Innovation and the Development of FlightRoger D. Launius Texas A&M University Press, 1999 - 335 pages Perhaps no technological development in the century has more fundamentally transformed human life than the airplane and its support apparatus. The nature of flight, and the activities that it has engendered throughout the world, makes the development of aviation technology an important area of investigation. Why did aeronautical technology take the shape it did? Which individuals and organizations were involved in driving it? What factors influenced particular choices of technologies to be used? More importantly, how has innovation affected this technology? Innovation and the Development of Flight, a first strike at the "new aviation history," represents a significant transformation of the field by relating the subject to larger issues of society, politics, and culture, taking a more sophisticated view of the technology that few historians have previously attempted. This volume moves beyond a focus on the artifact to emphasize the broader role of the airplane and, more importantly, the entire technological system. This suggests that many unanswered questions are present in the development of modern aviation and that inquisitive historians seek to know the relationships of technological systems to the human mind. Some of the subjects discussed are early aeronautical innovation and government patronage; the evolution of relationships among airports, cities, and industry; the relationship of engine development to the entire aviation industry; the Department of Commerce's influence on light plane development; pressure in the Air Force for the development of jet engines; and lessons of the National Aerospace Plane Program. Aviation historians and historians of technology will find Innovation and the Development of Flight a valuable examination of aeronautical innovation providing foundations for continued explorations of this field. |
Contents
| 18 | |
Innovation in Americas Aviation Support Infrastructure The Evolving Relationship between Airports Cities and Industry | 52 |
The Search for an Instrument Landing System 191848 | 80 |
Higher Faster and Farther Fueling the Aeronautical Revolution 191945 | 100 |
Engineering Successful Innovation Pratt Whitney Aircraft Engines 192540 | 132 |
ThreeMilesaMinute The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the Development of the Modern Airliner | 154 |
An Airplane for Everyman The Department of Commerce and the Light Airplane Industry 193337 | 166 |
Paths for Flight Innovation and the Origin of Radar | 188 |
Rocket Aircraft and the Turbojet Revolution The Luftwaffes Quest for HighSpeed Flight 193539 | 207 |
Revolutionary Innovation and the Invisible Infrastructure Making Royal Air Force Bomber Command Efficient 193945 | 235 |
Riding Englands Coattails The US Army Air Forces and the Turbojet Revolution | 263 |
Command Innovation Lessons from the National Aerospace Plane Program | 299 |
About the Authors | 324 |
| 327 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Aero Air Commerce Air Corps Air Force Air Ministry Aircraft Engines airfields airframe airline airmail airplane American antiknock Army Air aviation gasoline Bomber Command Bureau of Air Chief combustion Committee Company contractors cylinder Dayton early Engineering Section equipment Erich Warsitz Ernst Heinkel federal fighter File Flight Test fuel funding German gine Hans von Ohain Heinkel History HYFLITE improved industry instrument landing system interview isooctane July June knock Kummersdorf Laboratory Langley Langley's Luftwaffe manufacturers Materiel Division memo ment military municipal airports NACA NASA NASM NASP National navy octane octane rating Office operational Orville percent pilot Plane Pratt & Whitney Press problem produced radar radio Rentschler Report rocket scramjet Space speed standard technical tion turbine turbojet Turbojet Revolution United Vidal Warsitz Washington Wasp Whittle Wilbur Wilbur Wright World Wright brothers Wright Field York
Popular passages
Page 33 - Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty-one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirtyone miles longest 59 seconds inform press home Christmas.
Page 29 - For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my Me.
Page 28 - I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success.
Page 3 - England that they flung themselves in the technological torrent, how they shouted with glee in the midst of the cataract, and cried to each other as they went headlong down the chute that here was their destiny as they used technology to transform a wilderness into their "City upon a hill.
Page 21 - The machine has worked. It seems to me worth while for this government to try whether it will not work on a large enough scale to be of use in the event of war.
Page 28 - I am about to begin a systematic study of the subject in preparation for practical work to which I expect to devote what time I can spare from my regular business. I wish to obtain such papers as the Smithsonian Institution has published on this subject, and if possible a list of other works in print in the English language. I am an enthusiast...
References to this book
The Jet Race and the Second World War S. Mike Pavelec,Sterling Michael Pavelec No preview available - 2007 |