Aviation Development Throughout History

By: Caleb Anderson

Man's wish to fly is old as man itself. Old myths and legends
describe man's wish to fly and rule the air space. The most
famous antique legend is one about Icarus and his father Dedale.

This is the reason why Icarus stands as a symbol for flying. The
oldest testimonies about man's efforts to learn how to fly dates
from the time of ancient civilizations such as the Sumer, Asir,
Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek. Chinese and Mongol army in the
old days used to put dragons into the sky and they moved with
the force of wind. Today, it’s called kiting and it’s there
to amuse people.

The most famous visionary of aviation whose ideas were from
before his time was Leonardo Da Vinci, a famous Renaissance
painter. With his interest in anatomy of birds he developed
drawings and sketches of flying devices, something that he
imagined a man could fly with.

With the lack of technical knowledge aviation went in the way of
developing first flying devices that were lighter then air, so
called Aerostats (Greek: aer (air) + statos (standing) or
popularly called balloons.The first flying balloon was constructed
by 2 brothers, inventors Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and
Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier. and they tried it out on 5th Jun
1783. The balloon was made out of paper in a shape of a ball
and filled with warm air.

"A man was made for the ground and flying creatures for air"
said famous astronomer Lalande, "don't try to break the laws of
nature"... but a man using his mind made flying devices not to
bend or break the Nature's law, he made it for the needs of
mankind and its development.

The movement of a balloon depended on the wind power and its
course and therefore its use and safety was bound to it. Man
tried to find a way to control flying devices so eventually
Frenchman Henri Giffard made an engine-powered flying device -
dirigible. On 25th September 1852 he made a first flight with
it. After him there were many tries to build a stable flying
machine, even ones made out of metal. In 1900s a German aircraft
constructor Ferdinand von Zeppelin made a zeppelin flying device
which still carries his name even today.

Otto Lilienthal, a pioneer of aviation also was known as "Glider
King" constructed a flying device called glider. A glider was a
device heavier then air but without any self power or engine.
It’s design enables the device to climb up using air and then
glide for some time and until a next source that will lift it up
in the air again is found. To try it out Lilienthal made his
first glides from artificial and natural hills in Germany and
made it a breakthrough for all brave and inventive men.

The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville made a mark in the
history of aviation with the invention of the world's first
successful airplane. On 17th December 1903 in USA they made the
flight with the first powered and controlled heavier-than-air
human device which put balloons and dirigibles into the shadow.

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