W E N
Book of
OVER
200
THE E VOLUTION OF
A VIATION
YE ARS OF HISTORY
o o k
TH E EV O LU TIO N O F VI TIO N M ann ed he avier-than -air flight w as un d o ub ted ly on e o f the m o st im po rtant achieve m en ts o f the 2 0 th cen tury,playing a crucialro le in shaping the m o de rn w o rld that w e kn o w to d ay.A s to o ls fo r travel,aircraft h ave b ro u gh t p eo p le to gethe r.A s to o ls o f w ar,the y have allto o freq ue ntly to rn p eo ple ap art.T he sto ry o f flight is a glo b alo ne .From K itty H aw k,N o rth C arolina ,the site o f the first fligh ts by the W right b rothe rs,thro ugh to m o d ern d ay A fghan istan and Iraq w he re aircraft have b ee n at the fo refron t o f co nfl ict,ou r jo urn ey takes us across eve ry con tine nt of the w o rld,into the skies abo ve d eserts,ocean s and be yon d, in tim es of pe ace and w ar.A s m uch ab o ut peo ple as it is ab o u t tec h n o lo gy,this is a sto ry o f p assenge rs an d p ilo ts, en trepren eu rs and adve nturers,invo lving b o th h igh d ram a and terrible h um an traged y.
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THE
EV OLU TI ON
OF AVI ATI ON
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C O N TEN TS TH E O R IG IN S O F FLI G H T
T a k in g F lig h t ...............................................8 T h e W r ig h t B r o th e r s .........................1 4 L o u is B le ri o t: F irst E n gl ish C h a n n e l F lig h t ....................................... 2 0
26
T h e B e lle E p o q u e ................................2 6
TH E B IR TH OF ER I L W RF RE
42
T h e A ero p lan e G o e s to W ar .......32 A ir F ig h tin g ..............................................3 6 B o m b e rs a n d B o m b in g . ....................4 2 In d u st ry A ircraf t a n d A ir F o r c e s ....................................... 4 6
VI TIO N T K ES OFF
T h e F irs t T ra n sa tla n tic F lig h ts. .......5 0 A vi at io n in t h e 19 2 0 sand
193 0 s ..56
N ew Y o rkt o P ari sN o n st o p. ...... 6 4 A ir sh ip s a n d F ly in g B o a ts . ................7 0 T h e F irs t M o d e rn A irl in e rs . ...........7 4
6
74
T heA ppr oac ha ndO ut br ea k of t he Sec ond W or ld W a r 80 T h e B att le o f B ri t ai n and T he B lit z
84
The Bom
84
be r W a r
90
W o r ki ng w it h t he A r m ies T he A ir W ar at Sea
94 100
118 148 TH FUTUR O F FLI G H T
130
In d u st ryan d N ew Technol ogi es
106
A ir T rave l in t h e Pos t W ar W orl d
11 2
C ol d W ar C o nf r o nt at io n
1 18
A ir Po w eri nK o r ea and V iet nam
124
T he Spac e R ac e
130
T he Jet A ge
136
M od er n A ir Pow
er
14 2
A vi at io n Fo r A ll?
14 8
A vi at io n a n d t h e M oder n W or ld
1 54
7
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
T A K IN G F L IG H T Bu t it w as w ith b allo o n s th at th e fi rst succ essfulhum an flights w ere m ade.O n 21 N ove m be r 1783,P ilâtre de R ozier and the M arquis d’A rland es m ade the first free fl ight, in a h o t air ballo o n created b y the M o ntgolfie r Brothe rs.T hey fl ew fro m Paris fo r eight kilo m etres (five m iles) at a h eigh t o f 9 0 0 m etres (3,0 00 feet).W o rk on hydrogen -filled b allo o n s had b ee n tak ing p lace in p arallel w ith the M o ntgolfier’s exp erim en ts,and o n 1 D ecem ber 1783,J acqu es C har les and a com pan io n lifted o ff fro m Paris fo r the first m ann ed ascen t in a hyd rogen -filled b allo o n. T h e fi rst b allo o n cro ssin g o f the E ng lish C hannelw as m ade o nly tw o years later b y Jean -Pierre Blanch ard an d Jo hn Jeff ries. Ballo o ning b ecam e a p o p ular sp o rt bu t practicaluses w ere also fo un d fo r ballo o ns in n ine tee n th -cen tury w arfare,e ithe r to carry m essages or as ob servatio n platfo rm s. Ballo o ns,how ever,have the d raw back of being at the m ercy of the w inds.Pow ered an d co n tro lled airship s do n o t h ave th is
A fourteenth-century manuscript showing a windsock kite carrying a bomb. Kites were introduced into Europe from China in the thirteenth century. A B O V E R IG H T:
hang glider. Lilienthal controlled his gliders by the dangerous practise of shifting the position of his body to maintain stability. R IG H T:
O P P O S ITE : Pilâtre
de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes
9
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
di sa d vantage. In 185 2, French m an H en ri G i ard ’s ai rshi p u sed a sm al lst ea m e n gi n e t o dri veap r o pe llerm o un t ed un de ra ci gar- shap ed b al lo o n t o fl yad ist an ceo f 27 ki lo m etres( 17 m iles) . En gl is hm anG eo rgeC ayl eyw as t he fi rs t t o m ake real t h e o reti cal an d p racti cal p ro gress tow ard s he av ie r- tha n -ai r fl igh t. In h is ex p e ri m en t s, h ei nv esti gated t h el if t an d d rag creat ed b y di e ren t w ings at vari o us s p ee d s and angl es. C ayl eyap pl ied w hathe had lea rntt o aseri eso f gl id e rm o d el s. T h isw o rk cu lm in at e d in h is18 53 gl id eri n w h ich hi s coachm r es( 1, re.50 0 fee t) across anm B aderomafl pightt o nDof450mal ei nY eto rkshi C ayl ey ’s w o rk i n fl u e n ced ae ri al p io n e ers f o r t he ne x t 50 years. So m eo f t hee ar lypi o ne ers w ho fo llow ed o nf rom C ayl eyt ri ed t o b ui ld po w ered fl yi ng m achi ne s ;o t he rs had m o res uccess w it h
T h e o n t g o l fi r ro t h e rs In 178 2 J o seph -M ichae l(174 0 –1810 ) and É t ien ne (1745 –179 9) M on t gol fi erexp eri m entedw it h ho t-ai r- fi lled si lkb agsw hi ch rose up b eca use the he ateda iri nthe b agsw asl igh t erthan thee x t ern al ai r. H o w ev e r, the b ro the rs di d n o t rea lize thi s, b el iev ing thatgascreated by b urn ing m ateri al cau sed theb agst o ri se. N eve rthel ess, inJ un e 178 3, thei rfi rst p ub licd em o nstrat io no f aho t ai r ba llo o n , co nsi sti ng o f an 11-m etre (3 8 -f ee t) pa p er-l ine d l ine n b ag, w as a success. In Se ptem b er o f t h at year, at a ro yal d em o n strat io n at V ersa illes, abal loo nw asfl ow nw it hashee p, aroo st erand a d u ck as i ts p assen ge rs. A ll retu rne d safel y t o t hegrou nd .T hefir st m anne dfl ight w asm adei n N ovem ber1 783.
a k in g li g h t LEFT:
B ELO W :
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
G eo rge C ayl ey 1773– 18 57)
S i r e
o rge
to
s th
en
gi ne
ay e ath
er
w o rked
nd
j e cts
p i o ne
eri
fi st
v i atio
e m
ro
rk
a ai l p l an v e r ti ca t w
es
ef r e
arl
i am
ngi
ne
e f em
p e r n d e rstan
o no
m
d
n ” . e a s n
em
n vi ati
b er o n ev
d i n g f
e n t.e eri
p l an
d o r i s el o p i n g h e h eri
e i t h o
o n o o d e rn
e
i ng ri zo
s o w ards n tal
tab
l t h e e a r. i s
ng
n ci p l e s
l e y ’ s 1 0 4 o d e l l i d e r
i l ar n o n fi u rati
w i th
eti
b e r f
ang
u t s est n g o
o f g h t. ay
fi s
s o m
n i de
p ro
si m
l ey e r f
he i l i ze
a n -a r
a s
i rc a
ft
ron
t nd
rs
n d y i n g l
i d e r
n 1 5 3 .
O PPO SITE : SirG
eo rge C ayley’s no tes an d sketches o f the glide r exper im ents he m ade i n the sum m ero f 1849.
LEFT: SirG
gl i d e rs. n 19
0 re
A d er
h at
fl w
l ai m
ed
n .t
a n a ge
n ch
4 nngl
p o w e re N
ei t he
an
o w er-
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lo p m
P i e rp
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m
en en
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xp
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i ng
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im
ested
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can
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am
ft f h e y ctu o o n cen
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ue
o w h ey
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ed
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O
to
e ste
20 0 0 gh m
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a s e
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i ft e d ri
gl e y u l l y o n si d e red
i g h t o n tro
u nl i ke
ax ai l s
t red
gl i d i n g. h
s (1 5 e e t t
e n
i m de
t he
e n t d o l e ad
s (e i g h t n c h e s .h
d i ram
d i p l an r ax
e tre
e m
- o w er
d 0 e tre
h e i g h tf 20 e n ti m 19
n gi n e e r l i s t e am
e tre
c r a sh
C han an
o n g h e se
as
h e e rm
an
o m
e l o p e d i s i n g k i l l s
d e ri e s f 1 l i d e rs n o re ts
e f h i ch
s (1 0 0 0 e e t n
e re
ti l i s e
ve a th
h a n
r 3 0 0 u
ri n g
a n d i n g n 1 9 6 .
L i l i e n tha en
m
al h o ev
gi n e
l n fl e n ce
u t e h d e n to
b e h e
d h e o rk
r n d l i d i n g x p e ri m o o
ul d n urn
r o h e ri gh
ts h
gl i d i n g o h e st
ri gh
o u c es f o n tro
f m
en
t er
eco t ro
m the
e ri en rs. ta
u l l y l l e d o
e ri ca
n
ctave
w e re
o ve
d ro
d s o m
d g h t.
eo rge C ayley “the fa ther of a viatio n”
Taking light
13
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t//1783 -1913
T H E W R IG H T B R O TH E R S i l b u r n d rv
i l l e ri
g h t a d e e n n t e res
t e d n h e rob
l e m s s
o ci a t e d i t h e
ch
a n i ca
l
T hey i nitial ly fo cused o n “con trol”,surmisi ng gl iders and chosen K itty H aw k,N o rth thatsustai ned flightw o uld be achi eved if
C arolina,as a su itable lo cati o n fo r tri al s.The
adj ustm ents could b e continual ly m ade
gl id er w as a success and the al l-im p o rtant
to the bal ance of a craft in o rder t o keep
w ing w arping contr o lsystem w o rked w ell.
it stable.To achi eve this goal,W ilb ur and
B ut it did no t generat e as m uch l ift as they
O rvi lle devel o ped the d i ea of “w ing w arpi ng”; had ho p ed.Further tri al s o n a new gl id er, a process h tatinvo lved tw isting the flyi ng
w ith redevel o ped w ings bas ed o n the
surface to alter the flow o f ai r and thus change w o rk ofearl ier avi ato rs,w ere even m o re the direct io n o f the m achi ne. By Septem ber 190 0,the W rights had
disappointi ng.The brothers b egan to suspect thatthe cal cul atio ns of earl ier p io neers were
perfected he t first o f their exp eri m ental
cruci al ly d efecti ve. RI G H T:
The Wright Brothers W ilbu r (1867–1912)and O rvi lle (1871–1948)
In ap proach they w ere both m eti culou s and syst em atic.
w ere the sons ofM ilton and Susan W ri ght.
T he y m atched the ir practi calengine eri ng ski lls w ith
N eithe r att en d ed universi ty,instead ru nn ing
the ability t o sol ve com plex the o reti caland sci en tific
severalbu si ne sses,i ncl ud ing the W ri ght C ycl e
problem s.The brothers com bined this bo ok ish
C o .T he profits from this successf ulenterpri se
intel ligence w ith realp assi o n for the ir w o rk and the
calcourage nee de d to test-fly their desi gns. w ere plo ughed into thei r avi atio n e xp eri m en ts. coo lphysi
LEFT: O rvi
l la e
nd
W i l b Wur
ri gh
ti n
cl fose
r o m chi
l dh
o
d t he
y oft
en
t of hei r w an ork ch d al l eng o t h er’ po s i n t o f vi ew . Th i ults he l pe them d t su o c es f ul t he i r de a as nd t t urn he m i nt prac t i ca l w o rki nmg ac hi
ed ea ch i m a t ely l dev y l op o ne s.
15
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
BOVE
he 1 9 0 3 W
ri gh t Fl yer T
hi s ai rcr aft m ad e t he w
BOVE
LEFT
o r ld’s
The W right rothers W
i l b ur
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R IG H T: A
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o n trasti ted
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e o b se
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te
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a
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b e r 10
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n gi n e , n d o n e f h e x i sti
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1834–1906)
l ati
, h e y o o n e gan
n c e s f
i n n n u m an
si g n s. n 1 0 2, h e y e ste
i n g ystem r i
i r
cl e n d h e n
d x t rem
v e r ti c a l s o h e e w arp
eri
i l t si n g h e a ta
ced
he
i n d -u n n e l , h e
ts h at h ey
i n g e
a l i d e r u
ced
at el y al cu
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uce
m
en
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d h o se
n g p e ci al l y-u
m
m
i ch
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B y b y si
l l e o m
ts , h
f 25 9 . p e cial
hat any u l d o o n
s, u t h e o n o u r f
a s h e i rs.
as h i s
n d nted
as b e r 1 0 3
ail
n g p p ro
u re
.
ach
.
teleg ram from O rville W righ tto his father Bishop M ilto n
17
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
BO VE N D P O SI TE l et ter dat ed2 8D ecem ber190 3f r om W ilbu r W ri gh t to fel lo w avi ati o n pione er O ct ave C ha nu te de scr ibing the W r igh t brothers ’achi evem en tsea rl iert ha t m o nt h
The W right rothers
19
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
L O U IS B LÉ R IO T: F IR S T EN G L IS H C H A N N E L F L IG H T R
e p o rts
f h e ri
a v i a tors
a rti
cu
g h t s’
ch
l a rl y n ra
i e ve
m e n ts e
n ce
e
re
re rea
ti r e
d n to
t e d i t h ce
c ti o n y h
p t i ci sm
n u rop
a t h e y e a rn
e u t i o n e e r
t f h e ro
the
rs ’
A year at l er,sho rtflightsw ere m ade by Louis To protecttheir desi gns t he W ri ghtshad B léri o t and R o b ertE snaul t-Pelteri e in tract o rceased flyi ng i n 1905,but pushed b y the (pow ered in front) b ip lanes.Realsuccess
succe ss o f their ri val s and w ith deal s secured
cam e in 1908 w ith flightsm ade in ai rcraf t
to sel ltheir m achi nes,t hey deci d ed to take to
created by G abri elVo isin and his younger
the ai r agai n.W ilbur W ri ghtw ent to France
brother C harl es.These w ere biplanes w ith w here,on 8 A ugust1908,he dem onstrated fo rw ard elevato rs and b o x kite-like tai ls butthe Flyer atH unaudiers ra cetrack to an unlike the W ri ghts’Fl yers,t hey l acked any
asto nished cro w d.H is co m plete control
m eans oflateralcontrol .D espi te thi s,H enri over the ai rcraft prom pted the French Farm an w o n the G rand Pri x d’ A vi atio n by
new sp aper Le Fi garo t o repo rt,“There i s
com p leti ng the first1-ki lo m etre (three-fift hsno dou bt W ilbur and O rville W righthave o f-a-m ile-) ci rcul ar fli ght in Europ e o n 13
w elland trul y flow n … ”.W ilbur further
January 1908 in a m o dified V o isin.
d em o nstr ated th e p ract icability of th e
Lo u i s B l é ri o t 17 213 ) Lo uis Bléri ot w as an enginee r and bu si nessm an w ho m ade his m on ey i n m otor car lights.H e be gan to ex pe ri m ent w ith flyi ng m achi nes i n 1900, de velo ping his desi gns w ith G abri elV o isi n from 1903 to 1905 and sol o from
1906.H is firstsucc ess
cam e in 1907 w ith the B léri ot V IIm on op lane that he flew for 500 m etres (1,650 feet).H e m oved o n to the B léri ot X Iin w hich he m ade the w orld’s first flight over a l arge body of w ater (50 kilo m etres/31 m iles) w hen he cross ed the E nglish C hannelin 37 m inu tes on 25 July 1909.The fl ight created a huge dem and for the B léri ot X Iand hi s com pany w as soon the w o rl d's largestai rcraft m anufacturer. In 1914,Bl éri ot becam e presi den to fthe SPAD ABOV
E:
O PPO SI TE :
com pany and turned it into one o fFrance’ s leading m anufacturers of com bat aircraft.B léri o tA eronautique sw itched to m aki ng com m ercial aircraft after the Fi rstW o rl d W ar.
21
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
Bl ériotXImonopl ane T he Blériot X Iw as des igned by R aym on d Saulnier w ith inpu tfrom Lou is Blério t.W ith its fron t-m o un ted en gine ,tri-cycle u nd ercarriage,fro nt-m o un ted w ings an d rear-m o un ted tailplane ,elevators and rud de r,it established the basic aircraft shape stillfam iliar to us tod ay.Th e aircraft w as po w ered by a 2 5-ho rsep ow er three- cylind er A nzanien gine .Later version s had a 50-hor sepow er G nom e rot ary engine.A w eaknes s of earl y m ono planes w as the stress placed o n the ex ternally braced w ing.T his led to the m be ing rep laced by biplanes.H ow ever som e Blériot m on op lanes w ere stillflying at the starto f the FirstW orld W ar.
BOVE
Eng lishC
n il lustr ati o n c o m m em o rat ing B léri o t’s succe ssf ul cr o ssi ng o f the ha nne lon 25 Jul y19 0 9 H el pe db yt he pu bl ici tys urr ou nd ing the
be fo r e t he F irs t W orl d W ar and
the foun
da tio n o f its com
m erci al succe
ss
L o u i sl W rights’aircraftw ith a seri es offlights ending in January 1909,spending a tota lofover 26 hours in the air,during w hich ti m e he saf ely carried som e 60 passengers.A m ong those w ho w itnessed these flightsw as Louis Blério t. H e real ized thata new era ni m echani cal flighthad com m enced.Blériot,along w ith other French avi ation pioneers,was quick to incorporate w ing w arping;a key partof the W rights’m eans ofcontrol,into his latest aircraft ,the Blério tX I. Im pressed by the public’s enthusiasm for the W rights and keen to prom ote aviation as w ellas his new spaper sales,Lord N orthcli e, BE L O W
é ri o t i rst
n g l i sh
h
a n n el
li g h t
ow ner ofthe British Daily M ail,o ered a “£1,000 prize for the firstflightin a heavi erthan-air machine across the C hannel”.I n July 1909,the press converged on the French coastnear Calais,from w here on a clear day, the w hite cli s ofD over can be seen across the English C hannel.Attention focused on tw o contenders ofr the prize,Louis Blério t in his BlériotX Iand HubertLatham .Latham m ade the firstattem ptin his Antoinette IV m onoplane on 19 July.Unfortunately,i ts engine failed and Latham had to be rescued from the C hannelby a Fr ench ship.After a perio d ofbad weather,Blério t,w ho w as
Louis B léri ot an d h is w ife A licia p ose for the
pressin fro ntof B léri o t’s aircraf tnea rD over C astle,
23
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
Louis B lériot F irstE nglish C hannelFlight
suff ering from a bu rnt foo t from a previo us
BO
VE
Louis B léri ot
acknow ledg es the applause of crow ds in London o n 26 Jul y 190 9 w hile on h isw ay to m eet
flight,co urageo usly d ecide d to m ake his attem pt early in the m o rning o f 2 5 July.H e Lord N o rt hcliffe to acceptthe so o n o verto o k a French d estroyer escort and after ten m inu tes realized tha t as he che cked the C ha nnel.B lériot also recei ved a her o’s w elcom e his directio n ,he co uld no t see the ship,F ranceon his return to Paris a few o r En glan d .P ressing o n, Blério t glim p sed the da yslater. E nglish co ast,he ad ed fo r it and ,cau gh t b y a O PO SI TE Frontcover gust o f w ind ,m ade a crash land ing in a fie ld ofnew spaperLe M atin celeb rati ng B léri ot' s C ha nn el ab o ve the cliff s at D o ve r.U n in ju red ,B lé rio t’s place in h isto ry w as assured.H e h ad m ade theThe head line reads“A great w o rld ’s first fligh t o ver a large b o d y o f w ater,the C han nelin a n a erop lane”. tusesthe French term for som e 3 6 .5 kilo m etres (23 .5 m iles),w hich h e I cro sse d in a little o ve r 37 m in u tes.B u t fo r m ea ning “sleeve”. the British this acco m p lishm en t bro ug ht w ith RI G H T Post card produced it the realizatio n tha t the C ha nn eln o lo nge r “I'm go ing to Lond on by ai rso gave the m the sam e security that the y had Iw o n'tb e sea -sick”. p revio usly e njo yed .
25
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
T H E B E LLE EPOQUE R eim s set the patt ern f o r the m any ai r
w hich the French al so do m inated reco rd and
m eetings thatfo llo w ed acrossEurope and
distance flyi ng.Ro land G arro s m ade the first
the U nited States.Und o ub tedly crashes
no n-sto p flightacro ss the M editerranean
w ere partof the attractio n of these
from France to Tunisia,M arcelPrévostset
spectacl es;32 pilo ts,out o f few er than 60 0
a new speed record o f 204 kilom etres per
w o rl dw ide,w ere ki lled in 1910.Crow ds
ho ur ( 126. 7 m iles per ho ur)and Edm o nd
al so cam e to exp ectm ore com plex and dangerous flyi ng.Fren ch pilo t A d o lp he
Perreyon ,Bléri o t’s chief testp ilo t,r eached an altitud e of 6 , 120 m etres ( 20,079 feet).
Pégoud w as the first to incl ude the “l oop
In the U nited States,devel op m ent m oved
th e lo o p” stunt in his displ ay i n 1913,a year ata i n slow er pace.The W ri ghtB rothers’
Glenn Curtiss (1878–1930) G len C urtiss w as a m otorcyc le m anufacturer (he seta w orld m otorcyc le speed reco rd of 219 ki lo m etres per hour [ 136 m iles per ho ur]i n 1907) w ho m oved into avi ation after w orki ng w ith A lexande r G raham B ell’s A eri al Ex pe ri m en t A sso ci atio n.In 1908 thei r “Jun e B ug” w on the Sci en tific A m eri can Trophy for the fi rstp ub lic fli ght in the U S of m ore than o ne ki lo m etre (0.6 m iles) .A C urti ss M o de l D m ade the firs ttake-off from a ship in 1910. B y 1914,C urti ss w as the biggestaircraft
Se cta o rs st an o d ch n air t s g o et b a et vier ew o f t a he erop l an du es ri ng t Grhe an de Sm d’Aavine ati o d n l e a C ha m pa gn e nea r Ri m Fs r an i ce A n ug ust 1 0 .evTnh t w as
1 10L at er kno w A as n vr o t co he m pa w ny ent on t b o eco m a e
t he precu rs o rm of an avi y t h e Fi rst W o rl d W a r .
ABOVE :
ati on m e ti
ng hel s
i d t n he yea
rs be f ore
O P P O S ITE:
m anufacturer n i the U nited States.The com pany produced 10,00 0 aircraft du ri ng the FirstW orld W ar,includ ing the fam o us J N -4 traine r and flying bo ats.
27
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
ai rc D m
aft ayt ad
o m
p an
p l an
es e
e nd
ce
y uro
p ea
n o m
er
n ’ s h o r t ro
t s o o n ea
i n f ri n ge
am m
se
w e n t n m
i cen tai
h e y ec
the
e t p n 1 9 t i r ero
ri gh
as
as
he
i n cl u d i n g ri W
y
o n hi o nd
sed
th
e rs. u
o e
e n tan
arke
l cti m
o st
n
ti l 11 4. u r ti s a s u c c e s fu an
ufact
ure
r h
rti
f
h e ase e
e n u
e rs o n s o r
n ts. o re
i n st l
es
as
o t o rcy l
ga
p ani
t h e
t e ad
gl e d n e ga
e n ts f h e i r ate
re
o urn
s h ed
i ch
l
o
a v i a ti o n n 1 7 n d h o y 11 4 a s h e l e ad
i n g i rc
E x h au
aft
an
u f ac
st e d y h e i t i gati
tur
e r n h e S .
o n
i l b u r
ri gh
t
d i e d f y p h o i d e v e r n 11 2 n d r v i l l e o l d h i s n te
re
T h e re ty
st n h e as
p e s ro
w as
ad
m
tea
ri g h t o d y x p an
1 9 .h
e y
s
ch
i e ve
p an
e st g h t ro
e n ri ab
T h e y d r a v i a n a rc C u rti
m
d n o the
re h 11
y n 11.
si o n f i rc a n i s e ap
m
ft
a te l an
r
e
.n 11 2 l e n
r st
y e
si gn
i n g BO
VE
Pilo tH arrietQ uim by prepa res to take o ff.In 19 11
BE L O W
The elle E poque
o i s i n ro th e r s G ab ri el V o isi n ( 18 8 0 –19 7 3) t rai ne d as an in d u stri al d esi gn er. In 19 0 0 he w ashi reda sadesi gne rf o r the U ni versal E xp o si ti o n in Pa ri s w her ehem et C lém ent A der ,w ho spa rke d o h is in terest i n avi ati o n . H est art ed exp eri m enti ngw it ha gl ide r i n 19 03 –19 04 and in 19 05 b eg an w o rki ng w ith Lo ui s B léri o t. T he irpartnershi pe nd ed inl at e19 06 and G abri el and hi sbrotherC harl es (18 82 –19 12), t he n e st ab lishe d L es Frè res V o isi n , o ne o f the w o rl d ’s fi rst ae ro p lan e facto ri es,atB illan co ur t, Pari s. T he ir190 7 V o isi n w asused b y m an y l ea d in g avi ators, in cl u d in g H enri Far m an. T hecom panyw ent o ntop rod uceo ver10, 0 00 ai rcr af t by1918.
29
T h e O rigin s of F ligh t //1783 -1913
The elle E poque
fl yin g b o at,an aircraft w ith a bo at-like h u ll. T he in tern atio na lly tense years b efo re In G erm any,aviatio n w as do m inated by the 1914 saw th e m ilitary take an in creasin g
BO
VE
The So pw ith Ta bloid in w hich B riton H arol d Pixton w on
the Schneide rTrophy,a speed raceor f seaplan es,i n A pri l1914
kilom etres per ho ur(86.6 m iles per hou r).
creatio ns of C o un t Ferdinand von Z ep pe lin. interest in the aerop lane .T he Fren ch fo rm ed H is airship s w ere large,stee rable,p o w ere d , the A éro nau tiq ue M ilitaire in 19 10 and the O PO SI TE ligh ter-th an -air,craf t con sistin g o f a rigid Im perialG erm an A rm y A ir Service w as fram ew o rk con taining gas b ags filled w ith fo rm ed in the sam e ye ar.T he R ussian A rm y hyd roge n to p rovid e lift. A ir Se rvice w as estab lished in 1 912 as w as By 1914 and the start o f the First W o rld th e B ritish R o yalFlyin g C o rp s (R FC ).In itially, W ar,Z ep p elins had carried 37,0 0 0 p assen gersthe R FC had a m ilitary and a navalw ing b ut alof t.O ne flight,m o re than any o ther, the separate R oyalN avalA ir Service (R N A S) de m o nstrated the p o ten tialof the aircraft. w as for m ed in 19 14 .The R FC an d the R N A S O n 30 Jun e 1914 ,pilo t and d esigne r Igo r sub sequ en tly jo ine d to gethe r in 1918 to fo rm Sikorsky and t hree cr ew to o k off from St the R o yalA ir Fo rce (R A F).A s the w o rld slid P e te rsbu rg in h is large fo u r-e n gin e d Il’ya to w ards w ar,the pio ne er aircraft com pan ies M urom ets for a successful2 ,60 0 -kilo m etre- such as V o isin, Farm an ,Blério t,Bre gue t an d (1,6 0 0 -m ile -) fligh t to K iev a n d b ack . N ieu po rt in France,A lbatro s,Ru m pler,A viatik Siko rsky’s de sign w as adap ted as a lo ng-rangeand Fokker i n G er m any and A vro,H andley bo m ber during the First W orld W ar,as w ere P age S o pw ith a nd Bristo lin B ritain, b egan to Z e p p e lin ’s airship s. ex pan d and sw itch to large scale pro du ctio n.
31
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
T H E A ER O PLA N E GO E S T O W A R M w e re
i l i ta ry
v i a ti o n a
s ta rt f h
a t e
s n ts n fa n c y h
e n h e u ro
o w n o w s h e i rs
t o
h a d o i n e d h e a n d n d h e e a s l a ce a u n ch
e d n o t h i l i tary
n d i v i l i a n a rg
n h
p e a n o w e rs e a r.ow i ch
n t o a
r n u g u s t11 4 t h e
e v e r y h e n d f h e a
e n o u g h t n d i e d n d ro
r n 11 h e i r m h
i ch
t a ck
s
e ts.
A t t he st art o f t he w ar t he m ai n com batant na t io ns–B ri t ai n France an dR ussi ao nthe one s ideand G er m any andA us t r o-H ungar y o nt heo t he r–coul dm ust erf ew ert han 5 0 0 serv ice ab le ai rcraft fo r m ilitary o r naval p urp o s es. T he m ilit aryhad o ne m ai n u se f o r t h ese si m p le in it ial ly un arm ed an d o f t en un rel iabl e bi pl ane sand m o no pl ane s– reco nn ai ss ance ;fi nd ingo u t w hatt he o t he r si d ew asdo ing. Inthi s aero p lan esw ere seen asanad jun ctt o t h ecaval ry t h earm y’ s tr ad it io n al sco u t in g f o rce b u t as t h e co n fl ict d evel o pe dtheys o o ncam et orep lacei t and
A B O V E:
rld
R y a l i rc ra ft F c t o ry B E2 T h e B E2 w as designed bef o re th e w ar in 19 12 at t he Ro yalAir cr aft Facto r y byG eo ffre y de H avilland .It first flew in 1 912, and a t th e tim e it o ut- perf o rm ed its com petito rs,b ut by19 14 it w as re co gni zed th at t his un ar m ed a nd slo w aircraf t nee ded up gr adin g.T h e im pro ved B E2 c w as v er y st able an d th is m ade t h e aircraf t go o d fo r aer ial r e co nnaissanc e w o r k, but its sl o w speed a nd ineffectiv e arm am ent m ade it a n easy targe t fo r e nem y fighte rs.I nd ustry w as ge are d u p to pro du ce th e B E2 c in large nu m bers so it s t aye d in p r o ducti o n far lo nge r t h an it sh o uld hav e .
R IG H T:
33
T h e Ae rop lan e G oes to W ar
G e o e y e a v i l l a n d (1 8 21 6 5 G eo rey de Havilland w as one ofaviation’s great design and m anufact uring pioneers.He joined w hat w as mtooved becom raftFact ory in 1910 and toethteheA iRoyalAi rcraftM rc anuf acturi ng Com pany (A irco) ni 1914 to becom e itschiefdesigner.Aircraf t designed by de Havilland accounted fo r over 30 per centofA llied aircraftand some 95 per centof A m erican wartim e producti on.H e setup the de H avilland A ircraftC om pany in 1920.A m ong its m any productsw as the M oth seri es oflightaeroplanes,the fastand versatile Second W orld W ar M osquito and the C om et,the firstjetairliner.
L FT ren ch cava lry w atch an ae ro plan e passing overhea d in 19 14 .A ircraft ca m e to rep la ce ca va lry in its trad itio na lrole of scouting fo r the a rm ies.
m ake a si gnificantcontribution oftheir ow n to
A related task or f ai rcraf tand their crew s
the conductofthe w ar. A s the G erm ans advanced in W estern Europe,the Allied armies were fo rced to retreat,but inform ation gathered by aircraft helped them to haltthe advance and launch counter-attacks htatforced theinvaders back . This w ar ofm ovem entended w hen neither side could getaround the other and both w ere forced to dig defensive trench lines that by the w inter of1914–1915 st retched from the English C hannelto the Sw iss border.For the nextthree-and-a half-years,as millions of soldiers becam e locked in the bitter relentless struggl e oftrench w arfare,only observers in aeroplanes and tethered balloons could
w as arti llery spotting.Arti llery barrages fired agai nstdefensive positions both preceded and conti nued throughouto ensives.They never achi eved a decisive e ect,how ever,unti lthe return to m ore m obile w arfare during 1918, the lastyearofthe w ar,w hen they w ere used in conjunction w ith other m eans ofassault, including low flying,strafingand bom bing aircraft.A ircraft observers co uld spotw here arti llery shells felland w ith the introducti on ofe ective wirelesstransmitters from 1915, could com m unicate targetco-ordinatesby M orse code to the gunnersw ho then directed their fire accordingly. Intel ligence gathered through photo-
ealoect vely acr seeoss and rec whatw ast.happening ng iand the Word estern Fron Reconnaissance ai rcraftsuch asthe BE2c w ere general ly tw o-seaterscarryi ng a pi lot and an observer.W hile the pilotconcentrated on flying theaircraft,the observer gat hered inform ati o n.Initially this was recorded by sketches,butfrom 1915 photography becam e the pri ncipalaerialreconnaissance technique.W hole sections ofthe trenches could be photographed in greatdetai l.These photographs were then joined together to form large “photo m osaics” which could be interpreted for essentialinform ation or intel ligence thatw as used both to determine the enem y’s intentions and to plan attacks agai nstthem.
recon sssance frequentl y updat so patnai rol w erehad flowton be every day al ongsi de ed regular arti llery-spotti ng flights.I niti ally,the m ain threat s faced by the ai rcraftcrew s cam e from the w eather,fire from the ground,and the unreliability oftheir m achines,butas they started to arm them selves;firs tofall w ith rifles or handthrow n bom bs and then m achi ne-guns,the w ar ni the air became far m ore dangerous.In 1914,the A llies probably held the upper hand butw ith the introducti on ofpurpose-builtfighter ai rcraftin 1915,the reconnaissance ai rcraftsu ered as they flew on their steady patrollines.Forty seven of the 80 aircraftdestroyed by the G erm an ace M anfred von Richthofen w ere engaged on reconnaissance duties!
35
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
IR F IG H T IN G IN T H E F IRST W O RL D W R
A BO V E:
Success fulpre-w ar aviator Ro land G arros in June 19 11.G arros joined the French
RIG H T: A
B ritish Sop w ith F 1 C am el.Th e C am eldestroyed m ore G erm an a ircraftthan
airservice a tthe ou tbreak o f w ar an d in A pril
of a com petentp ilotthe C am elproved a ver y
dow n tw o m ore enem y aircraftbefor e he too w ent do w n a nd bo th h e an d h is aircraftw ere cap tured by the G erm ans.
Ar ming a fighter aircraft with a machine gun pusher type aircraft,in which the engine and was not easy. The weapon had to be light andpropeller were mounted behind the pilot, accessible to the pilot and this meant that it leaving the field of fire forward clear.The had to be mounted either above the engine G ermans came up with the best solution and fired through the arc of the propeller or when they fitted an interrupter mechanism above the top wing of a biplane. The former to their Fokker Eindecker monoplane. This was problematic as the bullets could hit the paused the machine gun when the propeller propeller. The Frenchried t placingmetal plates was in the line of fire. Usingthe Fokker,the on the propeller to deflect bullets should they G ermans took control of the skies over their hit the blades but this was unreliable and very trenches during the winter of 1915–1916, dangerous. Another alternative was to use a shooting down so many Allied aircraft that
British Royal Flying Corps R(FC)pilots referred to themselvesas “Fokker Fodder”. In preparation for their offensive against the French at Verdun in February 1916,the G ermans formed specialist units of fighters and developed air-fighting tactics that took a growing toll on French machines. To regain the initiative,the French re-equipped their air units with the N ieuport Scout,whose gun was mounted on the air craft’s upper wing and concentrated their fighter squadrons into
37
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
A ir F igh tin g in th e F irstW o rld W a r
BOV
E
a
ptai
nl
B a l l e a t e d n h eo a o W
ya
l irc a
it h t e a st 44 icto
h is re
N o
d it a 6
l a
b ert ck
ft a c to
p i t f ryE rie
a . s o
si l e d n
quad rFon C .
M anfredvonRichthofen (1892–1918)
W ith 80 victories to h is nam e,Baron M anfred vo n R ichthof en w as the to p -sco ring figh ter pilo t of the FirstW orld W ar.H e died on 21 A pril 1918 flying a red Fok ker D rITriplane.T he R A F cred ited this as an a erialvictory to C an ad ian C aptain R oy B row n b ut there is con side rable evide nce to suggestthatR ichtho fen w as in LEFT Vi
ap
cke
nb
U n i ted R i cke
a cke a cke
esetw m
be
r e rvice r co e
reality killed by gro un d fi re.T he baro n w as a fine leade r of the JG 1 m ob ile un it,the fam ou s
ard
r f he
t a tesi nb
vi ctori N ove
t ai n dw
red np
“Flying C ircus”,but show ed few signs o f ch ivalry
. 26 ri l nd
r 11 8
an da s he ea a ce f h e i rst
di ng m eri ca n o rl d a r.
in co m b at,ruthlessly hu nting d o w n his victim s. To day h e is stillrem em be red in p o pu lar culture as the R ed Baron after the red co lo ur of the aircrafth e flew .
39
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918 RI G H T A n ot e propo si ng am enti on inD espa tchesf or C apt ai nG eor gesG uyne m er fo llo w ing ac tio ns i n Ju ly 19 17 in w hi ch h e scored h is 46 th 47 tha nd 4 8 thvict o ri es. O PO SI T A b i-l ing ua l gu id e to air craft reco g nit io n
oft he Fi rs t W o r ldW
ar.
ir F i gh tin gi n th eF irs t W o r ld W a r
b i g ge se o ve sq
r ro
rv
i ce r erd u a d ro
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ad
u n .h
11,
e FC
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an
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n s n d y u n e 11
e q u i p p e d i th d e si gn
ay
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u p e d h e i r q u ad i ch
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894– 1 191 7) Guynem Geor ges er C apt i
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aft
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ed
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A i r o m
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V I I n h e o l l o w i n g e ar,
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S o p w i t h a m e l w u n g h e at l e ack n h e A l l i e s’ av o u r n h e u m m e rf 11. e sp i te
h e l o u d s.
A l l n l l , u yn vi cto
h i s
eo
e d o e tu
b e e n i l l e d n d ref fl w
e r a s
ag
d o n i ch
rm
p i l o ts a ch
as
f e n ’ s F l yi n g
l f e
A p ri l ” 11 su
l i r u p e ri o ri ty. h
o u s f h e se
d l y s h at
o h ehe
k i l l s” r
rie
ase
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m
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en
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ts f h e i r”, l ro
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u s n d as
u n d .
41
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
B O M B ER S A N D B O M B IN G O f m c ore an d P ri by s b o m be rs star e d in L o nd o n w
on s eq l arge and t he M 1 ay hi as t by
w uenc r er G erm an G o ev n lRarge 1 an d i n J n e t w o dram at
ai ds Lon on do n t h m a u l t i -en gi n e - pl ane s. T he se o t f h ye at ar, di c ayl i ght
rai d s. P b l i o c u t rage l e d t o an i m m ed i ate i m p rove m en t ci the n t y’ def s en ces. T he se be cam s e e o ecti t ve hat Spby tem b er ,t he b o m be rs had t o at t n by ack i ght. T he rai d ers co n t i n u ed t o ge t t h ro u gh , b u t as h ai e r de f en sy ce t em ,w hi i ch ncl ud ed o bserv p o st , an ti -ai gu rc aft n s, sea rch l i gh ts, b ar ge b al l o o and ns ofirganhters i zed f rom co ntr o l ro m s, w as i m pro ved ,t Ghe o t has s u erd h ea vi l er o s es. T h es , t o ge t h e w r i t the G erm an’ s ne t d u o s t e b he o m be rs o t n he W e st ern Fo n t, l e d t o t h rai e d s’ e n d i n i g n M ay 11 . T h e rai d di s d n o t a e t c h A e l l i e ab s i l i ty t o m w ake ar o Gn erm but any t di hey d ft oo ai rc de r them e f en t cet o di ha i vert t m i otherwmg p o rt r ant eisou have s rc es b e e n u se d thea b at l e f ro n t. O ve 1 r 300 p e o p l w e er ki l l e d i n B ri t ai n d u ri ng t h e rai d s, rel a at i vel sm y al l nu m b co er m p ared w i t h m i l i t casu l ary t i b es u t o ne t ha t m ad e a de ep i m pres i o o n B the n ri t i s p h eo pl e, w ho de m and ed rep i sal at t on acks G erm any. T Fehe nc m h bo ade m bi r ng ai on ds G e rm an fro y m 1 1 b u i t n fl i cte d l i t l e d am age . A t ack the by s B ri ti Rsh o yal Naval A i Sr rv i ce (R NA Si n l a te 1 1 a n d 1 1 w er al so u n suc e s f u l . F l l o w i n the g rai d s o Ln o nd o n, t he w re as f a res i h m pe t t us o ren w at t acks o Gn erm r to and y eo rgani ze B ri tai n ’ ai s se r rv i ce s, an d i n A p ri l 1 1 th e Ro yal A i Fr (Rrce A F)w f as o rm e d .IJ n e
A BO V E: Aftera G
erm an airship raid o n Lo nd o n in 19 15 ,so ld iers a nd civilian s ga the rin the streets betw een bo m b-dam aged buildings. London w as bom bed fort he
LEFT: “Londo
ners fearthe Zepp elin” – a 1914 G erm an prop agan da card.A lthou gh the G erm an airship attacks killed 5 57 pe op le throug ho ut the w ar,theiro veralleffect o n
ratherlim ited an d b y 1916 British def en ce m ea sures be ga n to p reva il. O PP O SI TE:A
British H an dley Pag e 0/40 0 co m ing in to land . The 0/40 0 w as the RA F’s m ain lo ng -ran ge strateg ic bo m be r during the FirstW orld W ar but the w arcam e to an end before the A llied b om bing cam paign agai nstG erm any coul d h ave m uch effect.
43
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
L FT
O PPO
SI T
Sm oke poursouto fthe C entralTel egraph
11,
h e A
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et,
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PeterStrasser (1876–1918)
he
n i fi an
Pe
t er
t r a s e r a s
G e rm
an
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Lo
nd
cit
ve
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ve
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i s m
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nd
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o n f ts
al
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cti
p e l i n 7 0 as ng
i p s t acke
ther
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and
o n n d e l i e ve
rd
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T he
s, n
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ten
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m
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ar. n d e r tras e
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o n, ari
Stras e
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av
W
b e ea
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h i n k i n g b o u t h e i gn
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ard
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h.
I tal
a l so
e
s
y n d h e re
l y o i n e d h e l l i e s n 11
i ts arge
At t he star t of t he war,t he Brit ish Admir alty had responsibilit y for t he defence of t he Unit ed Kingdom against air at t ack. It had some success raiding G erman airs hip bases,but decided it needed larger aircraft . This led t o t he development of t he H andley Page 0/ 100 which flew in 1915 and t he improved 0/400 of 1918. This large (it had a 30-met re [100-foot]wing span)twin-engine bomber equipped squadrons of t he R AF’ s Independent Air Force w hich carried out night raids on G ermany. The four-engine H andley Page V/1500 went in t o product ion in 1918 but was t oo late for it s planned use of r aiding G ermany fr om bases in east ern E ngland.
p ai gn
i tl
st e p p e d p i t h e w i rc aft ri
l n
o w
e c t v e ra l l . o w e v e r, f h e ar ad co nti nu ed , he am p ai gn o ul d ave
the
ti ca
b i n g am an
Handley Pa ge 0/400
.ts
h e A F o u l d o n d u ct
t rat
d ts
ard
i e s, h i ch s ( w
d h e a r n 11
e n d e d ef o re su tai
ch
b e
p e ra
i n cl u d e d h e m
e d h e
ren
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ts
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( I A F n ran
to
b i ti o n f
e w or
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.
ri e s
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k .
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
IN D U S T R Y A IRC R A F T A N D A IR F O R C E S T he R oyalN avalA ir Servi ce w as qu ick to see w o uld have used i t to launch an att ack on its convi nci ngl y.For exam ple,Bri tai n m ade 55,092 th e po tentialof d eplo yi ng aeroplanes o n shi p s. G erm an counterpart. It firstused seaplanes on carr iers convert ed
ai rfram es duri ng the conflict,whilstFrance
T h e aircraft available to the m ilitary ni 1914m ade 51,700 and G erm any just 38,00 0.
fro m cro ss-C hannelferries and then m o dified w ere produced m ai nly by sm al lcom pani es,
T he A llies t o o k a co nservative app roach
H M S Furi o us w ith a fo rw ard ai rcraft deck
b u t these grew into l arge nd i ustr ialconcerns to ai rcraf t d esi gn and constructio n m ateri al s.
in A ugust1917.Tak ing off w as com parat ivel y
supp orted by governm ent backi ng and
easy,but landing w as a m uch m o re di ffi cul t
contract s.Co m p ani es from o u tsi de avi atio n, fram ed,fabri c-covered bip lanes strengthened
T heir aero planes were l argel y w o o den-
propo sition.Squadron C om m ander E H
p articul arl y m o to r-car m anufactures,al so
w ith struts and w ires.M o re po w erfuland
D unning m anaged thi s tw ice i n a Sopw ith Pup b ecam e involved in the burgeo ning ai rcraft
rel iabl e engi nes gave i m proved perfo rm ance.
in A ugust1917 but w as tragi cal ly drow ned o n ind ustry,al o ng w ith a hosto f engi neeri ng the third attem pt.In 1918 H M S A rgus,t he firss tub -contracto rs.T he w ar became a battle
Firepow er w as i ncreasedw ith the additio n o f m o re m achi ne-guns o r by building bi gger
true ai rcraf t carri er,proved si gnificantly m o refo r prod uctio n as w ellas a batt le fo r controlm achi nes capabl e o f carryi ng great er bom b success ful.If the w ar had continued,the N avyo f the skies.I t w as a w ar t hatthe A llies w o n loads.The G erm ans w ere m ore creative i n
W ith the help of crew members on the deck of HMS Furious on 2 August 1917, Squadron Commander E H Dunning in a Sopwith Pup, moving ship. Dunning died repeat his success. LEFT:
RIG H T
A i rc
A n t h o ny ok
a f t an ke
r (ce
ufac
t ure
n t re
o se
Lo
erz
r(l eft
n d e
rm
a n
t o a ke i a f t er
he
rc a
a f t n r o ke
erm
a ny
r o ved
ELO W a t l a rem
a rai
s ran
ce
n
47
T h e B irth o f Aeria l W a rfa re //19 14 -1918
In d u stry A ircra fta n d A ir F o rces The 100 0th D H 4 to be m ade att he D ayton-W right A irplane C om pan y in the U S,p ho tog rap hed in July 1918 .Entering the w ar in 1917 the U S op ted to b uild Europe an co m ba tdesigns un de rlicen ce to save tim e a nd de liver aircraftto the front qu ickly. LEFT:
their use ofm aterials.W elded steeltubing w as used fo r frames and on som e aircraft plyw ood w as shaped to create the outer surface.They w ere al so the firstto ntr i oduce an all-m etalai rcraf t,the Junkers J4,an arm oured infantry supportm onoplane m ade ofduralum in w hich wentinto com batfrom 1917.T he Junkers J8 w ith itscantilevered w ing (a wing with no externalbracing) w as even m ore innovative and indicated the directi on aircraftdesign w as to take. By 1918,the era ofthe lone ace hunting his prey hadpassed.Air fighting had com e to rely on team w ork and larger form ations.U p to 60 aircraftata tim e m ightbe seen m anoeuvring for position before att acking and breaking up into the whirling m assofa “dog-fight”.Air forces al so grew into com plex organi zations thatdeployed large num bersofm en,w om en and m achines.In 1918,with nearly 300,000 personnelthe R A F w as the largest.Itw as also the firstair force to be organi zed separately and independently from an arm y or navy . The creation ofthe long-range bom ber w as to give the air forces hei t r m ain independent strategic mission.Itw as the arri valofthese large ai rcraftthatalso led to the developm ent ofcom m erci alavi ation as wellas the destructi on ofEuropean and Japanese ci ties from the air in the Second W orld W ar.
E : Fe m ale fa ctory w orkers con structthe w ing -tip o f a na vala ircraf t,c.19 18 . ABOV
A i rc ra ft a c to ri e s Pre-w arm o pe nstruct w ar , thesef
anu facturersr e-used ex ist ing large urestom akeai rcra f t. D uri ngthe aci liti esw ereex pan de dan dm any
ne w facto ri es bu ilt. A ircraf t w ere co nstructed in b atches w ith the fusel ages o n trestl es an d t heno nthei rw heel ss otheycoul dbem oved e ci en tl y thro ugh the f actori es. W ing s and o ther sub-ass em bl ies w ere adde d, then the ai rcraf t w ere co vere d i n f abri c and the en gi ne a nd o ther co m po ne nts i nstal led . Fo r t he fi rst ti m e, t ho usandsof w om enw o rkedi nthef act o ri es un de rt aki ngtasksprevi o usl ycarri ed o utby m en . H ow ever, m anyl o st thei rj o bsw he ntheai rcra f t indu st rycon t ract ed af t ert he w arandthem en ret urnedt ow ork.
H u g h r e n c h a r d (1 7 3 1 6
H ugh Trenchard ojined the British Arm y in 1893.He foughtin the Boer W ar and later saw servi ce in N igeri a.Trenchard learntto fly in 1912.He w as com m ander ofthe R oyalFlying C orps on the W estern Frontfrom 1915 to 1917 and w as briefly the RA F’s firstChiefofthe A ir Sta before com m anding the IndependentA ir Force ofbom bers in France ni 1918.Trenchard becam e Chiefofthe Air Sta agai n in 1919.H e spentm ostofthe 1920s establishing the RA F’s status and future andw as an advocate for the independentuse ofair pow er.
49
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
T H E F IR S T TR A N S A TL A N TIC F L IG H T S
W i Noth t eam f s rom ou set tt o w t ri ed t o e fl y b u t d i t che o t he t r eam Sp w i t an hs f r o m N ew Sp w i t A h Kand en ne 1 M ay, b u
rth
cl e i ’ p s ri ze sti l l u n cl ai m e d , fi ve B ri t ai sh rc af m t anu f actures i n i t i n 11 .A t e am f ro m So rts ast – w acro est s t h e A t l an t i c d i nto t h e o sea n 1 A p ri l . T he f s rom M art i nsyd e, H an d l P ey ge, d V i p ckers l an ed o n st art i ng f o un dl and and fl yi w ng est .T he t l an t i fl c o w b n Hy Hary aw ker t M h ackenzi e-G ri t ev o o o k o n t f o l l o w i e ng ngi ne p rob l em s, w en t
d o w i n o the n cean w el l o hal ver f - w acr y o I w as as s um t ed t he w m o w en er dea , e b m ut i rac ul o usl t y he p ai w r p er i cked up by shi a p . T h e ve s el d i d n o t h ave rad a i o i so t w no as t un t i l2M t ay t hat he w o rl d he ard H aw an ker d M acken zi e-G ri ev had survi T h ey rec e i ve d £ a 5 , 000ch e q u e f ro m L o No rth cl e i f o t r h e i “mr ag n i fi ce n t f ai l u re ”. Tw h o o urs af t Her aw ker M and ack en zi eG ri ev d ep art ed ,Fed d i Re aynh am and M o rgan’ M s art i nsyd ai e rc af t Raym o cr r
s .
ved
.
rd
“F x” ashe
d
Brit ish a viators C ap tain Jo hn A lco ck (righ t) an d Lieutenan tA rthur W hitten-Brow n po se at ae ro plan e in June 19 19. LEFT:
R IG H T:
crossing o f the A tlan tic in N C -4’s crew of six w as
51
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
T h e F irst T ra n sa tla n tic F ligh ts
o n take -o ,in ju ri n g M o rgan an d b ri n gi n g t h ei r att em p t at t h ep ri zet o an en d . B y14 Jun e, t he V ickerst eam o f p ilo t Jo hn A lcockand navi gat o rA rt hu rW hi t t en B r o w nw erer ead yt ogo int hei r m o di fi ed V icke rs V im y. A ft e r a di ffi cu lt take o in the ir o ve r- lo ad ed ai rcraf t ,t h ey su e red aseri es o f pro b lem s. T he gen erat o rf o rt he radi o fai le d an d the ir e le ctri ca lly h e ate d su its di d no t w o rk, m aki ngfl yi ngthe irop en co ckp it ai rcraf t ve ry d iffi c u lt w h e n the y ran i n t o b ad w ea t h e r.Fl yi n gatn igh tand d isori en t ated
b yast o rm ,t h eyn earl yspan intothe w he nane ngi nest al led bu t A lcockm t o regai n co ntrol .Fl yi ng o n an d into and hai l,B row neve nh adt ocl im bo t he w ingtod e-i cean en gi ne at o ne LEFT
BO VE
sea anaged sno w u t o nto p o in t .
Har ry Haw ker (1889–1921)
A ust ra lianH ar ry H aw ker joi nedT O M So pw ith’ s fl ed gl ing av iati o n co m p any at B roo kl and si n1912asam echani c. H aw ker qu ickl yl earntt o fl y, set ne w record sand w o rked on t he So pw it hT abl oi d. H eco nti nu ed w it h So pw ithaschi eft estpi lo tduri ngthe Fi rst W o rl d W ara ndw as invo lvedi nthedesi gnofm anyof t he com pan y’ sf am o usw art im e ai rcr af ti ncl ud ing t heSo pw it hPu pandC am el .So pw it hA vi at ion w en t intol iqu idati o ni n19 20 .H aw kerand Sop w it h, w it ho t hers ,form edan ew com pany w hi chbecam ekno w nas H aw ker A irc ra f t . T ragi cal ly, H aw ke r di ed in a n ai r crash i n 1 9 21.
53
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
BOVE
rt hurW
hi tten Brow
n’ sl og bo ok r eco r di ng hi sand
John
T h e irst T ra n sa tla n tic li g h ts
Frozen and exhausted,and after m ore than 16 hours ni the ai r,the tw o aviators w ere
Z eppelins had already flow n passenger flights in pre-war Germ any,so ai rships
rel ieved to spotthe coastofI and wClihere they landed in m arshy groundrel near fden. The Vim y tipped up on its nose atthe end ofits 3, 115-ki lom etre- (1,936-mile-) flight, butboth m en em erged safely from the crash.Back in N ew foundland and w ith the A tlantic now conquered,the H andley Page team decided notto fly.Alcock and Brow n received a hero’ s w elcom e in London as well as the prize fo r their flightw hich appeared to som e to heral d the im m inentstartof transatlantic ai r travel .H ow ever,i tw as to be 20 years bef ore aircrafttechnology had m oved on suffi ciently for regular and reliable transatlantic passenger aeroplane flightsto becom e established.
seem tosotance er tpassen he great estpotenti for loed ng-di ger travelbyal air. This w as confirm ed by the flightofBritish m ilitary ai rship R 34,w hich m ade the first double crossi ng ofthe A tlantic by ai r in July 1919.R 34 w as vi rtually a copy ofa captured Z eppelin w hich had been forced to land in Britain during the w ar.The airship,under the com m and ofM ajor G H Scottand w ith a crew of30,seto from EastFortune, Scotland on 2 July 1919.R 34 reached New York on 6 July havi ng spent108 hours ni the air and returned to Britain by 13 July aft er a totalflightof10,185 kilom etres (6,330 m iles). Passenger-carryi ng transatlantic Z eppelin flights com m enced in 1928.
Jo h n l c o c k n d r t h u r h i t t e n r o w n John A lcock (1892–1919)and Arthur W hitten Brow n (1886–1948) both served ni the RoyalFl ying C orps during the FirstW orld W ar.Coincidently both w ere shotdow n and spenttim e asprisonersofw ar butdid not m eetuntilBrow n soughtw ork atVickers, w here Alcock was a testpilot.They team ed up to m ake the firstnon-sto p transat lanti c aeroplane flightin 1919.Both w ere knighted in the same year andtheir VickersVim y w as presented to the nation for di splay atthe Science M useum in London on 15 D ecem ber 1919.Alcock w as ki lled three days ater l ni a flying acci dent.Brown never flew agai n.
55
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
A V IA T IO N IN T H E 1920 s A N D 1930 s H o w ev er,aircraft design e d spe cific ally fo r civifo l r distance,spe ed and altitud e.A ir races 1931 w ith a spe ed o f 54 8.1 kilo m etres per aviatio n so o n rep laced w artim e types.T he se attracted large cro w d s an d reco rd-breaking ho ur (34 0.6 m iles per ho ur),and w en t o n to grew in n um b ers and so ph isticatio n an d b y flights – and the p ilo ts w ho m ade the m – set a new w o rld record of 655 .8 kilo m etres the 193 0 s,large lu xu rio us b ip lane s,slee k n ew co n tin u e d to cap tu re the p u b lic’s im agin atio n .pe r ho ur (40 7.5 m iles per ho ur) sho w ing ho w m o no p lane s and co lo ssalairship s an d fl ying T he Schne ide r Troph y race,a com pe titio n fo rfar aviatio n had pro gressed .Sim ilarly,in 1924 b o ats w ere regu larly criss-cro ssin g th e w o rld seaplanes,w as w o n b y France in 1913 w ith an tw o U S A rm y A ir Serv ice D ouglas W orld alo ng a n etw o rk of air ro u tes run b y effi cien t average spe ed of 74 k ilo m etres per ho ur (46 C ruisers w ere the first aircraft to travel airline s.D esign ers w o rked to b uild b etter m iles per ho ur).A Sup erm arine S6B ,designed co m p letely rou nd the w o rld in an incre d ib le pe rform ing aircraft w hich set ne w records b y R JM itche ll,w o n the trop hy fo r Britain in 42 ,4 0 0 -kilo m etre (26 ,34 5 -m ile) jo urn ey tha t
An Aircraft Transport and Travel de Havilland DH 16 in 1919. Its four passengers LEFT:
from Hounslow,London to Le Bourget,Paris.
Al anCobham 1894–1973)
A lan C ob ham learntto fl y in the RFC duri ng the FirstW orld W ar.A fter a tim e w ith a com pany provid ing pleasure flights,he jo ine d d e H avi lland A eroplane H ire Servi ce in 1921.His fli ghts t o Europe and N orth A fri ca i n 1922,to C ape To w n in 1924 and to Austr alia i n 1926,helpe d to establ ish routes used by Im pe ri alA irw ays.To en courage “ai r-m ind ed ne ss” and avi atio n in the U nited K ingdo m ,in 1932 C ob ham launched t he N ation alA viation D ay C am paign w ith a touri ng air d ispl ay.A pio ne er o f in -flight refue lling,he set up Flight R efuel ling Ltd i n 1932 .
LEFT
H a n d i n g ve
I n i t i a l l y a r yi a s ran
spo
r a
n g a i l a rt i ng
as en
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g ers.
l o h e S o m
m
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n 1 2 .
p o rt a n t o h ei
rl i n e s
BE LO W W
Th
ee
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es
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i g h t t o p s n d a ri o u s i f er
nt
rt .
57
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
to o k si x m o nths.Only seven years later i n
Jean M erm oz w ent do w n in the desertin
1931,Am eri can W iley Postand navi gato r
N o rth A fri ca i n 1926 he w as held pri so ner
H arol d G atty m anaged to ci rcl e the gl o be in by tri b esm en untila ransom w as p ai d fo r eightd ays and 16 ho urs in his Lo ckheed V ega his release.After m any epic flights i n Sou th W innie M ae. O ther fli ers s uch as Engl ishm an A lan C obham and Frenchm an Jean M erm oz m ade their nam es by m aki ng route-provi ng flights fo r m ai land p assenger carryi ng servi ces.
A m eri ca i n the late 1920s,M erm oz and t he crew of his flyi ng boatLa C roix du Sud w ere lo sto ver the S o u th A tlantic i n 1936 . For those w ho coul d afford them , passenger fli ghtsw ere not q uite as hazardous,
Trai l-b lazi ng fli ghts could b e very dangerous. bu t in the 192 0 s w ith no heating,w icker In 1926,C obham flew his D H 50 floatplane
seats, b asi c toilet faci liti es and trav elling at
to A ustral ia and b ack but his m echani c
heightsthatw ere badl y affected y b adverse
A rthur El lio t w as ki lled by a bullet fired from w eather conditio ns,fli ghts w ere often cold the ground w hilstflyi ng over ra I q.W hen
and uncom fo rtabl e.W ith no insul atio n to
BOVE Pa sseng ers w ait ing tob o arda Fo r d-Tr im otori nt he U S. M adebyH enr y For df r om 19 26 the Tr im ot or seat ed 13 p a ssen g ers. Its three e ng ine s m ad e i t rel iab le b ut no isy a nd b ec au seo f itsal l-m etal b o d yi t becam ec om m onl y knownas the“Ti nG oo se” .
A vi a tio n i n t h e 192
s a n d 193
s
Hélène Bouchier 9108–1 934)
Fren
c h i
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l o t él èn
m
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d h e ru
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uch
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f 1 20 s i e r e ar
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t o n 1 31t h e g e f 23.n
an
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a ry
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q .h
rob e u
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fl i n g k i l l s h e em V i l l ac
o u b l ay
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t o r o t w
s er
gh
d i n g e r o o n stra
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i n g o t nd b ati
ted
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e ar
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ring ove
be
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rd
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4 0 . h e
ra m
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u r ( 276 d ro
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h o u r n au w
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rew
i n i n g gh
t h e
r .
B EL O W : A m erican W iley Post
and naviga tor H arold G atty circled the glob e in eigh td ays an d 16 ho urs in his Lockh eed Vega W innie M ae
59
G ladys Roy and I
van U ng er play tenn is on t he
up pe r w ing s ofa C urtiss JN-4 i n O ctob er 19 27. A fter th e FirstW o rld W ar,a d ven tu rou s p ilo ts bo ug ht up su rplus m ilitary aircraft.K no w n as ba rnstorm ers,the y travelled across the U S th rillin g a u d ie n ce s w ith the ir d isp la ys.
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
Avia tion in th e 1920s a n d 1930s
deaden the sound ofthe engines,they w ere also extrem ely noisy.European ai rlines, develo ped w ith governmentsubsidies and through m ergers,began to grow into national airlines.Foremostam ongstthes e w as the G erm an airline Lufthansa which in the 1930s w as the w orld’s largest ,responsible for som e 40 percentofglo balpassenger ai r traffi c.The Frenchgovernmentsubsidized a num ber ofairlines w hich eventual ly becam e the state ai rline,Ai r Fran ce,i 1933.The British financed Im peri alAi rwnays becam e partofBO A C (British O verseas A irw ays C orporation) in 1939.W ith no stat e subsidies, airline developm entin A m erica had ot w ait for the stim ulus a orded by the privati zati on ofthe U S A ir M ailnetw ork in 1925.
PO SI TE ND BO VE A n I m p eri al A irw ays brochu re prom oti ng l inks be tw ee nit sA fri can an d A si an r ou tesa nd tho seo f the bo at/ tr ai n servi ceso f the O
French shi
pp ing li ne M
essag
eri es M
ari tim e
63
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
N EW YO R K T O P A RIS N O N -S T O P C har les Lindb er gh w as one of a num ber of en trants fo r the O rteig prize.H e d iffe red from the o the r com pe tito rs in that he o pted to fl y alo n e an d in a sin gle -en gin e aircraft called th e Sp irit o f S t Lo u is w h ich w as b u ilt to Lind b ergh ’s sp ecificatio ns b y the R yan A er onaut icalC om pany .It w as pow er ed by o ne o f a ne w gen eratio n o f ve ry reliable en gine s;the rad ialW right W hirlw ind J-5C . Lind be rgh too k o ff from R o osevelt Field near N ew York a t 7.52 a.m .on 20 M ay 1927 . D uring his flight he en cou ntered fo g,sto rm s, h igh -to w ering clo u d s an d icy co n d itio n s. Fatigue w as his biggest pro blem ;he cou ld no t fallaslee p fo r a m o m en t as his aircraft w as so u n stab le that it h ad to b e co n tro lled at alltim es,b u t he lan d ed safely at Le Bo urge t, Paris,at 10 .21 p .m .lo caltim e (5.21 p .m .N ew Yo rk tim e) on 21 M ay w here he w as greeted by som e 1 00,00 0 peopl e.H e ha d flow n m or e than 5,8 0 0 kilo m etres (3,6 0 0 m iles) in 33 -and a-half hours .O n 29 M ay he flew to C roydon , Londo n and w as m et by a crow d o f 150,000 . Lin d b ergh ’s flight in stan tly sho t him fro m o b scurity to stardo m ;sud d en ly he w as the m ost fam ou s m an in the w orld.O n his return to the U nited States he w as given a tickertape parad e in fron t o f three m illio n N ew Y o rkers and received a m illio n telegram s and h alf a m illio n le tte rs,no t to m e n tio n se ve ral tho usand o ffe rs of m arriage!
Charles Lindbergh with his aircraft Spirit of St Louis before LEFT:
with an increased wingspan and the engine further forward than O P P O SITE:
Charles Li ndbergh (1902–1974) C harles Lindbergh’ s 1927 firsttransat lanti c solo flightm ade him internati onally fam ous.The press named him “Lucky Li ndy” and the “Lone Eagle”.Show ered with honours and idolised by millions he w as one ofthe twentieth century’s firstcel ebrities.In the late 1920s and 1930s he helped to prom ote the rapid developm entofU S com m ercialaviation.H e w as opposed to U S entry into the Second W orld W ar but after PearlHarbor he worked and flew in com batas a civilian advi sor.After the w ar he advi sed Pan Am on jetaircraft including the Boeing 747.His book The SpiritofStLouis won a Pulitzer Prize in 1954.
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
O
t h er
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V e g a u l l .
o lo
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p ts n h e
tl a n ti c g h t n 13 2n h e o l o e stw
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ai n e d h e
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E ar
w it h
ri n g h e 13 0 s.
n ad
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n l y w o ad
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the
i ve
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B ri ti sh
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an
d i r ran
u si n e s e .
LEFT:
re
at
k e d u ge
av
o rt
n al s u b l i c
o ten
o n . i n d b e rgh vo
o n n h e n i ted
e r h e
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ti al ’ s
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O PPO
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VE LE FT :
Am y Johnson ki ssing herhu sband
O PPOSI
T E RI G HTABOV
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BEL D
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O PPO
SI TE BEL
O W LEF
T:
N ew Yor kt oP a r is N on s top
James Mollison 1905–1959)
Sco
ts m
an
Jim
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i n h e 13 0 s. e e ar w h en
e b
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i n g h is n d n 1 31n d 1 3 2e e t e s o r gh
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ne
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67
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
N ew Yor kt oP a r is N on s top
O PPOSI TE AN D ABO VE
BE LO W
69
v ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
In th e late 192 0 s,Britain created tw o large to N ew York t he next m ont h s aw the airships,the R 10 0 an d the R 101 fo r use o n be ginn ing of a successfulten-year caree r.H er rou tes to C anad a,Ind ia and A ustralia.T he R trip s acro ss the A tlan tic,to So u th A m erica 10 0 ,d esign ed b y Barne s W allis and b uilt b y in p articu lar,con stitu te d the o n ly lo n g-range V ickers,m ad e a successfu linau guralfl igh t to p assen ger air service a t that tim e.G raf C anad a in 193 0 b ut after the lo ss o f the R 101, Z ep p elin’s successo r,the H ind en bu rg w as w hich crashe d in France o n a flight he ade d fo rd esigne d to carry 50 p assen gers in lux ury Ind ia in O cto be r 1930 ,R 100 w as scrapp ed acro ss the N o rth A tlantic.A t 245 m etres (8 03 and Britain ab and o ned the con cept for goo d. fee t) lo ng an d w ith a m axim um diam eter o f W ith b o th Fre nch an d Italian craf t suffe ring 41 m etres (135 fee t),the H ind en bu rg w as sim ilar fates,only the G erm ans retaine d the irthe b igge st aircraft eve r to fly.Sh e m ad e ten faith in airships. successfu lro u n d tran s-A tlan tic trip s to th e T he ir co nfid en ce app eared to b e vind icated U nited States in 1936 ,bu t b urst into fl am es as by the laun ch o f the G raf Z ep p elin in she cam e in to land at Lakeh urst,N ew Jersey Sept em ber 1 928.H er fl ight from G er m an y at the en d o f he r first flight o f 193 7 to the U S.
Hugo Eck ener (1868–1954)
H ugo Eckene r joined Z ep pe lin in 190 6 as a p ub licist,b u t d ue to his natural aptitud e for flying,he soo n be cam e an airship cap tain an d d uring the First W orld W ar trained m any Zep pelin pilo ts.A fter the w ar,as the h ead of Luf tschiff bau Z epp elin,Ecken er w as instrum en talin raising p ub lic sup p o rt fo r airships and pe rson ally com m ande d the G raf Z epp elin o n m osto f its recordsettin g jo u rn ey s,in clu d ing the first rou nd -the -w o rld p assen ger-carrying flightin the s um m er of 1929.Eckener alw ays m ade safety his to p prio rity and un de r him Z ep pe lin enjoyed a pe rfect op eration alrecord.T his end ed w ith the H ind enb urg disaster of 1937 b ut by then Ecken er,an ardent anti-N azi,had b een sid eline d b y H itler’s regim e .
BO VE
LEFT
M irac ul o usl y ,62 o f t he 97 pe o pl eo nb o ard survi ve d t h ei n fe rno b u t t h ed isast ersp el t t h e e n d o f in tern ati o n al ai rsh ip trave l. A saresul t ,fl yi ng b o at srem ai ne d t he o nl y ai rcraft sui tab le f o r l o n g-ran ge p assen ge r t ranspo rt o ver t he w o rl d ’s o cean s. A s t he y cou ld t ake o from and l and o n w at er ,t he re w as no need forl on gr unw ay s orcom pl ex ai rfi el d s, b o t h o f w h ich w e re d iffi cu lt an d e x p e n si ve t o co n st ru ct, p arti cu larl y i n rem o t e l o cati o n s. Int he1930 s ,PanA m eri canor“ PanA m ” b ecam e the p ref erred o verseas ai rl ine o f t he U Sgovernm en t .U nd ert hed ynam icdi rect io n o f Juan Tri pp e, Pan A m s etupro utes inthe earl and Soy1 930uthA s from m eri tca.heU Tri SApp teott heheC nt arurne ibb dean h is att e n ti o n to e stabl ishi n g ro u t e s acro ss t h e Paci fi c. In O ct o b er193 6 ,Pan A m ’sM art in 13 0 P h ilip p in e C lip p e r set o fro m C al ifo rni a fo rt h e fi rst sche d ul e d t ran s- P aci fi cp assen ge r fl igh t .W it hsche d ul ed st o p son t he w ay, t he fl yi ngb o at arr ived in H o ngK o ngthree d ay sl ate r. InE uro pe ,t he FrenchL at éco èreo p erat ed fl yi ngb o at s o vert he M ed it erranean and o n S o u thA tl an t icm ai l fl igh ts .L u ft h an saal so int rodu cedaEu rope t o So uthA m eri cam ai l servi ce i n 19 34 usi ng D o rni er W al s, w hi ch st o p p ed at as hi pstat io ne d inm id - o cean t o re-f u el .B ri tai n h ad u sed am ix t u reo ffl yi n g b o ats ,lan d - p lan esan d t rai n so n it sro u t esto
71
v ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
Boeing 3 4 Clipper W
i th
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e tre
fl g h t n u n e 1 3 9 .h th
e ar
ge
A co th draft
m at
as ed
B r i t i s h r i
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m
m
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o n ncl
re
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nto
arti m
e
ud
m i n i ster
s ( 3 , 5 0 0 - i l e an e 314 a sro
e s
i rc ed
ra
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i ni ng d al e nd i nsto
u i te
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as
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rch
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ed
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ran
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ti c ch
e d u l e d as e
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d r 40 n l e e p i n ge
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de
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Airsh ip s a n d F ly in g B o a ts South Africa and A ustral ia for a number of yearsbutin 1937,Im perialAirw aysintroduced the ShortS-23 C -C lass or Empire flyi ng boats w hich flew in stages from Southam pton to C ape Tow n and Sydney. Pan A m ’s Clippers andIm perial’s Em pire flying boats were noted both for their high standards ofpassenger servi ce and for their w ell-appointed accomm odation.In M ay 1939,J uan Trippe introduced the m ost
luxurio us ofallthe flying boats,the Boeing 314,on to northern transatlantic routes,but the outbreak ofthe Second W orld W ar in Europe putan end to Pan Am ’s fledgling service.Although they continued to be used during the w ar,the construction ofnum erous airfields throughoutthe w orld,together with the developm entofland-planes w ith far longer flying ranges,e ectively broughtthe flying boatera to an end.
LEFT
Pass eng er s bo ardi ng a Pan
m Bo ei ng
E
L O W
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
T H E F IR S T M O D E RN A IRL IN E RS T his ne tw ork w as sub seq uen tly hande d o ver to co m m ercialope rators and m any sm all com panies,such as the R o be rtso n A ircraft C orpo ration ,for w ho m C harles Lindb ergh fle w ,started to carry m ail.Lind b ergh ro se to fam e in 1927 w hen he m ade the firs t solo fligh t acro ss the A tlan tic,an achieve m en t that gave a trem en do us b o o st to aviatio n, p articu larly in th e U S. N ew airlin es rap id ly
Bo eing trim o to rs w ith the ir thre e en gine s, w as quickly follo w ed by the D C -2.Su pe rio r on e o n each w ing and ano ther on the nose. to the 247,this w as sup ersede d in turn by T he se aircraft m ay have b ee n fast,bu t the y the 29 0 -kilo m etre-pe r-ho ur (18 0 -m ilew ere also un com fortable.Bu t an eve n greaterpe r-ho ur),21-seat D C -3 in 1936 .W ith the revolutio n w as on the ho rizon w ith the ad venitntrod uction of the D C -3 and im provem ents of a new gene ratio n o f sleek ,aero dyn am ic in rad io ,rad io -b ased n avigatio n an d fl yin g all-m etalm o no plane airline rs p o w ered by w ith in stru m e n ts in p o o r visib ility,U S airlin e s in creasin gly e ffi cie n t air-co o le d rad ial e n gin e s. w e re fi n ally ab le o ff e r a reliab le service th at U nited A irline s led the w ay in 19 33 w ith the cou ld m ake m o ney just from transpo rting
d evelo p ed .So o n carrying p assen gers as w ell intro du ctio n o f the 25 0 -kilo m etre-per-ho ur passengers .R edu ced far es enc ou raged m ore as m ailw as a com m o np lace thing.By 1930 ,the(155 -m ile-per-ho ur) Bo eing 247 w hich cou ld pe o ple to fly and by the late 193 0s the D C -3 “Big Fo ur” – A m erican A irline s,U nited A ir carry ten pa ssen gers in reaso nab le co m fo rt w as carrying o ver 90 p er cent o f the three Lin es,E astern A irlin es and Tran scon tin en tal in its so un dp roo fed cabin.T he 247 w as so m illio n o r so A m erican p assenge rs travellin g and W estern A ir,do m inated alm ost allU S ad van ced that U nited ’s rivals w ere fo rced to b y air each ye ar. do m estic rou tes. rep lace their ex istin g fle e ts an d the y tu rne d to LEF T: A t the h eart of this change w ere a nu m be r the D ou glas A ircraft C om pany ,w ho devised BELOW of new aircraft;the to ugh Ford,Fo kker and the D C series of aircraft.T he D C -1 o f 1933
Howard Hughes (1905–1976) A w ea lthy in d u strialist,aviator,film d irec tor, prod ucer and ph ilanthrop ist,H ow ard H ughe s learntt o fly in 1927 and fo und ed the H ughes A ircraft C om pany in 1934 t o m ake the H -1 rac er in w hich he seta w orld land -plane speed record o f 56 6 .9 kilo m etres pe r ho ur (352.32 m iles pe r ho ur) in 19 35.In 19 38 he setano ther record by fl ying around the w orld in a Lo ckhee d 14 Sup er Electra in justo ver 91 h ou rs,and in 19 41 h e too k con trol of T ranscon tinen taland W estern A ir,later kno w n as Trans W orld A irlines (T W A ),one o f the fam ous "Big Fo ur" airline s.1947 saw the o ne and o nly flight of his fa m ou s w artim e H -4 H erc ules transport aircraft Spruce G oo se.Sufferi ng from w ors ening o bse ssive-co m p ulsive d isord er an d incre asing ly surroun de d by contr ove rsy,H ughe s died an ecce ntric recluse in 197 6 .
BO VE
n
H a n d l eyag larg pa
s eng
Eu
ers
rop
ea
d e ca
n m
d e. rav
u t a t i o n o r o t h
as en
ven
m
st r ong
ge p eri
ap
pea
ug
r ance
w i t h
rs
al
i rw
hi t w ort
si g n. l t ho
nd
si g ni
W
o d ern qui
p
n ed
i n h e
d n ' e a surep sf
ca
ays h
h
p a ci o usab
t h eesign eri
u r(10 0
d e li a b i li ty.
En
A m
1 3 0 d f h e
e l l i n g t t e a d y
ep
RIG H T A r m
r h eyuickly
fetyn
l ea
a ys
pi r e nd rom
e tr e sero
i l eserou
g a i n ed
En
a l i rw 24
o st h en
1 1i l o m
sa
p eri
P4 2. h es
n o utes
u n t i l l m
m
m e
e i p l a n e sar ied
t s o n t em
o p o ra y
n i vals.
75
An Am er ican A irlines D C -3 pa rked on the t arm ac atLa G ua rdia airpo rt, N ew York C ity in the 1 94 0s.
Av ia tio n T a k es O ff //1919 -193 9
L FT
n m eri ca n ir line s
Dougl as DC-3 T he D ougl as D C -3 w as the m ost succes sful aircraft o f its day and ind eed ,m any w o uld argue that it is the g reatest o f alltim e. D esign w o rk on the D C -3 began i n 1934 at t he reque st of A m erican A irlines w ho w ant ed a longer D C -2 to carry m o re passen gers,plus ano ther versio n w ith slee ping berths.T he 14 -berth D o uglas Sk ysleep er w as so on eclipsed by the st andard 21-s eat D C -3 w hich w as both co m fo rtable and ve ry reliable. It cou ld o perat e from con crete,grass and even dirt surface s and its crew s co nside red it to be virtually ind estructible.In add itio n to the 45 5 D C -3s m ade,1 0,174 o f the C -47 m ilitary vers io n w ere also pro du ced ,so m e of w hich are stillfl ying to day.
The F irstM odern irliners In co ntrast to the D C -3,E uro pe an d esigns stew ards,serving in-fligh t drink s and m eals, lagg ed far beh ind .T he H andley Page H P42 w ith b eds even bei ng provided on so m e of intro du ced by Im pe rialA irw ays in 1930 w as ath e m o re lavish services. gian t bip lan e w hich carried 24 p assen gers at a H ow ever,the p rob lem of turbulence stately 161 kilo m etres p er h o ur (10 0 m iles p er created by ad verse w eather con ditio ns ho ur) o n the airline’s Em pire an d Eu rop ean rem aine d a p rom inen t issue.T he so lutio n w as routes.N ew er de signs follo w ed ,such as the to fly h ighe r into the realm s of the w eathe rall-m etalstressed skin A rm strong W hitw o rthfree strato sphe re.Bo eing’s B-30 7 Strato line r A W 27 En sign and de H avilland ’s b eau tiful o f 19 38 w as th e fi rst airline r capab le o f D H 91 A lbatro ss,w hich e ntered service just d o in g th is.W ith its p ressurized cab in an d befo re the o utbreak of the Secon d W orld turb o sup ercharged e ngine s w hich cou ld W ar.By the late 193 0 s,U S air passen gers w o rk effi cien tly at such incre ased he igh ts, cou ld travelin p rop erly heated ,so un dp roo fedit in d icated th e d irec tio n that co m m e rcial com fort,attend ed b y stew arde sses o r aviatio n w as to take .
E
L O W Se a ttle. W
Passeng ers bo ardi ng aB oe ing 24 7 at Bo ei ng Fi el di n ith i ts st ream line d a ll-m etal ca nti leve red w ing d esi gn
m od ernai r liner bu titw assoon andD C - 3.
tob eup st ag edb yD ou gl as’ sD C - 2
79
W a r in E u ro p e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-1945
T H E A P P R O AC H A N D O U T BR EA KO F T H E S E C O N DW
G erm
anyw
as forbi dd enb yt het erm
O R L DW
s of t he
T re aty o f V e rsai lle s f ro m h avi n g an ai r f o rce . H ow ever ,inthe192 0s, anagreem en t w it h t he So vi etU ni o n m ean t t hati t secret lyco nti nu ed to trai n m ilitary p ilo tst h e re . A ircraft de vel o pm en t con t inu ed t o o ,oft en un de rt he gu ise o f b u ild in g f o r co m m e rci al avi ati o n . In 1933, w he n H it lerand t he N azi st o o kp ow er , G erm anybegant ore- ar m m o res w if t ly , so o n u n ve ilin g i ts ai r f o rce ,the L u ft w a e , t o t hew o rl d. M o repi lo t s com m en cedtr ai ni ng and t he G erm anai rc raf t ind ust rybe gan t o prod ucene w com bat ai rc ra f t w hi ch
w ereat
t he cutt inge dge o f m o de rnd esi gn.
B ythe m id -193 0 s, b ip lane ai rcr af tw ere be ingrepl acedb ym o no pl ane s s uchast he M ess ersc hm it t B f 10 9 fi ght er . T he Lu f t w a e proved t he e ect iven ess o f its ai rcraft, tacti cs an d p e rso n n e l d u ri n g the Sp ani s hC ivi lW ar( 1936 –193 9) ,w he nthe C o nd o r Legi on w as de s pat chedtoSp ai nt o fi gh to n t h e N ati o n al ist( Fa sci st )si d e . T h e B f 10 9o u t fo ugh t t he R ep ub licanS o vi et d esi gne d fi ghters, and t he Le gi o nb egan t o carryo u tcl o seai r- sup p o rtop e rat io ns, w o rki ngw it ht hearm yon t hegroun dt o
M ilchd id m o rethanan yo t he ri nd ivi du al t o shape t hed evel op m entof t heLu f t w a e. H ew as bo rni n W ilhe lm shave n, serve d asafi gh t erp ilo ti n t he Fi rst W orl d W arandj oi ned t he G erm ann at ion al ai rl ine , Lu f t han sa, in1 92 6. A ne arl ysupp o rt ero f t he N azi party, M ilch w as H erm ann G ö ri ng’ s de pu ty at t he ai r m ini st ryand he o rgani zed t he con st ructi o no f t he Luf t w a eat at im ew henG erm any w as forbi dd ent o haveanai rf orce. H ecom m and ed forcesduri ngt he invasi o n o f N o rw ay i n 194 0, and w as inst rum en t al in incre asi ng ai rcraf tpro du cti o n from late19 41 on w ards .H ew ass entenced t ol ifei m pri sonm en t at t he N ure m b erg T ri al s i n 19 47, b ut t hi s w as l ater com m ut edt o15year s.
Er hard Milch 1892–1972
80
A R
RIG H T
ue
a ft er t ad
ee
b y h e u ftw G
ue
rni
a f e eri
l i a n s n d
l so
o st ow
o f r t o m b l o i ca
s o’s
s am
e am
e.
EL OW
d
o f erm
n
i red
ne
a
r f he
a n a t
tl e r
p f i s en a n i rc a w a f e
u l o r k s a i n t i ng
o l f i
l i ze
n sp e rom
o f e rm T h e u f t
d bo
a l t t a ck erf
erg
Pa
a n d rou
a cke
n 1 3 7 .
e o ym
r o f
o f he
p ca ain n t
c a a m
t h e o civ
rni
i o r
ft n 1 3 . a s i t a l art l e t rat
eg
y.
81
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
The pp roach and O utbreak ofthe Second W orld W ar d est
roy
co
m
ne
m
l e a rn
ti l l e ry
G
e rm
” l th an
p o nce
l ve
m
eest
hen
P o l an
erm
ar
veow arg
B l i tzk
L i gh
b reat tha
ks
n d e ch htaki
t ad
ng
tni an
e e n m
d hro
n p
ash
ugh
ri l
m
o rov
ed
an
f he
f o m
o f i rc
aft
C o n ce
n t rati
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erm
er
ar”
d n f an
ri a l
th
qu
W
he
ad
n vo
l ve
t ry
d va
ne
m
ri
ve
d .
d n ci n g t y ef en
e d y h e e ri al rti
ces l l e ry
ce
o n f o rce as
ch
d e ch
u m
i s
ad
van
b ers
sp
e arh
e ad
w e re
o rce
n o l o g y.
n d p e e d f cti
o n
i e vi n g i r u p e ri o ri ty
ve
r
ve
erm
ans ch
i l i ta
ry
nvade
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s u t m
an
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m
tl yi
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G e rm o the w e reo
ru an
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an
d ers
l d s
er
t n e rm s h e o ran
rs
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l so
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e
nce
d u st i ke
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ke
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o e u vre
su aw
ced
w
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th
e ri
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ta
c k e d
i n i r
t p o h e o b .s
an
h e e rm
O
ce
l n i e r
rm
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y
an
rai
o h e n gl i sh
h
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f h e n n o va
ti ve
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d b sol
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y t u nk i ct
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rom
h h s
t l e i gh
t
e reestro
rm
an
p e ro an
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se cu
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ye
d
e n o st.
u ro
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ya
y
e r f 14e tal
ro
aftit d uc
n d ai re
n e d i rm
m
w a
e i rc
e d i t l e . an
- ar
ch erm
uft
l l i e d q u ad at. h
l l e n h e i m
l f o n t i n en
E x p ed
G
i t h he
A F o u n t e r- t acke
n l y h e i rac
Fren
S 4 6 an
thro b e ca
s h e
s f e rf o rm
sto
n t ro
ards
d o e tre
B y h e u m co
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st w
i n g h e t ack
b e r ch
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o u n d h e
b l e o at ch
e - au
an
e
h e
b o m
cr
H
b e rs. h
l y d v an
n d ren
sel
P o l i sh
l d e d o h e
f are
m
r i gh
n he
B ri t i sh
er d
v e o
i d o t el y n u ge
e y s
t h e m on
k ai
b at
e a t le fil d .
e
e ts.
f ar
i ze
p e
– p e ci fi a l l y u 7 tu type
h e
nd
n g
k y
b e r 13 9 t e ra
e w o rm
tan
s ae
i ca
nvade
w o rl d h at ri e r g
ft
n d e
ructi
nd
n as
b o l i ze
i vi l i an
any
d n e p tem
ra
u e rn
e o ym
i n st
t i o ns
a s h e t ac
t n h e
b e r ga
W
t n
en
w eso
b o m
o u gh
am
m
ntra l e eso
f i rc
i rc aft
13 7 h at
t he
y ro
o n s. al u ab
e d n h e se
ar
i nvo
m
u n i cati
as n
o l an
d
tl y
f i ro
w e r.
o n f h e ri n an
rev
ei ng
y m
nted verw
ti sh
t s f h e he he
lm
i ng
u t e .
Junkers Ju 87 St uka N o aircraft is more associated w ith Blit zk r ieg than the Ju 87 St uka. The “light ning war” str ategy centr ed on t anks and mechanized infantry receiving close support by “aerial art illery ”– in par t icular, t he Ju 87. The Stuka (the name was derived fr om Stur zk ampffl ugzeug,meaning divebomber)ent ered ser vice in 1937. A not able modification to the aircraft was the addition of sir ens t o t he landing gears ,which caused t he St uka to emit a distinct ive w ail as it dived. D espite it s devastating early per for mance, it s slow speed made it vulnerable to fighter at t ack. Af t er t he Bat t le of Brit ain in 1940, when large numbers of Ju 87s were shot down,their effectiveness markedly decr eased, and although they continued in ser vice,t hey never again enj oyed the same level of success.
O PPO
SI T EABO
VE:
The G erm an invasi on ofPoland ,
Septem ber 1,19 39. A key com po nentofBlitzkrieg w as the aeri al art illery pr ovide d by the Luftw aff e. 8 90 bo m be rs w ere deployed by the G erm an a irforce n i the cam paign a nd Po land w as overwhelm ed w ithin a m on th by rap idly m oving g rou nd for ces supp o rt ed by aircr a ft.
O PPO
SI T E BE
LO W :
Shanghaibeing bom bed by Japan ese
air craf t.In he t 19 3 0 s Japan used its aircr aftasa w ay t o a ttack the m oral e ofC hinese ci vi lians.The bom bing o fSha ngh aiin 19 32 w as
RI G H T :
A G erm an po st erp rom oting the Junker s Ju 87 Stuka,one
of the Luftw aff e’s m ostf orm ida ble w eap on s du ring the ea rly years ofthe Second W orld W ar.
83
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
TH E B T TL E O F B R IT IN N D TH
“ W
h a t e n e ra
t h a t h e n i ted
s w e p t a rg a i r o rce
l e y g a n d a l led
i s b o u t o e g i n . i t h h o se
e l y n ch
o ch
i e ve
e ck
e d cro
E BL IT Z
h e a t l e f ra o
rds
ri t i sh
n c e s v e r. x p e c t h a t h e a t l e f ri ta i n
ri m e i n i s t e ri
i n g d o m o u l d x p e ct h e u l l o rce s s u ro
i r u p e ri o ri ty
p e o e i re v e r h e n i ted
cte
of the bo m ber became a hi gh pri o ri ty fo r m ilitary planners.An intri cateearl y-w arning system w as n i place,based o n the pri nci p les o f defence establ ished duri ng the First W o rl d W ar.W ellorganized com m and and control w as augm ented by the at l estscientific m iracl e – radar –assisted b y th e m o re tradi tio nal team s of ob servers on the ground ready to repo rtincom ing ai rcraf t.The R A F di d no t have as m any ai rcraft o r pi lo ts as t he Luftw affe bu t it had a sim ple task:t o rem ai n in being.U nless the G erm ans coul d destroy the U nited K ingdo m ’s ability to d efend itsel f from the ai r,the nv i asi o n could no t take p lace. T he batt le fo r aeri alsuprem acy,w hich becam e know n as t he B attle of B ri tai n,began in June 194 0 w ith sporadi c att acks by the Luft w affe over the C hannel.T hese intensi fied in July.T hen,on 13 A ugust,m assive fleets o f G erm an bom bers and thei r esco rting fight ers att acked the b ases,rad ar i nstal lati o ns and centres of ai rcraf t productio n thatw ere vital to the def ences.T he pilo ts of the R A F cam e
VE RI G H T : Pilots of N o. 610 Squ adron Ro yalAirFo rce between sorties atR A F H aw kinge, Ken t,194 0. Squ ad ron s w ere he ld a td ifferen tstates o f rea diness,ranging from “ava ilab le” (rea dy to take o ff in 2 0 m inu tes)to “stan d-by” (tw o m inu tes).O nce the callto “scram ble” w as g iven, the pilo ts w o uld run to the ir aircraft,kn o w ing thatevery seco nd g ained cou ld give them m ore tim e to clim b to a go o d a ltitud e fo ra ttac k.D uring the h ea viestd ays
pa using on ly to re-arm an d refuel. BE L O W RI G H T : The M esserschm ittBf 109. D esigned by
eng inee rW illy M esserschm itt,o ver3 0,00 0 10 9s of vario us m o no plan es to enterservice,w as sm all,ligh t,fa stand m ano euvrable.The sm allcockpi tdid n otg ive the p ilota go od
n ston
i a
h u rch
r
a ch
i l l n n o u n ce i n e h
s s h e n g l i s h h a n n e l . i t l e r rd
i n g d o m s e ce
D efend ing the B ri tish I sl es f rom the thre at
ABO
d cro
f h e az
s s a ry
re
l u d e o n v a sion
i ch e re
d
a d d is .
RIG H T N
a
w k e r u r
o. 1 qu
14ep by
tem
ad
i ca
ro n
y d n e y a m
ne
s f
raves n
d
b e r1 4 .e
sign
e d
m he
ge
nerat
i on
f o
no
pl an
e
Ro
l l s- o yce
erl
i n n g
E LO W M
k A s f
i ne
o .1 qu
a d ro
n .
ni ng
arm
ed
i t hi
.3 3 n ch
gh
t r ow
a ch
.
i n e un
s. a ter
a f t er
y rob
l em
o re
f f ec
o m
p roved
e a r l
uc
h
w a s t s n n o va p o w erful M
erl
eli i n n g i
t i v e e a b l e o
ne
s i g n n l l s -o y c
s t i ve. d e
.
85
StPa ul’s C athe dralst an ds ab ove the surr ou nd ing bu rning bu ilding s during the B litz.W inston C hu rchillw as aw are o f the p ow erfuln ation alsym bo lism provide d b y the survi valo f th e icon ic b u ild in g, sta tin g d urin g th e B litz th at “At a llco sts, StPa ul’s m ustb e saved”.
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
f rom
he
E u ro
p e n d h e n
K
, he
d o g
e d l y n d e term
L u ft w a t ac o n h e i rfi
o
m
m
o nw
k s n cre
asi
d e f e n ce
m
f tw
p re
ai n tai
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k s ro
d , t
p t e m
to
o n d o n .h
B y
c to
I t o
th
s l e ar o n cen
h e B l i tz”. h
p re
ve
a t f
d i c ted
F
y h e
as
ard
at e
an m
t ack
o r h e A
t rat
e n
F ad
i r e st
o m e ca
c ti ve
p t o e st
B al d w i n ’ s h e o ry
re
ri m
h at
the
ge t h ro u gh ”, n d e e h e the w o u l d rac k nd e r h e re s ure b o m su
b ard
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p t e d o at
T h ey n avi
er
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l y nd
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o p h i st i cated o n si d e rab ra
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he
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ev
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th
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l f
N
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an
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tb
re
ak
F
f ar,
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e”
ad
d i t o r i cto
ng
i n g h e l l -ate e f
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ar
d o l l o w h e
e d h e e so rita
s
l e .h
i n
n s u r
n d h eat l
e f
n’ s i r e f e n ce
n g f he o m m an d nd u l d r o v e o a l u a b l e u r i
e q u ad
am
f h e re
n- hi
n . o w d i n g e fuse
i s p i t fi
sf
ander-
an en
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e f ri
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1 m
n e d l e y’ s
l l l w ays
r i vi l i an o ral f e ri al
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ed
ay
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h e arg
w h e n ve
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l f.o
ran
ce
d
n 14 0
s t i s i sp i m
u st
o sal
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at
ry.
e
t h at h o u sand e n ad
o rk
s f rdi
th
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an
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aro
s e s en
n ti o n o h e u
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m
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m
ro
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n o re
e
re
e no
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m
rm
e ad
p o si o us
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se
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A n d h e cal ed
A l l i ed
t rat
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p t h an
a l l i sti
s o est
em
c
b e r .u
roy
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l e s, A
F
n ch
se
ti sh
at i o n f
i ti e s
h e
t t o o i n t i d t
n o e stro h e
i si
t.he
b i n g h e i r au
o nstr
k s
o l l o w e d
o n e n tr e s. n d o n n d t h e rri
h e o m ate
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, y o m
o us
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b l e o n t e rcep rt
o n s t o u rce
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si t e s n d ro d u cti T h e l i tzno e d
an
ad
w e ap
aft s.
s h e h
ay,
h e i r i ze
w h i ch
e n n 1 44
e r f
to
b y h e ve
e n s
t l e r u rn
d i c a l l y.h
o n as n t ro m
e v e ry
e l i tz
n e f e n d i n g h e
i d e rs,
i n o n ti n u e d p o ra ap
al ti e s,
i l l e d .h
r y n d i v i l i a n a p a c i ti e s.
e d s st
V 1 i n g o s.
b e r f asu e re
an d e fi h ter s n d an n e d n ti - i rc b at eri e s n d ar ge al l o o n e f e n ce
a e w e
le
u m
o l e o l ay
n a ti o n , n o
G e rm
e st
r 1 4 0 i v i l i a n s
T h e y
i s i o n .
e f e n ce
e an
w o m
b e rs
e r o n d o n n t o u b m s, n d ad
d i re
m
d n 13 6 . n ti l h e u
e d
h u rc
t i l ay 14 1 o m
y ery
ud
d e al
c h s h e e i n k e l e 111 n d u n k e rs u 8
at
su
m
ainst
i ncl
an
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ag
m
d u ri n g h e at l
n .
o u r”.
h e st
ri ti sh
tai
b i n g
m
a s, s
F.
adeo o m
o rke
d i sp
a r ri
d i n g a s ter
h e
-
h e u ftw
t, n h at
e A
s e
h e
e d ts t e n t i o n i te
ow
F i gh
e n n
B u t h e i ti e s o n ti n u e d o u r.h G e rm
D
u n d
h i ch
.h
h at
n v a si o n .t
, the
1882–1970)
o r h e
vi d e d e sp
i ti e s y i gh
e h re
m
i e v e i r u p e ri o ri ty ve
u l d n st e ad
B ri ti sh as
d cti h eA
i s ro
b e r, ta
S irH ug hD ow di ng
t
s
h e ro
s ro
b e r , h e u ft w a u rn
w o u l d o t ch
tro
n e s n
a s b l e o a n gn
Se
o o cu
p t o es
ca
n e d . ve
a u t l t h o u gh se
an
f h e ase
as
T h e se Lu
h e m
ed o u gh
h e i d e .
n gl y eg
l d s, n n te
d e p ri ve
t h, c upi
e s, n d h ey
i n e d l y o tem
A l l i e s’ p i tfi e s n d u r i an
eal
i t e d ta
erm
y ri an
ti sh
o ra
rto
l e .
ul d e
o o l l o w : h e n o rm
b i n g am
p ai gn
o u s
.
O PP O SI TE:
LEFT:
The attle of ritain and the litz
89
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
T H E B O M B E R W AR So o n,to m inim ize lo sses,the R A F sw itched from day to n ight attacks,and accuracy suff ered further.In 19 41,a survey rep o rted that du rin g this ph ase o f the o ff en sive, o nly one ou t of ever y thr ee bo m bers m ana ged to d rop its bo m b lo ad w ithin e igh t m iles (13 kilo m e tres) o f its target. In Feb ruary 1942 ,the British gove rnm en t reappra ised the r ole of Bom ber C om m and. Precisio n attacks w ere d ee m ed to o diffi cult
en o rm o us ex pan sio n of the effo rt,includ ing figh ter d efe nce s.T he ind ustrialcities o f the de velo pm en t and en try into service of new R uh r w ere attacked an d then ,in late 194 3, he avy b o m b ers,ap plicatio n o f scien ce to the Be rlin itself.By the sum m er o f 19 4 4, A llied cam paign in the fo rm o f b etter navigatio n an dbo m bers had helped prepar e the gr ou nd bo m b-aim ing equipm ent ,and im provem ent in fo r D -D ay and had achieve d com m and o f crew train in g. the skies over G erm any.A ttacks o n o iland T he R A F did no t fight alon e.From A ugust tran spo rt inf rastruc tu re in p articu lar b eg an 1942 ,the m ight of the U nited States A rm y to cripp le the G erm an w ar m achine.C ities A ir Fo rces (U SA A F) w as add ed to the battle. in the ea st w ere also targeted ,in o rde r to T h e ir aircraft p e rsiste d w ith d ayligh t raid s, sup po rt the S oviet U nio n’s w ar effo rt.O ne o f
to carry o u t successfu lly;in ste ad it w as to attem p tin g to h it p recisio n targets.Th e the m o st con troversialattacks of the w ho le fo cus o n area bo m b ing.T he aim w as to crew s fo ugh t b ravely,relying o n the d efe nsivecam p aign w as laun che d in this phase o f the destroy the m orale o f the enem y po pulace, arm am en t of the ir bo m be rs to force the giantb attle – ag ainst D resde n in Fe b ruary 194 5. sm ash G er m an indus try a nd w ear dow n fo rm atio ns thro ugh to the target.Losses w ereT he city w as de vastated and abo ut 40,0 00 th eir ability to m ake w ar.T h e m o rality o f thiscripp ling,h o w eve r,and the accuracy of the p eo p le w ere k illed . d ec isio n – eff ec tive ly p u ttin g G erm an civilian sU SA A F attacks w as ultim ately no t as go o d as D resde n cam e to sym bo lize the h orror in the fro nt line o f b attle – w as de b ated had been hoped. of the strategic b o m bing cam paign after even at the tim e,and w o uld co ntinu e to be It w as no t un til194 3 that the b o m bing the w ar.M any have arg ued that,even in a co ntro versialin the ye ars that follo w ed .T he cam paign b egan to have a serio us im pact on situatio n o f “totalw ar”,the fact that so m any m an ch arged w ith im plem en ting this strategy G erm any.In January ,a co m bined strategy w asp eo ple w ere killed w as m o rally un accep tab le. w as Bom ber C om m and’s new chief ,A rthur agreed by the B ritish an d A m erican fo rces. It w as ce rtain ly co stly fo r th e A llie s to o H arris,a lo ng-tim e b elieve r in the w ar-w inn ing Sites of sub m arine an d aircraft pro d uc tio n – ar oun d 80 ,00 0 bo m ber c rew m en lost po ten tialof bo m bing.H e preside d o ver w ere targeted rou nd the clo ck, then G erm an the ir lives.T he fact rem ains,h o w eve r,
O PPO SITE L EFT b o a rd for
he
l a ne
h e a m
d a m
s f
H e
ev l
w h i ch
C o m
h eu op
m
ou
am re
da
e ha
ag
i l l ed
red
ng
nd
d e n
C o m
m
e rm
an
d an
b y 3 11-1 sf
nu
m
b er
f urni
uc
evast
p rod t em nu
i ng
p eratures. m
be
rs ho
he
st ers
nd
h e S
ng
(ab
ou
nd
r ep
u ce
sf
e h e a m
am utf
erm
y t
h e
a l l i s.
ef enc
s
k q u a d ro
t a cke
d nd
a g e. he
n
r ea
ch
a i dave
h e 13 3 en
a n s e r u i c k l y
a re
n
e s
el. rac ul
read
t o
t t a ck
n t o r a r n
com
ut3
f t erm
ble
a t h f
a n y. n 13 /14eb ca
a st er
ed
h
o o o k
o ep
a i r h e
e.
O PPO SITE RIG H T D res
i bson
i r a nc
i d esp
h e on
r uy
t e ry o w ev
o rale
t as
he
b o v e r
a y 1 43 h ey ti sh
de
y n ve
om
o st o ri
p a rt e
ng
s a usi
an rd
a i d n a y 1 43 .he
a s e v i s e d
nci ve
m oa
t ers
h r a l l ey
a n d .n
h u g e o m
us
o eeli
t w o f he
om
s rew
m
e d
ad
i ng
ndi
o u s a
ru
o
squit
A A F. he l ding
s uc
i ng
al
e - o r c e i
an
y eo urned
p l e e
ked
b i ng
aide
nd uf
f
6 o he
m
b e r
i t y o l l ow l o sives
ed
nr
re
oea
om
b i n a ti o n f xp
ui
ere
o es
o m
he
a ry 1 449
ea
t r a ug
s o xac o ca
t ed
hts
erb
dd
f xy
a t e he i ng
o he
g en
xt rem
e
ABOV E o eing -1 l ying o rt res sf h e 3 0 3 rdo m b
a i rc aft
p in g
el
o w o e
t ruck
nd
est
roye
d y h eo
m
b s rop
The“He avi es”
Avro Lan cast erand Boeing B-17Fl yi ngFort ress
t h.
T he stalw art of the R A F’s cam paign w as the A vro Lancaster (above),the m o st successfulo f the three heavy bo m be rs in British service. It co uld carry m o re and b igger bo m bs than any o ther aircraft in the cam paign, and w as loved by the crew s w ho flew it.Fo r the U nited States A rm y A ir Fo rces (U SA A F),the aircraft that cam e to sym bo lize the strategic bo m bing eff o rt w as the Bo eing B -17 Flying Fo rtress.P acking a co nside rable pu nch thanks to its 0.50 -inch (12 .7-m m ) m achine gun s,it cou ld n o t m atch the Lan caster’s paylo ad.
91
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
SirArthurHarris (1892–1984)
H arris jo ine d the R oyalF lying C o rps du ring the FirstW orld W ar,and becam e an expo nento f the ide a of strategic bo m bing in the n ew ly form ed R A F. H e took over R A F B om ber C om m and in Fe brua ry 1942 ,and im m ed iately put his stam p on the force w ith the firs t“thousand bo m ber raid” on C ologne in M ay.H e oversaw the hu ge exp ansion o f his com m and ,and w as convinced thathi s aircraftco uld de liver o verallvicto ry in the w ar.A ltho ugh he w as hu gely respected by h is m en ,he w as pe rceived to be e xtrem ely stub bo rn.Even in the lastm on ths of the w ar,he w as very reluctant to d ivert his fo rces aw ay fro m the increasingly co ntro versialarea bo m bing ca m paign and on t o o peration s of m ore tacticalim po rtance.
that altho ugh G erm an ind ustry w as ne ver p rim arily b e cau se o f its lo catio n .B u t as so o n com pletely sm ashed ,and bo m bing a lon e as A m erican B -29 s b ecam e available,w ith did n ot w in the w ar,the b o m bing cam paign the ir range o f aro un d 6 ,50 0 kilo m etres (4,0 0 0 d id have a serio us eff ec t o n its even tual m iles),the U SA A F b egan to strike at Japan ese o utco m e.It kep t abo ut a m illio n m en an d cities.By M arch 19 45 ,A m erican aircraft w ere arou nd 50 ,00 0 guns defend ing G erm an d rop ping tho usand s o f to nn es of incen diary cities and fo rced G erm any to con centrate b o m bs o n cities such as To kyo ,causing o n air def en ce,rathe r than attack.A lb ert hu ge fire sto rm s.T he raids h ad a significan t Spee r,the G erm an a rm am ent s m inister w ho eff ec t on Jap an’s ab ility to co n tin u e th e fig h t, preside d o ver G erm an ind ustrialex pan sio n, even before a tom ic w eapons w er e us ed o n called th e cam p aign “the greatest lo st b attle H iroshim a and N agasakiin A ugust.T hese tw o on the G erm an s ide” . un fo rtun ate cities w o uld b e fo reve r associated Jap an w as sp ared the fu llfo rce o f a strategiw c ith the ultim ate de structive p o w er o f b o m bing cam paign u ntillate in the w ar, the bom ber.
L FT A eri al vi ew o f H ir oshi m a Japa n a fter
op er at iona lat om icbo m bo n 6A ugust 1945 .Thew eapo n du bb ed “Li ttle Bo y” explode d w iththe fo rceo f 12 .5kil o to ns of TN T. In t otal arou nd 140 0 0 0p eop lew er eki lledb y the b last an d t he sub sequ en t fall o u t an d rad ia tio n. RI G H T N ort h Am er ican P- 51 M ust ang sof the3 75 th Fi gh ter Sq ua dron 36 1st Fi gh terG r ou po ver Eng lan d. Th e M ust an g w ith i ts Roll sRoyceM er line ngi ne and lo ng -r an ge f ue ltan k provi de d
cou ldescort theb om be r st ream sall the w a yt o the ir targe tsi n G erm an y. C ruci al ly the M ust an g al so bo ast ed except ion alperf orm an ce ch a rac teri st ics t h a t m e a n t it w asm oret han am at chf ort he
suchast
heB f 10 9.
The om ber W ar
93
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
W O R K IN G W IT H T H E A R M IE S
Spo tting fo r the arti llery continued to b e an pho to graphi c reconnai ssance,bu t as the w ar im po rtantjo b fo r ai rcraf t.G erm an fo rces
p rogressed,their effectiveness d ecreased.
m ade gr eatuse ofthe very m anoeuvrable
T he R A F devel op ed fast unarm ed ai rcraft
Fieseler Sto rch and th e A llies f o und that
to take pho to graphs – adapted Su perm arine
the Tayl o rcraft A uster and Piper C ub w ere
Spitfires andde H avi lland M o sq uito es –
sui table fo r the rol e thathad p roved so usef ul unarm ed,stri pp ed do w n and rel yi ng on du ring the First W orl d W ar. sp eed.But the realkey ot B ri tish successw as A eri alreco n nai ssance proved vitalto the ou tcom e of the w ar.A lo ngsi de signal s in telligence,pho to graphic info rm ati on
the interpretat io n skills o f the anal ystsb ack on the grou nd . T he results ofpho to -reconnai ssance
o b tai ned by ai rcraf t p rovi d ed the A llies with m issio ns were used b y al lbranches o f the a w ar-w inning edge over their enem ies.The
arm ed fo rces.The U nited States ado pted
Luftw affe w ere initial ly succe ssfulato b tai ning B ri tish techniq ues,develo p ing reconnai ssance
ABOV E: view h f r o m Gea rm an ob servat i o a n i r craf t RI G H T: S vi et I yush a t t l e. Th Ste urm i bnto spo t t i ng f o t r he arti l l – ery w a as n i m p o rt a du nt t f y o ai r rc aft du ri ng w ef ar f ort . I po s toug a es d
t Sche o
Wnd
orl Wd
ar .
i Stn urm o vi groku nd a t t ac aik rc a f t he a d i ng o vi w k a exts rem ely i m p o rt a nt t S theo vi et h r ug ge a d i rf r am a e nd arm ou r
co and ul equ be d i p w ed i t bo h m bs r ocket ms
achi
gun e
s and
95
o rki SI T U S p aratroo pers jum ping from theirD ou glas C -47 S kytrains,19 43 .Troo ps jum pe d in g rou ps o r“sticks”. Th eirp arach utes w ere ho o ked u p to a railinside the aircraft by a static line; o nce they jum pe d, the co rd w o uld p ullthe pa rachu tes from the irp ac ks au to m atically.
n g i t h h e
rm
i es
O PPO
SirArthurConingham (1895–1948) Sir Arthur Coningham served in the army and joined the RFC in 1916,flying fighters ni France.After a successfulinter-w ar RA F career ,he led a Bom ber C om m and G roup,before taking com m and ofthe W estern D esertAir Force in 1941. H is exceptio nalgifts as a eader l and tacti cian w ere instrum entalin creati ng a fo rce which w orked hand-inhand w ith the army.He continued to prove his abilities in Tunisia,Sicily and tIal y,and ni 1944 com m anded the A llied Second TacticalAir Force rfom D -D ay to the finaldefeatofG erm any.He w as tragi cally killed in an air acci dentthree years af ter the end ofthe conflictat the age of53.
versi ons ofthe P-38 Lightning and P-51 M ustang.The culm ination ofphotointel ligence e orts cam e on D -D ay in June
aircraft,so mi portantto the succe ss ofthe cam paigns in the eastthatMarshalJoseph Stalin stated in 1941 that“The Red A rm y
1944:m ore than 4,500 photo-reconnaissance m issions were flow n to prepare or f the launch ofO peration “O verl o rd”. A tthe startofthe w ar,the RA F w as a lo ng way behind the Luf tw a e w hen it cam e to directbattlefield support,havi ng focused m uch ofits e orts in the interw ar perio d on the diea ofstrategic bom bing and hom e defence.It w as notuntilthe desert cam paigns of1941 thatthe R A F achieved realsuccessin this area,when H aw ker H urricanesfitted w ith bom bs were used to attack targets close to or on the front line.The keyw as the devel opm entofgood air-to-ground com m unications system s,
needs the Il-2 as it needs ai r and bread”. G erm any devel oped the idea of“airborne w arfare” based on experim ents carried out by the Soviets in 1922.The idea w as to drop troops by parachute or in gliders behind the lines,to cause shock and surpri se or to capture an im portanttarget,then hold out untilrel ieved by the advance ofconventional troops.They were firstused in N orw ay and the A llies soon adopted the idea.Germ an airborne troops proved e ective in the invasi o n ofC rete in 1941 (although the high num ber ofcasualties dissuaded the G erm an high com m and from using them again),and A llied operati ons began in N orth A frica in
wcal hi al ed lers on the gr to 1942,the n Sicilan y dingl Jul y 1943.I lch in ai rlow craf twcontrol here needed.The W ound estern paratroopers iderbornen i1944,Al nfantry lied D esertA ir Force had ahuge e ecton the secured hte flanks on D -D ay,foughtin outcom e ofthe key bat tles of1942,and on H olland and then in 1945 spearheaded the through into Italy.Follow ing these successes, advance over the R hine. the A llies converted the Republic P-47 Transportaircraftw ere al so vitalto the and H aw ker Typhoon into rugged fight er success ofseveralcam paigns,m ostnotably bom bers,equipped w ith rockets and bom bs. in the China-Burm a-India theatre.The A llied These ai rcraftw ere vitalin the cam paign in 14th A rm y rel ied on air transports as they northern Europe,w here the Second Tactical advanced through Burm a and the fam ous A ir Force provided clo se ai r supportfor the “Chindits” – the troops who foughtbehind advancing armies. Japanese ilnes – w ere supplied by ai r.The O n the Eastern Front,the SovietRed air route nito southw estChina know n as the A rm y used its aircraftpredom inantly to “H um p” keptC hinese and U S forcesfighting, assistthe troops on the ground,attacki ng and there were many other operations that tanks,troops and com m unications.The IL-2 could only takeplace thanks to the flexibility Shturm ovik w as the classic ground attack o ered by the transports.
Pierre HenriClosterm ann (1921–2006) C losterm ann (l eft) w as one ofthe m ostsuccessful ground attack pilotsofthe Second W orld W ar.H e w as born in Brazi land after being educatedin Paris, obtai ned his pri vate pilot’ s license in 1937.After the w ar broke out,he spentsom e tim e studying in the U nited States,before joining the Free FrenchA ir Force.He soon proved his abi lities as a fig hter pilot, flying first ly with N o.341 “Alsace”Squadron,then w ith N o.602,flying ground-attack m issions. A fter an enforced break from operations, C losterm ann returned to servi ce and flew the pow erfulRA F Tem peston m issions supporting the advance across France and nto i Germ any.After the w ar,he would go on to work in businessand politics and even re-enlisted in the air force ni 1956 to fly on operati ons in A lgeria.
97
G erm an m ilitary ve hicles d estroye d by British rocke t-
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
TH E A IR W A R A T S E A i t h h e o s sible
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The aircraft’s ability to see over the horizon, har king back to t he ar tiller y spotting duties of the First W orld W ar,continued to be vital even in “tr aditional”big-gun nav al actions,such as the Battle of the River Plate in 1939,w hen a Fairey Seafox la unched by H MS Achilles helped the cruiser’s guns target the G raf Spee pocket bat tleship. Catapult-launched seaplanes were an important addition to most large surface vessels for just this purpose. Large flying boats,with their fantastic endurance (the
A merican PBY Catalina could stay airbor ne for 24 hours)provided anti-submarine patrols,par ticularly helpingto protect vital convoys on their way across the oceans. Land-based maritime patrol aircraft,such as the Consolidated Liberator,helped turn the tide in the pivotal Bat tle of the At lantic in 1943. Even the mightiest surface warships bristling with anti-aircraft weaponry w ere vulnerable to the threat from the air. The German battleship Bismarck,one of the most powerful
vessels afloat,was crippled by a torpedo from a Fairey Swordfish biplanefrom HMS Ar k Royal in N ovember 1940,leading to her eventual destruction. I n the Mediterranean, the British effectively knocked the Italian surface fleet out of the war in 1940 when 21 Swordfish from HMS Illustrious severely B ELO W
: SU SS Yo rktow n,A pril19 42 .Th is vesselw as able to ca rry ap proxim ately 10 0 a ircraft,m ea sured n ea rly 25 0 m etres (82 0 fe et) in leng th a nd w as o ne o f over 12 0 U S carriers of d ifferentsizes. C arriers w ere builtby three o f the m ain co m ba tan ts – the U nited States,Britain a nd Jap an .
BO VE
S
n e a rl y 2 5 t h e u rp i
AdmiralI sor okuYamamot o
(1884–1943)
Yam am oto unde rstoo d the potent ialof naval aviation be tter than m ost.From the m id 19 20 s he w as clo sely invo lved w ith carriers and aircraft.H e overs aw the devel op m ent of t he Z ero fight er,and un like m any o f h is rank in n avies aroun d the w o rld, h ad little o r no fa ith in b attlesh ip s,b ein g ce rtain that the fu ture b elo nge d to the aircraft carrier.A ltho ugh he o pp osed those w ho w ere calling for w ar,he m asterm inde d w hath e saw as Japan’s besth op e fo r victo ry in the Pacific – a sudd en ,pre-em ptive strike at the U S fl eet atPe arlH arbo r.A ltho ugh he ne ver again ach ieved the sam e leve lof success,his abilities w ere respected by bo th the Japan ese an d A m ericans.H e w as killed in A pril1943,w he n A llied intelligen ce reve aled his w he reab o uts and a fl ight of A m erican P-38 Lightnings w ere s ent to shoo td ow n h is aircraf t.
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d am aged th ree b attleship s and a cruiser at Taranto harbo ur. T he Japanes e high c om m and w as quick to see the p o ten tialo f a surprise,carrie rlau n ch e d a ttack o n u n suspe ctin g vessels in ha rbo ur a s a w ay o f d ram atically shifting the balance o f p ow er in the P acific aw ay from the U nited States.D raw ing in part o n the lesso ns of Taranto,the y plann ed a d evastating attack o n Pe arlH arbo r, ho m e of t he U S Pacific Fleet .W ith h igh ly train e d p ilo ts an d w ell-de ve lo p e d w eap o ns,the Japane se stun ned the w o rld in D ecem be r 1941.For the lo ss of 2 9 aircraft,the y serio usly d am aged o r sun k a to talof 18 A m erican vessels.A s w ellas
101
A U nited States N avy C on solida ted PB 4Y -1 Libe rator on an an ti-sub m arine p atrol ove r th e Ba y ofB iscay.Su ch aircraft playe d a v ita lrole in w in n in g the B a ttle o fA tla n tic ag a in st the U -bo ats tha tthreatene d A llied co nvo ys.
Wa r in E u rop e a n d th e P a cifi c //194 0-194 5
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AdmiralChesterNim itz (1885–1966) N
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Pres ide ntFrankl in D Ro osevel t’s m essage to
C on gressafter the Japanese at tack on PearlH arbor.R oo sevel t w entto C ong ressseeki ng its ap provalt o declare w ar.The U S Sen ate approved 82 votes to 0 and the H ou se ofRepresent atives voted in favour 3 8 8 -1.
L FT
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op erat ing fr om U SS H ornet .Itdescr ibe s the action o f2 0 June 19 40 du ring the Batt le ofthe Phi lipp ine Sea, w hen over20 0 U S carri er aircraf ta ttacked a Japan ese carri er group, si nking he t H iyó.
105
The Future of Flight // 1946-Present
IN D U S T R Y A N D N E W T E C H N O L O G IE S T
r eso i urces nt produ o ci ng m i l i t equ ary i pm en t Th l e evl of achi evm en t of t he m a en nd w om en it n he f act ori a es nd m a uch avi s at i on Aircr aft production by the Axis powers (G ermany,I taly and apan J )was not able to match that of the Allies,a crucial reason for the ultimate outcome of the war. In 1938,Britain manufactured fewer than 3, 000 militar y aircraft. By 1944,the UK was producing 26, 000 machin es annually.nIthe
into the plants. All of this would give aviation an enormous boost in peacetime. It was not j ust the volume of production that defeated N azi G ermany. Continued technological development was key to maintainingcontrol of the skies. I n this area, G ermany t hreatened at first to match and
U nited States,the expansion was even more even surpass Allied inventions. The Nazi impressive. Fewer than 2,000 aircraft were regime invested a great deal of money built in American factories in 1938,but duringand effort in experimental projects which 1944this figure increased to over 96, 000. they hoped would produce a “wonder By the end of the war,Allied aircraft were weapon”that could win the war. Although outnumbering enemy aircraft in all theatres some incredible adv ances were made ( for of conflict by a ratio of at least 5 to 1. This example,rocket engines),they came too late unprecedented growth involved the use to have any effect on the eventual outcome of a wide range of existing factories,the of the conflict. But the German research construction of many new purpose-built sites was to prove vital to the future post-war and the recruitment of thousands of w omen development of space rockets,missiles RI
IgorSikorsky 1889–1972)
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ndustry and N ew Technologies an d reco rd-break ing aircraft (such as the led th e research in Britain th at created th e the R -4 H o verfly,used by the A llies in fo rm id able so un d -barrier-sm ashing Be llX -1, rad io -w ave d ev ice that co u ld d etect aircraft significan t nu m be rs after 194 2. flo w n by C huck Yeager in 1947) . at great range .P arallelre search w as b eing T he cr eation and u se o f the atom ic bo m b T he jet engine w as bo rn sim ultane o usly con d ucted in G erm any to o ,lead ing to sim ilar w o uld shap e the future o f aviatio n as m uch in B ritain an d G erm any in the 19 30 s.In the system s.R adar w ou ld fo rm the b asis of m any as any o the r tech no lo gy.A ircraft w ere tasked U nited K ingdo m ,Frank W hittle develop ed o f the techno lo gies tha t w ere vitalto the w ith d elivering the se d eva stating w eap o ns, the turbo jet that w o uld go o n to po w er the de velo pm en t o f aviatio n in the seco nd half and t he C old W ar w as defined by their G loster M eteo r.In G erm any,it w as H ans von o f the tw en tieth cen tu ry,in clu d in g m ilitary ab ility to d rop the m o n cities th o usan d s of O hain w ho se w o rk led to the creatio n o f a w eap o ns system s and civilair traffi c co ntro l. kilo m etres aw ay. fun ctio ning turbo jet.Follo w ing G erm any’s H elico p ters first e n te red service in the d ef ea t,it w as lef t to Britain to le ad th e w o rldSec ond W orld W ar,but the com pr om ise in this exciting n ew tech no lo gy.So o n ho w eve rbe , tw een the helicop ter and fi xed w ing SI TE om enw orkont hep r od uct ion lineo fH aw ker A m erica and t he So viet U nio n also be gan aircraft,th e au to gyro ,w as o rigin ally pio n e ereO d PO H urr ica ne s. By 19 4 3 o ver seven m illion B ri tish w o m en w ere i n p aid m aking great strid es fo rw ards in jet en gine in the 193 0s.M any en ginee rs aro un d the w ork, carr yi ng ou tm an yoft he “ho m efr on t”du tiest ha tha d on ce be en t he p r eserv e of m en. develop m ent .O ther Eu rop ean d esigners w o rld w o rked o n true verticaltake-off rapid ly caugh t up as w ell,m o st no tab ly m achine s,includ ing L o uis Breg ue t o f France E L O W Si rFr an kW hi ttle 19 07 –19 96 ), ri gh t, pione eroft he jet. W hit tlejoi ne d the the French w ith the jet-p o w ered D assault and t he G er m an,H einr ich Fock e.H ow ever, jeteng ine , exp lainst he w o rki ng sofaturbo R A Fi n19 23 asan eng inee r ap prent ice, be forebe com ing ap ilot O urag an fi ghter. the m an m o st asso ciated w ith the gen esis o f R ada r had an enorm ous im pact on the he lico p ter is Igo r Siko rsky,w ho se V S-3 0 0 A ir M inis try, b ut w ith the b a cking o f the R A F, W hit tle co nti nu ed his eng inee r ing st ud ies, subsequ ent lyf ou nd ing the com pa nyPo w er aviatio n.In 193 5,R o be rt W atso n-W att led to th e w o rld ’s first p ro d u ctio n h elico p ter,Jet si n1 9 3 6 ino r de rt o de vel op hi sde si gn s.
109
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
ndustry and N ew Technologies
BO
VE
LEFT
M arcelDassau lt (1892–1986)
Bo rn M arcelBloch ,D assault changed h is nam e after the Second W orld W ar.D assaulthad b een t he w artim e resistance cod enam e o f h is brother P aul. Before t he Second W orld W ar,Bloch had been inv o lve d in the d esign o f severa lm ilitary and civil aircraft and after 1940 he jo ine d the resistance .H e w as captured in 194 4 and im prisoned in Buch enw ald con centration cam p.A fter the w ar,D assault spearh ead ed the d esign o f m any o utstand ing aircraft, includ ing the M ystère an d the M irage.H e is w ide ly regarde d as respo nsible fo r the gro w th an d success o f the p o st-w ar French aircraft ind ustry.
111
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
A IR T R A V E L IN T H E P O S T W AR W O R L D e fore
h e e co
n d o rl d a r i r ra
v e l a
s ro
w i n g u t a rd
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Internat ion alagreem ent w as needed to contro lal lof this.The 1944 C hicago C on vention ,atw hich over 50 nation s w ere represen ted,updated the many bi lateral agreem ents thathad previ o usl y governed internati o nalfli ght.W hile it d id no t com p letel y o pen u p the skies,i t did set a fram ew o rk that al lo w ed ai r travelto exp and and d evel o p. T he Internat io nalA ir TransportA ssoci atio n (IA TA ),establ ished n i 1949,governed internati o nalai r routes and regulated w h at could and could no t be charged o fr fli ghts . M o stai rl ines w ere heavi ly subsi d ized o r o w ned by their natio nalgovernments– socal led “nati o nalcarri ers” . In the United States,undo ub tedly the w o rl d leader i n ci vi lavi atio n ,the governm ent saw to it thatcom petitio n b etw een the m aj o r ai rl ines w as con trolled.Pan A m eri can,Am eri can O verseas A irw ays,Trans conti nentaland W estern A irlines (T W A – w hich after 1950
ag ga ge i l s o ad ed Bi a nto rat i o n B O A C ) A vrLo an ca st ca st ri an i e an s xam e an ofple l ad y ap t ed f o r ci vi l i a u n se, st bo er m b er. I serv d o se n rve al i and a, t he t ype car i ed bo t p h
R IG H T:
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ri t i Osh vers ea Ai s rw ri an i rl i ne r i tn 14 he 0 x-m i l i t air y craft b ei b a sed a i s t w o as A the n o utes, i nc l ud i ng B as en ge rs an m d ail .
ays . ng vro ri t t ain
o
he B o Sreing a t o crui Fser l yi ng C l o u a d t H ea t hro w , i t pres ured ca bin, i t co cruisld t in e he st rat o sph ab er , o a ve ny O P P O S ITE:
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ub l e-d
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rted
s a p p e n e d n ri tai
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113
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
ir Travelin the P ostW ar W orld
The ockh L eed Constellation series C on stellation s are w ide ly regarde d as som e o f the m ost b eau tifu lairline rs eve r bu ilt.D esign ed by C laren ce “K elly” Jo hn son ,the first varian t in the series,the L-049, w as req uisitio ne d fo r m ilitary transp o rt use d uring the Second W orld W ar and designated t he C -69.A fter the w ar the d esign w as develo pe d fu rthe r into the u ltim ate versio n, the L-10 49 S up er-C o nstellatio n. C o nstellatio ns w ere op erated b y severalairlines,the m ost fam ou s be ing T W A ,and their pressurized cab ins and lon g range m ade them po pular w ith pass engers .
Donal d Dougl as
(1892–1981)
D o nald D o uglas established the D o uglas aircraft m anufa cturing c om pany – one of t he m ost p restigio us n am es in aviatio n,re spo nsible fo r som e o f the m ost successfulaircrafte ver bu ilt. H e stud ied at the M assachu setts Institute o f
O PO
SI TE
AD oug
lasD
C - 7C of D ut chai r lineK LM .
seri es, co uld ca rr y j ust o ver 10 0 p a ssen g ers at a cruisi ng speed of 58 0ki lom et r esper ho ur 36 0m ilesper ho ur) .
E
L OW A BO A C st ew ardserv ing ap asseng erona Bri st ol Bri tan ni ai nt he m id19 5 0 s. The prom iseof hi gh -qua lityf oo da nd w el l- prepa r edm eal swa s o ften use d t o e nti ce cu st o m ers, esp ecial ly at a ti m e w he n t icke t p ri ces w ere set by t he IATA an d co st co ul d n ot be used to u nd ercut the c om pe titio n.
Tech no logy,and then be gan h is career at M artin aircraftb efo re fo un ding the D ou glas A ircraft C om pany in 1921.F ollow ing the Secon d W orld W ar,he w as respon sible fo r creating the D C series of aircraft,includ ing the lege nd ary D C -3.A fter the w ar,D o uglas con tinu ed to play a key ro le in the de velop m ent of passenge r flight,de velop ing the D C -6 a nd D C -7.
115
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
ir Travelin the P ostW ar W orld sto o d fo r Trans Wo rl d A irl ines,reflecting its enhanced gl o b alrole) al ll o b b ied the U S government to w in the ri ghtto conduct transatl antic fli ghts to Eu rop e. T he m agni ficent pisto n-engi ne ai rcraf t thatflew these rou tes w ere m ade by gi ant m anufacturersw ho had been respo nsi ble for som e of the finestcom batai rcraft of the Second W orl d W ar – in p articul ar Lo ckheed and M cD onn ellD ougl as.The Lockheed C o nstel latio n – affectio natel y kno w n as t he “C o nnie” – is stillw id ely rega rded as a desi gn cl assi c,instan tl y recognizab le w ith its tri p le tai l.M atching the succe ssive generatio ns of C o nnies,Sup er C o nstel latio ns and Star liners w ere the D ou gl as-bu ilt D C -6s and D C -7s, to gether w ith the B o eing Strat o crui ser . A ltho ugh passenger travelw as grow ing rapi d ly,i t w as by no m eans o p en to al l.Pri ces w ere set high,barring m ostm em bers of the p ub lic fro m enjo yi ng the exp eri ence.Airl in es so ughtto com pete by offeri ng st illm o re lu xuri o us serv ices,with com fo rtable cabins and bett er f o o d ,replicating – and in m any w ays surpassi ng – the servi ces offered in the age of the pre-w ar flyi ng bo ats.A dvances ni engi ne techno lo gy and cabin p ress uri zatio n m eantthatturbul ence and poor w eather could b e m o re easi ly avoi d ed,and jo urney tim es w ere consid erabl y sho rtened.But, alth o ugh in the 1950 s pi sto n-engi ne aircraf t p rovid ed rel iable flights across the oceans and the vastconti nent o f the U nited States,t here w as a i lm it to ho w far the pisto n engi ne could be pushed. Jet techno lo gy,w hich had been devel o ped duri ng the Second W orl d W ar and used to p ow er com batai rcraft,w as slow to b e adapted to ci vi lavi atio n.Jet engi nes w ere expensi ve to run and coul d no t off er the sam e rel iability as h te tried -and-t ested p isto n d esi gns.Bri tai n led the w ay n i develo ping jet techno lo gy,firstusi ng i t in a ci vi lcontext w ith the turbo prop – using the pow er of the jet engi ne to d ri ve a propeller as wellas the turbine.Turbo p rop ai rl iners,such as the B ri tish Vickers Viscoun t,w hich entered ai rl ine servi ce i n 1950,bri dged the gap b etw een the pisto n engi ne and the jet age – w hen ci vi l avi atio n trul y began to o p en up fo r al l.
L FT
117
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
C O LD W A R C O N F R O N T A T IO N T
h e ro
p p i n g f tom
i c
e a p o n s n a p a n n 14
t h e o v i e t n i o n n d h e e s tas
s h e re
a s e d n h e h re
d n h e u clea
a t f u
tua
l l y s
r g e . h e o s t - a r o n fr o n tai u re
d e s t ru
c t i o n (t h e i l i tary
o n e tw
e e n
o c t ri n e h a t
w a y f e l i ve
ri n g u clea
r a y l o a d s . i rp
o w e r a
s i tal
n t h e ra
ys
o o : 2 n d R - 1 p y l a n e s a
t ch
e d v e r n e m y
B e rlin
u p p li e d n 14 n d 14.
B erl in w as an obvi o us flashp o int duri ng the
T hroughout the 1950s,the fo cus fo r
C o ld W ar,si tuated deep in Soviet-contro lled bo th si d es w as m aki ng sure hat t the nucl ear EastG erm any and i tself divi ded betw een
d eterren t w as a r eal istic and effective one.
the vi cto ri o us Allies.W hen the Sovi et U nio n Each side had to convi nce the other thatit had d eci d ed to b lo ck the land routes t o the
the w illto use,and the capability t o d eliver,
W estern sect o r ofthe ci ty,and so effecti vel y nucl ear w eapo ns.For A m eri ca i n parti cul ar, starve t he W estern A llies out,the o nly w ay to keep B erl in al ive w as t o supp ly it by ai r.
this m eant o verseeing the producti o n of vast fleetsof bo m bers.In 1947,t he U SA F
T hus b egan the largest ai r supp ly operati on
po ssessed justten B -29s.O ver t he nex t ten
ever m oun ted.O ver a ten-m on th p eriod ,
years,a seri es ofbo m be rs w ere devel op ed –
transpo rts,m ai nly from the R A F and U SA F,
incl uding the B o eing B -47 and gi antC o nvai r
m ade arou nd 277, 00 0 flights.H al f a decade
B -36 – culm inati ng i n the B-52,one of the
earl ier,many o f the p ilo ts had b een d eliveri ng lo ngest-serving aircraft ever built.I n th e deadl y cargo es ofbom bs to B erl in – no w
U nited Kingdom ,the nucl ear deterrent w as
they b roughtfo o d,coaland other essential
carr ied by the V -b o m b ers – the V al iant,Victo r during the airlift. The C-54 was ujst one of the types that kept the
O PPO
SI TE :A
USAF C-54 Skymaster delivers its cargo to Berlin
city supplied. Others included USAF C-47 Skytrains and C-74 supp lies,which fo rced the Soviets to end the and V ulcan.Sovi et efforts produced the G lobemasters,RAF Short Sunderlands,Av ro Yorks and Handley blo ckade n i M ay 1949. Tupolev Tu-95 in 1956,a t urboprop -po w ered Page Hastings.
C l a r e n c e “K l l y J” h n s o n 1019 0 Joh nson w as on e of the m ostinno vative and creati ve aircraf t d esi gners i n A m eri can histo ry. H e be gan w orki ng for Lockheed in 1933,and as the com pany’ s chief en gine er desi gned several fam o us ai rcraf t,i ncl ud ing the P-38 Lightning and the C o nstellatio n p assen ger aeroplane.D uri ng the Second W orld W ar he devel oped the P-80 jet fighter,and he t unit he assembled for hat t job – kno w n as the “Skunk W orks” after a 1940s com ic stri p – w as a m od elof producti ve effi ci ency. T he team app lied thei r consi d erable tal en ts to the devel op m ent of the F-104 Starfighter,the U 2 and SR -71 reconn aissance ai rcraf t – al lstal w artso f the C old W ar.
o l d a r
o n f ron
ta tio n
M aj or R ud ol fA nd er so n 1 92 7–1 96 2)
A nderson w as partofStrategic Air C om m and’s 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance W ing,which provided key intel ligence on the build up ofSovietm issiles in C uba. A nderson and M ajor Richard S H eyser m ade several flightsover Cuba,bri nging back photographs that helped Presi dentJohn F Kennedy to negoti ate thei r rem ovalwith Sovietleader N ikita Krushchev.T hen, on 27 O ctober 1962,Anderson w as killed w hen his aircraftw as shotdow n by an SA-2 Surface-t o -A ir M issile. A nderson w as the only A m erican killed by enem y fire during the C uban m issi le cri sis.
bom ber with a si gnificantly great er range than on both si des.Indeed,som e believed that its predecessors. the SAM w ould com e to w holly replace the Intelligence gathering w as a vi talpartof m anned fighter,and they w enton to prove m ilitary strategy.The Am erican company Lockheed produced tw o ofthe m osticonic spy planes ofthe w ar – the U 2 and the SR-71 Blackbird.Spy flights did notalw aysgo to plan – an internati onalincidentw as caused w hen a U2 w as shotdow n in 1960 overthe SovietU nion and its pilot,G ary Pow ers, w as captured.Butthe inform ation the U 2s provided w as nivaluable.M issions over Cuba obtained vitalintelligence on the build-up of Sovietm issi les during the Cuban m issi le cri sis. D efence againstnuclear bom bers w as the job ofinterceptor fighters.Speed w as the key here,and the ai rcraftdesigned in the 1950s to do this jo b w ere m issile-carryi ng jetfighters
very e ecti ve atshooting dow n high-l evel aircraft ,such as spy lpanes. M issiles were notem ployed justto bring dow n aircraft.From the early 1960s,w hen technology had overcom e m any ofthe disadvantages ofunm anned system s,and the m issiles becam e fitted w ith nuclear paylo ads, they began to replace the bom ber.Both IntercontinentalBallistic M issiles (I C BM s) and subm ari ne-launched syst em s such as Po lari s had distinctadvantages over bom bers.Missile silos were easier to hide thanairfields,and subm ari nes found iteasier stillto rem ain undetected.Ballistic m issi les were largely im pervio us to being shotdow n,either by
wsuch ith extrem pow erf ulengi A irc raftthe as the Ael myeri can Convai rnes. F-106 and British English Electri c Lightni ng typified thi s approach to fighter production.In addition to fighter defence,Surfac e-to -A ir M issiles (SA M s) form ed a vi talpartofanti-aircraftsystem s
fighters ory,t m ihss iles.And,perhaps im portantl ey w ere very muchm fost aster than bom bers,shortening the tim e the enem y w ould have to launch a counter-strike before being annihilated by the overwhelm ing pow er ofa nuclear att ack.
LEFT:
121
A large crow d o fa nti-nucl ea r w ea po ns p rotesters from
the
C N D (C am pa ign for N uclear D isar m am ent )in Traf alga r Squa re,Lon don ,195 9.Th e overw hel m ing d estructive pow er ofn uclear we apo ns led m any peo ple to join di sar m am ent group s.In the U K ,p rotests w ere often he ld a ga instt he nu clea r
oft he count ry’s com m itm entt o N ATO .
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
A IR P O W E R IN K O R E A A N D V IE T N A M A ircraf t im m ediately proved their w o rth
w as the m o stpow erfulai r fo rce in the w o rl d,
in the earl iestphasesof the K o rean W ar,
yetin a decad e of fighting,i t w as unabl e
hal ting and repelling the C o m m unistadvance to transl ate thato verw helm ing m ightinto through tacticalbom b ing.The ai rcraf t that
vi cto ry on the batt lefield .In M arch 1965,
carri ed o u t these gr o und -att ack missio ns w ere m ai nly ol d er types dati ng back t o the
O peratio n “Ro lling T hunder” w as l aunched, a bom bing campai gn targeted agai nstN o rth
Second W orl d W ar,such asthe A m erican
V ietnam .It w as ho ped thatthis w o uld fo rce
B -29 Superfo rtress and P-51 M ustang.These the C om m unists to gi ve up,but it proved m achi nes agai n proved ho w ai rcraf t could
unsucce ssful.Sim ilar cam p ai gns l ater n i th e
b e used to al ter the course of a batt le.
w ar w ere si m ilarl y unsucce ssful.T h e d etai led
W hen C hina entered the conflict,w ith its
rul es of engagement thatforced the U SA F
high-perfo rm ance M iG -15 fighters,U S aeri al to avoid m any targetsand the resi lience of do m inance over the batt lefield w as putin
the enem y w ere j usttw o o f the reas on s
jeo pardy.The U SA F then intro du ced i ts o w n thatp revented the bo m b er havi ng a deci sive nex t-generati o n ai rcraft – no tably the F-86 Sabre – w hich m eantthatfor the first tim e, jets fo ught jets.
im pacton the w ar. H elicopters – epito m ized by the B ellU H -1 H uey – w ere the true w orkhors es of the
T h e rol e o f the ai rcraft as m ilitary tr anspo rt V ietnam W ar,expanding upon the role that w as dram atical ly dem o nstrat ed in K o rea,
they ful filled in K o rea.Th ey f erri ed troo p s i n to
p articularl y i n the earl y stage f othe conflict,actio n ,evacuated ca sual ties and und ertook w hich w as charact eri zed by rapi d advance ground -att ack m issio ns w ith rocketsand and equally rapi d w ithdraw al .C argo ai rcraft m achi ne guns.Clo se ai r suppo rtw as al so d elivered supp lies and ai rl ifted troo ps,as wellprovi ded by fixed -w ing ai rcraf t such as the as provi d ing a vi talai r bri d ge w ith U S bases pisto n-engi ned A -1 Skyrai der and the jet F-4 in Japan.A nd fo r the firsttim e helicop ters
Phantom .T he fighters did no t enjoy the sam e
p layed a significant p artin a camp ai gn,
degree ofsuccessin aeri alcom batas they had
p arti cularl y i n the transp o rtrole,and
in K o rea,partly because of the stri ctrul es
especi al ly i n evacuati n g casualti es.
of engagem ent – U S pilots had to h ave vi sual
By the m id 1960s,A m erica had becom e
confirm atio n of enem y ai rcraf t,negating any
involved in another “hot w ar” agai nst
advantage they m ay have h ad from their ai r-
com m unism ,this tim e in V ietnam .The U SA F
to-ai r m issi les.
The North American F-86 Sabre. The battles that took place between the USAF F-86s and the Communist MiG-15s were fought using machine guns and cannons,and the tactics used were similar to those employed in the Second W orld W ar. The crucial R IG H T:
4
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
6
ir P ow er in K orea and Vietnam A ir po w er did no t w in the V ietnam W ar. W he the r fighting against U S jet fighters or he lico p ter-b o rne “aerialcavalry”,th e e n em y fo un d w ays to avoid com b at o n anything b ut the m o st favou rable term s.U ltim ately,the m o st significan t advan ces to co m e o ut the co nfl ict w ere techno lo gical,n o t tacticalo r strategic.T he se includ ed “sm art” w eap o ns, elec tron ic w arfare an d ad van ced an ti-aircraft system s,allof w hich w ou ld be refined and u sed in later con fl icts.
O PO
SI TE
M en o fthe U nited States 1stAi rC avalry abo utto
bo ard t he irh elicopter .T he U S “ai rm ob ile” t ac tics w ere desi gn ed to cope w ith the vari ed terr ain o fV ietna m an d the elusi venesso f the enem y f orces.Tr oo ps could b e qu ickl y m oved into b att le an d suppo rt ed fro m the air.
LEFT
A U SA F P-51 M ust ang releasi ng n apalm overN orth
Ko rea in 1951. The pist on eng ine P-51 w as a Second W orld W ar de si gn tha tp roved to be very ucce s ssf ulin he t ground -attack role.
w ar progressed.
BoeingB-52 Stratofortress T he B -52 w as the u ltim ate C old W ar w eap on ,designed to d eliver nuclear
L O W
A U SAF Boeing
B-52 drop s its bo m bs.D espi te be ing devel op ed as a st rateg ic
service to day,and fo r the f o reseeab le fu ture.T he B -52 w as dram atically repurpo sed during t he V ietnam W ar,being used t o drop 225 -o r 340 -kilogram -
bo m ber,du ring the V ietnam
(50 0- or 75 0-po und -) bo m bs on tacticaltargets such as en em y sup ply routes or cam ps, or in suppo rto f gr oun d fo rces. T he use of such overw helm ing fo rce (essentially carpe t-bo m bing) w as justifie d at the tim e b ecau se of the diffi cu lty in spo tting p inp o int targets in the d en se jun gle.B u t after the w ar,the prop ortion ality of the raids w as que stion ed ,given the huge ton nage o f b om bs
Lieutenant-Colonel Vermont Garrison (1915–1994)
E
bo m bs on to So viet cities.So successfulw as the d esign that B-52s rem ain in
W arB -52 sw ere often used to carpet-bo m b areasofjung le in o rde rto knock outsupply rou tes,t roo ps and cam ps.I n the pro cessthey de st royed sever alsquare ki lom etres of
a tim e.
dro p p ed fo r little re algain.
Ve rm on tG arrison w as the oldesto f the Ko rean W ar “aces”,eventually sho oting d ow n 10 M iG s.Like m any of t he K orean W ar pilots, G arrison w as also a ve ry successfulSe con d W orld W ar fighter pilot.Th e “aces” of the Ko rean W ar attracted m uch p ub lic attention . C om petition w as fierc e betw een the Sabr e pilo ts to reco rd the m o st “kills”,just as it had b ee n in p rev io u s co n flicts,particu larly in the FirstW orld W ar.The Sabr es w er e of ten outnum bered by t he M iG s,w ho also fou ght m uch closer to their bases.But the U SA F pilo ts w ere b etter traine d an d cru cially m uch m ore exp erienced.
127
A U S N avy F4-B Pha
ntom
at tacks a Vi etC on g p osition .
G rou nd troop s w ou ld o ften ca llo n a ircraftto p rovide close air sup po rtag ainst w ell-con cea led gu errilla forces.
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
TH E S P A C E RA C E It had been consi d ered that o nly the
b estG erm an scientists avai lable led b y the
explo sive po w er ofthe ro cketengi ne could
bri lliantW ernher von Braun,an d built by
rel iably overcom e the E arth’ s gravi ty.In the
slave l abour and pri so ners ofw ar.
1930 s,it w as G erm any t hatled the field in thi s A s they advanced acr oss G erm any,the research.The N aziregi m e invest ed a great
A m eri cans and So vi ets rushed to secure he t
O P P O S ITE: he Stur Vn r oc ket de si gn ed t laun o A the ch p ol o m i si o n t s o t h m e o o n . 1StVurn w s ber u i l t . Th w ey oer 1 ver 00 m etr es 330f e t ) t a l l a nd p rop el ed a by co m b i na t i o o n f kero sen e, l i qu i d o xyge n a nd l i qu i d nit rog en po , w eri ng a t o 1 t of al 1en gines:
B ELO W : he sev n ast r o na s uts el ect d fo P r oject M w ercu y er exp erti se of the engi neers res p o nsi b le fo r thea l l h i g h l skiy l l ed m i l i t a try est-pi l o t w s ho m svtery ri n g en t st a n d a rds rockets as weapo ns,cul m inating i n the V 2s.Von B raun and over 100 o f his col leagues So t t C a rpe n t er, Jh Gln en Dn, o n a l “ d D ek Sa e” yton , V i rgil “G us” creatio n of the V 2.T his w as designed by the w ere spi ri ted aw ay to the U nited States. G ri s om , W al l Shy i r a a nd LG o r do C n o o pe r .
dealofm on ey and effortinto d evel op ing
3
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
3
T h e O thers – mainly low er ranking sci entists than those in von Braun’s team – ended up in Russia,enhanci ng a rocketprogramm e that had been second only to G erm any’ s in the 1920s and 1930s.By the 1950s,under the gifted SergeiKorolev,the SovietU nion had already developed rocketsthatcould generate m ore than tw ice as much thrus t as their A m erican counterparts. The Sovietsachi eved the firstsignificant advances with the aunch l oftheir Sputnik satellite in O ctober 1957.They m ade a greatshow oftheir success es,which in turn fuelled A m erica’ s desire notto be seen as technologically inferio r to the C om m unists. The U S responded w ith the launch ofthe satellite Explorer Ii n January 1958.W hat subsequently became know n as the “Space R ace” had begun in earnest . N exton the ilstofnotable firsts w as m anned space fli ght.Again,the SovietU nion beatthe A m erican e orts by launchi ng
p a c e
a c e
“Cosm onaut” YuriGagarin on an orbitalflight in A pril1961.“Astronaut”A lan Shephard becam e the firstA m erican in space in M ay ofthe sam e year,and later the sam e m onth PresidentKennedy announced thatitw ould be the goalofthe United States to puta m an on the Moon and return him safely to Earth by the end ofthe decade.D eterm ined to m aintai n their lead,the Sovietsalso att em pted to reach the prize.The A m erican N ational A eronautics and Space Adm inistration (N A SA) w orked m ethodically through the considerable problem s ofdirecting a crew to a target400,000 kilom etres (250,000 m iles) aw ay.A stronauts w ere launched on ever m ore advanced anddem anding m issions that culm inatedin July 1969 w ith A pollo 11,which landed N eilA rm strong and Edw in “Buzz” A ldrin on the M oon. Both the A m erican public and politicians began to lose interestin the A pollo programm e after the firstfew m issions,and
W ernervon Br aun (1912–1977) L FT
Th e Inter na tio na l
Spa ce St ation. M any na tion s ha ve contribu ted elem en ts to the pro ject, p ri ncip all y the U nit ed Statesan d Russi a. It consi sts o fseveraldist inct
differentfun ction .The se includ e crew qu art ers a n d la b o ratoryaf cilities.
Von Braun w as the m ostim portantsci enti stin the G erm an pre-w ar investigations into rocketry .H e m aintai ned after thew ar thathis w ork on w eapons was a m eans to an end,and thathis reali nterestandpassion w as for m anned space travel.Atthe end ofthe war he w as determ ined to o er his servi ces to the Am ericans,rat her than the Soviets,and he becam e the elading figure ni the developm entofA m erican rockets – both the deadly IC BM s and the m ore benign space veh icles.
C om pon entsa re carried into orbitb y shuttles or rockets.
133
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
4
The Space ace on 14D ec em ber1 972as t r onaut G ene C ernanbecam et he las t pers on t o w al ko n t heM oo n. T heSo vi et s pac eprogr am m e had by no w al read yshi f t ed t o t he p o t en t ial fo r s ci e n t ifi c st u d y a o rd e d b y b u ild in g spacestat io nsi n o rbi t aro un d t he E art h – d eve lo p ing t h ei rt ech no lo gyw it h t h e Sal yu t program m e, fo llow ed byt he fam o usM ir. A m eri cal aunche dSk yl abi n1973 .N ew lev el sofi n t e rna t io n al co -op era t io n w ere achi eve d by b egi nn ing t h eco nst ructi o n o f t h e I n t e rna t io n al Sp ace Stat io n in 1 9 98 . W hi letheS o vi ets con t inu ed t o fo cuson rocket st o launch t he irc o s m o nauts ,N A SA
t u rne d it s at t e n t io n to re u sab le syst e m s w hi chw o ul d, it w ashop ed ,reduce t he cri p p lin g l e ve l o f e x p e n d it u re asso ci ated w it ht hespaceprogram m e. T heresul t w as t h eS p aceS hu tt le, w hi chre grett ab lyw as no t asecon o m ical ashad be en fo recast . Int en de dtom akes pacet ra vel m o re rou t ine ,t h e p rogram m e i s un fo rt un at el y rem em be redb ym anyf o rt he t ra gi cl o s s o f t he shu tt lesC hal len geri n 198 6 an d C o lum b iai n2 0 03 .M ean w hi le, in abi d t o findm orem on eyf ort hei r progr am m e, R uss iab egan t o o pe n up s pace t rav el t o t he sup er ri ch .
E :The spa ce shuttle C ha lleng er,w hich explo de d o n 28 Janu ary 19 8 6 w ith the loss of a llseven crew .Th is dea lta severe b low to the U S Seven fu rther shuttle astro na uts w ere lostin 2 0 03 w hen C o lum bia broke up as itreturne d to Ea rth, lea ving three shu ttles – D iscove ry,E nd ea vo ur ABOV
LE FT AN D O PPO SITE :Th e
A po llo 11 m issio n rep o rt.In und erstated de tail,itd escribe s the m issio n un de rtake n by the three -m an crew ,N eil A rm stron g,Ed w in “Buzz ” A ldrin and M ichaelC ollins.Theirg oa lw as sim ply sum m arized as “per form a m ann ed luna rland ing and return saf ely to Ea rth”.
S e r g e i o r o l e v (1 6 – 1 6 6
K o rol evw asa qu al ifi ed aero nau t ical en gi ne erw ho w as af ounderm em berof t heM os cow G r oupf or Study o f R eacti o n M o t io n i n the 193 0s. H e l ed t he So vi etU ni o n’ spre-w arr o cketr esearch, bu t w as arrested in 193 8 aspa rtofaStal ini st p urge ,cha rged w it htr eason and sent t o t he G ul ag. H ew ass avedb y b ei n g rec al le d to w o rk i n the R u ssi an ai rcraft in d ustry, and rel easedi n194 4. H ethenl ed t he deve lop m ent o f So vi etrock ets, pre si d ingo verthe m o st successf ul pe ri o di nthespacep rogram m e, be at ingtheU ni t ed State s t o sev e ral “fi rsts”.
135
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
TH E JE T A G E P P O SITE:
T his w as parti cularl y tr ue in the U nited Stat es, served in large num bers,707s outso ld D C -8s,O w here Bo eing l ed the field.In 1958 ,they
firm ly pl aci ng Bo eing i n fro nt.As techno lo gy
intro duced the 707,w hich could carry m o re
im proved and et j s becam e m ore effi ci ent and
than dou ble the num ber ofpassengersof the rel iable,they even b egan to rep lace t urbo p rop B ELO W re-intro duced Com et 4.T hey w ere hugel y
ai rl iners on shorter jo urneys.A no table
po pular and the D ou gl as A ircraft C om pany
ai rcraf t in this cl ass was t he French Sud
:
attem pted to m atch Bo eing’ s successw ith theA vi atio n C aravel le,a m edium range jet ai rl iner larger D C -8.A ltho ugh these m o dels bo th thatw as i ntro duced on U S internalr o utes.
6
137
Boeing 747 The 747 was developed by Boeing butits expensive 2 billion developm ent costs could only be borne thanks to a 500,000,000 advance order or f 25 of the new jets by Pan Am .Itproved to be a w inning idea.The design w as not revolutio nary,butitw as a very daring decisio n to build such a giantm achine (over 70-metres-[230-feet-]long with a wingspan ofnearly 60 metres [195 feet]) ata tim e w hen m any feltthatsupersoni c travelw ould be the next“big thing”.I t also m eantthatm any ai rportshad to be ex tensively m odified to cope w ith itssize.Since itfirstflew in 1969,the 747 has served w ith ai rlines allover the w orld.Ithas been adapted to carry rei f ghtas wellas pass engers, and itis one ofthe m ostrecognizable aircraftever built.
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The Jet ge im proved b y m anufact urer s,but there w ere no great “quant um leaps ”.N ew system s such as fly-by-w ire con trolw ere intro du ced in so m e airline rs – the A irbu s A -32 0 ,fo r exam ple – bu t the basic shap es and spee ds of transpo rt fle ets rem aine d fairly co nstant.By the 199 0s a nd early 200 0s, there w ere m ore pa ssen gers flying than eve r befo re,bu t the exp erience of flyi ng had becom e for m ost p eo p le akin to train o r b us services:usefu l to th eir live s in term s o f b usin ess o r h o lid ay travel,b u t cer tain ly n o t o ff e rin g the p u lsequ ickening glam o ur of five d ecades ago.
h a rl e s e a u l l e i rp o rt A m od ern airpo rtis a giant transpo rt interchange w ith h un dred s of tho usand s of pe o ple arriving b y car, train o r bu s and d ep arting b y aircraft (o r vice versa).T he largesto f the se have the sam e services as a sm all tow n,em ploying t ho usands of p eo ple han d ling b aggag e,m aintaining secu rity, selling go o d s,che cking p asspo rts and carrying o u t the m illio ns of o ther du ties need ed to keep the w orld o n the m ove.O pen ed in 1974,C harles de G aulle in P aris is an arche typalgiant in ternatio na lairp o rt an d its fu turistic de sign w as created specifica lly fo r the “jet age”.N ow ,in Euro pe ,on ly
E L O W The British A irwa ys C o nco rde factshe etp rovide d b y the a irline to p a ssenge rs o n the leg en d a ry sup ersonic a irline r. C o nco rde w as the o nly successfulsupe rsonic pa sseng er aircraft. Itw as o pe rated b y bo th British A irw ays an d A ir France .
Londo n H eathrow handl es m ore passengers per year.
141
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
M O D ERN A IR P O W E R T he archetypalmo dern com batai rcraft is
to carry ou t the m aj o r stri ke and ai r defence
expensi ve,pack ed w ith co m puter equipm ent
rol es,but its constructi o n w as o nly m ade
and armed w ith w eapons thatare them selves po ssib le thanks to internatio nalco-o p erati o n. m o re cost ly than ever befo re.Arguably the firstof this generat io n of superm achi nes
T he 1982 Fal kl ands W ar did no t involve the very at l esthi-tech com b atai rcraf t,but it
w ere the U S N avy’ s F-14 Tom catand U SA F
did feature he t V erti cal /Sho rtTake-O ff and
F-15 Eagl e,bo th of w hich w ere nt i roduced
Land ing (V/STO L) H arrier,an nge i nio us 1960s
in the m id-1970s.They w ere m ore pow erful and vast ly m o re advancedin term s oftheir
design thatm anaged to com prehensivel y def eat A rgenti na’ s ai r f o rce by provi ding valuable air
com pu ter and flight-controlsy stem s than anything thathad gone befo re. A consequence of increasi ng ai rcraft cost w as the m ove tow ards m ulti-role com bat ai rcra ft.Build ing dedicat ed fighters,bo m b ers and reconnai ssance ai rcraft w as no t an op tio n RIG H T:A N o rth ro p G rum m an KC -30 tan ker re fuels a B -2 Spirit for m any governments,hence t he devel op m ent o f ai rcraft such as he t Panavi a To rnado in the 1970s.No t only w as the Tornado desi gned
Apache AH -64 T he A pache is general ly regardedas t he ultim ate ground-supp ort w eapo n.T he fi rst A H -64 en tered U S A rm y servi ce i n 1984,and around 1,50 0 h ave been de livered to date. N ine natio ns operate,o r have sel ected,the latestvari ant,the A H -64 D ,includ ing the U K , Japan and the N etherl ands.I t is eq uipp ed w ith H ellfire m issi les and a 30 -m illim etre (1. 2-i n ch) autom atic canno n,and the crew is assi sted in lo cati ng targets by laser and infraredsyst em s. T he A pache can crui se atup to 284kilom etres pe r hour (176 m iles per hour).O ften respond ing to cal ls fo r ass istance fr om
tro o ps
o n the groun d,thi s hel icop ter has proved ex trem ely effecti ve i n m o de rn conflicts such as A fghanistan and Iraq.
4
143
A M cD on nel lD ou glas F- 15E St rike Eag le.Th e F-15 E is a m u lti-ro le a ircra fta b le to u n d erta ke bo th a ir-to -grou nd an d a ir-to -air com ba t m ission s.It can carry a vari ety of differen t w eap on s,and vari ants ofthe F- 15 ha ve bee n in serv ice w ith the U SA F since the m id-1970 s.
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
6
o d er
n i r ow
er
cover fo r the British taskorce f sen t to recl aim the islands. The 1991 G ulfW ar show ed justhow e ective the m ostadvanced ai rcraftand w eaponscan be.Som e argued thatthe U Sled coalition’s dem olition ofthe Iraqiarmy’s ability to w age war dem onstrated thatair pow er coul d w in a war alo ne – although it w as stillnecessary ot send in ground troops to liberate Kuw ait.Butitw as notjustthe preci sion “sm artbom b” strikeson com m and and controlce ntres bystealth aircraftsuchas the F-117,or the destruction ofenem y tanks by A-10 W arthogs,nor the direction provi ded by A irborne W arning and C ontrol(A W A C S) aircraftthatcontributed to vi ctory.Once agai n,the hum ble transportaircraftcame into its ow n.C-130s m oved coal ition forces into and around SaudiArabi a,and ni one notable operation,supported the m ovem entofsom e 250,000 troops into new positions prior to a m ajor attack. The rem arkably low num ber ofcoal ition casual ties ni the GulfW ar (especialy when com pared w ith Iraqicasual ties) added hugely to the perception thatair pow er was a di stinctly low -risk m ethod ofprojecti ng strength.For exam ple,itw as perceived to be m ore political ly expedient(parti cularl y in the U nited Stat es)to use ai r strikes to oustSerbia from Kosovo in 1999.Putting troops on the gr ound w ould have been extrem ely unpopular backhom e.The campaign succeeded in itsprinciple objecti ve w ith no U S or NATO casualties.Today, U nm anned A erialVehicles used or f a variety of reconnaissance and strike roles reduce the risk ofm ilitary ca sual ties even further. The 11 Septem ber 2001 terroristatt acks on N ew York and W ashington and the subsequent“W ar onng Terr or”inledanother to highly advanced aircraf tbei used “asymm etri cal” conflict.Although initialphases ofthe w ar agai nstthe Taliban in Afghanistan agai n show ed the value ofaircraftin m odern w ar,the continued presence ofA m erican, British and other coalition troops in that country hasdem onstrated thata determ ined and fanati calguerilla force can stillprevent technologicalsuperpow ersfrom achi eving ultim ate vi ctory.The lessons were si m ilar ni Iraq in 2003.D espi te the spectacul ar “shock and awe” attacksthatbegan the campaign and quick vi ctory in the conventionalregi m e change phase ofthe w ar,only a “surge”oftroops on the ground eventual ly began to turn the tide agai nstthe insurgents.
BO
VE
The C hinese em ba ssy in Belgrade, Yug o slavia (no w
in Se rbia) a year afteritw as bo m be d in error by U S aircraft in M ay 199 9.N ATO blam ed the a ttack on inaccurate targeting info rm atio n,p roving tha tde spite the d evelo pm ent of a ccurate “sm artbo m bs”,m istakes tha tresultin the d ea th o f inn oce nt civilian s can o ccur,eithe rthro ug h system s m alfun ctio n o r,a s in this case,hum an error.
LEFT
U .S.A irForc e C -130 cargo plane,Lockheed C -130 H ercules.C ap able o f using unp repa red runw ays for takeo ffs and lan ding s,the C -13 0 w as o rigina lly design ed as a troo p, m edical eva cua tio n, an d cargo transpo rtaircraft.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The C -130 H ercul es is the ultim ate transport w orkhorse.Since enteri ng servi ce w ith the U SA F in 1956,vari antshave serve d w ith the ai r forcesof50 nati o ns.It is an extrem ely robust aircraft,and can ake t o from shortand unprepared runw ays.Butthe m ostim portant reason for ts i longevity si the enorm ous flexibility ofthe design.Its m ain duties are troop and m ilitary cargo transpo rt,butin its career he t H ercul es has al so been used as a gunship,a refuel ling tanker,a searchand rescue platfo rm ,and as a humanitari an aid aircraf t. Itis a key com ponentofany m odern arm y and is setto rem ain in servi ce for m any years to com e.
147
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//1946-P resen t
A V IA T IO N F O RA L L
148
M em be rship o f flying club s grew in the 19 20 s fo r ligh t aircraft– e ith e r used fo r pe rson al and 1930 s,no tably in the U nited K ingdo m .
transpo rt o r a s realleisure craft.B rid gin g
P rivatel y o w n e d aircraft,p arti cu larly the d e
the gap b etw ee n the sm allligh t aircraft an d
H avilland M o th series,proved ex trem ely
a large co m m ercialairline r is the p ersona l
po pular.C om panies such as Bee ch and C essna b usine ss jet.T his m o st lu xu rio us o f ex ecu tive b e gan to create l igh t aircraftspe cifi cally
accesso ries has,since the 196 0 s,com e to b e
fo r th e p rivate i n d ivid u alin the d ec ad e
u n ive rsal ly a sso ciated w ith in d ivid u alw e alth o r
im m ed iately preced ing the Seco nd W o rld
corporate p ow er.
W ar.In the 195 0 s,th e m arket fo r ligh t aircraft
H ow ever,the dream of true “aviatio n fo r
grew o nce again an d it w as in 19 55 that the
all” has rem aine d o u t o f reach.A t the m o st
m o st successfu lligh t aircraft ev er pro d u ced ,
fancifule nd o f the spe ctrum ,the id ea of a
the C essna 172 ,first flew .T he third m ajo r
flying car h as co ntinu ed to app eal,b ut o ne
m anu facturer of this type o f m achine ,Pipe r,
h as yet to m ateri alize as a viab le ve h icle .K it
also p roved that the re w as a hu ge d esire
aero plane s w ere seen as a m o re realistic
ELO W C essna18 0.C essnai sone oft hem ost fam iliar na m esi ng ene r al avi ati on . Si ncet hel at e19 20 s theco m pa nyhas p rod uc ed a seri eso f leis urea nd ligh t tran spo rt a ircr a ft inc lud ing the C essna 17 2 o ne o f the m ost po pu larl igh t ai rcr aft everbu ilt.
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Aviation For All
151
H an g-gl iding over Yosem
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T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
AV IA TI O N A N D T H E M O D E R N W O R LD
A
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A t the starto f the tw enty-firstcentury ,it is
ai r f o rce or ai rl ine to d ay can n o w exp ect
im po rtantto rem em be r justhow large an
to o btai n decadesof w ork from a m od ern
ind ustr y avi atio n is.I t em p lo ys hundreds of
techn o lo gi calm arvel .
tho usands o f peo ple w o rl d w ide,building, servi ci ng,flyi ng,and supp o rti ng ai rcraf t.Th e
In parts ofthe devel o ping w o rl d w here p roblem s are often substantial ly m o re
craft them selves are so exp ensive to p roduce chal lengi ng thantho se f aced in the W est, that,mo re oft en than n o t,i n ternatio nal co-operat io n is th e only vi able w ay t o b uild
ai rcraft can have a dram ati cal ly po si tive im pact.In areas m ade unreachable b y
them .Even the U nited States m akesuse of
conventio nall and -transportfo llo w ing cri ses
internati o n alcontract o rs t o supp ly syst em s
such as w ar or naturald isaster,ai rcraft can b e
fo r st ate -of -the-artai rcraf t.O ne consol atio n used to d eliver vi talf o o d and m edicalsup p lies. o f this m assive exp end iture is the increased
A viatio n m akes vastinho spi table p laces
length o f o p erati o nalservi ce.Aircraft b uilt in
habitable;ai rcraft o f the A ustr al ian R o yal
the first hal f of the tw entieth century w ere
Flyi ng D o cto r Servi ce fo r exam ple,can
o ften o b sol ete within a f ew years,whilstan
m ean the difference betw een life and death
: Loading cargo at night,Cologne-Bonn airport G ermany,2007. Every year freight companies deliver hundreds of millions of packages to customers all around the world via both dedicated cargo aircraft and in the holds of passenger aeroplanes. Just two of the largest freight companies between them deliver around 18 million packages every day. B ELO W
A i r b u As 3 0 T he Air bu s A- 38 0 is the large st com m er cia l air liner in ser vice t o day;th e ulti m ate “eco nom y o fsc ale” tr ansp o r t,it is equip ped to car r y o ver 500 passenge rs .E uro pea n co nsor tium A ir bu s Ind ustr ies pro du ced a se r ie s o fsuc ces sful air liner s in th e 1980s and 1990s,a nd th e A -380 w as desig ned as a “hub a nd spo ke” aircraf t t o flybe tw ee n m ajo r a irpor ts.O w in g to its enorm o us siz e, th e A -380 can only o per ate at ver y lar ge airpo r ts w hich h ave bee n u pgra ded to co pe w it h i ts bulk and w ingspa n.Am e r ican co m pany B o eing h as inv est ed in asm aller design,th e B o eing 78 7,wh ic h alth o ugh o nly able to car r y ar o und h alfo fth e passenge r s o fan A- 380, m ay co ns equen tly pro ve t o be am o re flexi ble o p tio n as it o ffers th e pot entia lto o p er ate fro m agr ea ter n u m ber ofa irpor ts.
5
155
A n a ir/sea rescu e h elico p ter assists a ve sselin distress in 2 00 6.In 20 07 in the U K, RA F an d Roya lN avy rescue h elicopter s w ere cal led ou t over 1, 75 0 tim es,assi sting aroun d 1 ,50 0 p eo ple.
T h e F u tu re o fF ligh t//194 6-P resen t
BO VE A irpo rt exp an si o nis a co ntr o versi alan d divi si veis sue .W hil e m an y argu e t ha t inc rease d c a p a ci ty i s ne cessa ry t o sa tisf y t he ri si ng p ub lic de m an dfor ai r tr ave lp r otest soft enc en tr eo nen vi r o nm en tal co nce r ns
loca lpe op lew ho arecon
8
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BOV he the the The
E Pa ki st an ipo licem en u nl o ad supp lies f r om a U S t r an spo rt lico pter inK ash m ir in2 0 0 5 aft erad eva st ati ng ea rt hq ua ke.I n w ake oft hi shu ge na tural dis ast er he lico pter sprovi de d o ne of b est m ea ns o f sup p lyi ng aid t o v illag es i n the a ff ec ted area s. yw ereal sou sedtoevacu at ei nj uredp eo pl e.
viation and the M odern W orld in remote areas.And it is not just in the An overw helming body of evidence shows Austr alian bush that aircraft can play such a that this is hav ing adevastating impact on vital role. Modern air ambulances are able to our planet. O ne of the most enduring and transport critically inj ured patients to hospital horrifying images of recent times was the within minutes,and the lives of numerous sight of passenger aeroplanes flying into the climbers and mariners have been saved by W orld Trade Center in New York,and the rescue helicopters and air-sea rescue crews. Pentagon in W ashington. Although the use For many of us,our involvement with flying of aircraft by terrorists is mercifully a rare is limited to holiday or business travel. W e occurrence –thanks in par t to the increased can also keep in regular and close contact levels of securit y at most modern air ports – with family and friends spread across the there is another equally sobering aspect of world,thanks to the network of air routes their existence:they make national and even that criss-cross the planet. W e are increasingly natural borders unimportant. W hile this is a accustomed to the ready availability of tremendous boon for travellers,it can be a imported products,the delivery of which is terrifying prospect for the civilians who,since often time-dependent. The range of items the First W orld W ar,have been placed in the that are transported by air is staggering – front line of battle,thanks to the awesome from fresh flowers to computer equipment, power of aerial bombardment. from exotic fruit to the mail. H owever,it is inevitable that when so many people can fly to so many destinations, problems may result. Some locations around the world gain enormous benefit from visiting travellers,but others face unwelcome and sometimes crippling over-development thanks to unrestricted and unsustainable tourism. Perhaps most alarmingly ofall,aviation is one of the fastest growing producers of the gases that cause the greenhouse effect.
BO VE N D I G H T The11S ept em ber20 01a ttacksont he W orl dTr ad eC ent er inN ew York U SA . N earl y 30 0 0peo pl edi ed w he n terr o ri st s cr a she d fou r hij a cke d a irl ine rs into t he W o rl d Tra d e
EurofighterTyphoon T he Eurofight er Typhoon
in m any w ay s
sym bo lizes the m o de rn aircraft ind ustry. A ltho ugh it w as o riginally d esigne d d uring the C old W ar,because of an ext rem ely leng thy devel o pm en t pro cess,it did n o t en ter service u ntilo ver a d ecad e after the fallo f the B erlin W allin 19 89 and the end o f com m unism in the Sovi et U nion . T he p rodu ct of fo ur coun tries w o rking in co llabo ratio n (Britain, G erm any, Italy and Sp ain),E uro figh ter parts are bu ilt allo ver Eu rope, w ith final assem bly taking p lace in every o ne o f the part ner natio ns.T he de sign h as by nece ssity changed and evo lved , so that w hat w as once i ntended as a pure fighter no w fulfils m any other c o m bat roles, includ ing bo m bing and recon naissance .
159
DISCOVER
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BUY Y O UR C O P Y T O D A Y
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164 PAGES OF FLYING M ACH IN ES
ookof
THE EVOLUTION
OF AVIATION
D iscove r the inc red ible o rigins o f flight as w e k no w it tod ay E xp lo re the tech no lo gicalleap s that led to a new kind o f w arfare W itne ss the inn o vatio ns d riving the n ex t gen eratio n o f aircraft
