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Chapter I. Features and basic aspects of airlines and airports.
1.1. Development history of airports and air transportation
.
The this chapter deals with the history of airlines and airports. Differences,
advantages and disadvantages of air transport from other means of transport. It also
discusses the world’s largest companies and their contribution to the world economy.
Aviation is the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft
includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morph able wings, wing-less lifting bodies,
as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air balloons and airships.
Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an
apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Some of the most
significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying
of Otto Lilienthal in 1896, then a large step in significance came with the construction of
the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time,
aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet which
permitted a major form of transport throughout the world. There are early legends of
human flight such as the stories of Icarus in Greek myth, Jams hid and Shah Kay Kāvus
in Persian myth, and the flying automaton of Archytas of Tarentum. Later, somewhat
more credible claims of short-distance human flights appear, such as the winged flights
of Abbas ibn Firnas , Eilmer of Malmesbury , and the hot-air Passarola of Bartholomeu
Lourenço de Gusmão .The modern age of aviation began with the first untethered human
lighter-than-air flight on November 21, 1783, of a hot air balloon designed by the
Montgolfier brothers. The practicality of balloons was limited because they could only
travel downwind. It was immediately recognized that a steerable, or dirigible, balloon was
required. Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew the first human-powered dirigible in 1784 and
crossed the English Channel in one in 1785.Rigid airships became the first aircraft to
transport passengers and cargo over great distances. The best known aircraft of this type
were manufactured by the German Zeppelin company. The most successful Zeppelin was
the Graf Zeppelin. It flew over one million miles, including an around-the-world flight in
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August 1929. However, the dominance of the Zeppelins over the airplanes of that period,
which had a range of only a few hundred miles, was diminishing as airplane design
advanced. The “Golden Age
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” of the airships ended on May 6, 1937, when the
Hindenburg caught fire, killing 36 people. The cause of the Hindenburg accident was
initially blamed on the use of hydrogen instead of helium as the lift gas. An internal
investigation by the manufacturer revealed that the coating used in the material covering
the frame was highly flammable and allowed static electricity to build up in the airship.
Changes to the coating formulation reduced the risk of further Hindenburg type accidents.
In 1799, Sir George Cayley set forth the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing
flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control. Early dirigible
developments included machine-powered propulsion rigid frames and improved speed
and maneuverability.
There are many competing claims for the earliest powered, heavier-than-air flight. The
first recorded powered flight was carried out by Clément Ader on October 9, 1890, in his
bat-winged, fully self-propelled fixed-wing aircraft, the Ader Éole. It was reportedly the
first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight of a significant distance but insignificant
altitude from level ground. Seven years later, on 14 October 1897, Ader's Avion III
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was
tested without success in front of two officials from the French War ministry. The report
on the trials was not publicized until 1910, as they had been a military secret. In November
1906, Ader claimed to have made a successful flight on 14 October 1897, achieving an
"uninterrupted flight" of around 300 meters. Although widely believed at the time, these
claims were later discredited.
The Wright brothers made the first successful powered, controlled and sustained airplane
flight on December 17, 1903, a feat made possible by their invention of three-axis control.
Only a decade later, at the start of World War I, heavier-than-air powered aircraft had
become practical for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and even attacks against ground
positions.
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org
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http://www.britannica.com
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Aircraft began to transport people and cargo as designs grew larger and more reliable.
The Wright brothers took aloft the first passenger, Charles Furnas, one of their mechanics,
on May 14, 1908.
During the 1920s and 1930s great progress was made in the field of aviation, including
the first transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown in 1919, Charles Lindbergh's solo
transatlantic flight in 1927, and Charles Kingsford Smith's transpacific flight the
following year. One of the most successful designs of this period was the Douglas DC-3,
which became the first airliner to be profitable carrying passengers exclusively, starting
the modern era of passenger airline service. By the beginning of World War II, many
towns and cities had built airports, and there were numerous qualified pilots available.
The war brought many innovations to aviation, including the first jet aircraft and the first
liquid-fueled rockets.
After World War II, especially in North America, there was a boom in general aviation,
both private and commercial, as thousands of pilots were released from military service
and many inexpensive war-surplus transport and training aircraft became available.
Manufacturers such as Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft expanded production to provide
light aircraft for the new middle-class market.
By the 1950s, the development of civil jets grew, beginning with the de Havilland Comet,
though the first widely used passenger jet was the Boeing 707, because it was much more
economical than other aircraft at that time. At the same time, turboprop propulsion began
to appear for smaller commuter planes, making it possible to serve small-volume routes
in a much wider range of weather conditions.
Since the 1960s composite material airframes and quieter, more efficient engines have
become available, and Concorde provided supersonic passenger service for more than
two decades, but the most important lasting innovations have taken place in
instrumentation and control. The arrival of solid-state electronics, the Global Positioning
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System, satellite communications, and increasingly small and powerful computers and
LED displays, have dramatically changed the cockpits of airliners and, increasingly, of
smaller aircraft as well. Pilots can navigate much more accurately and view terrain,
obstructions, and other nearby aircraft on a map or through synthetic vision, even at night
or in low visibility.
Although there have been periodic initiatives to revive their use, airships have seen only
niche application since that time. On June 21, 2004, Spaceship One became the first
privately funded aircraft to make a spaceflight, opening the possibility of an aviation
market capable of leaving the Earth’s atmosphere. Meanwhile, flying prototypes of
aircraft powered by alternative fuels, such as ethanol, electricity, and even solar energy,
are becoming more common.
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