Adolescence of Air Power

 List significant events in aviation occurring between  Describe the development of new engines  Recall Louis Bleriot’s contributions  Discuss air power during WWI  Identify several WWI aces

 How was the Wright’s first flight received?  How did the government react to their airplane?  What are some important features an airplane back then should have?

 First flight went almost unnoticed ◦ Only one article, misleading and poorly written  , Wrights perfected design by testing craft in pasture in OH  1905, Wrights wrote letter to US government offering to build an aircraft of their specification ◦ Little interest/response ◦ War Department still embarrassed after Langley failures

 Wrights go abroad for sales after 3 refusals from the US  President Teddy Roosevelt finally took interest ◦ Directed Secretary of War to solicit bids  Aircraft had to do 7 things: ◦ Carry pilot ◦ Carry passenger ◦ Fuel enough for 125 mile trip ◦ 36 mph under perfect control ◦ Takeoff and land in any likely warzone without damage ◦ Able to be disassembled ◦ Reassembled in 1 hour

 Wrights got the US contract  Orville stayed to build US test plane  Wilbur went to France to demo plane to other governments and businesses ◦ French paid Wrights $100,000 to form French aircraft building company  Orville & Army testing planes in VA ◦ 12 very successful flights ◦ 13 th flight resulted in crash, Orville injured  Passenger, Lt. Selfridge killed, first to die in powered airplane

 August 2, 1909, Army buys first airplane from Wrights for $30,000

 Built gasoline engines for motorcycles as a teenager  Brilliant engineer  1907, became known as “worlds fastest man” by setting motorcycle speed record of 136mph  Curtiss engines were light and powerful  Balloon and dirigible manufacturers started buying his engines for their craft

 Aviation soon became his passion  1907, formed Aerial Experiment Assoc. with Alexander Graham Bell ◦ Goal was to build/improve airplane design ◦ Built first American aircraft to have ailerons ◦ Built first seaplane  1910, Wrights and Curtiss open separate flight schools

 1910: ◦ Eugene Ely, first to land on Naval ship ◦ Pres. Roosevelt, first pres. to fly  Wm. Randolph Hearst offers $50,000 to anyone who can fly across US in 30 days ◦ Calbraith Perry Rodgers accepts challenge ◦ Flies a Wright airplane ◦ Sponsored by “Vin Fiz” soda ◦ Flight took 49 days, 68 stops, 4,251 miles

 1911, Harriet Quimby, first licensed female pilot  April 6, 1912, first woman to fly English Channel solo  Died in plane crash, June 1912

 Why was the government uninterested in airplanes?  Why did many of the airplanes built in the 1910s and 1920s look so much alike?  Who seems more influential the Wrights or Glenn Curtiss?

 5 min ◦ Index card ◦ Name ◦ Of all the “accomplish this aviation feat first and win a prize” promotions around back then, which would you chose to do? ◦ Ex: Cross US, cross English Channel, Atlantic, Pacific, you can even make one up

 Who was the first to fly in Europe? ◦ Hint: Frenchman famous for dirigibles  Who built the world’s first monoplane?  What are 2 good reasons to build multiengine airplanes?  What was the major difficulty when flying VTOL aircraft?

 Robert Esnault-Pelterie ◦ Frenchman ◦ First to design/build glider with ailerons ◦ Enclosed fuselage  Alberto Santos-Dumont ◦ First to fly in Europe ◦ October 23, 1906 ◦ Paris

 Aviation got a lot of positive press in Europe ◦ Caused a lot of excitement  Louis Bleriot, 1907 flew first monoplane ◦ 1909, first to fly across English Channel ◦ Built 11 planes before perfected English Channel flight model, 50 crashes

 2 reasons to have more than one engine ◦ Increase power ◦ Improve reliability and safety  1911, Short brothers granted patent for first multiengine airplane  First four engine airplane built by the great engineer and pilot, Igor Sikorsky ◦ LeGrand, also had enclosed cockpit

 Engines very heavy ◦ Made of steel, iron or brass ◦ Water cooled ◦ 10 pounds per hp  Laurent and Gustav Seguin, 1907 ◦ Developed air cooled engine ◦ Cooling fins on cylinders ◦ 3 pounds per hp

 Rotary aircraft (rotating wings)  Early helicopters  Struggled with control once in flight

 January 1, 1914 ◦ First regularly scheduled airline service ◦ St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line ◦ Pilot, Tony Janus ◦ Plane, Twin Benoist XIV flying boat ◦ Cost, $5 and took 20 minutes

 By 1912, all major modern nations have military flying service ◦ By name only in US ◦ We had 1 plane, that was our “Air Force” ◦ 1913, 19 planes and 29 pilots in US military  1914, start of war ◦ Germany 200 planes ◦ Britain and France 450 planes

 1917, Congress appropriates $64 million for aircraft ◦ Boasted that we would “darken the skies over Europe with US aircraft” ◦ Promised 263 squadrons with 22,625 aircraft by June 1918 ◦ When the war ended in November 1918 only 45 squadrons in action, none flying US planes ◦ Not a single American designed combat aircraft saw action

 In your opinion, who was more influential, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Louis Bleriot, or Igor Sikorsky? ◦ Why?  Had anyone ever heard of the St Pete – Tampa Airboat Line?

 5 min ◦ Index card ◦ Name ◦ Why was the US Government so ill prepared for the start of WWI? ◦ How did the US deliver on promises to assist Britain with air support?  5 min ◦ Discuss with neighbor

 What is the military role of the airplane?  The addition of what turned the airplane into an active attack weapon?  What is an “ace”?  Who were the “aces” of WWI?

 Airplanes used for observation ◦ No guns  Bombs eventually carried ◦ In the lap of the pilot  By 1915, Germans bombing France and England with dirigibles and airplanes  1917, twin-engine Gotha IV replaced dirigibles as German bombers

 German air-raids on England caused the formation of the RAF or Royal Air Force

 Brought upon by increased bombing raids  Just gave pilot a gun  French pilot Roland Garros mounted automatic rifle on cowling to fire through prop. ◦ Had to put steel plates on back of prop  Garros shot down and captured ◦ Germans tasked Anthony Fokker with improving firing design

 Fokker incorporated an interrupting gear  The gun would only fire when the prop was out of the way ◦ Reliability and safety  For a year the Germans were the only ones with this advantage, which gave them air superiority ◦ 1916, allies captured German plane with interrupting gear and copied it

 Fighters had to be light, fast and maneuverable  Some famous fighters developed during WWI: ◦ Sopwith Camel and the SE-5A, British ◦ Spad VII and Nieuport 28, French

◦ Fokker Dr-I and D-VII, German

 German  French  American  Britain

 French coined term “ace”  Given to pilots who downed 5 enemy aircraft ◦ French ◦ British ◦ Americans  Germans required 10  “Ace of Aces” given to pilot with most kills from each nation

 America, Eddie Rickenbacker ◦ 26 kills  Britain, Edward Mannock ◦ 73 kills  France, Rene Fonck ◦ 75 kills  Germany, Baron Manfred von Richthofen ◦ 80 kills ◦ Red Baron

 War began in 1914, US did not enter till 1917  Many Americans did not wait ◦ Joined French Foreign Legion as pilots  When war broke out 7 wealthy Americans in Paris joined French Air Corps ◦ Called themselves the Lafayette Escadrille ◦ By 1917, only one of the original seven was still alive ◦ Escadrille incorporated into US Army Air Corps in Feb 1918

 Raoul Lufberry ◦ French born American citizen ◦ 17 kills ◦ Jumped out of airplane on fire and died  Eddie Rickenbacker ◦ Former racecar driver ◦ Named Commander of 94 th Squadron after 4 kills ◦ Gave pilots parachutes ◦ 26 kills in 5 months

 Youngest student at George Washington Univ.  2 nd Lt. at 18  1 st Lt. by 19  1903, youngest Capt. In Army at 23  Became pilot at 36, old for industry  Advocated separate “Air Force” branch of military  Chief of Air Service, under Amy command  Thought of planes as the future of offensive combat

 Why were German “ace” criteria more restrictive than everyone else?  What invention allowed Germany to have air superiority for over a year?  Who was aviations biggest up and coming advocate?

 Glenn Curtiss ◦  Alberto Santos-Dumont ◦  Louis Bleriot ◦  Igor Sikorsky ◦

1. Who was the “fastest man on earth” for setting a motorcycle speed record? 2. Who built the “Vin Fiz” airplane? 3. Who was the 1 st woman to fly the English Channel solo? 4. Who flew the first airplane in Europe? 5. Who built the 1 st 4-engine airplane? 6. What was the airplanes 1 st role in warfare? 7. How many “kills” must a German pilot have to receive the “ace” status? 8. Who invented the interrupter gear? 9. Who was America’s “ace of aces”? 10. Who was Germany’s “ace of aces”?