Category: Aviation

Introduction

Many industries today face the challenge of detecting and preventing terrorism. The challenge is not significantly different for the commercial air travel sector. However, it can be acknowledged that the aviation industry remains a high-profile target for terrorist organizations. Airport security and screening have, in response to increased threats, advanced to include technological innovations and behavioral detection mechanisms. These two approaches work together to improve the detection of suspicious activity and persons and help avert terrorism. This paper presents a critical analysis of aviation security paying attention to behavioral detection and other technological advancements. An examination of these developments leading to greater airport security will be presented considering the evolving nature of terrorism activities. Lastly, the critical analysis will explore the efficacy of current international conventions and other legislations in providing deterrence against modern aviation security threats.

Behavioral Detection and Other Technologies

The events of September 11^th, 2001 have resulted in significant developments in airport security and screening. Many studies of aviation safety examine the trade-offs for safety improvements. According to Sakano, Obeng, and Fuller (2016), the results have included longer waiting lines at the screening points. Additionally, passengers have expressed unpleasant experiences and other inconveniences which could potentially reduce demand for air travel. These inconveniences are a compromise the industry is willing to make to avoid serious breaches of security.

Behavioral detection has been used alongside other safety technologies to alleviate potential threats. Trained personnel can assess human actions and determine when malice is intended. The primary benefit of this approach is that, even though not conclusively, it can help determine further screening actions to make sure the risk is present or absent. The screening technologies are the more prominent ones in an examination of the advances in aviation security. An example given by Sakano, Obeng, and Fuller (2016) involves an online risk-based process where the customers are pre-qualified for different levels of screening. Behavioral detection, it can be argued, can also work with the security officers directing the passengers to different screening points based on their assessment of the level of risk involved.

Behavioral and cognitive sciences are the foundation of behavioral detection. Scientists in these fields are, therefore, poised for the security community in the identification of reliable behavioral indicators. These can then be used in the empirical examination of the threat performance (Sweet, Meisner, and Atkinson, 2017). Today, several studies illustrate how behavioral, cognitive sciences, and threat detection programs, can help law enforcers distinguish concealed objects which resemble threat devices both at a single target level and in the crowds. The most important idea behind behavioral detection and related programs is that threat markers are isolated through passive identification. However, further research may need to be undertaken to determine the success level of the officers using their behavioral judgment. Sweet, Meisner, and Atkinson (2017) emphasize that it is unfortunate that only a few studies have systematically assessed the nonverbal indicators of threat and concealment which is the primary screening method used by security personnel. Therefore, behavioral detection remains a vague area of scholarly exploration.

It is important to highlight that the behavioral approaches can be critiqued for various weaknesses, especially when subjected to scientific examination. Behavioral detection can be described as a collection of approaches based on social psychology (Maguire and Fussey, 2016). The ecological validity of these tactics is often questioned due to the use of small sample sizes. Additionally, the ontological and epistemological concerns further dispute many of the scientifically approved techniques for distinguishing suspicious behavior. For instance, people often assume a binary moral world consisting of good and evil, where all wrongdoers are supposed to be aware of their supposed turpitude. Additionally, there is also the self-awareness of the deceptive nature of certain behaviors. Therefore, the lines between illegal and legal are hard to determine among the transgressors.

Even with the weaknesses mentioned above, behavioral detection can still be appreciated for its contribution to improving aviation security. The main goal of behavioral detection is to identify high-risk individuals and to subject them to further scrutiny. The main advantages, therefore, include that the approaches are unobtrusive and are applied in real-time (Dynon, 2018). Additionally, they help the security officers to focus on the person rather than the weapon which allows behavioral detection to be deployed in various settings configurations. They are also free of large equipment footprints since only the intelligence of the personnel is needed. It is easier for security officers to identify suspicious behaviors because offenders are known to have fear of being discovered or anxiety and stress often preceding a terrorist attack. A checklist developed in the United States by the Transport Security Authority (TSA) highlights behaviors such as excessive yawning, throat clearing, and complaints regarding the screening process. Other behaviors include late arrival for a flight, gazing down, pale faces, visible disguise, and the pretense not to understand questions.

Without the statistical and empirical evidence, however, the deficiencies of behavioral detection will dominate the current discussion. Firstly, the approach has been labeled unscientific and described as having less or the same effectiveness as chance (Dynon, 2018). According to Maguire and Fussey (2016), behavioral detection hardly achieves a 50% accuracy in identifying deception. Deception, therefore, becomes the greatest point of weakness in these approaches. Sweet, Meisner, and Atkinson (2017) find that there is inadequate research in lie detection to show the success of identifying reliable nonverbal or passive indicators of deceptive responses. Additionally, there is no evidence of officers training on deception detection via nonverbal channels. The researchers also support that nonverbal indicators have the same impact as chance.

Behavioral detection, however, is often not implemented on its own, especially in the current era of the digital revolution. There currently exist some algorithms used for behavioral detection that could work better than human judgment. Even so, there would need to be empirical evidence to suggest that these new technologies have significantly improved aviation security. The technological developments have been fuelled by advances in computational power and data. The application of artificial intelligence and robotics has led to enormous enhancements in capabilities which have provided security-sensitive environments comprising lie detection and non-invasive threat identification. Additionally, they help in the prediction of criminal activity and tracing diseases and illicit intentions (Blum, 2020). With these technologies, it can be argued that behavioral detection becomes easier and more effective in providing aviators with the ultimate security.

The use of innovative technologies in aviation security systems has several advantages. Apart from improved success, the airlines can also benefit from speedier screening processes and avoid the inconveniences and unpleasant passenger experiences such as long wait times. These benefits have been highlighted by Sakano, Obeng, and Fuller (2016) who state that the TSA is already deploying these technologies to increase passenger satisfaction and reduce wait times. New screening equipment is faster and more effective and involves the use of a computer-assisted passenger prescreening system (CAPPS). This approach works by categorizing air travelers into two risk classes. Further development in this technology, labeled CAPPS II, comprises three classes, including one containing those individuals who are not permitted to fly. In the United States, the TSA also requires airlines flying into the country to submit to the immigration department the list of passengers 30 minutes before departing. Such an arrangement allows the authorities more time to pre-screen all people going into the US before their arrival. The low or no-risk individuals can be allowed into the nation while those classified as high-risk can be subjected to further screening upon arrival.

With behavior detection technologies, the most important question asked regards the type of information processed. To emphasize the concept, the basic idea in behavioral detection is that the internal emotional processes tend to produce detectable physical changes which can be captured using sensors. These indicators can then be processed and understood, as well as used to create alerts depending on the algorithm used (Blum, 2020). The technologies offer a multi-modal approach in which every factor can be taken into account. Blum (2020) expresses that in aviation, behavioral detection depends on both nonverbal and verbal elements and is based on the premise that criminals tend to show signals which differ from normal behavior. In addition to the TSA checklist mentioned earlier on, Blum (2020) adds other aspects such as biometrics, facial expressions, perspiration, temperature, and lack of eye contact and classifies them under micro factors. At the macro level, hiding faces and entire bodies or even attempting to conduct surveillance are key indicators of criminal intent.

The combination of behavioral detection and technological tools can have led to the emergence of the concept of tech-science as applied in counter-terrorism. Researchers such as Maguire and Fussey (2016) describe counter-terrorism techno-science as the contemporary response to the events of September 11^th, 2001, and the shoe-bomber attack. Techno-science provided counter-terrorism apparatus which deviate from the traditional threat detection and prevention. The United States remains the best example of how techno-science is deployed with projects such as the Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-time (AVATAR). AVATAR is a behavioral-psychological examination combined with facial recognition systems housed in an ATM-sized machine. Other developments by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) include Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), which is a mobile security infrastructure that individuals pass through in high-risk areas such as mega-events and airports (Maguire and Fussey, 2016). Regardless of the functioning of these techno-science apparatus, the basic idea is that persons with criminal intent can be identified using the signals they display.

It can be argued, therefore, that behavioral detection deployed on its own cannot assure any significant improvements in aviation security. It is indeed the new technologies that make behavioral detection a feasible approach. The new equipment, as evidenced by the deployments by the TSA, makes it possible to conclusively determine those behaviors which point toward a potential terrorist. Without the help of the digital apparatus, human judgment becomes less effective than chance as insisted by researchers such as Maguire and Fussey (2016). It has been expressed earlier that detecting deception is the one area in which behavioral detection fails almost entirely. According to Dillon, Burns, and John (2018), computing detection probabilities have eliminated the need to rely on expert assessments in securing critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants. In this discussion, airports are considered key infrastructure with global importance and, therefore, the computing systems should replace human judgment in behavioral detection.

The current research shows that behavioral detection and counter-terrorism techno-science has the potential to prevent security breaches and terror attacks. However, the inadequate scholarly work on behavioral detection and the fact that the new technologies are still novel means that the extent to which these apparatuses are effective is yet to be fully understood. The TSA has developed several projects but their success is either not yet documented or availed to the general public. Other innovations such as fuzzy knowledge base and equipment-specific methods discussed by Gladkikh et al. (2019) are merely propositions and theoretical frameworks without hard evidence. The concepts, however, are feasible from a theoretical point of view and the fact that TSA invests heavily in them means there is either the potential or the organization is recording great success in the new methodologies.

Efficacy of Current International Conventions and Legislations

International conventions and legislations are often pursued by global entities such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), and major industry-specific organizations such as International Air Transport Association (IATA) representing the aviation industry. These bodies have developed multiple policies on anti-terrorism, often in cooperation with major world governments. Aviation is a global industry meaning terrorism in one airline or airport could affect more than one country. Therefore, the examination of the efficacy of the current international conventions and legislations in averting terrorist threats will focus majorly on these global aviation institutions.

It is important to emphasize that international aviation organizations often work jointly with others with similar interests. For example, a press release by International Air Transport Association (2020) indicated that IATA seeks to cooperate with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) to inhibit terrorist travel. The memorandum of understanding between these two bodies was signed to initiate a flagship program that uses advanced passenger information (API) and passenger name records (PNR) among other traveler data as per the Security Council resolutions such as 2178 of 2014, 2396 of 2017, and 2482 of 2019 (International Air Transport Association, 2020). These resolutions provide conventions agreed to by international governments as globally-accepted counter-terrorism frameworks and conventions.

The efficacy of the international conventions can be examined by looking into how each convention is framed and implemented, as well as any empirical data showing success levels. The conventions have been developed since 1963 and over 16 of them have been initiated and approved under the auspices of the UN (Einsiedel, 2016). One of the most current conventions is the 2005 Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. Their framing indicates that the UN and its members agree that all acts of terrorism should be suppressed. However, they fail to offer a clear implementation plan or guideline meaning they remain relatively ineffective. Therefore, each country is left to deal with the internal terrorism problems using its own counter-terrorism infrastructure, policies, and methodologies. According to Einsiedel (2016), efforts to develop a comprehensive and all-encompassing counter-terrorism convention have dodged the UN. The explanation for this observation is that the world nations cannot agree on how to define terrorism and on whether the definition should include the term state terrorism denoting the terror acts conducted by armed forces on non-combatants.

The UN Charter is the basis for all international laws, including laws about state terrorism. However, some authors feel that terrorism can also be a tool for the dispossessed meaning that countries mostly have to deal with non-state actors (NSAs) (Trapp, 2016). The international resolutions, therefore, provide the governments with a cooperative framework for suppressing terrorism which involves the formulation of criminal law enforcement agreements which seek to secure individual responsibility (Trapp, 2016). In civil aviation, conventions such as the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, which came into effect in 1973, allow the aviation authorities to undertake measures to prevent crime and related acts. This Act was passed in Montreal and was agreed upon by 188 member states. The main purpose was to help address acts of unlawful interference against civil aviation which were not addressed in the Hague Convention. It is important to acknowledge that the Montreal convention was in many ways similar to the Hague convention and the only need for a separate one was due to fears regarding the possibility of the conclusion of the Hague Convention.

Other agreements include the subsequent Protocol on the Suppression of Unlawful Act at Airports Serving International Aviation. It outlines how the 1971 treaty is to be implemented (Nesi, 2016). These treaties generalize all unlawful actions and it can be argued that acts of terror are included in the framing of the convention. One of the legislations which best addressed terrorism was the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism which was passed in 1977. It made significant alterations to the extradition exercises between the member states and provided for the exercise of jurisdiction where extradition does not occur. In other words, it eliminated or eased the barriers to extradition by allowing those specific offenses cannot be classified as political and could, therefore, be subject to extradition. The provisions of this international legislation, it should be noted, include those offenses within the scope of both the Montreal and Hague conventions in addition to several others, such as liberty of internationally protected persons, the attack against life, and physical integrity.

These conventions have not necessarily be specific to the aviation industry and those focusing on the sector deal with general unlawful behavior. There has not been any empirical examination of their efficacy and any judgment will majorly lie within the extent of the application by the individual countries. Scholars and experts explain that the differences in ideologies cause different applications and implementation, as well as interpretations of certain aspects. One major issue observed by Sinnar (2019) is that countries find it hard to tell between acts of terrorism and those of violence, and many of them cannot decide whether to treat these two behaviors differently or as the same thing. Most importantly, policymakers in certain countries such as the United States have been shown to display bias and stereotypes either in the application of the conventions or in developing counter-terrorism policies. For example, counter-terrorism in the US has often led to the monitoring of Muslim communities with law enforcers intercepting phone conversations and obtaining secret internet records among other things. Without better guidelines and protocols, therefore, the international conventions remain largely ineffective in preventing breaches and attacks.

In essence, it is hard to tell how much of the international conventions and other legislations are implemented by individual countries. As mentioned earlier on, the activities and initiatives by international aviation agencies such as IATA and UNOCT remain the most visible applications of international counter-terrorism resolutions. However, it is important to acknowledge that the composition of treaties such as the Hague and Montreal conventions, or even the European convention on the suppression of terrorism, is plausible and commendable. This is because it provides a general agreement among states that all offenses are to be suppressed effectively to allow for a smooth operation of the aviation industry. Therefore, unless more research is done on the subject, it will remain difficult to appreciate the efficacy of the international conventions and other legislations in averting terrorism in aviation.

Conclusion

This paper discussed why the aviation industry is a high-profile target for terrorist organizations. For this reason, the aviation authorities and the national governments have pursued multiple mechanisms and strategies to secure critical infrastructures such as airports and airlines. Behavioral detection has become a widely used approach where security personnel identify suspicious activity and prevent potential terrorist acts. Without empirical evidence, this critical analysis paper finds it hard to explain its efficacy. However, the emergence of new technologies has given behavioral detection a new outlook and greater success potential. Also discussed is the extent to which conventions and legislations are effective in preventing terrorism. The conclusion reached is that these offer a framework through which local efforts in crime and terrorism prevention can be implemented.

Reference List

Blum, S. (2020) Behavior detection technology: screening on the go, Aviation Security International, 26(2), pp. 34-37.

Dillon, R., Burns, W. and John, R. (2018) Insights for critical alarm-based warning systems from a risk analysis of commercial aviation passenger screening, Decision Analysis, 15(3), pp. 154-173.

Dynon, N. (2018) Behavior detection at the border: dark art or science?, Defsec, Web.

Einsiedel, S. (2016) Assessing the UNs efforts to counter terrorism. New York: United Nations University Centre for Policy Research.

Gladkikh, A. et al. (2019) Fuzzy knowledge base synthesis of the experience level classification of aviation security screeners using subtractive clustering and anfis-training International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 10(3), p. 23162328.

International Air Transport Association (2020) IATA and UNOCT to cooperate on countering terrorist travel. Web.

Maguire, M. and Fussey, P. (2016) Sensing evil counterterrorism, techno-science, and the cultural reproduction of security, FocaalJournal of Global and Historical Anthropology, 75, pp. 31-44.

Nesi, G. (2016) International cooperation in counter-terrorism: the United Nations and regional organizations in the fight against terrorism. London: Routledge.

Sakano, R., Obeng, K. and Fuller, K. (2016) Airport security and screening satisfaction: a case study of U.S, Journal of Air Transport Management, 55, pp. 129-138.

Sinnar, S. (2019) Separate and unequal: the law of domestic and international terrorism, Michigan Law Review, 117(7), pp. 1333-1404.

Sweet, D., Meisner, C. and Atkinson, D. (2017) Assessing law enforcement performance in behavior-based threat detection tasks involving a concealed weapon or device, Law and Human Behavior, 41(5), pp. 411-421.

Trapp, K. (2016) The potentialities and limitations of reactive law making: a case study in international terrorism suppression, UNSW Law Journal, 39(3), pp. 1191-1218.

This study analyses the involvement of women in the Nigerian Aviation Industry in historical perspective. It highlights the contributions, problems, roles from inception of the Nigeria airways in 1958 up to 2014. The Aviation industry involves all aspects of aviation, including airlines and training centers, vendors, flight crews ,Administrative and regulatory authorities.

The Aviation Industries works to transport people and products (cargo) throughout the world1.significant step in aviation came with the construction of the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903.2 However ,the aviation story began with an almost forgotten contributor to that great effort, their sister Katherine Wright. In remembering the financial and moral support, she provided to them, her brother Wilbur said “If ever the world thinks of us in connection with aviation, it must remember our sister3”.

As years and decades rolled by, the highly male-dominated industry in Nigeria experienced significant changes to incorporate female aviators; Though the pilots are the fundamental personnel in the industry known as aviatrix, women are found almost in all areas of the industry and have made significant strides and contributions as pilots, engineers, Air crew ,aviation training instructors, ground staff, Aviation minsters, in the administrative sector and the informal sector.

That being said, Women are a minority group in the Aviation industry, they faced and are still facing various challenges in their push to forge ahead, which resulted in setbacks to their effective growth in the industry4. In fact, many vital issues encountered in the past are still present and often overlooked in today’s aviation industry.5Their roles and contributions have mostly being left largely unnoticed and unsung.

This study chronicles the contributions and achievements, challenges and prospects of women in the Aviation Industry within the time frame specified.Women had made great contributions in the Aviation sector in Nigeria which should not be wished away. Women have always been wonderful builders ,hence there is need for more active involvement of the female gender to help grow the Industry . I contend that if Women are given better enabling position in the Aviation industry in Nigeria, they could significantly unlock their potentials and future growth.Therefore, identifying the problems encountered by women with effective corrective measure is necessary to keep, increase and motivate women in Aviation Industry in Nigeria. Likewise, I will discuss their contributions to the economic growth of Nigeria.

This study falls within the subfield of Socio-economic history. It depends on data which will be systematically collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include Oral interviews of relevant people within (those who had worked and still working) and outside of the Aviation Industry. Also structured interviews with travel agencies and travelers during the period of study. Also I need to visit as many places that are relevant to this study to obtain information and documents. I will visit two important repositories; the National Archives in Ibadan and Lagos state research and Archival Bureau. I will visit Airline offices, Airports, Aviation Agencies.I will source documents from FAAN Training school Library.I will collect data from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Training school databases.Necessary documents would be obtained from ministries and parastatals. Interviews and documents will be obtained from the regulatory agencies :This is the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The NCAA watches over the entire industry. It is the apex regulatory body, overseeing the activities of all airlines and their pilots, engineers, cabin staff, airports, airstrips and heliports, all airport authority and the air traffic service providers including the aviation training institutions.

Scholarly works relevant to the topic would be employed with some level of objectivity. And these sources of information will be rigorously checked for authenticity and quality assurance.

In conclusion, this study will show the impact of women in the Aviation industry in Nigeria ,the problems hindering their moving forward, their different roles, during the time frame specified; to state that women as human resources in the industry are indispensable to the growth of the Aviation industry and should therefore be given adequate attention they deserve. We are in the 21st century, a time for women to be well footed in every area of the Aviation Industry without dogged challenges over the years. A time of consideration and re-evaluation is imminent.

Unfortunately, the idea that all of us are born equals is just a myth. And it is not about the countries from the Middle East or North Africa, where human rights do not apply for women. Many governments are suffocating civil society, restricting the freedoms of the people, mostly women. Equality between men and women is one of the European Union priorities. Although an important amount of work is going in this direction, there are still many fields where men and women do not share equal rights or chances.

One of this area is aviation, and it is not a secret that women are massively underrepresented in this sector. It is known that only about six percent of airline pilots around the world are women. While airlines have women is customer-facing jobs onboard or on the ground, the lack of gender diversity within the industry is particularly apparent in technical roles like engineers, air traffic controllers, and pilots. It appears that this lack of diversity also extends to the boardroom. The supposition that women just do not like airplanes or are simply uninterested in aviation might be inaccurate.

Two wonderful examples of brave women are to demonstrate the ambition, intelligence, and perseverance to succeed in a “men’s world” :

• Elizabeth Thible- becomes the first woman who flys (1784) with a hot air balloon.
• Baroness Raymonde de la Roche obtains the flying license from the Aeroclub- France- 1910. This way she becomes the first woman who gets a flying license.

Aviation might be available for women but is not the most female-friendly environment. Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same, but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.

An important thing must be taken into consideration: that gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well. “ICAO Gender Equality Programme Promoting the Participation of Women in the Global Aviation Sector” has committed to enhancing gender equality by 2030, at all professional and higher levels of employment in the global aviation sector.

Women in Aviation International (WAI) is a non-profit organization that supports female aviators and offers millions in scholarships to fund training costs. A recent International Air Transport Association (IATA) report found that only three percent of women occupy leadership positions in aviation, as compared to 12% in other industries.

According to captain Tilmann Gabriel, Director of City, University of London’s MSc Aviation Management Programmes, patriarchal power and cultural norms in the aviation industry may be the key factors that hold women back from seeking a career in aviation. Captain Gabriel has also highlighted the need for more role models in senior aviation positions, who can fly the flag for the next generations of female aviation professionals.

“It’s important that the future generation of aviation professionals are exposed to pioneering women such as SHAESTA WAIZ, the Afghan aviator who flew solo around the world, and Captain Tammie Jo Shults who flawlessly handled the emergency landing of a Southwest Airline plane in Philadelphia. This role models should be promoted to show young women that a high-flying career in aviation is certainly achievable.”

Because the aviation industry and global transport are rapidly expanding, there is a pressing need to guarantee the current and future availability of aviation personnel required to ensure a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector. Relevant opportunities need to be created. It is important to offer flexible work opportunities for young mothers, who are balancing careers with raising a family.

At the European level, the women work 70 minutes to earn what a man can earn in 60 minutes or, for every 100E that a man earns, a woman receives only 86E. The conclusion is that a woman earns, in general, with 16,4% less than a man. Regarding the aviation industry, but not only ‘supporting the development and training of female professionals, the industry will attract broader interest and gain a diverse candidate base, thus allowing the industry to thrive.’.

Every employer wants a candidate who can not only do the job as per the job description but who will go above and beyond and put 110% effort at all times. A combination of skills is needed to be a successful employee, especially in the aviation industry. Cheerful, energetic and positive candidates are needed, with a ‘can-do’ attitude and the ability to work as part of a team. Also, good communication skills are required.

References

1. Kearns, S.K. (2018) Fundamentals of International Aviation. Abingdon: Routledge
2. International Airport Review (2010) Five times the aviation industry championed gender equality in 2018. Available at: https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/82492/five-times-the-aviation-industry-championed-gender-equality-in-2018/ (Accessed: 10 November 2019)
3. Europarl (2019) Equality between men and women. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/59/equality-between-men-and-women (Accessed at: 10 November 2019)
4. Avocatoo (2018) Egalitatea intre femei si barbati- un concept sau o realitate?! Available at: https://www.blog.avocatoo.ro/conceptul-egalitatii-intre-sexe/ (Accessed at: 11 November 2019)

The concept of diversity is one which understands that’s the human race has a large amount of subtle differences but it promotes that the these differences are accepted and embraced as well as mutual respect and understanding are driven to ensure fairness among all (University of Oregon, 1999). Examples of these differences include, gender, social class, education and race to only name a few (Gillborn & Mirza, 2000) . Diversity management is the process that ensures an inclusive environment for all. This process should be non-discriminatory as well as fair and without favour to a specific demographic (Mujtaba, 2007). The term diversity has a strong attachment to South Africa. With eleven official languages, a multitude of different climates and some of the most diverse fauna and flora in the world, South Africa holds some of the most diverse circumstances in the world. Diversity in all its might needs to be embraced. The following essay will consider the topic of diversity in the work place and a case study will be conducted to better understand how this topic is dealt with in an aviation regulatory organisation.

In order to balance an organization to be reflective of the countries demographic, laws and policies need to be developed and implemented. Affirmative Action policies are guidelines and frameworks developed to aid the portions of the population who were previously undermined (Ratuva, 2013). As such, post 1994 in South Africa, the majority of the skilled workforce seemed almost homogenous and largely dominated by white males. Post 1994, various mechanisms were instituted to create a more diverse and inclusive working environment. Work place diversity in South Africa differs from the general world norm due to the ostracized being the majority of the population rather than the minority populations as found in other countries (Alexander, 2007). In order to redress this short coming in South Africa, the Employment Equity Act paved the way to allow the implementation of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) process (Burger & Jafta, 2010). BEE aimed to redress this current diversity shortcomings by eliminating unfair discrimination practices and ensure businesses take positive steps into diversifying their staff compliments which should be more reflective and inclusive of the current population demographic (Burger & Jafta, 2010). From a business perspective diversity management may be through forced implementation in order to abide by governmental regulations (Burger & Jafta, 2010) or voluntary adoption due to the understanding that a diversified work force may be the key to developing the business by embracing diverse skills and opening new markets (Mor Barak, 2000).

It is imperative to clearly draw the lines between the goals of diversity management and the quotas it may plan to achieve. Goldman (1976) suggests that perhaps semantics should be used as a benchmark in determining the difference. While a quota is focused purely on fixed discriminatory limits, a goal may be a target set in order to achieve a particular outcome, which tends to be non-discriminatory (Sandler, 1975). Diversity as a whole has seen mixed reviews in both the local and international spheres. Age diversity for example has seen a workforce which is less integrated, are poor communicators and has a higher staff turnover (Pitts, 2006). On a positive note gender diversity is linked to an increase in positive performance (Pitts, 2006). Cultural diversity on the other hand has a fair share of positives and negatives associated to its implementation. From a positive perspective, a diverse culture base allows a wider thought base due to different approaches, a broadened knowledge base and the potential to develop untapped markets (Martin, 2014). Some of the negative elements include conflict among team members in a diverse group which then leads to lost productivity (Martin, 2014). After considering the range of positive and negatives associated to diversity management, the true effectiveness is linked to the “why” the diversity management process needs to be implemented.

In a large amount of international cases, such as in the United States of America, the need for diversity management was implemented to a develop a more inclusive workforce by allowing minorities and females equal opportunities rather than being limited to segregated, low wage jobs (Ivancevich & Gilbert, 2006). In South Africa, the ultimate recipients for affirmative action is the majority of the population (Dupper, 2004). This presents contrasting case in comparison to the United States. Therefore, using an international benchmark to decide on the success of diversity management programs may not lead to a true reflection of success in a South African perspective. Non the less such international processes should not be discounted and may provide some guidance for the local environment. Affirmative Action in both the International and local instances has seen some big wins. One example of a great success story is the US astronaut Ronald McNair. In 1959, nine-year-old Ronald McNair refused to leave a library after the librarian stated it was “for white folks only”. The very same library was then posthumously renamed after Ronald McNair.

In order to decide on how to measure an organisations diversity it is imperative that the goals and values of the organisation are aligned to the metrics being measured (Balter, Chow, & Jin, 2014). Questions that the organisation need to answer in order to devise the metrics include what purpose diversity achieves in the organisation, what is required for the successful implementation of a diversity management protocol and are these items measurable (Balter, Chow, & Jin, 2014). It also is critical to understand the reason for the application of an affirmative action plan when aiming to implement a diversity or inclusion plan (Herring, 2009). Metrics to be measured may differ if the planned outcome is focusses on either element, although the ideal plan should include both diversity and inclusion. According to the table below, the differences between the two terms are outlined below. (Herring, 2009)

In South Africa the Employment Equity Act of 1998 aimed at redressing two primary agendas in the workplace. The first being the promotion of fair and equal treatment of employees by eliminating unfair discrimination. The second required the implementation of affirmative action protocols to ensure that the workforce was representative of the population demographic at all occupation levels (Department of Labour, 2018). According to Dupper (2004), two type of applications exist when considering affirmative action. Strong affirmative action is applied to candidates who may be less skilled or qualified but are given a position to meet employment equity requirements. The second version being weak affirmative action is when an organisation uplifts a disadvantaged candidate to ensure they are able to compete on a level playing field with an advantaged candidate. This may be accomplished by giving the candidate additional training or bridging to ensure the candidate is equiped to apply for the position (Dupper, 2004). When strong affirmative action is applied non-beneficiaries may rebel against the process (Dupper, 2004). This may affect the actual success ratio of the plan. Non-beneficiaries may feel that reverse discrimination is being used against them (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008). White males are particularly affected by this effect, with a large group feeling that there is no hope of developing. This negatively affects an organisation as the non-beneficiary may hinder division goals. Negative stereotyping is highly prevalent (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008). Non-beneficiaries may feel that certain demographics are unable to do the job and may create a judgemental attitude (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008). Coupled to that, other barriers which are found at all levels may also adversely affect the progress of employment equity are found in the table below. (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008)

Skill shortages is South Africa acts as a barrier to all levels of implementation for employment equity (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008). The core of this barrier starts at a basic education level and continues through to tertiary levels where costs can be exorbitant and therefore limiting. At an organisational level, costs (Esterhuizen & Martins, 2008) to lure the target groups may exceed what the company may be able to afford. This is even more prevalent in industries with limited supply of target individuals which in turn cause a supply and demand cost motive.

The organisation that the case study will be conducted on is responsible for the regulation of civil aviation in South Africa. The mandate of the organisation is: “The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is a Schedule 3A public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (‘PFMA’). It was established on the 1st of October 1998, following the enactment of the now repealed South African Civil Aviation Authority Act,1998 (Act No.40 of 1998)”. The Act provided for the establishment of a stand-alone authority charged with promoting, regulating and enforcing civil aviation safety and security. It reflected the Government’s priorities and was in line with international trends in the aviation world where more and more states implemented this option. The abovementioned Act was repealed as a whole by the Civil Aviation Act, 2009, (Act No.13 of 2009). The Act, provides for the establishment of a stand-alone authority mandated with controlling, promoting, regulating, supporting, developing, enforcing and continuously improving levels of safety and security throughout the civil aviation industry. The SACAA is an agency of the Department of Transport (DoT). The above is to be achieved by complying with the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), whilst considering the local context (South African Civil Aviation Authority, 2020).”

Abstract

In aviation people tend to obey the principle of ethics and morals. Ethics is more in some situation they tend to have more self-interest. The person mindset is either good or bad. There morals determine how they were raised and depict what is good and bad. In situations on a day to day industry they develop a way to help people with their ethics. Since ethics have principles and theories they determine what and how they get to a problem and solve it. IN accidents that occur it helps people to find solutions that may help with aviation or to prevent the mistakes to occur. Two of which I have spoken are wire and a pilot which both have ethics and human factors. Human factors are 12 problems that a human might have from fatigue to the lack of resources. It may be from ethics and morals or safety ethics that help people to prevent accidents to occur again down the line. That and how it was develop and where it may help in the future from preventing the problem to occur again.

Ethics and morals

One thing about life is what we learn from our past and what we get from it. It may also be that we get our principles during work. You may wonder what I’m talking about, is ethics and moral, but you may be asking what does these two have to do with anything. What is ethics, it’s impossible to define the term some people may say it means rules of conduct, values, affirming specified group, field, or form of conduct, but another way of saying Beabout and Wennemann said “How to live life well” (eabout and Wennemann, 1994, p.1). Now what are principle there the fundamental truth or position that serves as the foundation for a system, but there are six of principle in corresponding duty. What those six principles are autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, Justice, truth-telling, Promise keeping. Autonomy to respect others. Non-maleficence not to inflict harm to others. Beneficence It to promote good to others. Justice Give others what is owed or due to them. Truth-telling don’t intentionally deceive. Promise-keeping Be faithful to just agreements. Beabout and Wennerman also talks about ethics theories with their strengths and weaknesses which are Egoism, Conventional Morality, Unitarianism Duty ethics, Virtue ethics. Ethics in how they describe them for each is egoism is selfness but can’t decide which one, morality is conform to one society and the weakness if two groups are involve, Unitarianism is the judgement that benefits majority of people might inflict with personal gain, duty ethics one’s moral duty might be for the company or family, Virtue ethics for wisdom, justice…etc the weakness is varies in time of the person (Beaabout and Wennerman 1994, page 2). Ethics plays a role in everyone, but in all ethics is a skilled based decision that may or not affect the outcome. Now morals are more of a lesson that a person might experience from when they were a kid. Moral some way is a group specific in a point in time. A short way of defining moral is baggage with experience or a principle between good and bad. About half or less than half think that moral requires sacrifices between amoral and immoral to for a while to have an interest that benefits society. The difference between them are ethics are principles that one must follow, and morals are the way of the person life on how they decide without principles but understand the good and the bad.

Safety ethics and aviation

Safety ethics it’s an ethical challenge day to day with respect to safety decision, by the profession healthcare, and occupation and environmental health (Safety ethics p.2). ethics is how to live life and safety ethics helps people with their profession. Ethics has more in common in outside or in of work and safety ethics are place into work. Safety ethics is more of a safety net that can catch a problem, so it can be fixed right away to whoever it may be. Aviation in federal aviation administration (FAA) ethics, moral and safety ethics are used, and it helps keeps more people inline for their profession. In this profession in aviation what is more less likely to be used is ethics. Due to how fewer plane crashes are cause by it seems, but let’s talk about American Airline Flight 1 where it began. In this incident the main problem was wiring. This accident which help later with life was to check the wiring. Now technician or inspectors probably didn’t check to see if the wires were damage or just wanted to get done with the aircraft, but in aviation nothing can be to bring people back

Accidents

In this incident which it crashed is named “Runway Overrun During Landing, American Airlines Flight 1420, McDonnell Douglas MD-82” (NTSB). In this location of the accident that occur at little rock Arkansas. This reported the issue of why it crashed was that due to a few human errors that follow the human factors. Human factors are problems that the human have by themselves or groups. Which follows another safety issue and it’s stress and fatigue that has one probable cause that the aircraft had crash. The reason why it should be is that no one can perform a job when they are stress and fatigue. In this moral is involve with technician approval which the other caused might have been was maximum crosswind which can affect the planes components that one engineer might have not of notice and had to implement it or no replacement to it. In the end it took 11 people with the captain due to his mistakes of being fatigue and 105 were in serious or minor injury. The issues were brought up to FAA and National weather service. During these plane crashes they hardly used truth-telling which helps people keep at bay for a moment to ensure that everything is done with the plane. There should be no mistakes that people take when it comes to this. People are risking their lives not knowing what they haven’t been told and yet commercial airplanes do whatever is done to gain a quick buck. Yet they also break another principle non-maleficence airplane are supposed to take you to one location to another not make it past the incline make it to the location and the landing gear isn’t place correctly, or corrosion. Yet at the end the person does get their justice, but more people died, and it should only take a second to stop it from flying and do all the repairs. They lose 250,000$ a year but those numbers are to ensure that the plane works correctly. As of 2019 Some people who have them are telling people not to go onto which one due to people who wanted to airborne a plane to make some cash. In this incident it’s called Crash “During Takeoff in Icing Conditions” there was one fatal injury of three people out of the six. During the history of the flight the location was at Montrose reginal airport where it was snowing. The group of six people were consisting of a captain, flight attendant, three passenger and first officer. It was stated that the airplane landed on runaway 17 on Van Nuys where it was ramp at a fixed-base operator for about 40 to 45 mins. A pilot who was certified stated that there seem to appear that the snow on the aircraft that lead to one of the disasters. Another person who was a lineman who was fueling the plane stated, “there appeared to be snow on the accident airplane’s wings, but he could not tell how much” (2006, May 2, p.9). It was also stated that the fuel truck was kept outside and unheated. The lineman said something to the accident flight crewmembers to deice the plane, which none of the crew didn’t do and left it as it was. Later the first officer didn’t provide information regarding the incident. Due to their time in flight there was a record that had everything he said about the engine bleed, wings, location of where it was landing and throughout the flight a passenger said it look like it showered. In the end the alarm came up and the aircraft wing dropped, and the plane went into a angle that killed the captain, flight attendant, and a passage. One witness who seen what happened when the plane fell and drop like bricks said, “violently slammed back to the right” (2006, May 2, p.9). What happened to the plane both engines were consumed in fire the wings were 216 feet away from the debris and the impact crater was about 62 inches. Records later shows the total flight hours and days it’s been on flight and what happened to the other three people. Probable cause was the wings themselves since no one wanted to deice the wings and the captain was lacking winter condition experience.

Both Scenarios

Now with both scenarios most problems can be fixed if the person knew right away, but we are only human capable of doing our limit of our knowledge. Now the information that they got might have help the industry respond and to solve them quickly. Yet people need to understand what they need to do to get the job done the first time. It may take them longer, but the quality of an aircraft is more important than the money, but it may be the opposite if it was the manager position and the money is important than the quality. It must be balanced with ethics and morals it changes everyone or a person that may help them or not depending about deciding on what they must do in order to prevent things from happening. In the “Crash During Takeoff in Icing Conditions” was another cause where people interest for telling the truth was there and non-maleficence when both the pilot didn’t say a word about it. When the fuel truck was unheated and kept outside it may be due to some factor of an explosion but done correctly would still cause problems that might have got some drips of water inside the aircraft that may have gone differently. The only one who had morals was the lineman guy which only helped to his side and none of the others which didn’t do anything. When the officer didn’t want to say anything even though he was there a bit of truth-telling is what he didn’t want to say. I guess that his duty ethic was to pretend it didn’t happen. Close to the end since the evidence was shown that they did have something to say it was later that the plan was blown up and due to their ethics with some human factors and they were lacking teamwork, communication and knowledge. Due to this accident they needed up fixing to prevent these problems occurring again.

References

1. ALC_Content. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?pf=1&preview=true&cID=107.
2. Accident Report Detail. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AAR0102.aspx.
3. Ranter, H. (1941, October 30). ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3-277B NC25663 St. Thomas, ON. Retrieved from https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19411030-1.
4. Safety Ethics: Cases from Aviation, Healthcare and Occupational and Environmental Health
5. ISBN-13: 978-0754642473, ISBN-10: 075464247X by Manoj S. Patankar (Author), Jeffrey P. Brown (Author)
6. Crash During Takeoff in Icing Conditions. (2006, May 2). Retrieved May 2, 2006, from https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AAB0603.aspx.
7. Crash During Takeoff in Icing Conditions. (2006, May 2). Retrieved May 2, 2006, from
8. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/Reports/AAB0603.pdf 1-9

Being an Army Aviator has always been my dream. The opportunity to serve my country while pursuing a career in aviation is a perfect combination of my passions. In this essay, I will discuss my motivation for wanting to become an Army Aviator, the qualities and skills that I believe are essential for success in this field, and the impact I hope to have as an Army Aviator.

Motivation for Becoming an Army Aviator

Ever since I was young, my fascination with aviation has been fueled by the selfless commitment and bravery displayed by military personnel. As I aspire to serve my country, I believe that becoming an Army Aviator presents a distinctive opportunity to merge my passion for flying and my strong sense of duty. Pursuing this career would not only push me to my physical and mental limits, but it would also help me cultivate leadership and teamwork abilities that will undoubtedly translate into all areas of my life.

I am equally intrigued by the sophisticated tools and machinery incorporated in military aviation. It’s an opportunity to collaborate with state-of-the-art technology and participate in shaping innovative systems and strategies to safeguard our country. This is a huge driving force for me.

Qualities and Skills for Success

To succeed as an Army Aviator, one must possess several qualities and skills. Firstly, a strong work ethic and unwavering dedication to the mission are key. The rigorous training and demanding nature of the job require a commitment to excellence.

Discipline is also essential. Army Aviators must be able to follow orders and adhere to strict protocols for the safety and effectiveness of military aviation operations. Furthermore, they must possess strong problem-solving and adaptability skills to respond to changing situations and make critical decisions under pressure.

Additionally, Army Aviators must have teamwork and leadership skills to achieve mission success. Effective collaboration with fellow soldiers and support personnel is vital. As leaders, Army Aviators should be able to inspire and motivate others, while demonstrating a strong sense of responsibility and integrity.

Impact as an Army Aviator

As an Army Aviator, my mission is to make a positive impact on my fellow soldiers, my unit, and the broader military community by embodying a commitment to excellence in training and performance. Through my contributions, I aim to enhance the overall effectiveness of our military operations and support the safety and security of our nation.

Furthermore, I hope to be a commendable example for upcoming military pilots, instilling in them the aspiration to chase their aspirations while upholding top-notch levels of professionalism, honesty, and commitment to duty. Through this, I am confident that I can play a crucial part in preserving the esteemed legacy of Army Aviation and bolster its continuous accomplishments.

Conclusion

To sum up, my desire to become an Army Aviator is fueled by a combination of my passion for aviation, my dedication to serving my country, and my admiration for the qualities and skills required for success in this challenging and rewarding field.

As an Army Aviator, I hope to make a positive impact on my unit and the broader military community, contributing to the safety and security of our nation and inspiring future generations to pursue their dreams in military aviation.

1.0 Introduction to aviation history

For more than 200decades, humans have made extensive efforts to peruse the skies with man-made flying objects. Man’s fascination with flight has been demonstrated by countless records throughout history. Aviation history began with the invention of kites and gliders, before emerging into the modern era’s multi-million-dollar aviation industry.In ancient times, mankind navigated the sky by imitating the birds. Flapping wings which is known as ornithopters were built to strap on their arm or machines. Unfortunately, it only works better on a bird scale than on a much larger scale to lift a man and a machine off the ground.

During the 17th century, the age of modern aviation embodies two major categories which is lighter-than-air aviation and heavier-than-air aviation. This type of lighter-than-air aviation mainly involved balloons filled with either hot air or hydrogen gas. However, hot-air balloons were hardly a practical flying method as there was no way to get from one place to another unless blown by wind to the desired direction. This happens due to lack of maneuverability. On the other hand, airships also known as dirigibles came to the rescue with its ability to lift from hydrogen gas instead of using heat. This has succeeded in being the first airship to carry passengers over any long distance.

Upon looking at heavier-than-air aviation, that was the time where the Wright Brothers, namely Orville and Wilbur Wright has created history in the year 1903, by successfully flew their Wright Flyers, in which the longest time was 59seconds and covered 852 feet. Their flights have set up a new standard for the aviation industry as it was a combination of both control and power. Ever since then, the Brothers were known as the founder of aircraft. Nonetheless, their successful flight testing resulted to be used in military instead of civil purposes. The airplanes were used as a war weapon during the times of World War for air-bombing purposes or fighting with opponents or enemy aircraft. Since end of World War, flights have been used extensively for civil purposes like means of transportation no matter for traveling or transferring heavy loads.

To be aligned with the growth of the modern era, digital systems have invaded modern aircraft, rendering most mechanical and analog instruments outdated. discovery of better materials for creating lighter and stronger airplanes were found through the computer simulations like computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).

2.0 Discuss the history of the development chosen aircraft type and relate it with the aircraft principle.

History of airbus A319CJ

Boeing Business Jet and corporate jets like Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream V are those aircraft that behold the industry of aircraft all this while. Even though they are known for their brand, Airbus Corporate Jetliner (A319CJ), a long-range corporate jet development of the A319, was the only aircraft to compete against all those popularly established aircraft. A319CJ was initially launched at Paris Airshow in 1997 and in October 1998 it was first rolled out of Dasa’sHamburg A319/A321 assembly hall.The A319CJ is developed with mostly to resemble the A319 but still with some minimal amendment. This literally meant that the A319CJ can be easily changed to an airliner, thus spike up the aircraft’s potential resale value.IAE V2500s was initially empowering A319CJ but still CFM56s available too.The A319’s containerized cargo hold means that the CJ’s auxiliary fuel tanks can be easily loaded and unloaded, flexible for operators to reconfigure the aircraft for changing payload or range requirements.A319CJ weighed about 3.8 tons which is equivalent to 8500lb and the interior designing had cost about 4 to 10 million USD. A Green A319CJ costs $US35m and interior completion can cost 4 to 10 million USD. A minimum of four and a maximum of six months is the time period for outfitting. As for the flight capacity, it equips of 2 flight crew and six standard layouts offering seating from 10 to 39 passengers. It’s expected that around 12 of A319CJs are to be built each year. The first on air trip with passengers was scheduled in November 1999. Around late 1998, there were twelve firm orders.

2.1Explain the aircraft development history in the aviation industry.

Aircraft development

The historical backdrop of flying is an account of human beings want to fly through the sky like flying creature. People’s dreams was dependent to copy this.His contemplations are put into work lastly as his fantasies and creative energies transform into the real world. A man named Iracus adored taking a gander at winged animals and needs to fly like them. Iracus and his dad, Daedalus endeavored to escape from Crete by making wings made out of wax and quills. His dad cautions him to not fly excessively near the sun but rather Iracus disregards his dad’s advice. Iracus’ wings softened and he fell into the ocean where he suffocated. In this manner, went along the saying; ‘don’t fly excessively near the sun’. In this story, we can reason that the principal conceivable endeavor to fly brought about disappointment. The Chinese were believed to be among the most punctual to utilize kites, which was roughly 2800 years back.

From that point forward, Leonardo Da Vinci was simply the primary person who devoted to a venture about flying machines. He was a researcher, a draftsman and a painter. He longed for flying and made some levelheaded yet informal structures. He attracted draws and endeavored to develop them. In 1500, he accumulated data on flying creatures and how they fly. He began drawing flying machines with fluttering wings. At long last, by following the wings of a feathered creature, Leonardo Da Vinci made the ‘Fluttering Wing Aircraft’ to enable people to fly. This was the main genuine endeavor of flight.

The second endeavor of flight was around the seventeenth Century when researchers began to find the attributes of the air and gasses that were lighter than air. In this manner, numerous tests were begun and one specific investigation was sufficiently effective to be known as the main human flight. The Montgolfier Brothers were creators of the primary ever-useful inflatable. In 1782, the found that by warming air into a paper or texture pack, it will rise. In 1783, they turned out to be increasingly imaginative and inventive by really flying a sheep, duck and chicken for an entire 8 minutes. With these trials, they at last made their first human trip in November of 1783. In any case, their inflatable was fragmented in light of the fact that it needed directional control.

In 1804, the designer whose lightweight flyer had gotten the title ‘First Successful Glider’ was George Cayley. He directed an assortment of tests and analyses expected to investigate streamlined standards and to assemble data of significant worth in the structure of air ship. His lightweight plane had a total arrangement of body, tail and wing. He discovered that lift is made from weight contrast over the wing surfaces. He likewise had the plan to wrap the wings of the lightweight flyer for move control. In spite of the fact that it was not accessible at the time, George Cayley proposed a plan to introduce motor on the lightweight flyer to make trust. George Cayley is acclaimed for his wide specialized and logical enthusiasm for his innovations. While George Cayley is known to be the principal individual to effectively concoct a lightweight flyer, Otto Lilienthal was really the first historically speaking individual to effectively guide a lightweight plane. This was around the 1890s where Otto Lilienthal had officially achieved more than 2500 lightweight plane flights which were extremely effective. He discovered that the heading of the lightweight flyer can be constrained by the development of our body.

William S. Henson created the principal plane with a motor. He began to structure a steam motor for planes. Notwithstanding, after one attempt which came about to a disappointment, William S. Henson surrendered in light of the fact that the model Aerial Steam Carriage did not execute as it was normal. The Wright Brothers flew effectively following 4 years of diligent work with lightweight planes and after that motors added to the lightweight flyers. Wright siblings accomplished the principal fueled, supported and controlled plane trip in 1904. The Wright siblings intently pursued the exploration of the German pilot, Otto Lilienthal. The siblings chose to begin their very own analyses with flight. At long last got the siblings building up an idea called ‘wing twisting’. They created a Flyer that ascended into the air and remained for 12 seconds, at 120 feet. They at that point included a portable rudder and prevailing with regards to flying the main free, controlled flight which was heavier than plane.

Man’s interest with flight has been exhibited by innumerable records all through history.Aviation history started with the innovation of kites and lightweight flyers, before rising into the cutting-edge period’s multi-million-dollar avionics industry. In old occasions, humanity explored the sky by copying the winged creatures. Fluttering wings which is known as ornithopters were worked to lash on their arm or machines. Lamentably, it just works preferred on a fowl scale over on a lot bigger scale to lift a man and a machine off the ground.

Amid the seventeenth hundreds of years, the period of present-day flight encapsulates two noteworthy classes which is lighter-than-air aeronautics and heavier-than-air flying. This sort of lighter-than-air flying mostly included inflatables loaded up with either tourist or hydrogen gas. In any case, sight-seeing balloons were not really a down-to-earth flying technique as there was no real way to get starting with one spot then onto the next except if passed upwind to the ideal direction. This occurs because of the absence of mobility. Then again, aircrafts otherwise called airships acted the hero with its capacity of lifting from hydrogen gas as opposed to utilizing heat. This has prevailed with regards to being the primary aircraft to convey travelers over any long separation.

After taking a gander at heavier-than-air flight, that was where the Wright Brothers, to be specific Orville and Wilbur Wright has made history in the year 1903, by effectively flew their Wright Flyers, wherein the longest time was 59seconds and secured 852 feet. Their flights have set up another standard for flying industry as it was a blend of both control and power. As far back at that point, the Brothers were known as the author of flying machines. In any case, their fruitful flight testing came about to be utilized in the military rather than common reason. The airplanes were utilized as a war weapon amid the seasons of World War for air-bombarding purposes or battling with rivals or adversaries flying machines. After end of World War, flights have been utilized broadly for common purposes like methods for transportation regardless of for voyaging or exchanging overwhelming burdens.

To be lined up with the development of the present-day period, computerized frameworks have attacked the advanced airplane, rendering most mechanical and simple instruments obsolete. Disclosure of better materials for making lighter and more grounded planes were found through the PC reproductions like PC supported structure (CAD) and PC helped producing (CAM).An example as stated from the internet is the “glass cockpit” employing LCD monitor alternatively of the mechanical dials and gauges.

3.0 Discuss the aircraft technology applied in your chosen aircraft and its contribution in the modernization in the aviation industry.

The technology of A319CJ aircraft

Aircraft seats among 18 and 50 passengers, depending on the configuration. The cockpit is fabricated from glass with retractable HUD (Head-Up display), and MFDs (Multi-characteristic displays). The standard crew are 2 pilots, 2 flight engineers and a pair of stewards. The cabin is 78 feet in length, width is 12.1 ft, and the heightis 7.3 ft. the usual four auxiliary gasoline tanks are 6,000 nautical miles (11,100 hundred km). The assistant fuel tanks are removable and are introduced in the load compartment. The administration roof has an expansion of 41,000 feet. The A319CJ have 3 ACT which empowers as long as 10 hours flight time. It is under the EASA Commercial. Also, the VVIP lodge is planned by Alberto Pinto. It likewise has King Size beds in the Aft Cabin. Additionally, washroom with shower in the air ship itself. A319CJ likewise contains Rockwell Collins Stage Entertainment System with SATCOM giving Internet – WiFi. The motor utilized in A319CJ is CFM 56-5B7/3.

The gear gave are Rockwell Collins ”Stage” Media Distribution System using A/C WiFi Network, Video Distribution to Zonal Screens with Laptop Access Point for Zonal Screens, RCA/YPrPB Input Points with iPod Conversion, Single SBB SATCOM WiFi (+ 4 RJ45 Access Points). 1-2 Mbps by means of Satcom Direct and SRT 2100 B SATCOM (counting High-Speed Module 64kbts) with SATCOM Cockpit Voice Interface. Consistence Status Report against JAR-OPS1, Subpart K§L, at Green Aircraft Delivery, FANS A+ Certified, Air Traffic Services Unit (ATSU) Alternate Equipment FANS A+ related and MTOW at 76.5 t with EASA Certified Crew Rest and 3 ACT Sequence A. Snappy Access Recorder (QAR) and Electrical Footwarmers for Pilots. VHF Data Radio (VDR) Alternate Equipment (with Acceptance of 46.21.111) – FANS A+ related with VHF Data Link (VDL) Mode 2 Function. Crisis Locator Transmitter (ELT) Alternate Equipment, Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Alternate Equipment (SFE), Additional Cockpit Protective Breathing Equipment (PBE) in Coat Stowage (SFE) Additional Cockpit Protective Breathing Equipment (PBE) on Aft RH Wall (SFE), AIRBUS Standard Airline Operational Communication (AOC) Software Alternate Equipment, Integrated Standby Instrument System (ISIS) Optional Functions, Indication of Metric Altitude on Primary Flight Display (PFD) with Dual Advisory Ice Detection Systems. Activity on Runways with Reduced Width, Catalytic Converters and HFDL Function for HFDR.

The inside of A319CJ are grand. The main region is a parlor with a couch and with two seats around a mixed drink table, just as two seats around a collapsing table. The mid-lodge living space can be changed over into a feasting territory that can suit a four, six or eight visitor eating background, or for the business explorer into a gathering table to hold your significant gatherings. The completely prepared office enables you to remain associated through its Wi-Fi satellite web and Sat phone. Also, for all the more loosening up treks, the cutting-edge STAGE media stimulation framework offers a broad library of blockbusters and great films and a choice of music collections through the on-board experience. The third zone offers explorers a cozy back parlor that can be deterred from the principal lodge, highlighting a couch that changes over into a twofold bed and a further four individual seats. Behind this private parlor is the ”main room”. The back of the air ship has been amplified to include an open private ”main room”. An extra-large bed with an exquisite dark wood facade outline becomes the dominant focal point in this paradise over the mists, and the dividers are enveloped with delicate beige cowhide quilt work. The sumptuously enormous en-suite restroom includes a wide rectangular shower, one of the first ever to be introduced in an ACJ.

With every one of these highlights in the A319CJ, the flying machine has been one of the hot-selling personal jets with great audits. Most customers were entirely agreeable and picks this air ship to be their top technique for transportation. This is particularly to the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi who picks A319CJ as his own personal jet.

4.0 Conclusion

Leonardo Da Vinci who drew sketches of flying machines after studying how birds and bats fly and finally inventing his own creation called “The Flapping-Wing Aircraft”. After Leonardo Da Vinci’s first attempt to fly, many other attempts were made by more scientists and inventors. Some of them were the Mongolfier Brothers who invented the first practical balloon, George Cayley who first invented the glider, Otto Lilienthal who invented the first glider who could be piloted by humans.

There also was William S. Henson who invented the first airplane with an engine, Samuel P. Langley who successfully flew a steam-engined airplane and finally the Wright Brothers who flew an aircraft successfully. After the Wright Brothers invention, most aircrafts had similarities with the aircraft design of the Wright Brothers. With all the many types of aircrafts flying in the sky these days, A319CJ from the Airbus family has many interesting features and technologies.

A319CJ has been a top choice in buyers turning it into a private jet. Its interior is wide and comfortable, making the perfect corporate jet capable of fulfilling any need. It has the ability to offer the world’s most rewarding flying experiences. It also delivers more space which customers can design and install their ideal cabin

5.0 References

1. Airliners.net. (2018). Airliners.net. [online] Available at: http://www.airliners.net/aircraft-data/airbus-a319cj/30 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2018].
2. Barrie Aircraft Museum. (2018). Airbus A319CJ, pictures, technical data, history – Barrie Aircraft Museum. [ONLINE] Available at: https://barrieaircraft.com/airbus-a319cj.html. [Accessed 10 September 2018].
3. How did the invention of airplanes change the world? – Quora. 2018. How did the invention of airplanes change the world? – Quora. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-invention-of-airplanes-change-the-world. [Accessed 10 September 2018].
4. The Times of India. 2018. Who invented the kite and when? – Times of India. [ONLINE] Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Who-invented-the-kite-and-when/articleshow/6211967.cms. [Accessed 10 September 2018].
5. FLYING MACHINES – Otto Lilienthal. 2018. FLYING MACHINES – Otto Lilienthal. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.flyingmachines.org/lilthl.html. [Accessed 10 September 2018].
6. FLYING MACHINES – William Samuel Henson. 2018. FLYING MACHINES – William Samuel Henson. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.flyingmachines.org/hens.html. [Accessed 10 September 2018].

Appendix

1. Fig. 1.1 Wilbur Wright, 1867-1912Fig. 1.2 Orville Wright, 1871-1948
2. Fig. 1.3 Wright Glider, 1902 Fig. 1.4 Structure of the Wright Glider
3. Fig. 1.5 AirplaneFig. 2.1 Picture of A319CJ

The History of Aviation

From Dream to Reality

It’s been more than 100 years since the Wright Brothers took their aircraft, the Wright Flyer, to the sky for the first time in the history, but human being has always been dreaming of flight. Among the earliest recorded stories of man in flight is the legend of Emperor Shun. According to this legend, nearly 4,000 years ago, Emperor Shun escaped from prison by “donning the work clothes of a bird.” Around the Spring and Autumn Period, our ancestors invented the kite. Some kites were very large and may have carried man aloft. Troops used the man-carrying kites to watch their enemy’s activities. Around Tang Dynasty gunpowder was invented to build simple solid rockets. According to the record, a man named Wan Hoo attempted a flight to the Moon using a large wicker chair to which were fastened 47 large rockets. When the rockets were launched, Wan Hoo disappeared with a trail of smoke and fire- never to be seen again.

On the other side of the Earth, Leonardo da Vinci devoted many years of his life to understand the mysteries of flight. He believed that the secrets of flight could be learned by studying birds. With countless hours spent on researching, he left us approximately 160 pages of descriptions and sketches of flying machines, as well as his thinking about the center of gravity, center of pressure and streamlining.

On November 21, 1783, the first manned lighter-than-air flight is made by Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes in a hot-air balloon from the garden of the Chateau La Muette near Paris. The flight lasted 25 minutes and 5 miles. In the late 1890s, German engineer and inventor Otto Lilienthal designed his own hang-gliders. With over 2,000 successful flights, he proved to the western world that heavier-than-air flight is achievable.

Although, many people have built machines taking people up to the sky before, but the reason we considered the Wright Brothers is our funding father of modern aviation was because on December 17, 1903, they made the world’s first manned, powered, sustained, and controlled flight in history. Their achievement of success was not coming from best of luck, but their attitude of solving problems and devotion on scientific research. The first technological breakthrough they made was coming from observing birds’ activities. By doing so, they discovered birds can achieve lateral control during flight maneuvers by the movement of the feathers on the wingtips. They call it the “wing-warping technique”. By converting such technique to a design of airfoil, Wrights came up with their first testing gilder and found that the controls are operated well. After that, they went back to their workshop in Dayton, Ohio, to further improve the airfoil design and controllability of the aircraft. From 1901 to 1902, the Wright Brothers made over 200 different shaped airfoils out of sheet metals and set out to record the performance of each in a self-made wind tunnel. Meanwhile, they designed and built a lightweight gasoline engine as a suitable power plant for the aircraft. Next, they designed and carved the two wooden propellers that would be turned by the engine. With all that elements combined, the Wright Flyer became alive.

The Wright brothers’ success inspired an entire generation of aviation pioneers in Europe and in America. From 1903 to 1914, pioneers from both continents started to develop their aircraft and took it to the sky one step at a time. Among these pioneers, there was a Chinese man named Feng Ru. Feng immigrated to the U.S. from China when he was 12 years old. When the words about the Wright Brothers’ first flight were spread out, Fung was fascinated by their work. As a man always dreamed of flying, he wanted to build his own airplane just like the Wright Brothers did. He set up an aircraft factory with the help of a few Chinese investors in Amercia- in Oakland, California. With two years of hardworking, Fung constructed his first airplane in 1908, and made his first successful flight in the following year. He became the first Chinese man known to fly in America. In 1911, he decided to return to his native land with an ambition to help China catch up with aviation industry. Unfortunately, Feng was killed while performing an aerial exhibition before a crowd of 1,000 spectators shortly after his return.

Rise with The War

In 1914, the World War I began. At first, airplanes haven’t been recognized to play an important role on the battlefields. However, as the war leaded on, people started to realize airplane was one of those few weapon systems that can change warfare. At first, airplanes were used for observation. But it was not long before airplanes were used to shoot at each other and to bomb the targets. For the first time, aircraft were operated on a daily basis, with all that implies of regular servicing and a focus on reliability. Massive amount of money was loaded the industry for researching and ordering, more powerful engines and sturdier airframes brought a great steps forwards in overall performance. When the war started in 1914, the average airplane had a speed of 70 to 80 mph and could not go higher than about 10,000 feet. By the time World War I ended, the speed of aircraft had increased to 140 to 150 mph, and they could be operated up to about 24,000 feet. Other technical accomplishments like all-metal aircraft and two-way communication radio were also introduced during World War I.

The Golden Age

In the aftermath of the World War I, aircraft order from military was dramatically cut off by more than 85%, as well as majority of military pilots and workers from aircraft manufacturers were also been laid off. Aviators tried to find a civil market for this industry. The first step they took was to host air shows around places to attract public attention. But this was the time World War I has just ended, most people were still possessing post-war trauma and considered airplane as the killing machine. The industry must prove to the public aircraft is a reliable and useful tool that can be used on a daily basis. Therefore, in the next 20-year period between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, new speed and altitude records were set, broken and reset, over and over again. There were oceans and continents to cross, and each accomplishment led to someone who wanted to do it better and faster. The public thrilled to the excitement of air races and the feats of record-breakers. Such publication gradually built a good public reputation for the industry. Helped by pioneering long-distance survey flight, airlines began to stretch their networks both in land and across the ocean.

The very first passenger service of the postwar era was initiated by Deutsche Luft-Reederei from German, which was the predecessor of Lufthansa. With a few years of development, it was by far the world’s largest airline which hold over 40% of the world’s passenger air traffic in 1926. Meanwhile, commercial aviation started to rises with air mail service in United States. Many were opposed to the development of an air mail service, especially from railroads because of the conflict of interests. But the country was built on the right scale for air transport, as the continental expanse offering airplanes the chance to deliver major time-saving, the US Air Mail quickly opened the market. As air mail service spread out across the country, a few commercial passengers were carried by the mail planes. At the early days, airlines used converted warplanes on their scheduled flight. However, those airplanes were designed to carry bombs and bullets instead of mails and passengers. In order to achieve more profits, airplanes with wider fuselage and heavier payload, like Ford Tri-Motor or Douglas DC-3, were developed specifically for airline operation.

In the 1930s, two common solution for transoceanic flight were flying boats and airships. With the tragic accident of the Hindenburg, the ascendancy of flying boats made sense in the conditions of the time. On the other hand, although flying boats were not necessarily capable of alighting safely on the open sea, they were, understandably, considered safer for transoceanic flight than land-planes. One of the airlines built its empire with flying boats was the company called Pan American Airways. In 1927, Pan American Airways was formed to fly the first air mail route between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba. This route was extended from island to island throughout the Caribbean. It was eventually extended into Central America and down the Atlantic coast of South America. Since most of this route was over water, and because seaplane bases were easier to build in remote areas than airports, Pan American Airways wanted a large advanced seaplane. In 1934, Pan American took delivery of a four-engine flying boat called the Martin 130. Pan American dubbed it the China Clipper. On November 22, 1935, the China Clipper took off from California for the first transpacific flight. After stops in Hawaii, Wake Island and Guam, the Clipper arrived in the Philippines. By 1937, this route was extended to Hong Kong and Pan American Airways was making one round-trip flight across the Pacific every 7 days.

The Jet

The World War II did not only make our piston engine aircraft fly higher and faster; it also brought us another technological break through to the industry-the Jet. Until the 1940s, air travel was a growing but marginal alternative to travel by ship and train. However, the triumph of jet airliners in the following decade carried the transformation of travel patterns to a new level. By 1957, more people were crossing the Atlantic by plane than by boat. People made journeys they would never previously have, went to places they would never have visited.

The world’s first jet airliner, the DeHavilland Comet 1, entered service in May 1952. The Comet revolutionized commercial travel by increasing air speed to 500 mph. Also, it flew at a higher altitude (25,000-30,000 feet), which put it above most of the weather and made for a much smoother ride. In 1954, two Comets had fatal accidents caused by structural failure. Flying at extremely high altitudes, a pressurized aircraft has a tremendous amount of pressure on the inside. In the case of the Comet, the aircraft could not withstand the pressure difference and explosive decompression occurred. This caused the aircraft to disintegrate in flight. This was a serious setback to the British aviation industry. In United States, Pan American Airways also wanted a jet airliner which can cut the flying time to reach Europe in half and with the capability crossing the Pacific Ocean. They placed their order to both Boeing and Douglas. In October 1958, the Boeing 707 came into service flying the Pan American transatlantic routes from Idlewild, New York, to Paris and London. With the lessons learned from the Comet 1 disasters, the Boeing 707 shows a reliable capability in service.

With growing demands for air travel in the 1960s, the Pan American Airways believed the future of air travel was the Jumbo Jet. Therefore, they asked their long-term partner Boeing to build an airliner that would expand double that passenger capacity of any existing jet airliner. The answer was the Boeing 747, world’s first wide-body, double-deck commercial jet airliner, designed to carrying around 400 passengers with a range for more than 10,000 km. The widespread adoption of jet airliners brought downward pressure on seat prices. Air travel became an experience open to everyone. More people were traveling further than ever before, partly because it has become quicker, easier, and more pleasant to fly, but also because it was becoming cheaper.

Nowadays, the industry has seen increasing interests in fuel savings and passengers’ comfort. Air travel becomes casual on our daily life. But no matter where the future will take us, safety is one area in which there has been continued progress.

The wings are the heart of an aircraft. Missing wings means an incomplete aircraft. Almost everything has an evolution. The planet Earth, humans, animals, countries, cultures, religions, etc. You can endlessly continue counting the amount of things that have an evolution. Just like other things, aircraft wings also have an evolution. Just imagine, why would someone spend days and nights in order to bring the idea of the aircraft wings into practice? Who could it be? How did the wing slowly develop? How difficult could it be? Every single question like these slowly builds up the evolution of the aircraft wings.

Evolution never ends. Everything keeps evolving and so do the aircraft wings, with the main motive to improve aircrafts and make them way more advanced. If you will look at a modern airliner and compare it with an aircraft of the early twentieth century, you will see a big difference. The credit of the first successful airplane in the history goes to the Wright brothers.

The Wright brothers play a very important role in the history (revolution/evolution) of the aeronautics. They made the first successful airplane in 1903. Sounds very ridiculous, because how did they manage to do that successfully in a period when technology didn’t used to be as much advanced as now or when such technology wasn’t introduced to everyone?

Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912) are the Wright brothers. After their first attempt was unsuccessful, they immediately realized that wings must have a high aspect ratio in order for the aircraft to fly. The higher the aspect ratio of the wings, the faster and better it will be able to generate lift.

That must’ve been a big advantage for them, otherwise it would’ve been very difficult or eventually impossible for them to develop the first successful airplane, so again, the wings and its functions are very important to have a clear vision about. In other words, if they were able to produce a wing shape that was good enough to generate the sufficient amount of lift, then 60% of them would’ve been done and they obviously did.

In 1900 and 1901, the Wright brothers designed the wings of their first gliders, but all the data they used for it was not invented by them. It was based on Otto Lilienthal’s aerodynamic data, but unfortunately, they got to know that their measured aerodynamic lift was not the same according to the data they used for the production of their wings. Bad luck, but struggle is a part of every achievement. In short, the wings designed by them were not that good because they didn’t produce/generate enough lift.

After their unsuccessful attempt in 1901, they learned that a wing must be produced that should have the ability to generate enough lift. In 1902, the glider they produced was successful, because the wings generated enough lift. The aspect ratio of that glider can indeed be compared to modern conventional airplanes. They started understanding the science behind building an airplane way better than before, what actually led them to make the first successful airplane ever in the history.

This was the beginning, but one and a half decade later, the First World War began. This war is a very unforgettable period in the history as it took the lives of many innocent people. Many planes were used during the war. Whenever you go to a museum (related to the war), you will get to see all those planes that were used during the First World War. You will notice that they are completely different, based on structure. Especially those wings.

The evolution of the wings will continue, because technology will never stop from getting advanced. A century ago, wings were not as strong and beneficial as they are now. Who could’ve thought a full century ago that one day, fuel will be stored in the wings of an airliner or that the wings of any type of aircraft will contain tons of components in it that will make the presentation of the aircraft much better.

The Dawn of Aviation: The Wright Brothers’ Journey

Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and founders of aviation. Through much trial and error, they were able to achieve the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight in 1903, and the first fully practical airplane two years later. The airplane transformed the 20th century, as people were now able to fly, resulting in a change around the world. Women were responsible for many ‘firsts’ in the aviation industry, despite being faced by constant animosity. Arguably, the invention of the airplane was the most important invention in the modern world. Today, travel is much faster and more efficient, we have satellites that provide us with TV, satellite radio, mobile messaging, and navigation systems, and our economy is faster and better. All of the aforementioned aspects would not have been possible without the airplane. Aviation allowed for the world to be connected in a way that was not possible before, and provided humanity with several opportunities.

Early Experiments and the Path to Flight

Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Indiana on April 16, 1867. On August 19, 1871, Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio. The brothers made the decision to start their own experiments in flight, when German aviator Otto Lilienthal, whose research they followed closely, passed away in a glider crash. In the 1890s, the Wright brothers were getting acquainted with aeronautics. On May 30, 1899, Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution expressing both their desires to join the aeronautical community. He wrote “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” (Orville). Towards the end of the letter, Wilbur requested any publications on aviation that the Smithsonian could provide.

The Evolution of the Wright Brothers’ Gliders

The Wrights’ first aircraft used a combination of their wing-warping control concept and the structural design of the Chanute-Herring glider. It was a biplane kite with a wingspan of 5 feet, built in July 1899. Later on, they successfully built their first piloted aircraft in 1900, which they tested in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers owe a huge part of their success to their flight-testing program. The vast number of trails they performed with their gliders, provided the brothers with both performance data and helped them develop piloting skills. The 1900 glider only lifted to half the height the Wrights had predicted, so they had yet to perfect this invention. The 1901 glider was the largest yet, but it proved to be very problematic. To gain lift on their aircraft, they increased the wing size and curvature of the airfoil. They went back to Kitty Hawk to test the 1901 glider, and although it allowed for longer and more glides, it operated worse than the 1900 glider, as it suffered from a lack of lift and had control problems. The 1902 glider had narrower wings and a much thinner airfoil, than the previous gliders. The Wrights also improved lateral control by adding a fixed vertical rudder to the back end of the glider. The 1902 glider was the first fully controllable aircraft, and was close to a true airplane.

The Breakthrough: Invention of the 1903 Flyer

The first successful airplane invented by the Wright brothers was in 1903. This airplane, or as they called it the Flyer, used the brothers’ biplane configuration, a three-axis control system, which incorporated an elevator for pitch control, a moveable rudder, and lateral balance was achieved through wing-warping. To further improve the wings, the brothers covered the bottom surface with fabric. This resulted in a smoother wing surface, and enhanced the Flyer’s aerodynamic efficiency. The final obstacle to overcome to powered flight was the propulsion system. The engine had four horizontal inline cylinders, fit into a cast aluminum crankcase. It is said that the propellers of the Flyer were one of the most innovative aspects. The brothers decided to use two “…slow-turning, large propellers, because this arrangement offered great efficiency, and the propellers could be spun in opposite directions to neutralize the gyroscopic effects of the whirling blades” (Smithsonian). As for the controls, there was a padded hip cradle and a wooden lever that controlled the elevator. The Wright brothers went back to Kitty Hawk to test the 1903 Flyer, and after a couple of trials, Wilbur managed to steady the airplane for an 852-foot trip lasting 59 seconds, showing that it was capable of constant, controlled flight. To successfully market their invention, the brothers had to demonstrate that these aircrafts could turn and fly over more familiar terrain. In May 1904, they began experimenting with their second powered airplane. On September 20, 1904, the brothers flew their first complete circle, a flight that was 1 minute and 36 seconds long and covered 4,080 feet. By 1905, the brothers’ experimental period ended with their first practical airplane. On October 5, Wilbur was able to circle the field 30 times in 39 minutes, covering 24 and a half miles. With their new invention, they moved on to securing their patent and seeking out customers.

From Experimentation to Practical Aviation

The impact of the airplane on the 20th century is immeasurable, the brothers solved a long-studied technical problem, and transformed the world. In the spring of 1908, Wilbur and Orville had received their patent in America and many European countries, and they were eager to share their invention globally. The first airplane type, the Wright Model B, was offered in 1910. Military aviation, commercial air transport, and competition and exhibit flying were the major markets for aircraft technology; however, commercial aviation would not become economically viable until the 1920s and the 1930s. From 1910 to 1914 the world embraced aviation, and it quickly became part of popular culture. Flight motifs were appearing on jewelry, clocks, games, postcards, and decorative boxes. Flight was seen in all kinds of entertainment like literature, art, music, cartoons, and the silver screen. This was because artists, writers, and composers were inspired by aviation. This invention was an aesthetic event, and they believed it would have an influence on the new century’s moral direction. Flight was an indication of the rise of a new, modern age.

Women’s Pioneering Role in Aviation

Women were constantly facing prejudice in the aviation industry, even though they contributed to many major milestones in the origins of aviation. Blanche Scott was the first ever female pilot to fly in America. Her first experience with flight was when Glenn Curtiss, her instructor, begrudgingly agreed to give her flying lessons, but only on the ground. During the lesson, a block that was placed under the aircraft’s throttle pedal came loose, which sent her off into the air. This demonstrated that women were more than capable of piloting an aircraft, and Scott made history. Scott, under the name ‘The Tomboy of the Air’, joined Curtiss’ Exhibition Team, officially completing her first flight in 1910. Bessie Coleman was the “… first black female pilot and the first Native American woman pilot in 1922” (AeroGuard). Because she was both African American and a woman, US aviation programs turned her away. Not being put down by this, she was ultimately accepted into the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in France, where women learned to fly. Coleman was known for her tricks and performance capabilities. Amelia Earhart was another influential female figure in aviation, as she, most notably, flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932. Additionally, she set a record flying her own biplane a distance of 14,000 feet prior to her 1932 flight. In 1942, the USA has a huge shortage of pilots, so to compensate women were trained to fly military planes. These female pilots were known as the WASP, Women Airforce Service Pilots (AeroGuard). More than 1,100 women flew a variety of military aircrafts, and made immense contributions to World War II.

The Airplane: Catalyst for Modern Innovations

The invention of the airplane was the most important invention of modern time. Airplanes have led ways to other innovations, they are an integral part of the modern world. Aviation led to space travel, scientists studied aeronautics and engineering to make going to space a possibility. The Soviet Union’s first satellite, Sputnik, was launched on October 4th, 1957 and it pushed other countries to put satellites into space. The radio signals they emitted “…were used to pinpoint locations of submarines by the US Navy; thus, it was the birth of the global positioning system” (Team). Satellites were used for television and radios as well, in the following decades. Without the technology to improve airplane performance, this would not have been possible. In the modern world, airplanes have many purposes, other than for the military and transportation of people. Air transports have made it possible to ship perishables from one country to the next. Aviation has also given us the ability to capture a different perspective of our planet, from the sky, in movies and photographs. Also, with aviation we are able to support international businesses, thus improving the economy. Additionally, aviation has shrunk the world, air travel has shorted travel times from months to hours. Without this invention, people would not be able to experience the world as often and as quick as is possible today. Aviation has saved thousands of lives, as helicopters are “… an efficient and effective tool at transporting the injured quickly and safely to hospitals in the area, reducing the time of travel, and increasing the patient’s chance of living” (Krautkremer). Airplanes opened up many opportunities, they also allowed us to improve trade and communication throughout the world.

Legacy and Impact: The Airplane’s Role in Shaping the Modern World

The Wright brothers began their journey of aviation in 1890. Throughout the years of 1899 to 1902, they experimented with designs on their gliders to perfect them. This led way to the first Flyer in 1903, and, eventually, to the first practical airplane in 1905. The Aerial Age began throughout the 1900’s, when aviation became a huge part of the culture. Fast forward to the modern world, the use of airplanes has changed significantly. The airplane had a huge impact on humankind, and it contributed to the creation of many other things.