The History of Air Travel By David Malone - 4 th Class Teacher - Ms Reilly

When it all began. Sir Isaac Newton ( ) was a physicist and mathematician who developed many theories such as the ‘law of gravity’. His theory was: Airplanes fly because wings deflect air downwards so that in reaction the plane is forced upwards. A flying kite is the best example of this.

Aviation Dates back to before the 1800s Leonardo da Vinci invented the parachute in the 16 th century. The artist also had visions and drew diagrams of a helicopter & glider even though he may not have actually created or built one. In 1783 two French brothers, the Montgolfiers created a linen, fire powered balloon that managed to float along for more than five miles carrying a duck, sheep and a rooster.

Significant dates in air travel. 1891: Otto Lilienthal from Germany built the first practical glider for long flights.

The Wright Brothers – First Flight In 1878, flight was only a dream. Airplanes and Helicopters hadn’t been invented yet. But 7 year old Orville Wright and his 11 year old brother Wilbur began building and testing a machine that could fly people. On December 17 th 1903 Orville piloted the first flight that lasted 12 seconds. The Wright brothers became the first people to fly a machine, heavier than a hot air balloon, under the complete controls of a pilot.

John and Arthur – Longest flight. John Alcock and Arthur Brown were the first people to fly in an aircraft non – stop from Newfoundland Canada across the Atlantic Ocean. John was the pilot and Arthur was the navigator. They landed in Clifden in Ireland 16 hours 27 minutes after takeoff from Newfoundland.

World War 1 ( ) Planes had only been around 11 years when World War one started. So they weren’t as strong as they could have been and were mainly used as experimental weapons. The planes were fitted with machine guns to attack their enemies. The planes took hours to take off and sometimes fell apart in mid air. The advantages of airplanes in World War 1 helped see movement of troops and enemy lines.

Amelia Earhart – Solo, Female Flight. In 1928 Amelia Earhart (31 years) was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone in a record time of 13.5 hours. In 1937 she mysteriously disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean

Introducing the Modern Airline. In 1933 the first modern U.S airliner, the Boeing 247 made its initial flight. It’s capacity was 10 passengers and 181kgs of luggage. Luxuries included armchair seats, a flight attendant and a bathroom. In 1937 the first jet engine was invented by an English RAF Officer called Frank Whittle. In a Russian engineer created the first modern Helicopter

Space Age In 1957 Russians launched the first artificial satellite called Sputnik 1. which helped identify the upper atmosphere.

First Man in Space In 1961 – Russian born Yuri Gargarin was the first person in space. In 1969 – The first U.S astronauts land on the moon. “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind ” (Niall Armstrong)

Fastest Plane in the world 2015 The Eagle is currently one of the most commonly used army aircraft in the world. The Eagle is capable of flying at a high altitude of 10,000 meters with a maximum speed of 1,650 mph.

Irish Planes & Helicopters

I hope you enjoyed my Project on Air ? Thank you for listening.