Airplane
Introduction
In this 21st century we
all do know that airplane plays an important role in our lives. Everyday lots
of people are travelling by airplane to go to different location such as
different countries. Airplane is so important now is that it is able to shorten
travel distance and able to allow people to travel leisurely. Flying now is so
cheap that sometimes it is cheaper to use other means of transportation. For
this module I will be talking about how aircraft technology has evolved and the
social impact towards society.
History
Before people are able to travel by
air, we are only able to travel by land or sea. On land transport people
started with horse carriage, bicycle, train, motorcycles and cars. (Davis, 2013) While for sea
transportation it started from a simple raft and as technology improved boats is
develop and lastly ship like ocean liners. (Thomas, Ron, & Shirley, 2012) Although land and
sea transport are sufficient but they are quick enough for people to travel
long distance. Ships or ocean liners are
able to do cross continent travel but it doesn’t have the speed to reach at a
short time. For example if there is no airplane a trip from London to New York
will take 3 days and 12 hours by crossing the Atlantic while traveling thru
airplane reduce the time to less than 8 hours. (Decker, 2008)
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| Airship with steam engine source from : http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/airtransport.htm |
When airplane has not been invented
people actually have tried built something so that they can fly in the air. The
very 1st successful attempt was in 1783 where Joseph and Etienne
Montgolfier built the first balloon that can carry people in the basket. This
is how hot air balloon started. Based on the similar concept, in 1852 Henri
Giffard from Paris made one with a steam engine fitted on it. On that time the
airship can only fly forward. Later on in 1900 it was being called Zeppelins
after their inventor Ferdinand Von Zeppelin. (Thomas R. &., 2009) This has proved that
people are capable of flying but the speed is still very slow.
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| First flight of Wright Brothers at 1903 December 17 Source from : http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/Wrightbros.htm |
At 1903 the Wright Brothers made the
1st engine powered plane called “The Flyer” and it manage to fly for
12 seconds. Although they have managed to invent something that could fly but
it is still like gliding not actual flying. Later on they managed to fly for
24.5miles in 39minutes. (Smithsonian National Air and
Space Musuem)
From there onwards plane started to be intensively developed.
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| World War II jet fighter Source from : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Ryan_FR-1_Fireball_VF-66_North_Island_1945.jpg |
Development of airplane improved
drastically since World War I and World War II as people started to use it as
military purpose. During World War I,
Italy first discovered that they could bomb enemy and it became a major weapon
in the war. (Chavis, 2010)
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| Modern Jet Figther Source from : Museum of Transport and Technology |
Social
Impact
Airplane is so important now that it
is considered as a major transport for us to travel. For cross continent travel
people used to take Ocean liners but since 1960s it has been replace by
airplanes and ocean liners loses their existence. The invention of airplane let
people to travel or courier something around the world within 24hours. (Decker, 2008)
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| Airbus A380 world largest passenger jet Source from : http://www.aircraftcompare.com/helicopter-airplane/Airbus-A380/60 |
Since airplane are able to travel
fast they actually encourage people to travel as there is more and more budget
airlines to meet the people’s demand. Furthermore the idea of air mail quickly
caught up and air freight became more popular as well. Although the cost of air
freight is more expensive but if someone is in urgent it will be the most
express way to deliver stuff. (Wang, Gotterba, & Wu)
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| DHL a global courier source from : http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/DHL-strikes-deal-with-union/-/539550/2405462/-/4l1mn9z/-/index.html |
The increase usage of airplane also
improves the economy as the demand increases. If there is good economic
activity it encourage circulation of goods such as express deliveries, business
trips and also social trips like people going on a vacation. This actually
stimulates economic growth as it allows people to interact with others easily
but also allow people to deal with business in a much efficient way. (Tam &
Hansman, 2002)
Although airplane allow us to travel
in comfort we still need to consider that it still uses combustion engine and
it contributes towards air pollution and it causes global warming. It is
estimated that aviation contributes 5% of the total global climate pollution.
Scientist also expects that the carbon emission will double by the year 2030
and could increase health issue towards the society. (Flying Clean)
Conclusion
The airplane can be one of human
most important invention as it has hugely changes the way of our transportation
but also speed up our travel time. There is a saying that when airplanes are introduced
marks the death of distance. (Decker, 2008) Airplane might have
help us improve our life a lot but at some point it is not a perfect solution
and there is still improvement needed to be done.
References
Chavis, J. C.
(2010, November 16). The Significance of Airplane Development.
Retrieved from Bright Hub:
http://www.brighthub.com/science/aviation/articles/64040.aspx
Davis, J. (2013).
History of Land Transportation. Retrieved from timetoast:
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-land-transportation--3
Decker, K. D.
(2008, June 04). Life without airplanes: from London to New York in 3 days
and 12 hours. Retrieved from Low-Tech Magazine: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/06/ocean-liners.html
Flying Clean.
(n.d.). Issue Briefing: Impacts of Airplane Pollution on Climate Change
and Health. Retrieved from Flying Clean:
http://www.flyingclean.com/impacts_airplane_pollution_climate_change_and_health
Smithsonian National
Air and Space Musuem. (n.d.). Inventing a Flying Machine. Retrieved
from Air and Space:
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/credits.cfm
Tam, R., &
Hansman, R. J. (2002). IMPACT OF AIR TRANSPORTATION ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC .
Retrieved from dspace:
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/35884/atio_tamhansman.pdf
Thomas, R. &.
(2009). Airships & Balloons. Retrieved from kidcyber:
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/airshipballoon.htm
Thomas, Ron,
& Shirley, S. (2012). SHIPS: A Timeline. Retrieved from kidcyber:
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/shipstimeline.html
Wang, H.,
Gotterba, C., & Wu, J. (n.d.). Airplane. Retrieved from AngleFire:
http://www.angelfire.com/co/pscst/airplane.html
