HISTORY of AVIATION

200 BC

200 AD: Sky Lantern

200 AD: Punishment Gliding off tower

9th Century AD:

Abbas Ibn Firnas; Cordoban Polymath Made lenses, clocks etc

1000 AD: English Monk Eilmer of Malmesbury flew for 200m in a glider; Analysed his own flight and realized the

importance of a tail for his glider

1290 AD: Marco Polo reported the existence manned Kites in China

16th Century AD: Leonardo da Vinci

designed Ornithopter, Aerial Screw etc.

Models were made centuries later, unsuccessfully

Montgolfier Balloon

1716: First published paper on aviation: Sketch of a Machine for Flying in the Air - Emanuel Swedenborg.

Montgolfier Brothers
4/6/1783: First unmanned Hot Air Balloon 19/10/1783: First tethered manned Hot Air Balloon 21/11/1783: First manned Hot Air Balloon free flight drifted for 8 km

Jacques Charles & the Robert brothers

26/8/1783: Unmanned Hydrogen Balloon 1/12/1783: Jacques Charles & Nicolas-Louis Robert flew for 3 km

up to a height of 550m; Suffered altitude sickness

Hydrogen Balloon

1799 1853: Sir George Cayley

Sir George Caley:

Developed the Governable Parachute, thoroughly modern craft including tail and pilot position Worked on Flight for years and formulated the fundamentals of

Aerodynamic Theory 1799 - 1853: Designed & built gliders (powered & un powered)

Francis Herbert Wenham

1858 1895
Highly influential inventor and engineer; Introduced the concept of High Aspect Ratio wings. Set down the guidelines for structural design for airplanes. Coined Aeroplanes

19th Century: Birth of the Airships

Airships

Otto Lilienthal
1891 1896 Father of Flight Glider King

Designed, Built and Experimented with more than 2000 gliders; Died because of Injuries from a crash in 1896

The Wright Brothers

Orville Wright

Wilbur Wright

The 1901 glider flies at a steep angle of attack due to poor lift and high drag.

At right, 1902 glider flown by Wilbur (right) and Dan Tate, their helper. Dramatic improvement in performance is apparent. 1902 glider flies at a much flatter angle

and holds up its tether lines almost vertically, clearly demonstrating a much better
lift-to-drag ratio.

Wilbur makes a turn using wing-warping and the movable rudder, October 24, 1902.

First flight of the Wright Flyer I, December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip

Wright Flyers

Wright Flyer III: October 4, 1905; 33 km in 33 min

Wright Engine

1911 12: Italian Turkish War. Planes used as instruments of war. World War I: Air ships were used in reconnaissance and aerial defence Planes were initially used for reconnaissance then direct combat
Air Forces sprung up in most countries fighting the war

Planes used during WW I

1919 1939: Golden Age of Aviation

Surplus, inexpensive Military equipment lead to rise in popularity of civil aviation

Great advancements in aircraft technology Adventurers set new records for speed, endurance, distance,
altitude, etc. First airlines & Air Mail Services were started competitive air racing for "firsts" such as trans-atlantic and round-

the-world flights were organised In flight Avionics and helicopters were devloped

Boeing C 98

World War II:

Drastic increase in the pace of aircraft development and production Countries involved in the war stepped up development and production of aircraft systems Jet planes, helicopters and missiles started being used
Production of airplanes reached a staggering 789,671 Planes like Spitfires, Mustangs, B52, Lancaster, Messerschmitt & Fokker became legends

19451991: The Cold War

Civil Aviation blossomed with the help of surplus war planes
available Aircraft Companies like Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Tupelov, etc established themselves

Airline Companies like American, Aeroflot, British expanded dramatically because of newer regulations
Space race began between USA & USSR Advancements included STOVL, VTOL, Jumbo Jets, TransContinental aircrafts

Aerospace technology exploded.

Cold War Achievements:

1947: Bell X-1 (Sound Barrier)

1957: Sputnik

1957: Bell X15 (Mach 6.1)

1961: Gagarin 1968: Saturn V

1969: Harrier jump jet

1969: Boeing 747

1969: Concorde

1981: Space Shuttle