Airplanes 1940-1949

  1944 Constellation by Lockheed

Origin: In 1944 the first production model of the Lockheed Constellation, " Connie" debuted. Lockheed had been working on a four-engined pressurized airline since 1937; however in 1944 it finally became a reality. According to Anthony Sampson in Empires of the Sky, Lockheed may have undertaken the complicated design, but Hughes Company may have drove the concept, shape, capabilities, and appearance of the Constellation during the design process.

Purpose: This aircraft was made upon the request of major stock holder, Howard Hughes, who wanted a 40-passenger transcontinental airline with a 3,500 mi range. The Constellation was used as a civilian air transport and seeing service Berlin Airlift. It was also used as the presidential aircraft for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Value: This aircraft was significant for its time because it was capable of flying 57 passengers non-stop coast-to-coast above the weather in eight and a half hours. It was the first plane to do such things, with more than just 20 passengers. It served as the presidential aircraft, showing other people that it was safe and useful. It was also so large, that it was used for transferring resources during the war and later on in the Berlin Airlift.

Limitations: Over time, the Constellation’s piston engines started to die out and could not do over-see flights. After another couple years, the piston engines were so bad that they could barely do domestic flights. After many crashes and investigations, the Lockheed Constellation was retired in 1978.


Sources:
1. http://www.twaflightattendants.com/liftoffhtml/vintageplanes.html
2. http://jack-frye.blogspot.com/2013/05/historic-constellation-flight-april-17.html

Airplanes 1930-1939

Colonial Airlines Douglas DC-3 (1935)

Origin: The Douglas DC-3 was a one of kind airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1935. The aircraft was a aircraft based on the DC-2, built upon the ideas introduced by the Boeing 27 and United Airlines company. The DC-3 was a direct result of a telephone call from American Airlines CEO R. Smith to Donald Douglas, to try and persuade him to design a sleeper aircraft.


Purpose: The purpose of the DC-3 was to make an aircraft based upon the DC-2 to replace American’s Curtiss Condor II biplanes.  A team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond took nearly two years to make this aircraft. However, what they made was far better than what they expected or hoped for. After the introduction of it, the DC-3 was now in the production line and was delivered to Americans. Fortune magazine reporter wrote:

• “Halfway along the runway, she left the ground so smoothly that none of the first fliers in the cabin realized what had happened until they saw the whole field rushing away behind them and the factory lights winking through the Jersey murk ahead.”

Value: The new aircraft could now make eastbound transcontinental flights in 15 hours, when it used to take 25 hours. The new plane could stay in the air for longer, go faster (thanks to the engines), was soundproof, and the amenities inside of it were better than ever. Not only that, but the cost for traveling was lower than ever, with the cost per mile decreasing from 5.7 cents to .05 cents. By the 1940s’, the DC-3 had convinced Americans to take to skies in record numbers, with more than two million American going on airplanes.

Limitations: Even though one of the most successful and influential aircraft of its time, the DC-3 was soon surpassed by other aircrafts in the future. As with most aircrafts, it did have some crashes but it was not a major factor in it being less used. As new technological advances come about, the old is usually less a part of the future.


Sources:

1. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-dc-3-revolutionized-air-travel-5444300/?no-ist

Airplanes 1920-1929

Lawon L2 (1920) by Alfred Lawson

Origin: The Lawson L-2 was a 1920s American biplane airliner, designed and built by the Lawson Air Line Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The designer, Alfred Lawson, named the aircraft after himself. The aircraft Alfred Lawson developed, was influenced by the Wright Model, which was the norm at the time.

Diagram of the Lawson Aerial Transport Type L2

Purpose: The Lawson Air Line Company designed and built a series of large biplane airliners for use on its planned airline routes. The Lawson L-2 was built to demonstrate that a large commercial passenger plane could be built. The L-2 was a first of its kind, and was capable of carrying 26 passengers piloted by two different controls.

Value: This was significant for the time period, because for the first time people now had a efficient and faster way to travel all over the world. It was also the first time, that normal people had the opportunity to sit on a airplane. Seeing that this was the first passenger airline, it is the best expression of the time period compared to others.

Limitations: Even though this was a huge advance in the right direction, there was still some limitations. These airliners did not offer routes to many cities. This was because the fuel intake was low and the aircraft could not go long distances. Many times the excessive weight of the aircraft also led to this aircraft crashing many times, and eventually being shutdown.



Sources:
1. http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Commercial_Aviation/1920s/Tran1G1.htm
2. http://www.century-of-flight.net/new%20site/commercial/Commercial%20Aviation.htm

Airplanes 1910-1919

Wright Model B (1911-1914) by the Wright Brothers

Wright Model B being assembled in the Wright Company factory

Origin: the Model B was the Wright brothers' most successful aircraft. It was produced from late 1910 to 1914. The Wright Company (in Ohio) was shipping four Model Bs a month out the factory door. It had major influences from the Wright Brothers’ first aircrafts, seeing as though it was there company. The Model B used the same control system, engine, propellers, air foil, and wing configuration as what their previous aircraft hd.

Purpose: The Model B was invented and produced mainly for the government to use. In 1917, when USA joined WWI, these airplanes was supposed to give  them an advantage. In the beginning of the war, the aircrafts were used as basic surveillance; however by the end, they were used to drop bombs. Overall, the Model B was stronger, easier to control, easier to launch, and slightly faster than earlier Wright aircrafts.

Value: The Wrights had hoped the new design would re-establish their technological leadership in aeronautics. Using these Model Bs, the government was able to use it as freight, attach weaponry to it, use it for people to parachute of it, and even transport the president.:

Limitations: The rear elevator made the aircraft more controllable in pitch, but it also made it tail-heavy and prone to stall. The numerous wires required to brace the outriggers added drag. Despite the numbers produced and the popularity of the aircraft, only one Wright Model B has survived intact. This shows how at the time they were amazing technological advanced, they did not last long.


Sources:
1. http://www.wright-b-flyer.org/
2. http://learn.fi.edu/wright/1911/

Airplanes 1900-1909

The Kitty Hawk Flyer by The Wright Brothers (1903)

Origin: The Wright Brothers built their gliders and tested them at Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903. Wilbur and Orville did not attempt to invent their flying machine without research and studying. They studied earlier experiments and flying attempts by men such as Otto Lilienthal, Octave Chanute, and Samuel Langley. Much of their influence came from their “glider kite” which was the beginning for the Wright Brothers. They also obtained information from the Smithsonian Institute on flight.

The Kitty Hawk Flyer Blueprint

Purpose: The Wright brothers invented the air plane as they wanted to come up with a controlled, powered and sustained flyer as opposed to other flying machines which mainly glided in the air. They wanted to create a man man machine that could “fly” in the sky. Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright launched their machine on December 17, 1903 and it actually flew for 37 metres within a period of 12 seconds. Over the next few years they worked on other sophisticated planes and founded the Wright Company

Value: On December 17, 1903 Orville Wright flew the Kitty Hawk Flyer for twelve seconds in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, making aviation history. Orville wrote:

"This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."

The Wrights had not only created a airplane; but they had also created a system to maintain flight that would shrink the size of Earth due to the fast transportation over-seas. This was the beginning of something very big and even though people didn't know it at the time, it would not end there.

Limitations:  The brothers made their first four flights in 1903 on the Wright Flyer; but all of them were their last. Since the airplane was weak and light, strong gusts of air flipped it over several times, and made considerable damage to it. Another limiting factor was that the plane could not keep flight for long periods of times. People around that time were impressed; however they did not see it as hope for being able to travel faster.

Sources:
1. http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airplanes/Flyer_I.htm
2. http://history1900s.about.com/od/firstflight/a/Wright-Brothers.htm