Wings #2

5. In your opinion, did the Wright Brothers’ patent suits affect the progress of aviation?

In my opinion, the Wright Brothers’ patent did affect the progress of aviation in a negative way. No one, or in this case, two human minds can possess the innovative ability to develop new technology quickly and efficiently. While the brothers did accomplish huge feats by developing their original system to control pitch, roll, and yaw and actually put the first heavier-than-air aircraft carrying a human into the air, they can’t have believed that, alone, they could develop an aircraft better able to meet the demands that the U.S. military needed. Because the Wright brothers were going after all of the companies that were working on developing a better airplane, it discouraged other companies from even getting involved in aircraft development. Smaller, independent companies that might have otherwise provided valuable input were unable to contend with the costly legal settlements served to them after the patent suits. Had a solution to sell the patents to the federal government surfaced sooner, aviation history would probably have progressed much faster and the government would have been prepared with more aircrafts when World War I occurred.

From another perspective, I have to say that if I were a Wright brother, I probably would have done the same thing. It is a daunting task to let go of an invention that you’ve worked on for so long, especially after finally having attained success. It is nearly impossible to work towards the greater good of society when you feel, rightfully so, that you deserve to be compensated fairly for all of the thinking, sweat, and physical labor that you’ve put into the development over the years. The Wright brothers had already been through the ringer trying to obtain a patent in the first place, so they were understandably already nervous about losing the rights to their "baby."

7. What was the cult of the heroic airman?

The cult of the heroic airman describes the myriads of soldiers who wanted to fly the new airplanes during World War 1. The “heroic” part of the term comes from the fact that men who took to the sky in their still-relatively-new invention were considered brave to take on the possibly dangerous new machine and fly at great heights from the ground. If these men were to die, they would die in a dramatic crash due to machine or pilot failure. The men that fought the war on the grounds were dying from other, less valiant causes. These men could easily succumb to a misfire, disease, or other common hardship, and their death would have no impact on the progress of their country in the war at all. At least if a man died while flying for his country’s honor, he would be revered by others and honored for his efforts. As the book describes on page 156, an airman “would live or die on the basis of his own skill and courage, in a battle fought with the clear blue sky.” The most skilled and courageous soldier on the ground could still experience some poor luck and be put into an early grave by an accidental cause, such as a misfire.

                  The “cult” part of the term can be enlightened by Merriam Webster’s dictionary. Under the definition of cult, it includes the description, “such devotion regarded as literary or fad.” I believe the key term in that definition is the word “fad.” The airplane was the newest and greatest invention to hit the market during this time period. Because the problem of human flight had daunted inventors for so many centuries, everyone was curious about it. Everyone wanted to see an airplane, touch an airplane, or better yet, fly in an airplane, even if flying in an airplane meant dying by an airplane. The airmen of this time were very devoted to the new invention.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

10. When does the author mark the beginning of civil aviation and why?

The author marks 1919 as the beginnings of world civil aviation because, as discussed on page 204, the International Convention on Air Navigation was signed on October 13 of that monumental year. This agreement extended the “property” of each country to the airspace above their land as well. This airspace hadn’t been claimed before aviation began because, well, why would it have been? Humans were not in the airspace to claim and/or fight over it. Flights between countries and bodies of water, such as the English Channel, occurred that year as well.  Additionally, the postal service took to the air around that time period, partnered with U.S. Army Air Service. This made faster mail service to Alaska possible for the first time. As discussed on page 208, the world’s first post-WWI regularly scheduled passenger air service began on November 1, 1919. This historic line flown by the company Aeromarine West Indies Airway flew cargo and passengers from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba. Although this flight had a long duration and was very costly, it was the predecessor to all of the commercial flights that we as Americans take today when we go on vacation or to visit relatives in other parts of the country or world.

The year 1919 was the first year in which the focus could really shift to civil aviation instead of military aviation because World War I ended in 1918. World War I had a huge impact on pushing the development of aviation forward in order to attain militaristic goals, but now the focus could shift to civil goals such as transporting goods and passengers. The world had already seen what a huge impact aviation could have on the military in times of war; in 1919 and the following years, the world was getting the opportunity to see how flight can affect everyday life. Seeing how much the airplane can improve about our society made it seem like a much more practical invention, and more companies would likely be willing to invest in its improvement.