Eclipse Aviation’s “Greatest Aviation Innovations of the First 100 Years”
(Vote online at www.countdowntokittyhawk.org
or
at EAA’s Countdown to Kitty Hawk pavilion)
- 1903 Wright Flyer - Though they
were amateurs, Orville and Wilbur Wright conducted their experiments
and developed their kites, gliders and flyers with scientific
discipline and attention to detail. Their aircraft succeeded because
the brothers painstakingly cracked the problem of three-axis control
that had bedeviled all their predecessors. Highly unstable in flight
by modern standards, the Flyer nonetheless pointed the true way
for all successful aircraft that followed it.
- Douglas DC-3/Boeing 247 - The
Boeing Model 247, introduced in 1933, was the first modern airliner.
At 189 mph, this ten-passenger transport was nearly twice as fast and
far more comfortable than the Ford and Fokker trimotors that were
dominating the airways at that time. It was loaded with technical
innovations - autopilot, retractable gear, trim tabs, supercharged
engines and cabin air conditioning, to name just a few. In response,
Douglas Aircraft created the DC-3, which forever changed air travel.
Faster, more comfortable, and carrying more passengers than the Boeing
247, the DC-3 was introduced in 1936 and by 1938, 95 percent of U.S.
air passengers were riding on DC-3s.
- Jet Engine - By the mid-1940s,
aircraft were sporting huge piston engines with up to 28 cylinders and
3,500 horsepower. Larger engines were on the drawing boards, but their
complexity was daunting and their days numbered. British designer
Frank Whittle bench-tested the first practical jet engine in England
in 1937, but design problems kept it in the lab. The first operational
jet airplane appeared in early 1944 - Germany’s Messerschmitt 262 Schwalbe
(Swallow). At 540 mph, the Me 262 was nearly 75 mph faster than
its fastest piston-engined opponent. Introduced too late to change the
course of the war, the Me 262 still led the world into the jet age.
- Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter - The
VS-300 prototype was the first successful helicopter built in the
United States and the first helicopter in the world to successfully
use a single main rotor with a tail rotor for stability and
anti-torque. Designer Igor Sikorsky piloted the untethered first
flight of the VS-300 in May 1940. Development continued until December
1941, when the VS-300 flew in its final configuration.
- Piper Cub -The Piper J-3 Cub was
introduced in 1938 and became an instant success. Bill Piper
recognized the importance of marketing light aircraft and though his
dream of “an airplane in every garage” was never realized, his Cub
did introduce thousands of people to the joy of flying. When
production ended in 1947, Piper had built 14,125 Cubs, making it one
of the most popular airplanes in history, and making “Cub” a
synonym for “small plane.”
- Boeing 747 - Boeing’s
747 “Jumbo Jet” was a huge gamble. Its development costs were
higher than Boeing’s net worth and many in the industry doubted
there would be enough passengers to make the big bird profitable. The
world’s biggest passenger jet (dubbed “Fat Albert” by its fans)
rolled out of the world’s biggest building in 1968 and entered
service two years later. The gamble paid off many times over. The 747’s
400-seat capacity and fuel economy brought lower fares and a huge, new
demand for international air travel, eventually ending the age of the
great ocean liners.
- Controllable Pitch Propeller - As
aircraft engines advanced in the 1920s, it became obvious that the key
to getting full performance potential out of any engine was a
propeller whose pitch could be changed in flight. In the United
States, Frank Caldwell, the government’s chief propeller engineer
and later an engineer with Hamilton-Standard, led the design and
production first of metal, ground-adjustable pitch propellers, and
later of hydraulically-actuated two-position controllable-pitch and
constant-speed propellers. By the mid-1930s, controllable-pitch,
variable-speed propellers were manufactured worldwide. They
contributed to the success of such innovative aircraft as the Boeing
247 and Douglas DC-2 airliners.
- Air Traffic Control (ATC) Technology
- In the early 1920s, the first airmail flights were guided to their
destinations by bonfires, railroad flares, automobile road maps and
“legendary luck.” In the 1930s, as civil and military air traffic
increased, NACA and Congress began serious study and progress toward a
unified system of air traffic control. Progress was slow, though by
1939 there were 27,000 miles of airways with navigation aids and radio
communications. World War II brought an explosion in air traffic and
in 1947, Congress decreed the “Common System of Air Navigation,
Communication and Traffic Control,” be phased in and completed by
1963. The Common System evolved into today’s worldwide air traffic
control system.
- Learjet - Introduced in
1963, Bill Lear’s 500-mph Learjet revolutionized business aviation.
Lockheed had introduced its JetStar in 1957, but found few buyers.
Based on the Swiss P-16 fighter jet, the tiny six-seat Learjet became
the first production jet aircraft designed and built specifically for
business transportation. It quickly became a status symbol and still
holds many performance records for business aircraft. Though
competitors have eclipsed it, the name “Learjet” remains
synonymous with business jet.
- De Havilland Comet & Boeing Dash 80 - The British De Havilland Comet was born in 1940 as a concept for a jet-powered transport to carry mail across the Atlantic. Redesigned for passengers, the prototype first flew in 1947 and entered service in 1951. The next year, British Overseas Airway Corp. (BOAC) introduced the first all-jet commercial service on its London-Johannesburg route. Faster and more efficient than the DH Comet, Boeing’s 367-80 was rolled out in May 1954. It was the prototype for the Boeing 707 and set the pattern for all jet airliners that followed it. Though it never entered commercial service, the “Dash 80” was a flying test bed until 1972, setting records nearly every time it flew.
