Aviation basic aviation history one perspective for Air Force Cadets

AVIATION BASIC

Aviation History

Just one perspective

Hot Air BalloonsOn November 21, 1783, in Paris,

France, the first untethered, manned

flight was made in a hot air balloon

created on December 14, 1782 by

the Montgolfier brothers

Hot Air Balloons

Unmanned flights were made much

earlier (220–280 AD) The Chinese

used airborne lanterns for military

signalling. These lanterns are known

as Kongming lanterns

Hot Air BalloonsProfessor Thaddeus Lowe aloft in the

balloon PIntrepid observing a battle

during the Peninsular Campaign near

Fair Oaks, Va. May-August 1862

(American Civil War)

Lawrence Hargrave

Hargrave successfully lifted himself off the ground under a train of four of his box kites at Stanwell Park Beach on 12 November 1894

He developed a rotary

aircraft engine in 1889

Early Unmanned Flight

1901 First successful flying model propelled by an internal combustion engine

Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-powered version of his tandem-winged "Aerodromes." the first successful flying model to be propelled by an internal combustion engine. As early as 1896 he launches steam-propelled models with wingspans of up to 15 feet on flights of more than half a mile.

Samuel Pierpont Langley

Quarterscale

model, 1896 pic it

shows Langley's

1896 quarter scale

aircraft model in

his workshop

First Flight

A dispute on who was first seems to have been won by USA thanks to their publicity machine

Richard Pearse, Waitohi, New Zealand, March 31, 1902

Wright Brothers Dayton Ohio USA December 17, 1903

Richard Pearse

Postal Issue for the Centenary

of Pearse's flight 1903-2003

Pearse’s Engine The engine that he made was extremely

clever. It was a twin cylinder and piston device, but the pistons worked in both directions so that it was effectively a four cylinder piston engine.

Wilbur & Orville Wright Possibly influenced by

Hargraves’ work these bicycle makers started with Box Kites and developed them into a heavier than air powered aircraft. They flew gliders as early as 1901

Wilbur Wright pilots the

1902 glider over the Kill

Devil Hills, October 10,

1902. The single rear

rudder is steerable; it

replaced the original fixed

double rudder

Wilbur & Orville Wright

The Wright Flyer III over

Huffman Prarie, October 4,

1905, Orville piloting. Note

he is still in, which would not

be changed by the brothers

until 1908

First Landing on ship

First fixed-wing

aircraft landing

on a warship:

Ely landing his

plane on board

the USS

Pennysylvania in

San Francisco

Bay, 18 January

1911.

First Flight France to England

Louis Bleriot

Starting the engine, 25 July 1909

First Flight in Australia

was made in 1910 by Harry Houdini

World War 1 allied aircraft

Sopwith

Camel Approximately

5,490 Camels

were built and

credited with

shooting down

1,294 enemy

aircraft, more than

any other Allied

fighter of the war

World War 1 German The Fokker Dr.I

Dreidecker Triplane

was built by Fokker

Flugzeugwerke. The

Dr.I saw widespread

service in the spring

of 1918. It became

renowned as the

aircraft in which

Manfred Von

Richtoven gained

his last 19 victories

Australian Flying Corps Founded 1913

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 First

Australian Squadron

Deperdussin Monoplane

Point Cook 1914,

First all metal Aircraft

Junkers J 1 all metal "technology

demonstrator" pioneer aircraft, at

FEA 1, Döberitz, Germany in late

1915, undergoing flight

preparations

Sole survivor

First Flight England to Australia

Ross and Keith Smith's Vickers Vimy biplane, 1919. (G-EAOU) the

registration being whimsically said to stand for "God 'elp all of us"

QantasIn August 1920, former AFC officers Hudson Fych and Paul McGinness bought an Avro 504 aircraft and established what later became known as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service (Qantas). By 1922, a scheduled mail service operated between Charleville and Cloncurry, and operations had moved from Winton to Longreach. By 1927, the service had extended first to Camooweal then Normanton. In 1929, the route extended to Brisbane and the company moved its headquarters there.

First Flight England to Australia

The Vimy was also famous for the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Allcock & Brown

in June 1919

Spirit of St Louis is the custom-built, single engine,

single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris

First Solo Flight England to Australia

Bert Hinkler's Avro

Avian. Hinkler flew

the first solo flight

between England and

Australia, departing

England on 7

February 1928 and

arriving in Darwin on

22 February 1928

Australia women aviation pioneers

Millicent Bryant(1878 - 1927) became the first Australian woman to gain a pilot's licence on 28 March 1927. She drowned later that same year in a Sydney ferry accident.

Maud Bonney started flying in 1931 and became the first pilot to fly between Brisbane and Cape Town. In 1933, she flew from Darwin to England to gain the title of the first woman to fly from Australia to England.

Freda Thompson(1906 - 1980) was the first female flying instructor in Australia and the British Empire, gaining her Instructor's Rating in 1933. In 1934, she was the first Australian woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

Australia women aviation pioneers

Nancy Bird-Walton

DH.85 Leopard Moth

Nancy became the youngest commercially licenced female pilot in the British Commonwealth in 1934. The following year, she ran an air ambulance service in outback New South Wales. Nancy became known as the 'Angel of the Outback' for her work with the Royal Far West Children’s Health Scheme. She flew many hours in her Leopard Moth, operating the first aerial baby clinic and aerial charter services. During the Second World War she became Commandant of the Women's Air Training Corps and in 1950 she founded the Australian Women Pilots’ Association

The Zepplins

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was the inventor of the rigid airship, or dirigible balloon. Zeppelin went to the United States in 1863 to work as a military observer for the Union army in the American Civil War, making his first balloon flight while he was in Minnesota. He served in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and retired in 1891 with the rank of brigadier general. He spent nearly a decade developing the dirigible. The first of many rigid dirigibles, called zeppelins in his honour, was completed in 1900. He made the first directed flight on July 2, 1900. In 1910, a zeppelin provided the first commercial air service for passengers. By his death in 1917, he had built a zeppelin fleet, some of which were used to bomb London during World War I. However, they were too slow and explosive a target in wartime and too fragile to withstand bad weather. They were found to be vulnerable to antiaircraft fire, and about 40 were shot down over London.After the war, they were used in commercial flights until the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937.

Hindenburg

The

Hindenburg

disaster at

Lakehurst,

New Jersey

on May 6,

1937 brought

an abrupt

end to the

age of the

rigid airship.

England Australia

Short C Class Empire 1938

Aircraft Transport 1930’s style

Short S.21

Maia(G-ADHK)

which was a

variant of the

Short "C-Class"

Empire flying-

boat fitted with

a trestle or

pylon on the top

of the fuselage

to support the

Short S.20

Mercury(G-

ADHJ)

WWIIDe Havilland Tiger Mothfirst flight on October 26, 1931Following first deliveries in 1939, the RAAF operated 861 Tiger Moths in all, 712 of which were locally produced

WWIIThe Wirraway (Aboriginal for 'Challenge' or "Challenger") was the first product of the new, privately owned Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), 755 were built between 1939 and mid-1946. The RAAF's last Wirraway flight was in December 1958 at Point Cook, Victoria. They were replaced by Winjeels

WWIIThe Anson was the RAAF's first retractable undercarriage, low wing monoplane, and served in great numbers (1,028 aircraft) following 1935 orders, when the RAAF set out to modernise its equipment.

WWII2 squadrons of Bristol Blenheims were operational by August 1940, the 22 and 42 Squadrons of Coastal Command.

2 huge German Battleships were among the numerous attacks on shipping and laying hundreds of mines.

WWIITo the Japanese, the Beaufighter became known as "The Whispering Death"

WWII Curtiss Kittyhawk well remembered by RAAF Base Williamtown

WWII The RAAF flew Spitfires in the Western Desert and in PNG

WWII and beyond The Mustang was one of the great combat

aircraft of World War 2. Although it saw only limited RAAF service in World War 2, the RAAF operated over 500 until 1959

WWII Douglas Dacota ( C47, DC 3)

“the most vital to our success in Africa and Europe were the bulldozer, the jeep, the 2 1/2 ton truck, and the C-47 airplane. Curiously enough, none of these is designed for combat."Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Gas Turbine Engines Sir Frank Whittle applied for the first patent

in 1930, and was awarded the patent in 1932. He was ignored by the UK Government of the day. It took 7 years to develop a prototype

Gas Turbine Engines German Hans von Ohain was granted a

patent for his turbojet engine in 1936. it was the first to fly in 1939. Frank Whittle'sjet first flew in 1941.

Gas Turbine Engines Sir Frank Whittle’s first flight

Whittle's engineering

genius led to the creation

of several other aircraft:

the RAF's Gloster Meteor,

which saw action during

the latter stages of the

Second World War; the

de Havilland Comet, the

world's first passenger jet,

and Concorde.

Concorde's maiden flight

in 1969 set the seal on

Whittle's endeavours.

Qantas In 1947, the Australian Government buys all shares in Qantas; the

airline introduces Constellation aircraft on the London route and operates its first flight to Japan

Aussi Jets A79 DHA Vampire built at CAC in 1949, they were flown by 75

and 76 Squadrons. Flying ceased in 1954 however 2 seater trainers were still used until replaced by Macchi MB-326H aircraft from 1968

Aussi Jets Gloster Meteors, 77 Squadron RAAF, Korea, c.1951 it was the

first jet to be flown in Australia, over Melbourne in June 7 1946 @ 490MPH

First Jet Airliner De Havilland Comet On 2 May 1952, as part of

BOAC's route-proving trials, G-ALYP took off, the world's first jetliner

Comet 4 Spot the difference

Comet 4 The NIMROD served with the RAF in the Faulklands, Gulf War,

Afghanistan and Iraq War. All Nimrod variants had been retired by mid-2011

First RAAF Helicopter The Sikorsky S51 commercial helicopter first

flew on February 16 1946

Super Constellation In 1957 Qantas pioneers round the world

services, using Super Constellations The total flying time was about 128 hours.

Super Constellation always had a smoky engine start

A-84 GAF CANBERRA entered service with 82 Wing in December 1953,

replacing the Lincoln. No2 Squadron was sent to Vietnam as part of Australia's commitment, remaining there until June 1971. Overall, 11,963 sorties were flown in Vietnam, 76,389 bombs dropped and two aircraft lost. Retired 30 June 1982

79 Squadron Sabre

3 Fighter Generations

Mirages over Newcastle