WINGS #5 - Brittany Robinson

2. Discuss the beginning of supersonic flight research in the United States and whether or not this technology was a priority.

Engineers were surprised to find out that supersonic flight research technically began in America in the Fall of 1918, much earlier than they had assumed. The time period was bringing about a "new age of high-speed aeronautics," and new interest in the matter. At the time, airplanes were moving up to speeds of 125 mph, but parts of their propellers were moving almost 5 times as fast, at about 650 mph. This created an interesting problem, which encouraged scientists why the air crafts themselves could not move at the faster pace.

This launched years of studies of air, and its relationship to air crafts. Frank Caldwell, the researcher at McCook Field, discovered that the air moving around the tips of the propellers was approaching supersonic speed and thus detaching from the area around the main focal points of the plane, called the airfoil. The author of WINGS states that at low speeds, air acts similar to a fluid. At higher speeds, air begins to compress around the aircraft, creating a cone-like shock wave region. Once the fundamentals of air were being established, innovators had to get past the limits of air. I would say that the technology was not a priority in the beginning because they could not have realized its full potential- but once they started testing and developing the engines for such planes almost 20 years later, I think then that it became a priority.

3. What role did the helicopter play in the development of aviation technology?

Crouch makes the point that the helicopter was the "biggest technical marvel that emerged from war." There is no sole inventor of the helicopter since so many different contributors helped in the process, but the first real gyrocopter was created in 1907. The popularity of the newly-invented copter caught on immediately. This new possibility was probably just as sought-after as the airplane, and I think it would be fair to say that more contesters tried their hands at creating them. 

Once the threat of war was approaching, the helicopter became extremely important. The ideas of urban/regional transportation also became available, but they weren't as prevalent. Helicopter use in war included the options to drop troops discreetly or directly into zones, and also to have quick medical access.

5. How did the U.S. view the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and what was the reaction?

The U.S. reaction to the Russian launch of Sputnik was that of a "technological Pearl Harbor." It was the first artificial Earth satellite to be launched, and soon after the U.S. realized how behind they had become in the space race. President Eisenhower made the decision to separate the military motives of space knowledge from scientific objectives, and to move towards the objectives aspect. NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was closed down and developed into NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The organization grew quickly with a focus on aerospace research and civil space programs.