Wings Assignment 6

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

               Human flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine has developed from almost nothing to a huge industry over the past one hundred years. With it, many aspects of life have been touched and changed because of flight; including travel, business, and cultural development just to name a few. Flight has also brought with it negative impacts like invasive war techniques and the spreading of diseases. Many individuals have debated over the years whether flying was a good or bad aspect of society. In my opinion, the most significant impact flight has brought with it to the world is the ease of travel. Previous long distance traveling required train or ship, which could take an unattractive amount of time. “Business travel had limited appeal when a train trip to California required two day, and an ocean voyage to Europe almost a week” (pg. 595). Aircrafts have made virtually any travel possible in a reasonable amount of time, meaning anyone with the means to pay for a ticket can go anywhere for vacation, business, or any other task.

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

It’s hard to imagine how much further flight can actually progress when it has come so far already. The exponential amount of growth seen within just the past one hundred years makes it likely however, that flight will continue to grow technologically. I feel that jet transportation airplanes will continue to become more safe and smooth in order to prevent any further disasters that end in the loss of life. Airplanes may even continue to get faster and faster, making long distance trips even shorter in time than they already are. I’m also sure that we will continue to find new uses for airplanes, whether that be drones which do not require the physical attendance of a pilot, or another use that has not yet been imagined. It’s hard for me to understand that just a little over one hundred years ago, flight had just been achieved, so I am definitely excited to see how flight will continue to progress the next one hundred years.