Wings Assignment 2

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

               It can be argued who actually made the first airplane. However, it is also easily notable that the Wright Brothers’ developed the first airplane to achieve significant flight accomplishments. Their success led the brothers to patent their inventions in the hopes of a profitable business. Although the patent may have actually done more than bring in revenues, it may have shaped the progress of aviation and the future design of the airplane.

               The Wright Brothers’ appeared to have what would be a very promising business initially. Ultimately though, lack of outside market, and lack of inside production and advancement, eventually contributed to the dissolution of the Wright Company. After the patent, the Wrights dealt with more legal business matters than airplane development, therefore other inventors began surpassing the Wright flyer. They did not only surpass the Wright flyer, but needed to go around its design to avoid the patent. By patenting their invention, they actually forced new planes thereafter to come up with new models lacking their design. This did, in fact, affect the progress of aviation even if in a way that was unintended.  

6. How did the military use the airplane prior to and during WWI?

               It had not been but a few years after the invention of the airplane and a successful aviation model by the Wright brothers that World War I began. World War I marked the major use of planes in aerial combat, whereas previous battles had only been fought on the ground.

               Prior to the war, the military really had little to no use for the airplane. In America, there really was not much of a market for airplanes at all to civilians because people had not much interest in buying the expensive flying machines. This is in contrast to Europe, where individuals more frequently used the airplane for recreational use, possibly due to the fact that clubs and public flying events were organized to focus on the airplane. Even before the war, prizes had been rewarded to milestones in aviation, which had added to the spark European society felt for the machines. Overall, the main use of airplanes before World War I mainly came from recreation by individuals, rather than the military.

               During World War I, the use of airplanes by the military changed dramatically. This is obviously because of the addition of air combat to the war. In order to keep up, the military within every country needed to arm itself in the air to be successful in the war. Not only did the military have a much greater demand for the airplane during World War I, they also hired engineers and used private businesses to specifically produce military airplanes. Within the four years of the war, billions of dollars had been spent in the field of flying, and thousands of aircrafts had been produced. This marked the biggest jump in airplane production ever seen since its invention only a few years back. Within the short time period of World War I, the military had created a permanent use for the airplane that would leave a major impact the establishment.

8. Did the war have an impact on flight technology? How?

               World War I struck the globe between 1914 and 1918. Air battle had for the first time become one of the main methods used in conflict. The use of air power allowed for many new tactics of attack and defense, just a few including bombing, aerial monitoring, and invasion. During this time, countries produced tens of thousands of aircrafts. They also spent tremendous amounts of money to produce the aircrafts, train pilots, and research flight. During these four years, aircrafts had definitely experienced an overall change, although this change may not have been as big in comparison to the amount of time, energy, and money invested.  

               Many aspects of the airplane had been modified during World War I. “What had been a record-setting performance for a few machines in 1914 was substandard for the great fleets of warplanes in 1918” (Pg. 193). Throughout this time period, many different plane models continued to be produced and tested from various companies; following which only the most favorable models would be selected and reproduced by the mass for war use. In addition, the incorporation of metal material became a standard of production. “Experimental metal aircraft that had been constructed before the war were in combat in 1918” (Page 193). Although these innovations did not necessarily include ‘new’ inventions, the deviation from recreational to wartime plane standards surely changed the planes future path.

Flight technology during the war, in my opinion, did not see any major advancements, as much as fine-tuned improvements of prewar ideas. The biggest invention I see from the war seems to have been equipping airplane with missile launchers, guns, and spy equipment. Based on numerical evidence presented, the war had focused more on quantity than advancement. This choice does make sense when considering planes did not have a long life expectancy in battle, and time constraints could not allow patience in waiting for technological advances.