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Timeline Of Aviation


Homepage > 1920-1950



1920-1950

1920-1950

1920’s

In the early 20’s in America, the ability to fly long distances in a short
amount of time with a relatively light load meant that the commercial services
were mainly mail deliveries and not actual passengers. There was a time where
the Post Offices considered to speed up the mail deliveries by making all the
Post Offices roof’s flat topped so that it could become a landing strip for the
aircraft so that that the mail would be directly moved in the plane rather than
putting it into van which then has to drive to the nearest airfield.

Initially the aircraft before time were mainly built up with lightweight
materials such as wood, canvas and strong wires but as the building of aircraft
developed and modernised in that time period, and as the industry began to grow,
the use of metal in the aircraft increased as well. Eventually during the 1920’s
the whole aircraft began to be made of metal and the lighter weight materials
got left out. But the metal that they started to use was actually light as well
and they found a way of just using metal rather than the wood and canvas.
All-metal aircraft at that time became normal and the aircraft that used and was
made up with wood and the canvas was considered old-fashioned. It is said that
roughly 4600 aircraft were built as full metal planes in 1928. Also in 1928,
they decided to host the first ever air show where they used 104 aircraft. This
then made Henry Ford, the creator of Ford Industries, decide that there would
have to be consolidation within the industry meaning that he wanted to join in
and become a unit with the industry.  

The pilots that survived World War 1 and who were able to make it back home
safely now had to find new jobs and a way that they could live. The way these
pilots supported themselves was by travelling around the country (America)
visiting all the different town. In these towns they would show off the flying
or aerobatic skills and would perform shows for money. They all sometimes took
passengers, if they were willing to pay of course, on a ride inside the planes.
The planes they used were normally planes that the town’s people owned for
farming or either they had saved up and bought their own plane. This was the
only way for the pilots to have a life back then as after the War, the air force
and army did not require all these men so they were just let go and they had to
survive and fight for themselves. The pilots that did this kind of thing for a
living were the smart ones and were not going to lose or forget what they had
learned and been trained for, it would have been a waste. They used the very own
skills in order for them to have a life. The other less unfortunate pilots were
either left jobless or were lucky to find a low income job. It is said that all
that was needed for the pilots to land and take off in order to perform their
show, they simply needed some sort of farmland or field that was long enough.
This made it easy for the pilots to fly around the country as they could land
almost where ever they wanted with the permission of the landowner of course.

In the USA, the terminals for the planes were actually no more than open fields.
If people wanted to take a plane, they would simply be waiting in the middle of
a field where there was oil trucks waiting to refuel the aircraft. The first
terminal that had a waiting room and a ticket office, like the terminals we have
to today, was said to be constructed in 1925 at the Ford Airport, at Dearborn,
Michigan. The first ever scheduled air service in the United States was between
the Ford Airport (Grand Rapids) and Detroit. The plane that was used was a
Ford-Stout Monoplane called Miss Grand Rapids, which started July 26, 1926. The
airport is not name after Henry Ford, the owner of the Ford Industry, it was
actually named the Gerald R. Ford International Airport who was a president of
the US at one time. But back then they did not have an official name for the
terminal yet. It was most likely called the Grand Rapids as this was the name of
the plane that flew there. The terminal nowadays is an actual airport and is the
second largest in Michigan. In 2014, the airport broke its record for
passengers, with 2,335,105 total. This number compared to the number of people
that were flying in 1927 is massive. Back then only the wealthy could afford the
tickets meaning that not everyone was able to fly.

As the aircraft during the 1920’s developed and increased their capabilities in
terms of flying longer distances, holding more cargo, it allowed daring men and
women pilots or aviators as the were called to start breaking and setting
different aviation speeds and distance flown. They thought that with the new
planes, why not try to put their name in the history books and set a record and
that’s what they did. These pilots that were willing to do this captured the
public’s imagination and love as the public found the aircraft so fascinating.
The pilots back then were treated like royalty or movie stars. Being a pilot
that set and broke records was a really major thing during the 20’s. 

One example of a pilot that become super famous for breaking a record in an
aircraft was Charles Lindbergh. He was originally from Detroit, Michigan in the
US. In May 1927, Lindbergh emerged from out of nowhere of being a 25 year old
man working in the U.S Air Mail as a pilot flying mail around the country, to
instantaneous world fame as he won the Orteig prize which was the first solo
nonstop flight across the Atlantic Sea and prize money of 25,00 dollars. The
flight occurred on May 20th-21st from the Roosevelt Field in Garden City on New
York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France. The distance between
New York and France is roughly 5,800km and he did it in single seater aircraft,
single engine aircraft named the Spirit of St. Louis. This flight made Charles
Lindbergh the first person in history to be in New York one day and the next in
Paris. The record setting flight took a whole 33 hours and 30 minutes. Lindbergh
who was also a U.S Army Air Corps Officer was also awarded the highest military
decoration, the Medal of Honour for his bravery and historic flight. Just from
flying across the sea, from New York to Paris which our aircraft can do very
easily, Charles has been put in the history books for being the first person to
solo cross the Atlantic in an aircraft and be in the U.S one day and France in
the next. Not bad for a pilot that worked for the U.S Air Mail. As stated
before, Charles was seen by the public as a hero and a celebrity and his whole
life changed after that one flight. This is why flying inspired so many people
back then to set these records and keep improving the aircraft industry.



 

1930’s

Another person that got their fame for setting a record flying was a woman named
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and an author. What makes
Earhart so famous was she was the first female aviator or pilot to fly solo
across the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike Charles’s flight which lasted 30 hours,
Earhart’s only lasted 14 hours as she was flying in a more developed aircraft.
Along the way she battled strong northerly winds, icy conditions and mechanical
problems. What she received for this record was the U.S Distinguished Flying
Cross. This reward is a military decoration that is awarded to any officer or
any personal that works in the U.S military who has distinguished himself or
herself in some sort of operation by “heroism or extraordinary achievement while
participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918.” Not only
did Earhart set this record, she also set many other records, for example she
wrote best-selling books about her experience of the flying. She played a huge
role in the formation of The Ninety Nines which was an organisation that helped
female pilots get into the aviation industry and get them professional
opportunities. Earhart also joined another group to counsel woman on careers and
help inspire other with her love for aviation. Sadly though Earhart when doing a
flight around the top of the globe in 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific
Ocean.



The plane that Amelia Earhart flew in during her solo Atlantic crossing was the
Lockheed Vega 5b. The 5b was a different model to the original Vega 1 but it had
roughly the same engine. The 5b was a seven-seater transport version built for
higher gross weight operations. When the 1 was only a five-seater plane. Both
aircraft had an engine that gave about 225 horsepower. The aircraft could cruise
at a speed of about 195km/h. Its top speed was 220km/h. Now you see why the
journeys lasted so long as the aircraft were not the fastest. Now a day the
aircraft fly at about 800km/h which is a huge difference.



The 1930’s were known as the “Golden Age of Flight”. These years saw huge
technical advances and growth in aviation and aircraft technology. It saw
all-metal skin or fully metal planes, enclosed cockpits, retractable
undercarriages or landing gear that could go up into the plane and an increased
armament. These advances are said to have fuelled the War. Also the development
of mass-production, and the increasing global network of industry and trade
helped make and take commercial air travel from a luxury and novelty at the
beginning of the 30’s to something that was common and was necessary to get
around. All around the world during the 30’s, air lanes were opening up and the
remote regions that no one could really reach, were gradually being connected to
the rest of the world thanks to aviation and the different types of aircraft.

Even though there were huge technical advances in aviation, it was still a very
new technology. It wasn’t very normal to fly around back then. The normal
transport that everyone relied on was by train on the rails and boats on the
sea. These transports were what everyone used and it was what the public was
comfortable with. Railways and shipping had created and had developed a certain
luxury and economy that was impossible for air travel to beat. Back then the
aircraft that were being used were not capable of reaching the higher altitudes
that modern aircraft are able today. When they were flying at the lower
altitudes it made the aircraft more exposed to turbulence. The smaller and
lighter aircraft were poorly suited for the weather which made flying quite
difficult and dangerous. Travelling by the air was often bumpy and not always
pleasant. Also since the weather was constantly changing and since the
navigation system was not so advanced, it made flight time very unreliable. You
would have never known how long your flight is and also would have never known
how long the delays would have been. It is said that in some flights there would
have to be unscheduled landings for fuel or to service the less unreliable
aircraft.

While flying was more expensive, less comfortable and in some cases a lot more
dangerous to travel compared to trains and boats, there was one thing that
aircraft and air travel had on trains and boats which was speed. Air travel,
mainly in inhospitable or remote areas, was a lot faster to travel to. There
were4 surveys done back then and it is said that the main reason people chose to
use air travel over trains and boats was the speed of it which was a huge
advantage. Since the air travel was so expensive, it was mainly used by the
upper class or the rich people. It was all used by businessmen who owned major
companies. The passenger aircraft that were used were fitted to make these high
class at feel comfortable. They put different fabrics, upholstered seats, wet
bars (mini bars), smoking lounges and wooden panelling. All these different
object helped give the feel of luxury though the passengers still had to put up
with the loud noises from the engines and the turbulence. During the 30’s, the
air stewards were mainly males were there to carry and help passengers with
their luggage, offer sandwiches mid-flight and help the people that felts
airsick.

Flights across North America became very common and popular throughout the 30’s.
One reason that it became common and popular was thanks to the new introduction
of the Douglas DC-2 and then in 1935 the world famous DC-3. These DC-3’s allowed
flights across the U.S to be comfortable and very fast which was unheard of at
the time.  In 1934, a flight from Los Angeles would take almost a whopping 26
hours and require a lot of aircraft changes. With the new DC-3 in the air, the
plane cut that time to just 17 hours. With daytime and sleeper flights
occurring, upholstered seats (leather seats) and the introduction of female
flight hostess, who were required to be trained nurses in case of an emergency
along the flight made air travel in the U.S was maybe not 100% luxurious was at
least comfortable. 

The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing propeller driven airplane. It has a cruise
speed of 333km/h and had a range of about 2,400km. This aircraft revolutionised
air transport in the 1930’s and the 1940’s. Its lasting effect that it had on
the airline industry and in World War 2 makes it one of the most significant
transport aircraft that was ever made.

The DC-3 was a twin engine metal monoplane which was developed as a bigger and
improved 14 bed sleeper version of the Douglas DC-2. The DC-3 was a lot better
than the DC-2. It was fast, it had a good range of flight and it could operate
or land and take off easy on short runways. The DC-3 was also very reliable as
it was easy to maintain and it could carry the passengers in comfort. Before the
World War 2 and how it was used during the war, it made and created many air
travel routes. The plane was able to cross the United States which made
transcontinental flights and worldwide flights possible. It was also considered
to be the first aircraft that could make money by just carrying passengers
alone. Before, for the airline or aircraft to make some sort of income, they had
to carry some kind of cargo that they could get paid for delivering it. The
production of the DC-3 ended in 1942 and only 607 aircraft had ever been
produced. Even though there weren’t many DC-3, the aircraft was still a huge
aircraft in the aviation industry and allowed for a lot of routes and
development to occur in the aviation industry.



 

1940’s and World War 2

During World War 2 aviation made itself a vital component for the warfare.
Germany and Japan on the one side and Britain, the United States and the USSR on
the other, all created a manufactured massive air forces during the time which
were put into battles in the air against each other and the ground forces below.
One strategy that become huge and was being used was the bombing, flying the
aircraft over enemy lines and just dropping bombs on to the enemy creating
havoc. Another thing that became very popular and played a significant role was
the use of aircraft carries which a massive boats that hold that aircraft. The
aircraft are able to land and take off from the boat making it a floating
airport for the military.

Just like in World War 1, the investment that the military were putting into the
aviation industry drove it forward and really helped it develop with new ideas
and aircraft. The military were needing new inventions and by the military
spending millions on the industry, it quickly grew. The streamlined monoplane
meaning a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces that allowed
the little resistance over the wings, quickly proved itself to be useful in
every role in the air force. Biplanes were now too old to be used. Throughout
the war, engine power and the aircraft’s performance increased and by the end of
the war jet and rocket engines started appearing. The instruments inside the
aircraft also developed greatly including power-assisted flight controls, blind
flying instrumentation, radio communications and radar tracking. Military
technologies developed during the war would revolutionise post-war aviation. One
thing in particular was by creating airports where aircraft could land and take
off successively would provide the basis of long-ranged passenger flights which
is what we do when ever we travel today.

 

The different components that each monoplane had back then during the war were:

 * Stressed-skin semi-monocoque construction which was typically of light
   aluminium but sometimes with wooden or mixed constriction. Stressed-skin
   semi-monocoque means that the whole airframe was held together normally in a
   rectangular shape and the weight was balanced over all the beams. The loads
   are supported through an object's external skin, similar to an egg shell.
 * A clean, unbraced cantilever monoplane wing. Cantilever is a rigid structural
   element such as a beam or a plate that is anchored or attached at only one
   end, in the case the fuselage. The wing is then built around the beam.
 * Conventional tail or empennage, with bombers often adopting twin tail fins,
   believed to improve stability during the bombing run. This is essentially the
   tail wing that we all know but bombers used to not have one tail wing but
   instead they had two.
 * Retracting landing gear of conventional configuration with a tailwheel or
   tailskid. This is just the landing gear that can be lifted up into the plane.
   The tailskid is a metal plate that is on the back of the plane so that when
   taking off, if the back hits the runway, the tailskid is what it will hit.
 * Landing flaps. Landing flaps are retractable flaps that are on the wings that
   move up and down. When the flaps are down it creates more lift for the
   aircraft and is normally used during take-off so that the aircraft can get as
   much lift as possible to get into the air before running out of runway.
 * Fully enclosed cockpit. This is simple a cockpit that is fully closed and is
   sheltered from the wind the cold air.
 * Variable-pitch propellers in tractor configuration. A variable-pitch
   propeller is a type of propeller with blades than can rotate around their
   long axis to change the blade’s pitch or angle.

As stated before, engine power and the aircraft’s performance increased over the
years of the war. During the war they had two types of engines, with
liquid-cooled inline (engine was cooled with a liquid) and vee egines (the
pistons of the engine were placed I a V shape) which competed with air-cooled
inline. An example of how much the engines increased over the years is at the
beginning of the war the Rolls-Royce Merlin 3 liquid-cooled V12 engine developed
1,000 horsepower while by the end of the war the engine that followed up from
the Merlin was the Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 and that offered 2,035 horsepower. In
just 6 years the power of the engines that were being used in the aircraft
doubled.

The three most famous aircraft that were used during the war and the ones that
almost everyone knows about were the North American P-51 Mustang, the Focke-Wulf
Fw-190 and the Supermarine Spitfire. These planes were some of the best in the
air in those times. However these were all monoplanes and used the likes of
propellers. The first ever jet engine aircraft were the Arado Ar 234,
reconnaissance bomber, Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) fighter and
Gloster Meteor fighter.

The North American P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter
plane and fight bomber. It was used during World War 2 and also in the Korean
War. The aircraft was built by the North American Aviation (NAA) and it was
originally designed in response to a British specification. The NAA agreed that
they would produce the first prototype only 4 months after signing the contract
with Great Britain in April 1940. The first prototype that was sent to the
British for test flights was powered by the Allison V-1710 engine which was a
good engine but it struggled and did not operate the best at high altitudes.
This engine was a V-12 liquid-cooled engine and gave out over 1000 horsepower.
Later in April, 1942, a British test pilot flew the Mustang and thought that it
was an excellent plane but he thought that the plane would be a natural fit with
the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 which was suited for high altitudes. After working
together and finally fitting the Rolls-Royce engine, the results were very
impressive. At 30,000 feet the Mustang could reach 700km/h. This was 160km/h
faster than the Allison-equipped Mustang at that altitude. The Mustang was a
fast aircraft and it had a decent turning ability. One thing the Mustang
benefited in was its range. With a 75-gallon tank under each wing, it could fly
six-hour missions which was completely unheard of at the time.



The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was a German single-seater, single-engine fight aircraft.
It was designed by Kurt Tank, a German aeronautical engineer, in the late 30’s
and it was used by the German air force throughout World War 2. The Fw-190 along
with another aircraft, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 became the backbone of the
Luftwaffe’s Jagdwaffe which was the fighter force of the German aerial warfare
branch of the German Reich. The Fw-190 was fitted with the twin-row BMW 801
radial engine which generated about 1,600 horsepower. With this engine, it
allowed the Fw-190 to lift heavier and larger loads which allowed to be used as
a day fighter, fighter-bomber, a ground-attack aircraft and occasionally a night
fighter. It started flying operationally over France in August 1941 and it
quickly proved itself to be superior in everything but its turn radius to the
Royal Air Force’s (Great Britain) main aircraft the Spitfire MK. The Fw’s
performance though decreased at higher altitude normally around 20,000 feet.
Overall the aircraft was very effective in battle but struggled when it came to
higher altitudes which is where the P-51 Mustang came into play.



The Supermarine Spitfire was a British single-seat, single-engine fighter
aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before,
during and after World War 2. The Spitfire had many different visitants which
used several wing configurations. It was produced in greater number than any
other British aircraft. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high
performance interceptor aircraft meaning that it would go and a stop certain
missions from happening like taking out enemy bombers. It was designed by R. J.
Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works. As it was built as an
interceptor aircraft, Mitchell supported the idea that the Spitfire needed to
have the thinnest possible cross-section. With the thin wing, it enabled the
Spitfire to have a higher top speed. The Spitfire was fast and had a good
turning radius. At first the Spitfire was equipped with the Merlin 3
liquid-cooled V12 engine which developed 1,000 horsepower but then later on in
the years it was equipped with the Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 and that offered 2,035
horsepower. This is why the Spitfire was so fast and nimble in the air. The
speed of the Spitfire was roughly 550km/h. The Spitfire was constantly in battle
against the Luftwaffe and their aircraft like the Fw-190. Throughout the years,
20,351 Spitfires were built.



The first jet engine or rocket engine aircraft were built mainly by the Germans
as they were experimenting to find the best aircraft. The Messerschmitt Me 163
Komet was designed by Alexander Lippisch. It was a rocket-powered fighter
aircraft and it was the only rocket-powered aircraft to ever be operational. Its
design was revolutionary. Its performance was unheard of at the time and shocked
the world. A German test pilot named Heini Dittmar in early July of 1944 reach
1,130km/h in the Me. It was a flight speed record that wasn’t beaten for almost
10 years. The aircraft was travelling a whole 500km/h faster than the P-51
Mustang or the Pw-190. Over 300 aircraft were built it was found to be
ineffective as a fighter and only was able to shoot down 8 allied planes. Though
it was the first every rocket-engine aircraft which was going to change the
aviation industry forever.








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 * Homepage
 * 1900-1920
 * 1920-1950
 * 1950-1970
 * 1970-1990
 * 1990-present
 * Bibliography

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