The document provides a history of aviation from its earliest flights in the 1900s to regulatory developments in the mid-20th century. It notes that the Wright brothers began flight demonstrations in France in 1908. In the early years, aviation was unregulated but grew during World War I when airplanes took on roles like reconnaissance and bombing. The first airmail flight was in 1918. The Air Commerce Act of 1926 established the first government oversight of aviation in the US. Jet aircraft were introduced in the mid-1900s, highlighting the need for more regulation to prevent collisions as air traffic increased.

1. History of Aviation
By
G Sarath Kumar
2211014104
Aeronautical Engineering
GITAM University

2. August 21
 1908 — Wilbur Wright
begins flying
demonstrations of his
“Flyer A” from the
artillery ground known
as Camp d'Auvers, 7
miles east of Le Mans,
France.
HISTORY OF AVIATION

3. August 21
1908 — The first turn in
the air performed by a
monoplane is carried out
by “Antoinette II”.
It lasts 1 minute, 36
seconds.
HISTORY OF AVIATION

4. August 21
 1922 — Lawrence
Sperry drops landing
wheels and lands with
skid device at
Farmingdale, Long
Island.
HISTORY OF AVIATION

5. August 21
1923 — The first use of
electric beacons
mounted on the ground
to provide sight direction
for night flying is made in
the United States.
HISTORY OF AVIATION

6. History of Flight
• One of their great
achievements was proving
the value of the scientific,
rather than build-it-and-
see approach to flight.
• By the afternoon of
December 17th, the Wright
brothers had flown a total
of 98 seconds on four
flights. The age of flight
had arrived.

7. History of Flight
• During the early years of
manned flight, aviation
was a free for all because
no government body was
in place to establish
policies or regulate and
enforce safety standards.
• Individuals were free to
conduct flights and
operate aircraft with no
government oversight.

8. History of Flight
• The advent of World War I
offered the airplane a
chance to demonstrate its
varied capabilities.
• It began the war as a
reconnaissance platform,
but by 1918, airplanes
were being mass
produced to serve as
fighters, bombers,
trainers, as well as
reconnaissance platforms.

9. History of Flight
• The first airmail flight was
conducted on May 15,
1918, between New York
and Washington, DC.
• The flight was not
considered spectacular;
the pilot became lost and
landed at the wrong
airfield.

10. Transcontinental Air Mail Route
• Airmail routes continued
to expand until the
Transcontinental Mail
Route was inaugurated.
This route spanned from
San Francisco to New
York for a total distance of
2,612 miles with 13
intermediate stops along
the way.

11. EVOLUTION OF AVIATION
Transcontinental Air Mail Route
• On May 20, 1926,
Congress passed the Air
Commerce Act, which
served as the cornerstone
for aviation within the
United States.

12. Transcontinental Air Mail Route
• The Air Commerce Act
charged the Secretary of
Commerce with fostering
air commerce, issuing and
enforcing air traffic rules,
licensing pilots,
certificating aircraft,
establishing airways, and
operating and maintaining
aids to air navigation.

13. Transcontinental Air Mail Route
• Built at intervals of
approximately 10 miles,
the standard beacon tower
was 51 feet high, topped
with a powerful rotating
light.
• Below the rotating light,
two course lights pointed
forward and back along
the airway.

14. Transcontinental Air Mail Route
• The course lights flashed
a code to identify the
beacon’s number.
• The tower usually stood in
the center of a concrete
arrow 70 feet long.
• A generator shed, where
required, stood at the
“feather” end of the arrow.

15. EVOLUTION OF AVIATION
• On March 29, 1927, the
Aeronautics Branch
issued the first
airworthiness type
certificate to the Buhl
Airster CA-3, a three-place
open biplane.

16. EVOLUTION OF AVIATION
• By mid-century, air traffic had
increased and jet aircraft had
been introduced into the civil
aviation arena.
• A series of mid-air collisions
underlined the need for more
regulation of the aviation
industry.

17. Problems/Challenges faced by Aviation
Industry
• There is dearth of properly trained pilots and technicians necessary for
quick expansion of aviation services.
• Though several centers for the training of pilots and technicians have
already been opened they are patently inadequate to meet the
requirements of even the existing volume of air traffic.
• Another difficulty is with regard to aviation petrol is having very small
supply of indigenous petroleum, has to depend on foreign sources for fuel,
especially for aviation purposes. Whenever there is any bottleneck in the
regular supply of aviation spirit, even the regular scheduled services, have
to be cut off temporarily.
• Besides these hurdles, the general poverty of the masses is a factor to be
taken into account in estimating the possibilities of the expansion of
aviation in India.
• However, the number of people who can afford air travel is very small, and
they cannot by themselves keep the air-line companies going.
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18. THANK YOU