When was the first aircraft built? The very first aircraft in the world. Flyer flight control

  • 15.05.2020

Mankind wanted to fly long before it learned to move quickly on land or water. The birds moved in the air too temptingly, without experiencing any noticeable external resistance. Man, in his movements, was limited by the plane of the earth or the smooth surface of the water, and could speed up the movement only with the help of animals, currents or wind.

The desire to fly at first led only to tragedies. Icarus and Daedalus are mythological characters, but there is evidence of real attempts to fly with the help of wings held together by wax. Such jumps could not be good for the forerunners of today's pilots.

Gradually, attempts to fly acquired a more prudent character. People have learned to take to the air balloons and build similarities of gliders and hang gliders. But if people, according to some sources, could fly hang-gliders already in the first millennium of our era, then the development of aviation rested in the absence of a mover. As one of the pioneers of aviation, Emmanuel Swedenborg, wrote, the human body has too much weight and produces too little power.

However, centuries of labor of people who aspired to fly were not in vain. Gradually, general ideas about the design of aircraft, how to control them and the aerodynamic properties of materials were developed. It was up to the engine...

In the second half of the 19th century, steam and gasoline engines were made sufficiently compact and powerful to fit on an airplane. The race to create a workable airplane received a new acceleration, and work of varying degrees of success was carried out in several countries at once.

Most often, the creators of the first aircraft in the world are called the American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. There is a lot of evidence that even before the flight of Orville Wright on December 17, 1903, other pilots were already making successful flights. But the Wright brothers documented and photographed their flights well. In addition, they approached the business of designing aircraft with great care, carefully recording all the results of their work.

Orville was the driving force behind the Wright brothers' duo, although Wilbur was the first to take an interest in aviation. It was he who, in 1899, after the death of the famous aeronaut Otto Lilienthal, began to collect literature on aviation. When Orville joined the case, the brothers began their road to glory.

Creating their plane (they called it “Flyer” without any fuss, from the English verb fly - “fly”), the Wright brothers along the way did a huge research work. After making calculations, they decided that the power of the existing engine and the strength of the materials for the flight would be enough. But before the brothers, no one really thought about the control of the aircraft in flight, which often led to injuries and deaths. The key was the invention of the brothers of the control system, which allowed the aircraft not only to make small maneuvers, but also to resist the side wind. Only after testing the control system on their own built kites and gliders, they decided on a manned flight.

On December 14, 1903, the Flyer, piloted by Wilbur, who won the toss right, crashed to the ground immediately after taking off from the guide rails due to pilot error. Three days later, Orville was more fortunate, and the flight of 36.5 meters is now considered the first in the history of aviation.

Subsequently, the Wright brothers continued to work on aircraft, while trying to get funding from the governments of the United States and other countries. Not having received money from the authorities, they patented their aircraft control system, attracted a company involved in sales military equipment and their business skyrocketed. Their planes were sold at unprecedented prices of $25 and $30,000. The moment of triumph came in October 1909. In front of millions of people celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Hudson River, Wilbur Wright flew along the river within the boundaries of New York, and then circled the Statue of Liberty.

The plane of the Russian engineer Alexander Mozhaisky took off more than twenty years earlier than the Flyer. Moreover, Mozhaisky's flying machine was much more like modern aircraft than the fruit of the work of the Wright brothers. On July 20, 1882, the mechanic I. Golubev, who piloted the plane, was able to take off from the ground on it and make a short flight.

However, the superiority of Mozhaisky was not properly recorded for two reasons at once. The engineer himself considered the flight just an ordinary test, not worth fanfare. And later he ran out of funding and could not continue work on the aircraft. However, the scientific community acknowledges that Mozhaisky's aircraft was technically designed to a very high standard.

Interestingly, at the end of the 20th century, scientists conducted aerodynamic tests of the Mozhaisky aircraft model. They showed that for a full-fledged flight, a properly designed apparatus lacked only the power of the available engines.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was born and died in Brazil, but he achieved his main successes in aeronautics and aviation in France. Supporters of the fact that it was Santos-Dumont who was the creator of the first aircraft argue their version by the fact that his aircraft did not use a strong headwind (like the Wright brothers' plane), an accelerating plane (like Mozhaisky's plane) or a catapult to start. Accordingly, they believe, the year of the invention of the aircraft should be considered 1906, when Santos-Dumont made his first flight.

Santos-Dumont gained immense popularity flying in hot air balloons and airships. He created for himself the image of a lightweight dandy athlete. Having collected a whole collection of cash and other prizes for setting records, the miniature Brazilian began to enter the high society. The rich and those in power met with pleasure and maintained friendship with him.

However, behind the polished appearance of Santos-Dumont, a deep mind was hidden. For his 14-bis aircraft, he created a control system with the predecessors of perfect ailerons. He constantly worked on the manufacturability of aircraft assembly and increasing the power density of engines.

October 23, 1906 he flew 60 meters in the presence of dozens of spectators. The Santos-Dumont plane took off and landed on its own, without dropping the landing gear, which still makes it possible to consider him an aviation pioneer.

Arguments in disputes

Most likely, all three points of view on who invented a car capable of moving in the ocean of air are justified. In some aspects, the Wright brothers, and Alexander Mozhaisky, and Alberto Santos-Dumont were the first.

For example, supporters of the Wright brothers believe that their plane took off on rails simply because of the sandy soil at the test site. Fans of Santos-Dumont built dozens of copies of the 14-bis and flew hundreds of hours on them, while of the many attempts to build copies of the Flyer, only a few were successful, and even then only partially. Well, Mozhaisky's aircraft was two decades ahead of its competitors, and if a Russian engineer had received funding, the first aircraft would most likely have been created in Russia. We should pay tribute to all the pioneers of aviation. Through trial and error, often at the risk of health and life, they built and piloted the first aircraft, and laid the foundation for the huge industry that aviation has become today.

The birthplace of the passenger aircraft industry is Russia. The first passenger aircraft in the history of aviation was the Russian Ilya Muromets. The aircraft designed by Sikorsky, converted into a passenger bomber, was equipped with a comfortable lounge, a restaurant, separate bedrooms and even a bathroom. Muromets had heating and electricity. For the first time the plane took off on December 10, 1913, in February 1914 a demonstration flight was made with 16 passengers on board. In June of the same year, the aircraft set a distance record by flying from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back with only one intermediate landing. The beginning of the First World War and the Civil War in Russia prevented the further development of the domestic civil aviation.

The second passenger aircraft was the American Ford Trimotor. It was equipped with three piston engines (two on the wings and one on the nose) and took on board 8 passengers. The Trimotor was produced from 1925 to 1933. Due to its reliability, the aircraft was used for many years after production ended. In the mid-30s, production of the DC-3 began, which became the most massive passenger aircraft in history. It was also produced for the needs of the US Army and the Allies during the Second World War as the C-47 Skytrain (Dacota). The plane took on board 21-32 passengers. The DC-3 was also produced under license in the USSR under the designation PS-84/Li-2. The most popular aircraft in pre-war Europe was the Junkers Ju52/3m. Passenger seaplanes have become widespread.
After the end of the war, the leading design bureaus were characterized by the creation of multi-engine passenger aircraft based on the gliders of heavy bombers. In the 50s, the era of jet airliners began. The first such aircraft was the British De Havilland Comet, which took off on July 27, 1949. However, after a series of accidents, the airliner was temporarily withdrawn from flights in 1954 and subjected to major modernization. Leadership in the field of jet passenger aviation has passed to Soviet Union with the Tu-104 airliner (first flight June 17, 1955) and the United States with the Boeing 707 (first flight July 15, 1954), created on the basis of military aircraft.

Wide-body aircraft became a further development of civil aviation. The American Boeing 747 was the first wide-body aircraft to take to the air in 1969. The largest wide-body ultra-large aircraft was the double-deck Airbus A380, which made its first flight on April 27, 2005. In the late 60s of the 20th century, the first supersonic aircraft appeared - the Soviet Tu-144 and Anglo-French Concorde. However, they did not achieve commercial success, becoming rather symbols of the prestige of national aviation industries. Tu-144 after several accidents was decommissioned. The Concorde served until 2003, but a crash in 2000 proved fatal for this aircraft, also taken out of service.

Modern passenger aircraft outwardly differ little from those that appeared in the 60s. Nowadays, the focus is on improving aircraft engines to improve fuel efficiency and reducing noise levels, improving avionics and lightening the design of the airframe through the use of new generation materials, including those based on composites.

The world's first website info.cern.ch appeared in 1990. Its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, published a description of new technology World Wide Web, based on the HTTP data transfer protocol, addressing system →

Aircraft! The history of the development of aircraft construction!

Aircraft!

Aircraft!

An airplane is a heavier-than-air aircraft equipped with a power plant, the design of which provides for the presence of a fixed wing, which creates lift when accelerating.

The presence of a fixed wing distinguishes an airplane from a flywheel (ornithopter) and a helicopter, and the presence of an engine distinguishes it from a glider.

An airplane differs from an airship and a balloon in that it uses an aerodynamic rather than an aerostatic method of creating lift.

When did the term "airplane" appear?

The word "aircraft" was originally used to refer to aircraft as early as the 19th century.

So, in 1857, the captain of the 1st rank N. M. Sokovnin used this word to refer to a controlled balloon.

In a meaning close to modern, the word "airplane" was first used by the journalist and writer Arkady Vasilievich Evald in the article "Aeronautics", which was published in 1863 in the newspaper "Voice", where he proposed the idea of ​​such an aircraft for the first time in Russia.

How did the "airplane" appear?

In the last years of the 18th century, Sir George Cayley made the first serious study of the physics of flight. In 1799, George Cayley designed a glider layout that, except for vertical projection, was fully consistent with modern ones, the tail of the device was used for control, and the pilot was below the center of mass to ensure flight stabilization. This model flew in 1804.

Continuing to study the physics of flight, Cayley formulated much of the fundamentals of aerodynamics and coined terms such as lift and drag.

Cayley used internal and external combustion engines in his work, for which gunpowder was used as a fuel, but settled on the Alphonse Peno rubber engine, which made it possible to make models with an engine simpler.

As a result, Cayley managed to build a full-scale aircraft, which made an unmanned flight in 1849. And in 1853, an already manned short flight was made in Brompton, near Scarborough in Yorkshire.

In 1848, Englishman John Stringfellow also made a successful test flight of a steam powered model at Chard, Somerset. His vehicle was unmanned.

In 1868, the Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first flight, in which he rose above the starting point, in his glider L'Albatros artificiel using horse-drawn traction on the shore. Le Bris reportedly reached a height of 100 meters, covering a distance of 200 meters.

In 1874, Felix du Temple in Brest (France) built the Monoplane, a large aluminum aircraft with a wingspan of 13 meters and a weight of 80 kg (without a pilot). Several tests were made, the glider started from the springboard, the flight lasted a short time and returned safely.

Another person who contributed to the study of the theory of flight was Francis Herbert Wenham, who repeatedly tried to build a number of unmanned gliders. In the course of his work, he found that more of the lift from the bird-like wing was made at the front of the wing, from which he concluded that long and thin wings would be more effective than the bat-like wings commonly used by his colleagues, because how they have a larger cutting edge relative to their weight. Today this characteristic is known as wing aspect ratio.

In 1866, Francis Herbert Wenham presented his research to the newly formed Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. After that, Francis Herbert Wenham decided to get a practical confirmation of his concept by building the world's first wind tunnel, which was created in 1871.

Members of the Royal Aeronautical Society used a wind tunnel and determined that curved wings had significantly better lift than expected from Cayley's research based on Newtonian mechanics.

Thus, already at that time, the possibility of the practical construction of apparatuses heavier than air was clearly demonstrated. Remained, however, the problem of engines and flight control.

Research in aerodynamics, in the 1880s, was reinforced by the construction of the first truly practically usable gliders. Three main contributors were Otto Lilienthal, Percy Pilcher and Octave Chanute.

One of the first truly modern gliders was built by John J. Montgomery, in which Montgomery made a controlled flight near San Diego on August 28, 1883.

The German Otto Lilienthal repeated the experiments of Francis Herbert Wenham in 1874, and continued his research, publishing the results in 1889. He also designed a number of the best gliders of his time, and in 1891 he was already flying 25 meters or more. He rigorously documented his work, including photographs, and for this reason he is considered one of the most famous early aviation pioneers. He also promoted the "jump before you fly" concept, which was that inventors should start with gliders and be able to get them into the air, instead of just designing a powered car on paper and hoping it would work. His type of aircraft is today known as a hand glider.

In 1896, by this time Otto Lilienthal had made 2500 flights on different devices, a gust of wind broke the wing of his last glider, as a result of which Otto Lilienthal fell from a height of about 17 m, having received a spinal fracture. Otto Lilienthal died the next day, his last words were "sacrifices must be made".

After the death of Otto Lilienthal, the works of Octave Chanute can be distinguished. In the summer of 1896, several of Octave Chanute's craft made a series of flights to Miller Beach, Indiana, and he ultimately concluded that the biplane was the most successful flying design. Just like Lilienthal, Octave Chanute documented all his work and photographed its results, in addition, he corresponded with many aviation enthusiasts from around the world.

Octave Chanute was particularly interested in solving the problem of aircraft stability in flight, something that birds would correct instinctively, but something that humans would have to do by hand.

During this period, many attempts were made to design an aircraft equipped with engines. However, most of these efforts were doomed to failure, since they were developed by amateurs who did not have a full understanding of the problems studied by Lilienthal and Chanute.

In 1882, Alexander Mozhaisky near Krasnoye Selo, Russia built and tested a monoplane with two steam engines, which, according to some reports, was able to lift itself off the ground after a takeoff run. However, the “flight” itself was unsuccessful: some time after the liftoff, the plane lost speed and crashed onto the wing. A.F. Mozhaisky did not have money to continue research.

The Frenchman Clement Ader successfully tested his Eole powered by a steam engine, which was able to make a short 50-meter flight near Paris in 1890. After this ordeal, he immediately began a large project that took five years to complete. However, the resulting vehicle, the Avion III, was too heavy and was barely able to get off the ground.

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim studied a number of projects in England, after which he designed a huge apparatus weighing 3175 kg with a wingspan of 32 m, equipped with two modernized lightweight steam engines with a capacity of 180 hp. With. (134 kW) each. Maxim built this apparatus to study the basic problems of design and engines, but not control, and, realizing that the flight would be dangerous, he tested it on a 550 m long rail track specially built for this purpose.

After a large number of test runs that passed without any problems, on July 31, 1894, a series of runs began with increasing engine power. The first two were successful, the device "flew" on rails. Then in the afternoon they launched three boilers at full power, and after reaching a speed of 68 km / h after 180 m, the car took off so abruptly that it collided with the top rail, made specifically to limit the flight height (ironically, it was supposed to ensure the safety of the tests) , and crashed shortly thereafter.

Englishman Percy Pilcher in the mid-late 1890s created several working gliders, Bat, Beetle, Seagull and Hawk, which he successfully flew. In 1899, Percy Pilcher built a prototype powered aircraft that a recent study showed was capable of flight. However, Percy Pilcher died after a glider accident before he could test his machine.

In Russia, the first aircraft project was proposed by Nikolai Afanasyevich Teleshov in 1864.

In 1882, in the presence of representatives of the military department of the Russian Empire and the Russian Technical Society, an attempt was made to take off on an airplane with a steam power plant, built according to the project of the Russian naval officer Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky. The power of the engines of the Mozhaisky aircraft was small for the flight, however, according to eyewitnesses, there was a short-term separation of the device from the ground, as a result of which the device flew more than 100 sazhens.

The first real flights of "aircraft"!

The first real flight of an aircraft in history was carried out in the United States by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903. Their Flyer plane stayed in the air for 59 seconds and flew 260 meters.

Flyer 1 by the Wright brothers. First confirmed flight of a powered aircraft.

On September 20, 1904, on improved models, the Wright brothers performed the first circling flight in the world.

In 1905, the Wright brothers flew a 39 km closed circuit.

The Wright brothers' apparatus was a canard-type biplane - the pilot was placed on the lower wing, the rudder at the rear, the elevator at the front. The two-spar wings were sheathed in thin unbleached muslin. The Flyer's engine was a four-stroke, 16 horsepower and weighed 80 kg.

Instead of a wheeled chassis, the Wrights used a launch catapult consisting of a pyramidal turret and a wooden guide rail. The catapult was driven by a falling massive load connected to the aircraft by a cable through a system of special blocks.

The Wright brothers were apparently the first aircraft design team to conduct serious research into solving control and propulsion problems at the same time. They ended up designing and building an engine that could deliver the required power and solved the control problem with a system known as "wing warping". Although this method was only used for a very short period of aviation history, it was effective at low airspeeds.

While many aviation pioneers relied heavily on luck for flight safety, the Wright brothers' design took into account the need to fly without unreasonable risk to life and limb, avoiding accidents. It was this, and not the lack of power, that was the reason for the low speed and for taking off with a headwind. This was also the reason for the design solution with the center of gravity at the rear, the canard layout, and the wings with a negative angle in the transverse plane.

In Russia practical development aircraft aviation began in 1909. The government of the Russian Empire decided to reject the offer of the Wright brothers to buy their invention and build aircraft on their own.

Design Russian aircraft instructed the officers-aeronauts M. A. Agapov, B. V. Golubev, B. F. Gebauer and A. I. Shabsky. We decided to build three-seater aircraft of various types, in order to choose the most successful one later. But, the above designers did not achieve positive results.

The first successes of Russian aviation date back to 1910.

On June 4, 1910, Prince Alexander Kudashev, a professor at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, flew several tens of meters in a biplane of his own design.

On June 16, 1910, the young Kyiv aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky first took his plane into the air, and three days later engineer Yakov Gakkel flew on an aircraft of an unusual scheme for that time - a biplane with a fuselage (bimonoplane).

Aircraft era.

Starting in the 1920s, aircraft designers, having mastered the first basics of aircraft construction, began to compete in creating devices that would be faster, fly farther and higher, and have easier control.

Aircraft Classification!

Aircraft are currently large group aircraft of different purpose and design.

For the intended purpose airplanes distinguish between civil and military.

Civil aircraft include passenger, cargo and cargo-passenger, administrative, sports, agricultural and other non-military aircraft.

Military aircraft include fighters (air combat, fighter-bombers, fighter-interceptors, multipurpose), attack aircraft, bombers (front-line, long-range, intercontinental), reconnaissance (tactical, operational, strategic), military transport (light, medium, heavy) , anti-submarine, combat support aircraft (radar patrol and guidance, jammers, air control posts, in-flight fuel tankers, etc.).

The structure of military and civil aviation also includes educational, training, sanitary, patrol, search and rescue aircraft.

By type of propulsion aircraft are classified as propeller or jet.

In accordance with the type of engines, aircraft are often called piston, turboprop, jet.

According to the conditions of basing distinguish land-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft, seaplanes (flying boats or float) and amphibious aircraft, and according to the requirements for the length of the runway - vertical, short and conventional takeoff and landing aircraft.

Ability to maneuver(maximum value of operational overload) aircraft are divided into maneuverable, limitedly maneuverable and non-maneuverable aircraft.

Manned and unmanned aircraft.

There are other target and constructive classifications of aircraft.

Aircraft! The history of the development of aircraft construction!

Leonardo da Vinci thought about flying in the sky with the help of a special device in the 16th century, but the first flight was officially registered at the beginning of the last century. There is still fierce debate about who we owe the possibility of air travel to, but the fact remains that the first flight was officially registered in 1903. The very first airplane in the world was invented by the Wright brothers.

Aviation history

The first attempts to build an aircraft capable of lifting a person into the air began at the end of the 18th century. The history of the invention of the flying machine originates in England, when Sir George Cayley took up this issue in earnest and published several scientific papers, in which he detailed the principle of construction and operation of a prototype of a modern aircraft.

The inventor began his work with birdwatching. The scientist devoted a long time to measuring the flight speed of birds and the wing span. These data subsequently became the basis of several publications that marked the beginning of the development of aviation.

In his first sketches, Cayley envisioned the aircraft as a boat with a tail at one end and a pair of oars at the bow. The structure was supposed to be driven by oars, which would transfer rotation to a cruciform shank at the end of the vessel. In this way, Cayley unmistakably depicted the main elements of the aircraft. It was the work of this scientist that laid the foundation for the development of aviation and became the impetus for the development of the concept of the aircraft.

The pioneer of aviation in its modern sense was another English inventor - William Henson. It was he who received an order to develop a project for an aircraft in 1842.

The "steam air crew" proposed by Henson described all the main elements of a propeller-driven aircraft. As a device that moves the entire structure, the inventor proposed to use a propeller. Many of the ideas proposed by Henson were subsequently developed and began to be used in early aircraft models.

Russian inventor N.A. Teleshov patented the project for the construction of an "aeronautics system". The concept of the flying machine was also based on a steam engine and a propeller. A few years later, the scientist improved his project and was one of the first to propose the idea of ​​​​creating a jet aircraft.

A feature of Teleshov's projects was the idea of ​​transporting passengers in a closed fuselage.

Who invented the airplane

Despite the fact that the development of the design of the aircraft was carried out by many scientists in the middle of the 19th century, the invention of the aircraft is attributed to the Wright brothers, whose airplane made a short flight in 1903.

Not everyone agrees that the Wright brothers were the first. Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont designed, built and tested the world's first airship prototype in 1901. It was then that it was proved that controlled flights are indeed possible.

According to another version, the championship in the invention of the first working aircraft should be given to the Russian inventor A.F. Mozhaisky, whose name will forever remain in the history of aviation. Thus, disputes about who invented and who created the aircraft are still ongoing.

Interesting! Despite the fact that the invention of the aircraft is officially awarded to the Wright brothers, all Brazilians are sure that Santos-Dumont invented the world's first aircraft. In Russia, it is believed that the first prototype of a modern aircraft was built by Mozhaisky.

The work of the Wright brothers

The Wright brothers were not the first inventors of the airplane. Moreover, the first uncontrolled human flight also does not belong to them. Nevertheless, the Wright brothers were able to prove the most important thing - that a person is able to fly an aircraft.

It was Wilbur and Orville Wright who were the first to carry out controlled flight on aircraft, thanks to which the idea of ​​​​the possibility of carrying out passenger transportation by air was further developed.

At a time when all scientists were puzzling over the possibility of installing more powerful engines to lift the aircraft into the air, the brothers focused on questions of the ability to control the aircraft. The result was a series of wind tunnel experiments that provided the basis for the development of airplane wings and propellers.

The first powered glider built by the brothers was named Flyer 1. It was made of spruce, as this material is lightweight and durable. The device was driven by a gasoline engine.

Interesting! The engine for the Flyer-1 was made by mechanic Charlie Taylor, a design feature was light weight. To do this, the mechanic used duralumin, also called duralumin.

The first successful flight was made on December 17, 1903. The plane climbed a few meters and flew about 40 meters in 12 seconds. Then there were repeated tests, as a result of which the duration and altitude of the flight increased.

Santos Dumont and 14bis

Alberto Santos-Dumont is known as the inventor of hot air balloons, he is also sometimes credited as the creator of the world's first controlled aircraft. He also owns the invention of airships, which were controlled by an engine.

In 1906, his plane called "14-bis" took off and flew over 60 meters. The height to which the inventor raised his aircraft was about 2.5 meters. A month later, Alberto Santos-Dumont flew 220 meters on the same aircraft, setting the first longest flight record as a result.

A feature of the "14-bis" was that the design was able to take off on its own. The Wright brothers failed to achieve this, and their plane took off with outside help. It was this nuance that became fundamental in the debate about who should be considered the inventor of the first aircraft.

After the "14-bis" the inventor seriously engaged in the development of a monoplane, as a result, the world saw the "Demoiselle".

Alberto Santos-Dumont never rested on his laurels and kept his inventions a secret. The inventor willingly shared the designs of his aircraft with thematic publications.

Aircraft Mozhaisky

The scientist presented the project of his aircraft for consideration back in 1876. Mozhaisky faced a misunderstanding of the officials of the Military Ministry, as a result, he was not allocated funds to continue his research.

Despite this, the scientist continued to develop, investing own funds, because of which the construction of the prototype of the Mozhaisky aircraft dragged on for many years.

Mozhaisky's plane was built in 1882. The first tests of the aircraft ended in disaster, but witnesses claim that the aircraft still rose some distance from the ground before it crashed.

Since there is no documentary evidence of the flight, it is impossible to consider Mozhaisky the first person to fly an airplane. However, the development of the scientist served as the basis for the development of aviation.

So who was the first

Despite numerous disputes about the year in which the aircraft was invented, the first officially registered flight belongs to the Wright brothers, which is why the Americans are considered the "fathers" of the first aircraft.

It is inappropriate to compare the contribution to the development of aviation by the Wright brothers, Santos-Dumont and Mozhaisky. Despite the fact that Mozhaisky's first aircraft was built 20 years before the first controlled flight, the inventor used a different construction principle, so it is impossible to compare his aircraft with the Wright brothers' Flyer.

Santos-Dumont was not the first to fly, but the inventor used a fundamentally new approach to the construction of an aircraft, thanks to which his device took to the air on its own.

In addition to the first controlled flight, the Wright brothers made a significant contribution to the development of aviation, the first to propose a fundamentally new approach to the construction of the propeller and wings of the aircraft.

It makes no sense to argue which of these scientists became the first, because they all made a huge contribution to the development of aviation. It was their work and research that became the basis for the invention of the prototype. modern airliner.

The first military aircraft

Prototypes of the Flyer by the Wright brothers and the Santos-Dumont aircraft were used for military purposes.

If the brothers initially pursued the goal of inventing technology that would give an advantage to the American army, then the Brazilian Santos-Dumont was against the use of aviation for military purposes. Despite this, his work served as the starting point for the creation of a number of aircraft, which were then used during the war. Interestingly, Mozhaisky initially also pursued the construction of an aircraft that would be used for military purposes.

The first jet aircraft appeared at the height of World War II.

The first passenger aircraft

The first passenger aircraft appeared thanks to I.I. Sikorsky. The prototype of the modern airliner took off in 1914 with 12 passengers on board. In the same year, the Ilya Muromets airliner set a world record by making its first long-distance flight. He flew the distance from St. Petersburg to Kyiv, making one landing for refueling.

The airliner also participated in the transport of bombs during the First World War. The war forced Russian aviation to freeze in development for some time.

In 1925, the first K-1 aircraft appeared, then the world saw Tupolev passenger airliners and aircraft developed by KhAI. Since that time, more and more attention has been paid to passenger aircraft, they are acquiring greater passenger capacity and the ability to fly over long distances.

History of the development of jet aircraft

The first idea of ​​a jet aircraft was proposed by the Russian inventor Teleshov. An attempt to replace the propeller with a piston engine was made in 1910 by a designer from Romania, A. Coanda.

These attempts were unsuccessful, and the first successful test of a jet aircraft took place in 1939. The tests were carried out by the German company Heinkel, however, several mistakes were made during the design of the model:

  • wrong choice of engine design;
  • high fuel consumption;
  • frequent need for refueling.

However, the first jet aircraft prototype was able to develop high speed climb - more than 60 meters in one second of flight.

Due to design errors made, the jet aircraft could not move more than 50 kilometers from the airfield, due to the need for frequent refueling. Due to a number of shortcomings, the first successful model never got into mass production.

The first production aircraft was the Me-262 in 1944. This model has become an improved version of the previous Heinkel model.

Then the development of reactive aviation technology taken over by Japan and the UK.

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Thus, jet aircraft appeared in the midst of the Second World War. They have serious combat victories on their account, however, the losses among them are also very high. First of all, this is due to the fact that the pilots simply did not have time to complete a full-fledged training in managing a fundamentally new aircraft. From the moment of the first successful flight to the advent of jet aircraft only 30 years have passed, during which there was a big breakthrough in aviation.

People have dreamed of conquering the airspace for a long time. In past centuries, various aircraft were created. Subsequently, their designs, as well as some elements, began to be used in the development of more modernized aircraft. A little time passed when the first aircraft in the world was created.

Aviation history

George Cayley in the XVIII century created several scientific works on the topic "Construction of aircraft". In them, he spoke in detail about the capabilities of the prototypes of a modern aircraft.

Note. He observed birds. He measured their flight speed, height, and wingspan.

The American designer imagined the aircraft in the form of a boat with a tail. The movement of the entire structure was provided by oars. They transmitted rotation to the tail in the form of a cross, which was located at the end of the aircraft.

The history of aircraft construction began in 1842. At this time, William Henson received an order to develop an aircraft project. The designer created a propeller-driven aircraft. The propeller lifted the ship and also ensured its movement. It is worth noting that some of Henson's ideas are still used by modern aircraft designers.

Aircraft history Russian production started in the 20th century. Inventor N. A. Teleshov for the first time patented the project "Aeronautics Systems". Aircraft had to fly by means of a propeller and a steam engine.

A little later, the same designer proposed to create a jet aircraft. Development was carried out on the basis of his patented project. The aircraft was supposed to transport passengers in a closed aircraft body. Moreover, this device had to be reactive. After that, the rapid development of aviation technology began. Modern aircraft models amaze with their technical and flight characteristics.

The first aircraft in the world and Russia

The first person to invent the airplane in the whole world was Anthony Fokker. This event took place in 1910. He lifted the first de Spin into the sky. Unfortunately, the aircraft did not cover a long distance. He crashed into a tree. Fokker did not stop his experiments on this.

Anthony Fokker

In 1911, he created a company that already in 1915 produced the first fighter aircraft. It was thanks to this air machine that Germany managed to change the course of the First World War.

Aircraft characteristics:

  1. The wingspan of the aircraft reached 8.53 m;
  2. Fuselage length - 6.76 m, and height - 2.89 m;
  3. The aircraft developed a cruising speed of 132 km/h.
Note. The company existed until 1996.

The first person who invented the plane in Russia was Alexander Mozhaisky. It happened in 1876. At that time, he was testing with a small boat on which wings were mounted. The secular press of that time was interested in an unusual building. It has been published in various publications.

Alexander Mozhaisky

This invention was not ignored by Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. At that time, the scientist was known to the whole world. It was he who convinced the commission of the Main Engineering Directorate to sponsor the experiments.

Note. At that time, there was a skeptical attitude towards inventors of this kind in the country. For this reason, Mozhaisky failed to complete his experiments.

1881-1886 - the beginning of testing the aircraft. All attempts to hold out in the airspace as long as possible were unsuccessful. In 1890, the designer died without finishing his work. Many argue that if he had had more time and finances, modern aircraft would have appeared much earlier.

The first passenger aircraft

The man who laid the foundation for the creation of passenger aircraft was Alberto Santos-Dumont. Initially, he designed balloons and airships. In 1905, he completed work on the design of the first aircraft. Already in 1906, the designer made the first flight on an airplane own production. The air car was named Oiseau de proie or 14-bis. In translation, this name means "Bird of Prey".

Alberto Santos-Dumont and his 14-bis

First flight characteristics:

  • height - 2-3 m;
  • range - 220 m;
  • flight time - 22 seconds.

The aircraft was equipped with removable landing gear.

Looking at the aircraft design experience of the Wright brothers and Santos-Dumont, Russian government decided to start their own developments in this area. The only nuance was that in Russia at that time there were no designers with experience in creating aircraft. Many of them have never seen these machines.

The first Russian aircraft that could fly several tens of meters without an accident was created by Alexander Kudashev, a professor at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In 1910, he flew in an aircraft of his own production.

Igor Sikorsky adopted the experience of the designer Kudashev. He created the plane "Ilya Muromets". This is the first passenger aircraft to be equipped with partitions. They divided the salon into different compartments: a sleeping area, an entertainment compartment, a restaurant and a bathroom.

Designed by Igor Sikorsky

In 1913 a significant event took place. The plane took to the skies for the first time. A year later, a presentation flight took place. There were 16 passengers on board.

The first military aircraft

The aircraft, which managed to get off the ground, and also spend a small amount of time in the air, was the development of the Wright brothers. Orville and Wilbur designed it in 1900. The Wright Brothers' first plane was called the Flyer 1. Its first flight took place in 1903.

Wright brothers

The air car spent about 59 seconds in the air. In this short time, she flew 260 m. Already in 1904, the model was finalized. And a year later, the plane flew a distance of 39 km.

Aircraft characteristics:

  • wingspan - 12 m;
  • weight - 283 kg;
  • power plant power - 9 kW;
  • weight of the power plant - 77 kg.

The gasoline engine that accelerated the car to desired speed, was mounted on a wooden frame. The aircraft did not have a landing gear. Instead, they used a catapult to launch. She was equipped with a flight direction made of wood. The Wright brothers spent about $ 1,000 to create such an aircraft. USA.

jet planes

The idea of ​​creating a jet aircraft belongs to the inventor Teleshov. It was brought to life by the designer A. Coanda in 1910. Attempts to start the aircraft using the engine were unsuccessful.

Already in 1939, a jet aircraft was launched. The tests were carried out by the German company Heinkel. The prototype aircraft could reach high speed in a short time. He flew at an altitude of 60 meters.

Certain errors were made in the design:

  • significant fuel consumption;
  • wrong choice of power plant;
  • constant need for refueling.

Due to the latter reason, the plane could not fly more than 50 km. The model was not released into mass production, as design errors were not corrected.

In 1946, a new aircraft was developed with jet engine. The achievement belongs to the American company Bell Aircraft. The Bell X-1 aircraft could fly at an altitude of 24400 m. It developed a speed of 2720 km / h.

Interesting fact! On this aircraft, 80 flights were made.

In 1949, the aircraft rose to a height of 7600 m and reached speeds of up to 273 km / h in 1 second.

supersonic aircraft

The Bell X-1 aircraft is rightfully considered supersonic. It was it that was equipped with an XLR-11 rocket engine. The aircraft reached supersonic speed in controlled flight.

The F-100 is considered to be the first US production fighter jet. He flew in 1953. The MiG19 became the first Russian-made supersonic fighter. He flew in 1952. Mass production this model began in 1954.

F-100
MiG19

The first supersonic passenger aircraft was the domestic Tu-144. It was developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 60s. Another supersonic aircraft was the French Concorde. These aircraft have operated effectively for many years. After several unsuccessful flights, as well as the unprofitability of the program for their creation, the devices were withdrawn from the air fleets. Now these models are in storage.

Watch a video about how the plane was created