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Evolution of Airplanes
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The First Winged Aircraft
George Cayler spent his life working intensely on engineering, social, and political problems in England. He created the concept of the modern airplane. In 1804 he designed, built by hand, and flew a small model glider. It included a fixed wing and a horizontal and vertical tail that could be adjusted. It was made out of cloth, a wooden frame, ropes and strings, and items to hold these parts in place. http://aviation-history.com/early/cayley.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley -
The First Powered Aircrafts
Samuel P. Langley had been interested in flight since he could remember. Langley built and tested over 100 of the model "aerodromes". Samuel added steam-powered engines to airplanes so they could fly longer and also a new framework of which was built largely of steel for better support. He also added more adequately wired and braced wings for smoother flying. In May of 1896, Aerodrome No. 5 had managed two great flights. http://www.flyingmachines.org/lang.html -
Automatic gyrostabilizer leads to first automatic pilot
Lawrence Sperry unvailed an automatic gyrostabilizer. A gyroscope keeps the craft level and traveling in a straight line without needing a human pilot. Two years later, Sperry and his inventor father added a steering gyroscope to it and was the first "automatic pilot." This was made so that the pilot did not always have to make sure they were going the right way safely the entire flight. With this, flying became much easier.
http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3728 -
Introduction of lightweight, air-cooled radial engines
The introduction of a new generation of lightweight, air-cooled radial engines revolutionized aeronautics. Wright Aeronautical (1919–1929) was an aircraft manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey. Wright's radial engine of 1925 was widely claimed as "the first truly reliable aircraft engine". These were made and put into planes so that making bigger, faster planes was possible. These engines were widely used in World War One airplanes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_engine -
First jet-powered commercial aircraft
The prototype, De Havilland Comet, made its first flight on July 27, 1949. Three years later the Comet started regular passenger service as the first jet-powered commercial aircraft. These were made to transport people and cargo quicker and farther. A lot of the first commerial aircrafts were made from old war planes. Airplanes are now used in armies, for personal use, aerospace, and transprotation of goods and people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_aviation
