Category Transport

JET AIRCRAFT

The jet engine was developed in the late 1930s, both by Hans von Ohain in Germany and Frank Whittle in Britain. The first jet aircraft flew in 1939. Jet engines powered new jet fighters with swept-back wings, such as the MiG-15 and later the Mirage, and a new generation of airliners. Rocket-powered aircraft such as the X-15 were built for research into high-speed flight. The X-15 still holds the world speed record of 7274 kilometres per hour.

The introduction of long-range, economical, jet-powered airliners, such as the De Havilland Comet and the Boeing 707, the first “big jet”, led to a huge boom in airline travel. The first (and so far the only) supersonic airliner, the Concorde, was introduced in 1969, and the first wide-bodied airliner, the Boeing 747, came into operation in 1970.

The latest airliners, fighters such as the Eurofighter, and bombers such as the Northrop B-2, have sophisticated control systems, such as “fly-by-wire”. In an aircraft with a fly-by-wire system, the pilot controls where the aircraft goes, but a computer actually does the flying. In an airliner, fly-by-wire can prevent the pilot making mistakes such as stalling. In a fighter, it allows the pilot to make manoeuvres that would be impossible if he or she were using a standard mechanical control system.

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STORY OF FLIGHT II

The first passenger airlines were formed in 1919, just after the end of World War I. Their airliners were converted wartime bombers, such as the Farman Goliath, which had seats for 11 passengers. Flying in them was cold and bumpy, and there was noise and vibration from the piston engines. In the 1920s and 1930s aviation engineers began building in metal instead of wood, creating aircraft with strong tubular fuselages and monoplane wings, such as the Martin B-10 bomber.

The first modern-style airliners, such as the Douglas DC-3, appeared in the mid-1930s. During World War II pilots needed heavy bombers, such as the B-24 Liberator, and fast fighters, such as the Ilyushin II-2.

In 1926 a prize of $25,000 was offered to the first pilot who could fly non-stop from New York to Paris. American airmail pilot Charles Lindbergh took up the challenge. He had a new, all-metal monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, built especially for the journey, and decided to fly on his own. Lindbergh took off from New York on 19th May 1927. Navigating virtually by guesswork, flying low to avoid fog and fighting sleep, Lindbergh reached Paris 33 hours and 30 minutes later, to achieve the first solo Atlantic crossing.

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HELICOPTERS

The idea of a flying machine lifted by a spinning rotor is centuries’ old. The Italian painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci designed a simple helicopter in about 1500, but he did not have an engine to power it. In 1907 Frenchman Paul Cornu rose 30 centimetres into the air in a twin-rotor helicopter, but he had no controls.

The Focke-Achgelis Fa-61 of 1936, the first successful helicopter, and the Sikorsky VS-300, the first single-rotor helicopter.

The first successful helicopters, built in the 1930s, had two rotors for lift and a propeller for propulsion. The single-rotor helicopter was developed by Russian-born American engineer Igor Sikorsky. The main rotor provided lift and propulsion, and the tail rotor prevented the fuselage (body of the aircraft) spinning in the opposite direction to the main rotor. Helicopters were soon being used by navies and for passenger services. The development of the jet engine in the 1950s made larger, faster helicopters possible.

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STORY OF FLIGHT I

For thousands of years, people must have watched birds flying around them and dreamed of copying them. Many actually tried it. These “birdmen” strapped on wings and leapt from towers, trying to flap their arms. Most were killed.

The first manned flight took place in Paris in 1783, in a hot-air balloon built by the French brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. Aviators also began to develop airships – balloons with a streamlined shape, pushed through the air by an engine. Balloons and airships are described as lighter-than-air aircraft because they float upwards in the heavier air around them.

The first heavier-than-air aircraft were gliders, built and flown in the nineteenth century by pioneers such as the German Otto Lilienthal. In the USA, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, were experimenting with kites and gliders. They made thousands of test flights in their gliders, gradually perfecting their controls. In 1903 they finally built an aeroplane, called Flyer 1, with a petrol engine. It made the first-ever powered, controlled aeroplane flight, which lasted just 12 seconds.

The Montgolfiers’ balloon carried the first pilot and passenger on a 25-minute flight. The air in the balloon was heated by straw burning on the ground. In 1852 Frenchman Henry Giffard took off in his steam-powered airship. The envelope was filled with lighter-than-air hydrogen gas rather than hot air. Airships such as the 245-metre-long Graf Zeppelin II had a steel skeleton covered in fabric. The gas was contained in huge bags inside.

In the decade after the Wright brothers’ historic flight, aviation became a popular sport. Race meetings and airshows were held, and pilots made historic long-distance flights. Aircraft technology steadily improved. Aviators began to understand how to build stronger aircraft structures without increasing weight, wings which gave better lift and created less drag, and controls that made life easier for the pilot. The standard aircraft shape, with a tail section supporting a fin and tailplane, began to become popular. More efficient and powerful engines and propellers gave aircraft greater speed, endurance and reliability. By 1913 the speed record was 203 kilometres per hour, and the distance record 1021 kilometres.

Armies began ordering aircraft from manufacturers such as Glenn Curtiss in the USA and Louis Bleriot in France. During World War I, aircraft became specialized for certain jobs, such as fast, maneuverable fighters and large, long-distance bombers. Large, flat decks were added to some battleships where aircraft could take off to attack enemy ships with torpedoes.

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BICYCLE

A bicycle is a human-powered vehicle with two wheels. The first bicycles, called “hobby horses”, were built about 200 years ago. The rider moved along by pushing his or her feet against the ground. The first pedal-powered bicycle was made by Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839. In 1861 in Paris, Pierre Michaux built a bicycle on which the pedals turned the front wheels. It was known as the “boneshaker” and was the first popular bicycle. The modern bicycle, with a diamond-shaped frame and chain-driven back wheel, was designed in 1885 by Englishman John Starley.

MOTORCYCLES

Early motorcycles were simply bicycles with a small steam engine attached, but they were not practical machines. The first modern-style motorcycles, with a metal frame, two air-filled tyres and a lightweight petrol engine, appeared around 1900. Modern motorcycles have similar features to cars, but have much greater acceleration.

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HISTORY OF CARS

People had used carts pulled by horses, oxen or other large animals for more than 5000 years before the first self-propelled vehicle was built. This was a clumsy steam-powered carriage designed to pull artillery guns, built by Frenchman Nicolas Cugnot in 1769. Steam-powered vehicles called traction engines took the place of horses on farms from the 1850s. Cars driven by small steam engines were popular in the USA in the 1890s.  

Nicolas Cugnot’s steam carriage could manage just 5 km/h. Karl Benz’s three-wheeled car, which had a single-cylinder petrol engine, reached speeds of 15 km/h.

The age of the car really started with the development of the internal combustion engine. This development began in the 1850s, but it was not until the 1880s that small, lightweight, petrol-driven engines were perfected, first of all by Gottlieb Daimler in Germany. The first petrol-driven car was built by German engineer Karl Benz in 1885.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

The job of the internal combustion engine is to convert the energy stored in its fuel into movement. Inside the heavy engine block are cylinders (normally four in a car engine). Pistons fit snugly inside the cylinders. When the engine is running, the pistons move up and down, turning a crankshaft (which turns the wheels) via connecting rods.

Most internal combustion engines work on a four-stroke cycle which is repeated again and again as the pistons move up and down. On the first stroke, as the piston moves down, the inlet valve opens to allow a mixture of fuel and air to be sucked into the cylinder. On the second stroke, as the piston moves up, the air and fuel is squeezed into the top of the cylinder. Now a spark is created electrically by the spark plug, igniting the fuel, which forces the cylinder down. This is the third stroke. On the fourth stroke, the exhaust valve opens to let waste gases be forced out as the piston moves up again.

THE MOTOR AGE BEGINS

Benz and Daimler started selling cars in the late 1890s. In 1891 the first car with a front engine and rear-wheel drive appeared. Early cars were tricky to operate, slow and hand-built, which made them expensive. In 1908 motoring was opened up to ordinary people with the introduction in the USA of the Model-T Ford. This small car was built on a production line, making it cheap to make and so cheap to buy.

Meanwhile, motor sports were becoming popular, with cars taking part in races and rallies, and car builders competing to build the world’s fastest car. The land-speed record was first set in 1898, at 63 kilometres per hour.

Early land-speed record-holders:

(1) Jeantaud (1899, 93.7 km/h),

(2) La Jamais Contente (1899, 105.9 km/h),

(3) Serpollet (1902, 120.8 km/h)

(4) Mors (1902, 124.1 km/h).

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