1. Did flight have any influence outside of aviation? If so, how?
Flight had tons of influence outside the world of aviation. To begin with, people were amazed by flight. It brought people from all over, together, to watch flight competitions and share in the wealth of the growing field of knowledge. Not only did flight excite people in science related fields, but it quickly began to interest and inspire others as well.
Art was one of the fields that became influenced by aviation. Cubist painters Pablo Picasso and George Braque were interested and watched flights so that they could create commentary pieces. They ended up making models of the aircrafts and their wings out of paper and other materials, and Picasso especially, would soon base quite a few of his paintings on aviation. For example, his Guernica mural was based upon the Spanish Civil War and the German aviation attack on Guernica.
Another great influence from aviation was the creation of a new artistic movement called Futurism, around 1909. The movement rejected traditional, classical forms and ideals and intended to celebrate new technology. Aviation itself, pretty much was Futurism. Instead of keeping up with the norms of rail travel, groups of people all over the world aimed to achieve something more.
Last but not least, flight completely influenced pop culture. There were new songs about flying, new plays in the theatre (one that actually included part of a plane on stage for part of a scene!), books and children's stories, and various kitschy items such as cigarette cases.
3. Who took the lead in establishing aviation as a business and what effect did it have on the rest of the world?
The French had the lead from the get-go. As they were already pretty much leading the world with their aircrafts and technology, French pioneers started turning their workshops into factories. The author later makes a point that the U.S. aircraft industry was born in 1907, possibly a little later than the French. It was estimated that between 1909 to 1913, the French produced about 1,023 airplanes- although historians now speculate that it would have had to be a much larger number than that!
French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot, who was the first person to cross the English Channel in a monoplane, was one of the first to have major success in the aviation business. His Bleriot XI plane (and it's variations) became the most successful plane on the market. After that point, it seemed that the rest of the world just became hungry for the fame, success, money, etc. If it wasn't obvious before, the popularity of aviation at this point continued to spread, and this influenced pretty much all aspects of people's lives. Between 1908 and 1913, the nations of the world spent around $86,750,000 on aviation technology. For the time period (and even now) that is a ton of money. By using an inflation money calculator, I found out today that same amount would equal $2,041,315,126.26 !!! This just shows how ready the world was, and especially how the nations did not want to be left behind when compared to other nations.
5. In your opinion, did the Wright Brothers’ patent suits affect the progress of aviation?
I do believe that the patent suit wars affected the progress of aviation in the U.S., in a negative way. The era of the patent suits began in August of 1909, and pretty much consumed all of the Wright Brothers' attention from 1910-1912. To begin with, the Wright Brothers filed a bill of complaint so that competitors, such as Glenn Curtiss and his "aeroplane" company (who built his first airplane also in the year 1909), could not infringe upon their patents. They ended up successfully suing 6 rival French manufacturers.
I believe this affected the U.S. in a negative way because of the waste of time, money, and probably resources. While everyone else around the world were busy inventing and improving upon things (because they had to find a way around the patents) the U.S. lost its aeronautical leadership. This was especially prevalent for the Wright Company. Because they were so busy fighting everyone, they had little time to focus on anything else. Furthermore, in the end, it was mentioned in class by Ed today that the patent suits did not have too much of an outcome. Sure, the Wright Brothers had some successes, but they then had to pay a majority of the money back in legal fees.
It is also speculated that the stress of the suits affected Wilbur Wright. He became ill in April of 1912, and was diagnosed with typhoid fever. His death on May 30, 1912, greatly affected the whole family and business.
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