This document provides a brief overview of the history of aviation from hot air balloons in the 18th century to the introduction of jet aircraft in the mid-20th century. Some of the key events and innovations discussed include:
- The first manned hot air balloon flight by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783 in France.
- Early experiments with gliders and motor-powered aircraft in the late 19th/early 20th century by pioneers such as Samuel Langley, the Wright brothers, and Richard Pearse.
- The first official flight of the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, marking the start of the aviation age.
- The development of military aircraft and their
2. Hot Air Balloons
On November 21, 1783, in Paris,
France, the first untethered, manned
flight was made in a hot air balloon
created on December 14, 1782 by
the Montgolfier brothers
3. Hot Air Balloons
Unmanned flights were made much
earlier (220–280 AD) The Chinese
used airborne lanterns for military
signalling. These lanterns are known
as Kongming lanterns
4. Hot Air Balloons Professor Thaddeus Lowe aloft in the
balloon PIntrepid observing a battle
during the Peninsular Campaign near
Fair Oaks, Va. May-August 1862
(American Civil War)
5. Lawrence Hargrave
Hargrave successfully lifted
himself off the ground under a
train of four of his box kites at
Stanwell Park Beach on 12
November 1894
He developed a rotary
aircraft engine in 1889
6. Early Unmanned Flight
1901 First successful flying model propelled by
an internal combustion engine
Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-
powered version of his tandem-winged
"Aerodromes." the first successful flying model
to be propelled by an internal combustion
engine. As early as 1896 he launches steam-
propelled models with wingspans of up to 15
feet on flights of more than half a mile.
8. First Flight
A dispute on who was first seems to have been won by
USA thanks to their publicity machine
Richard Pearse, Waitohi, New Zealand, March 31, 1902
Wright Brothers Dayton Ohio USA December 17, 1903
10. Pearse’s Engine The engine that he made was extremely
clever. It was a twin cylinder and piston device, but the pistons worked in both
directions so that it was effectively a four cylinder piston engine.
11. Wilbur & Orville Wright Possibly influenced by
Hargraves’ work these bicycle makers started with Box Kites and developed
them into a heavier than air powered aircraft. They flew gliders as early as 1901
Wilbur Wright pilots the
1902 glider over the Kill
Devil Hills, October 10,
1902. The single rear
rudder is steerable; it
replaced the original fixed
double rudder
12. Wilbur & Orville Wright
The Wright Flyer III over
Huffman Prarie, October 4,
1905, Orville piloting. Note
he is still in, which would not
be changed by the brothers
until 1908
13. First Landing on ship
First fixed-wing
aircraft landing
on a warship:
Ely landing his
plane on board
the USS
Pennysylvania in
San Francisco
Bay, 18 January
1911.
14. First Flight France to England
Louis Bleriot
Starting the engine, 25 July 1909
16. World War 1 allied aircraft
Sopwith
Camel
Approximately
5,490 Camels
were built and
credited with
shooting down
1,294 enemy
aircraft, more than
any other Allied
fighter of the war
17. World War 1 German
The Fokker Dr.I
Dreidecker Triplane
was built by Fokker
Flugzeugwerke. The
Dr.I saw widespread
service in the spring
of 1918. It became
renowned as the
aircraft in which
Manfred Von
Richtoven gained
his last 19 victories
18. Australian Flying Corps Founded 1913
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 First
Australian Squadron
Deperdussin Monoplane
Point Cook 1914,
19. First all metal Aircraft
Junkers J 1 all metal "technology
demonstrator" pioneer aircraft, at
FEA 1, Döberitz, Germany in late
1915, undergoing flight
preparations
Sole survivor
20. First Flight England to Australia
Ross and Keith Smith's Vickers Vimy biplane, 1919. (G-EAOU) the
registration being whimsically said to stand for "God 'elp all of us"
21. Qantas
In August 1920, former AFC
officers Hudson Fych and Paul
McGinness bought an Avro
504 aircraft and established
what later became known as
the Queensland and Northern
Territory Aerial Service
(Qantas). By 1922, a
scheduled mail service
operated between Charleville
and Cloncurry, and operations
had moved from Winton to
Longreach. By 1927, the
service had extended first to
Camooweal then Normanton.
In 1929, the route extended
to Brisbane and the company
moved its headquarters there.
22. First Flight England to Australia
The Vimy was also famous for the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Allcock & Brown
in June 1919
23. Spirit of St Louis is the custom-built, single engine,
single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on
May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris
24. First Solo Flight England to Australia
Bert Hinkler's Avro
Avian. Hinkler flew
the first solo flight
between England and
Australia, departing
England on 7
February 1928 and
arriving in Darwin on
22 February 1928
25. Australia women aviation pioneers
Millicent Bryant(1878 - 1927) became the first Australian woman to gain a pilot's
licence on 28 March 1927. She drowned later that same year in a Sydney ferry
accident.
Maud Bonney started flying in 1931 and became the first pilot to fly between Brisbane
and Cape Town. In 1933, she flew from Darwin to England to gain the title of the first
woman to fly from Australia to England.
Freda Thompson(1906 - 1980) was the first female flying instructor in Australia and
the British Empire, gaining her Instructor's Rating in 1933. In 1934, she was the first
Australian woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
26. Australia women aviation pioneers
Nancy Bird-Walton
DH.85 Leopard Moth
Nancy became the youngest commercially
licenced female pilot in the British
Commonwealth in 1934. The following
year, she ran an air ambulance service in
outback New South Wales. Nancy became
known as the 'Angel of the Outback' for
her work with the Royal Far West
Children’s Health Scheme. She flew many
hours in her Leopard Moth, operating the
first aerial baby clinic and aerial charter
services. During the Second World War
she became Commandant of the Women's
Air Training Corps and in 1950 she founded
the Australian Women Pilots’ Association
27. The Zepplins
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was the inventor of the rigid airship, or dirigible
balloon. Zeppelin went to the United States in 1863 to work as a military observer
for the Union army in the American Civil War, making his first balloon flight while
he was in Minnesota. He served in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and
retired in 1891 with the rank of brigadier general. He spent nearly a decade
developing the dirigible. The first of many rigid dirigibles, called zeppelins in his
honour, was completed in 1900. He made the first directed flight on July 2, 1900. In
1910, a zeppelin provided the first commercial air service for passengers. By his
death in 1917, he had built a zeppelin fleet, some of which were used to bomb
London during World War I. However, they were too slow and explosive a target in
wartime and too fragile to withstand bad weather. They were found to be
vulnerable to antiaircraft fire, and about 40 were shot down over London.
After the war, they were used in commercial flights until the crash of the
Hindenburg in 1937.
30. Aircraft Transport 1930’s style
Short S.21
Maia(G-ADHK)
which was a
variant of the
Short "C-Class"
Empire flying-
boat fitted with
a trestle or
pylon on the top
of the fuselage
to support the
Short S.20
Mercury(G-
ADHJ)
31. WWII
De Havilland Tiger Moth
first flight on October 26, 1931
Following first deliveries in 1939, the RAAF operated 861 Tiger Moths in all, 712 of
which were locally produced
32. WWII
The Wirraway (Aboriginal for 'Challenge' or "Challenger") was the first product of the
new, privately owned Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), 755 were built
between 1939 and mid-1946. The RAAF's last Wirraway flight was in December 1958 at
Point Cook, Victoria. They were replaced by Winjeels
33. WWII
The Anson was the RAAF's first retractable undercarriage, low wing monoplane, and
served in great numbers (1,028 aircraft) following 1935 orders, when the RAAF set
out to modernise its equipment.
34. WWII
2 squadrons of Bristol Blenheims were operational by August
1940, the 22 and 42 Squadrons of Coastal Command.
2 huge German Battleships were among the numerous attacks on shipping and
laying hundreds of mines.
38. WWII and beyond The Mustang was one of the great combat
aircraft of World War 2. Although it saw only limited RAAF service in World War 2,
the RAAF operated over 500 until 1959
39. WWII Douglas Dacota ( C47, DC 3)
“the most vital to our success in Africa and Europe were the bulldozer, the jeep, the 2
1/2 ton truck, and the C-47 airplane. Curiously enough, none of these is designed for
combat."
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
40. Gas Turbine Engines Sir Frank Whittle applied for the first patent
in 1930, and was awarded the patent in 1932. He was ignored by the UK
Government of the day. It took 7 years to develop a prototype
41. Gas Turbine Engines German Hans von Ohain was granted a
patent for his turbojet engine in 1936. it was the first to fly in 1939. Frank Whittle's
jet first flew in 1941.
42. Gas Turbine Engines Sir Frank Whittle’s first flight
Whittle's engineering
genius led to the creation
of several other aircraft:
the RAF's Gloster Meteor,
which saw action during
the latter stages of the
Second World War; the
de Havilland Comet, the
world's first passenger jet,
and Concorde.
Concorde's maiden flight
in 1969 set the seal on
Whittle's endeavours.
43. QantasIn 1947, the Australian Government buys all shares in Qantas; the
airline introduces Constellation aircraft on the London route and operates its first
flight to Japan
44. Aussi Jets A79 DHA Vampire built at CAC in 1949, they were flown by 75
and 76 Squadrons. Flying ceased in 1954 however 2 seater trainers were still used
until replaced by Macchi MB-326H aircraft from 1968
45. Aussi Jets Gloster Meteors, 77 Squadron RAAF, Korea, c.1951 it was the
first jet to be flown in Australia, over Melbourne in June 7 1946 @ 490MPH
46. First Jet Airliner De Havilland Comet On 2 May 1952, as part of
BOAC's route-proving trials, G-ALYP took off, the world's first jetliner
52. A-84 GAF CANBERRA entered service with 82 Wing in December 1953,
replacing the Lincoln. No2 Squadron was sent to Vietnam as part of Australia's
commitment, remaining there until June 1971. Overall, 11,963 sorties were flown in
Vietnam, 76,389 bombs dropped and two aircraft lost. Retired 30 June 1982
