AVIATION HISTORY

Lecture 1: Introduction

By: Zuliana Ismail, 2010

Lesson Timeline
AVH 1103 – Aviation History
 3 Credit hours
Semester Timeline
 Week 1-6: Lecture
 Week 7&8: Mid term test & public Speaking
 Week 9-14: Lecture
 Week 17: Final Exam
Results

 Attendance: 5%
 Mid Term Test: 10%
 Public Speaking: 10%
 Assignment: 15%
 Final Exam: 60%
 TOTAL: 100%
Standard Grading Scale for
University/College
Mark Grade Grade Points
(80–100) A 4.00
(75-79) A- 3.67
(70-74) B+ 3.33
(65-69) B 3.00
(60-64) B- 2.67
(55-59) C+ 2.33
(50-54) C 2.00
(45-49) C- 1.33
(40-44) D 1.00
(0-39) F 0.00
GPA Calculation

Credit Hours Grade Grade Points

3 B (3.00) 9.00
3 B (3.00) 9.00
4 B (3.00) 12.00
4 B (3.00) 12.00
Total Cr Hrs: 14 GPA 42/14=3.00
References
 Lecturer slides and notes (will be
distributed through email)
 Books
 AMC Text Book
 Flight: 100 Years of Aviation (AMC Library)
 Internet:
Suggested Websites:
http://www.century-of-flight.net/
http://www.ueet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/
AVH Course Outlines

 Chapter 1: The early attempt to fly

 Chapter 2: Early Aviation
 Chapter 3: Theory of Flight
 Chapter 4: Flight Instruments
 Chapter 5: Flight Environments
 Chapter 6: Military Aviation
 Chapter 7: Commercial Aviation (Airliners)
 Chapter 8: Space Exploration
Aviation Timeline
INTRODUCTION TO AVIATION
What is
Aviation ??

9
What is Aviation ??

By definition, aviation is the

design, manufacture, use, or
operation of aircraft - in which
the term aircraft refers to any
vehicle capable of flight.
Aircraft Categories
Heavier than Air (HTA)-
Airplane
 A landplane is the airplane
that can operate only on land
surface

 A seaplane is a fixed-wing
aircraft which can only take
off and landing on water.

 An amphibian is an aircraft
that can take off and land on
either land or water.
Heavier than Air (HTA)-
Helicopter/Gyrocopter &
Glider
Lighter-Than-Air(LTA)
 Lighter-than-air vs.
Heavier-than-air

Aircraft can either be lighter-

than-air or heavier-than-air.
Lighter-than-air craft including
balloons and airships
Heavier-than-air craft including
airplanes, gliders, helicopters.
Heavier-Than-Air(HTA)

 LIFT is produced by a reaction between wings and motion

through the air
 Three categories of HTA aircraft are Airplane, Helicopter
and Glider.
 An AIRPLANE is a heavier-than-air craft that is
PROPELLED BY AN ENGINE and uses FIXED WINGS TO
GENERATE LIFT.
 A HELICOPTER also PROPELLED BY AN ENGINE but uses
ROTATING WINGS(BLADES) TO GENERATE LIFT.
 A GLIDER is a heavier-than-air craft that is NOT
SUPPORTED BY ENGINE POWER. Its propulsion through the
air is derived from GRAVITY & AERODYNAMIC FORCES.
Lighter-Than-Air(LTA)

 LIFTING CAPABILITIES depends on being inflated (or

expand) with a gas that is lighter than the air in
which it is supported.
 For example, BALLOONS and AIRSHIPS.
 Their structure when filled with a sufficient volume
of gas lighter than air (heated air, hydrogen, or
helium), displaces the surrounding ambient air and
make it floats.
 Balloons usually very large, and they were capable
of relatively high speeds.
The Early Attempts to Fly
Introduction

For centuries, man has dreamed of flying and soaring like an

Eagle high above the world below. Men starting imagined
how it must be to take to the air.
That dream and imagination is now reality.
In a short one hundred years, aviation technology was
transformed from the often unreliable wooden, cloth-
covered biplanes to supersonic jets and international
airliners. What was it that provoked such rapid progress?
First Attempts
 Legends of flight attempts date to 2000 B.C.
 Many believed flying was for the mythical gods
 Others tried to copy bird flight-unsuccessfully
 Chinese invented kites about 1000 B.C.
 Leonardo da Vinci, 15th century Italian artist
 First recorded scientific study of aeronautics
 Experimented to prove feasibility of mechanical
flight
 Drew sketches and plans to construct flying
machines
 First Attempts, 1500
 Leonardo da Vinci, scientist, architect, painter….
 In 1500 he gathered data on the flight of birds
..and then drawings of flying machines with
flapping wings.
 Finally, by copying the wings of a bird Da Vinci
invented the “Flapping-Wing Aircraft” to enable
human to fly.
Critical Thinking

However, all attempts to fly

using this type of machine
failed. WHY HUMAN CAN’T
FLY LIKE A BIRD ??
God’s Will

 If god wanted us to fly then he would

have created us that way.
Human can’t fly like a bird
because…..
 Structure of a bird’s muscles are different
compare to human. Human’s muscles are too
weak to flap the large surfaces needed to obtain
flight.
 Bird’s bones are hollow and light compare to
human. Human’s bones are far too heavy to make
them rise in the air.
 Physiological capabilities of birds can never be
matched by human beings. Human heart beat
rate must have to go up to 800 heart beats per
minute in order to be able to achieve flight.
Second Attempts at Flight

 By 17th Century, ancient ideas inspired

scientific theories and experiments.

 Characteristics of the atmosphere and the

discovery of gasses and properties led to
lighter-than-air (balloon) experiments
 The first successful human
flight
1783: Montgolfier Brothers
 Inventors of the first practical
balloon
 1782: discovered that heated air in
a paper or fabric bag made the bag
rise
 1783: “flew” a sheep, a duck, and
a rooster for 8 minutes
 November 1783: first human flight.
 However, balloon lack of
directional control
Critical Thinking

HOW HOT AIR BALLOON RISE

INTO THE SKY??
Glider Flight

1800- 1896: Men try to

invent GLIDER…

Glider: A light aircraft designed to fly

without using an engine.
George Cayley’s First
Successful Glider (1804)

 Had body, tail and wing

 Understood that lift results from pressure difference
across wing surfaces
 Had the idea to warp wings for roll control
 Proposed an engine for thrust - none available at that
time
Otto Lilienthal, First
Successful Pilot a Glider
(1890s)

 Accomplished over 2500 successful glider flights

 Control depended upon movements of his body. To
reduce these requirements he devised a movable
elevator.
 Died in a glider accident in 1896
The Powered Flight
1843: William S. Henson, 1st
plane with an engine
 Grew up in the age of steam. They had
witnessed the use of steam in powering
trains.
 He designed his own steam engine for
airplane.
 After one unsuccessful try the inventor
gave up.
1896: Samuel P. Langley, First
Successful Airplane
 Samuel P. Langley of the United States flew a steam
powered model plane.
 First Successful Airplane Flight in 1896
 Unfortunately, launching gear failure caused his plane to
crash