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Research:
Writing Prompt 8:

James Souther
Prof. Lynn Raymond
UWRT 1103
11/3/15
Wrighting Prompt 8
Pictures With Information On The Early Stages of Flight
I disliked just using photos for this assignment. However, I was given the topic of the
history of flight from 1900 to the 1960s, and felt as if the best way to present this topic was
through the photos. The following photos are good examples of what would be on the
presentation.

Fig. 1. Langleys Aerodrome

Source: Flying Machines.org, Langley,

Info on slide:

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-Samuel P. Langley
-Calculated that heavier-than-air machines can still fly (38)
-Finished whirling machine in 1887
-Started to look at birds (39) and created the Aerodrome
-Kept getting delayed til its first failed flight attempt.

Additional info:
Samuel Langley was an Architect until the civil war came around. Afterwards, he decided to look
into aviation. He started to work on a helicopter like device after calculating that one horsepower
can lift up to 200 lbs. However, as he looked at birds, he realized that he needed a winged flight
rather then a vertical takeoff device, leading the the creation of the Aerodrome. He finished the
device in 1903 and started to make attempts for its flight. Weather and time stopped him,
weakening the glue between joints and draining the battery after a series of bad days. On
October 7, Langley had set a pilot named Manly up to fly the plane, even without Langley
present (47). It crashed, though. Almost $100,000 in debt (With $40,000 from the government
and $60,000 from the Smithsonian), Langley died in 1906, some said, of a broken heart (50).

Fig. 2. Antoinette (II) Monoplane, one of the first planes used for bombing.

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Source: Wikipedia.org, Bierrot XI
Info on slide:
-Among the first airplanes for military usage were only sent on reconnaissance flights.
-Benjamin Foulois fit a camera on the Wright Brothers Collier, flew it over Mexico
-Antoinette (II) Monoplane
-Bleriot Plane (shown above) was among the first planes to drop bombs on people

Additional Comments:
At the time, mexican people trying to come into America were separated into loyalist and
insurgents, and America was working hard to secure its border. Benjamin, in the
reconnaissance, had a forced landing in the Rio, breaking the plane. The Antoinette Monoplane
(Probably the second model), was probably used by another person, Harry Harkman, for the
same person. He was a better driver, though, because he didnt crash the plane. The Bleriot
plane used bombs the size of oranges in the Italo-Turkish war. (Bonney 174)

Fig. 3. Voison Biplane, first plane equipped with machine guns.

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Source: Bookdome.com, How An Aeroplane is balanced, Part 4.
Info on slides:
-Machine guns started to appear on planes near 1910
-French applied light machine guns on Voison biplane
-U.S. started using their machine guns with a faster cooling system by 1912.

Additional Comments:
Also from around this time, planes started to become more heavily armoured to protect from
bullet fire. The French plane placed the machine gun on the front for the passenger to use
(Bonney 175).

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"Timeline of Flight. The Dream of Flight. Library of Congress, 2010. Web. 22 Nov 2015. :

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The Heritage of Kitty Hawk:

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The Flying Years. Dir. William Woolard. DigiComTV, 2015. Film.