What If Airplanes Were Never Invented?
Humans have always had a fascination with flying since the beginning of time. Hot air balloons were invented in 1783, one step closer to the airplane. The balloon is filled with hot air, which makes the balloon fly to the air because hot air is lighter than cool air. The only problem with the hot air balloon was that you could not control the direction it was going. The first airplane was actually a glider. This aircraft was launched from a cliff or from any high place. It rode on the wind to the ground. Sir George Cayel made the first glider that flew. The aircraft could not occupy passengers. He also made a glider that flew his coachmen. In 1843, William S. Henson patented plans for an airplane after trying to build a model airplane. When those plans failed, he gave up on airplanes. His friend, John Stingfellow, tried making a model off of Henson's model and succeeded. The plane launched, but could only stay in the air for a short time.
In 1890, the Wright became interested in flying. Their center of invention was located near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Here they modified gliders and tested them. After experimenting on unmanned gliders, they made a glider where the pilot would control the airplane in the air. After working on glider experiments, they found out how to steer a plane while in flight by developing a rudder and flaps on the wings. With the rudder and the flaps, the pilot could control the direction of the airplane and the height. In December of 1903, the Wright Brothers became the first people to successfully fly a plane with a person in it. The plane flew one hundred twenty feet and flew only about twelve seconds. They had three successful flights that day, but Wilbur made the longest flight of 892 feet and stayed up for about 59 seconds. In 1903 the Wright Brothers made their first powered airplane that they named the "flyer." It was a biplane that had a 12 horse power engine that they had built themselves. The wings were 40
In 1890, the Wright became interested in flying. Their center of invention was located near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Here they modified gliders and tested them. After experimenting on unmanned gliders, they made a glider where the pilot would control the airplane in the air. After working on glider experiments, they found out how to steer a plane while in flight by developing a rudder and flaps on the wings. With the rudder and the flaps, the pilot could control the direction of the airplane and the height. In December of 1903, the Wright Brothers became the first people to successfully fly a plane with a person in it. The plane flew one hundred twenty feet and flew only about twelve seconds. They had three successful flights that day, but Wilbur made the longest flight of 892 feet and stayed up for about 59 seconds. In 1903 the Wright Brothers made their first powered airplane that they named the "flyer." It was a biplane that had a 12 horse power engine that they had built themselves. The wings were 40
Cited: Page History of Airplanes. . 22 May 2010 . Amelia Earhart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/amelia_earhart Columbia Space Shuttle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia September 11, 2001 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks War on Terror http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terror John F. Kennedy Jr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy,_Jr. Wikianswers.com