster fewer than 500 serviceable aircraft for military or naval purposes. The military had one main use for these simple, initially unarmed and often unreliable biplanes and monoplanes – reconnaissance; finding out what the other side was doing. In this, aeroplanes were seen as an adjunct to the cavalry, the army’s traditional scouting force, but as the conflict developed they soon came to replace it and make a significant contribution of their own to the conduct of the war. Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c The BE2 was designed before the war in 1912 at the Royal Aircraft Factory by Geoffrey de Havilland. It…

The Royal Naval Air Service was quick to see the potential of deploying aeroplanes on ships. It first used seaplanes on carriers converted from cross-Channel ferries and then modified HMS Furious with a forward aircraft deck in August 1917. Taking off was comparatively easy, but landing was a much more difficult proposition. Squadron Commander E H Dunning managed this twice in a Sopwith Pup in August 1917 but was tragically drowned on the third attempt. In 1918 HMS Argus, the first true aircraft carrier, proved significantly more successful. If the war had continued, the Navy would have used it to launch an attack on its German counterpart. The aircraft available to the military in 1914 were produced mainly by small companies, but these grew into large industrial concerns supported by…

Germany was forbidden by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles from having an air force. However, in the 1920s, an agreement with the Soviet Union meant that it secretly continued to train military pilots there. Aircraft development continued too, often under the guise of building for commercial aviation. In 1933, when Hitler and the Nazis took power, Germany began to re-arm more swiftly, soon unveiling its air force, the Luftwaffe, to the world. More pilots commenced training and the German aircraft industry began to produce new combat aircraft which were at the cutting edge of modern design. By the mid-1930s, biplane aircraft were being replaced by monoplanes such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter The Luftwaffe proved the effectiveness of its aircraft, tactics and personnel during the Spanish Civil…

The stalwart of the RAF’s campaign was the Avro Lancaster (above), the most successful of the three heavy bombers in British service. It could carry more and bigger bombs than any other aircraft in the campaign, and was loved by the crews who flew it. For the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the aircraft that came to symbolize the strategic bombing effort was the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Packing a considerable punch thanks to its 0.50-inch (12.7-mm) machine guns, it could not match the Lancaster’s payload. Japan was spared the full force of a strategic bombing campaign until late in the war, primarily because of its location. But as soon as American B-29s became available, with their range of around 6,500 kilometres (4,000 miles), the USAAF began to strike…

Aircraft production by the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) was not able to match that of the Allies, a crucial reason for the ultimate outcome of the war. In 1938, Britain manufactured fewer than 3,000 military aircraft. By 1944, the UK was producing 26,000 machines annually. In the United States, the expansion was even more impressive. Fewer than 2,000 aircraft were built in American factories in 1938, but during 1944 this figure increased to over 96,000. By the end of the war, Allied aircraft were outnumbering enemy aircraft in all theatres of conflict by a ratio of at least 5 to 1. This unprecedented growth involved the use of a wide range of existing factories, the construction of many new purpose-built sites and the recruitment of thousands of women…

Aircraft immediately proved their worth in the earliest phases of the Korean War, halting and repelling the Communist advance through tactical bombing. The aircraft that carried out these ground-attack missions were mainly older types dating back to the Second World War, such as the American B-29 Superfortress and P-51 Mustang. These machines again proved how aircraft could be used to alter the course of a battle. When China entered the conflict, with its high-performance MiG-15 fighters, US aerial dominance over the battlefield was put in jeopardy. The USAF then introduced its own next-generation aircraft – notably the F-86 Sabre – which meant that for the first time, jets fought jets. The role of the aircraft as military transport was dramatically demonstrated in Korea, particularly in the early stage of the…

The archetypal modern combat aircraft is expensive, packed with computer equipment and armed with weapons that are themselves more costly than ever before. Arguably the first of this generation of supermachines were the US Navy’s F-14 Tomcat and USAF F-15 Eagle, both of which were introduced in the mid-1970s. They were more powerful and vastly more advanced in terms of their computer and flight-control systems than anything that had gone before. A consequence of increasing aircraft cost was the move towards multi-role combat aircraft. Building dedicated fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft was not an option for many governments, hence the development of aircraft such as the Panavia Tornado in the 1970s. Not only was the Tornado designed to carry out the major strike and air defence roles, but its construction…

A year later, short flights were made by Louis Blériot and Robert Esnault-Pelterie in tractor (powered in front) biplanes. Real success came in 1908 with flights made in aircraft created by Gabriel Voisin and his younger brother Charles. These were biplanes with forward elevators and box kite-like tails but unlike the Wrights’ Flyers, they lacked any means of lateral control. Despite this, Henri Farman won the Grand Prix d’Aviation by completing the first 1-kilometre (three-fifths-of-a-mile-) circular flight in Europe on 13 January 1908 in a modified Voisin. To protect their designs the Wrights had ceased flying in 1905, but pushed by the success of their rivals and with deals secured to sell their machines, they decided to take to the air again. Wilbur Wright went to France where, on 8…

Arming a fighter aircraft with a machine gun was not easy. The weapon had to be light and accessible to the pilot and this meant that it had to be mounted either above the engine and fired through the arc of the propeller or above the top wing of a biplane. The former was problematic as the bullets could hit the propeller. The French tried placing metal plates on the propeller to deflect bullets should they hit the blades but this was unreliable and very dangerous. Another alternative was to use a pusher type aircraft, in which the engine and propeller were mounted behind the pilot, leaving the field of fire forward clear. The Germans came up with the best solution when they fitted an interrupter mechanism to their Fokker…

With Northclffe’s prize still unclaimed, five teams from British aircraft manufacturers set out to win it in 1919. A team from Shorts tried to fly east–west across the Atlantic but ditched into the sea on 18 April. The other teams from Martinsyde, Handley Page, Sopwiths and Vickers planned on starting from Newfoundland and flying west. The Sopwith Atlantic flown by Harry Hawker and Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve took off on 18 May, but following engine problems, went down in the ocean well over half-way across. It was assumed the two men were dead, but miraculously the pair were picked up by a ship. The vessel did not have a radio so it was not until 25 May that the world heard Hawker and Mackenzie-Grieve had survived. They received a £5,000 cheque from…

Defending the British Isles from the threat of the bomber became a high priority for military planners. An intricate early-warning system was in place, based on the principles of defence established during the First World War. Well organized command and control was augmented by the latest scientific miracle – radar – assisted by the more traditional teams of observers on the ground ready to report incoming aircraft. The RAF did not have as many aircraft or pilots as the Luftwaffe but it had a simple task: to remain in being. Unless the Germans could destroy the United Kingdom’s ability to defend itself from the air, the invasion could not take place. The battle for aerial supremacy, which became known as the Battle of Britain, began in June 1940 with sporadic…

Spotting for the artillery continued to be an important job for aircraft. German forces made great use of the very manoeuvrable Fieseler Storch and the Allies found that the Taylorcraft Auster and Piper Cub were suitable for the role that had proved so useful during the First World War. Aerial reconnaissance proved vital to the outcome of the war. Alongside signals intelligence, photographic information obtained by aircraft provided the Allies with a war-winning edge over their enemies. The Luftwaffe were initially successful at obtaining photographic reconnaissance, but as the war progressed, their effectiveness decreased. The RAF developed fast unarmed aircraft to take photographs – adapted Supermarine Spitfires and de Havilland Mosquitoes – unarmed, stripped down and relying on speed. But the real key to British success was the interpretation skills…

It had been considered that only the explosive power of the rocket engine could reliably overcome the Earth’s gravity. In the 1930s, it was Germany that led the field in this research. The Nazi regime invested a great deal of money and effort into developing rockets as weapons, culminating in the creation of the V2. This was designed by the best German scientists available led by the brilliant Wernher von Braun, and built by slave labour and prisoners of war. As they advanced across Germany, the Americans and Soviets rushed to secure the expertise of the engineers responsible for the V2s. Von Braun and over 100 of his colleagues were spirited away to the United States. Others – mainly lower ranking scientists than those in von Braun’s team – ended…

Membership of flying clubs grew in the 1920s and 1930s, notably in the United Kingdom. Privately owned aircraft, particularly the de Havilland Moth series, proved extremely popular. Companies such as Beech and Cessna began to create light aircraft specifically for the private individual in the decade immediately preceding the Second World War. In the 1950s, the market for light aircraft grew once again and it was in 1955 that the most successful light aircraft ever produced, the Cessna 172, first flew. The third major manufacturer of this type of machine, Piper, also proved that there was a huge desire for light aircraft – either used for personal transport or as real leisure craft. Bridging the gap between the small light aircraft and a large commercial airliner is the personal business…