Wings #6 Jonathan Smithers

1. In your opinion, what was the most significant impact aviation had on our world in the first one hundred years of flight?

I am a military guy, so in my mind aviation had the most significant impact on the military and the way we wage war. Aviation has now made it possible to attack any country or population anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. The best example of the how aviation has impacted the world militarily, is the Cold War. People lived in fear for years that there was a plane flying above carrying a nuclear bomb. Military aviation changed the way people wage war. Before aircraft, war was mainly in a 2-dimension plane, on the ground. Now, war is in three dimensions and who ever owns the sky has the ability to change the outcome of the war. Military aviation has been the main push behind many of the advancements in aviation technology. The majority of the aviation industry would not exist without military funding of research and purchasing of aircraft. Military aviation has forever changed to course of history. Aviation has played a crucial role in every war in the past 100 years.

2.   What do you think the future holds for aviation in the twenty first century?

Aviation is continually advancing; it is hard to guess what the future of aviation has in store. I think that we will continue to see planes that fly higher and faster than ever dreamed possible. In the commercial industry, specifically, I think we will see aircraft that are able to fly farther on less fuel. We will see more space bound aircraft, aircraft that are able to spend weeks and months in space; aircraft that are to fly between planets. We will start to see aircraft that are more affordable for the average person. Small UAV’s will take the place of today’s manned fighters and bombers. Aircraft are going to keep getting more technical, today we have drones that are piloted remotely; in the future we will have drones that fly themselves (think Skynet). The future of aviation is bright. No one can know exactly where aviation will be in 100 years, but I do know this, aviation is not going away anytime soon.