Soaring High

By Phuc Anh
First Jet
The 20th century is the time when most changes in history took place. Which transportation do you think is the most important way to travel? I think it is the airplane. Without the airplane, you wont be able to travel far in a short amount of time. After the first airplane was invented, people started to get the idea and invented different types of airplane like jets, seaplanes, passenger planes, and etc. The invention of airplane was a turning point in history.
This is the Heinkel He 178 invented by Many years later Hans von Ohain.

An airplane flying high in the sky.

First Airplane
The first airplane was invented by the Wright Brothers in 1903. It is mostly made of wood, fabric, and metal. The airplane is called Wright Flyer. The airplane weighed 605lbs, the length is 21ft, and the wingspan is 40ft 4in. The Wright Flyer was tested on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Wright Flyer made four flights that day and Orville Wright was the pilot of the plane. The first flight was 120ft far, 10ft above the ground, and stayed in the air for 12 seconds. The longest flight of the day was 852ft far and stayed above the ground for 59 seconds. After the Wright Flyer was successfully invented, the Wright Brothers made the Wright Flyer II and the Wright Flyer III.

This is the Wright Flyer taking off, and Orville was on it.

since the Wright Flyer was invented, the invention of the jet appeared. Dr. Hans von Ohain, an engineer from Germany, and Sir Frank Whittle, a Royal Air Force (RAF) engineer officer from Britain, are known as the inventors of the jet. Frank Whittle was the first to sign up a patent for his jet in 1930 and Hans von Ohain was given a patent for his jet in 1936. Hans von Ohains jet, Heinkel He 178, flew in 1939 while Frank Whittles jet, Gloster E 28/29, flew in This is the Gloster E 28/29 invented by 1941. The Gloster E Sir Frank Whittle. 28/29 has the length of 25ft 4in, 8ft 10in high, with the wingspan of 29ft, and its empty weight is 2,886 lbs. The Gloster E 28/29 can go 338mph at maximum speed. To compare with the Gloster E 28/29, the Heinkel He 178 is 24ft 6in long, 6ft 10in high, with the wingspan of 23ft 3in, and the empty weight is 1,620 lbs. The Heinkel He 178 can fly 380 mph at maximum speed which is faster than the Gloster E 28/29.

First Passenger Airplane

The Sikorsky Ilya Muromets is known to be the first passenger aircraft. In 1913, it is invented by a Russian American aircraft designer, Igor Sikorsky in Riga, Latvia. The Sikorsky Ilya Muromets was also a military bombing aircraft. On December 10, 1913, it took off for the first time. On February 11, 1914, it took off the second time carrying 16 passengers. The airplane has the height of 13ft 1in, the length is 57ft 5in, its top wings wingspan is 97ft 9in, its bottom wings wingspan is 68ft 11in, and the empty weight is 6,930lbs. At maximum speed, it can travel 68 mph.

First Seaplane
The first seaplane nickname is called Le Canard. It was invented in 1910 by a French aviator named Henri Fabre. The Le Canard is 27ft 10in long, the wingspan is 45ft 11in, and the height is 12ft 2in. It can fly 55 mph at maximum speed. The airplane Le Canard flew on March 28, 1910 in Martinique, France and its inventor, Henri Fabre, flew the plane. The plane flew 1500 ft far. It once crashed during a flight on April 12, 1911.

An ordinary modern passenger airplane flying high.

The famous Sikorsky Ilya Muromets flying.

As you can see, there are different airplanes for different purposes. Some are for carrying passengers, some are used in military for attacks. Airplanes help save your time because it can travel anywhere in short amount of time. It is not just only changes how people travel, but also changes how people fight in war, transport goods, transport mails, and etc. Generally speaking, my favorite type of airplane is the passenger airplane because it is the fastest and the most convenient way to travel to many different places in the world. Airplane is a great invention that changes our worlds history.

The first seaplane flying with Henri Fabre the airplane inventor on it.