Starting from the Middle Ages and until the end of the XIX century attempts were made in different countries to create heavier-than-air aircraft. In 1903, a documented attempt to fly an airplane built by two talented and purposeful Americans, the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, was crowned with success (Petrescu et al., 31). The first flight of the younger brother, Orville, which lasted for 12 years, at a distance of 120 feet near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, went down in the history of world aviation.
At the beginning of the last century, the creation of heavier–than–air aircraft in European countries quickly led to the front of aviation for air transportation between them and their distant colonies. The first American passenger on the plane was Charles Furnas on a flight with Orville Wright in 1908 (Petrescu et al., 32). There are no natural obstacles on the territory of the United States, for overcoming which the newly appeared airplanes could be used. During the first two decades of the last century, their use as a means of transport was not considered a severe type of economic activity. Many ordinary people were wary of the possibility of flying as passengers of newly appeared flying machines. At the same time, successful attempts to use aircraft as vehicles were still carried out in the United States. The most far-sighted people did not doubt that air transportation would eventually become a common type of business activity.
The First World War had a significant impact on the development of aviation on both sides of the Atlantic. Encouraged by the military districts, the development of powerful aircraft engines made it possible to produce airplanes that could take more people or cargo on board and fly much faster than pre-war ones. The war harmed the development of peaceful, commercial use of aviation. Efforts to develop and produce aviation equipment were mainly aimed at creating military-purpose airplanes. The population began to associate flying cars with bombing and air battles. The surplus of planes after the war was so great that for several years there was almost no need to create new aircraft equipment, as a result of which many aircraft production facilities suffered an economic collapse. After the end of the war, the US government supported the development of commercial aviation, but this had nothing to do with the air transportation of people.
The end of the First World War confirmed the opinion in the ruling circles that a level had been reached in aircraft construction that allowed this type of equipment to find the transportation of mail by air. The first attempts to transport airmail to the United States were made several years earlier (Petrescu et al., 33). As soon as the viability of air mail transportation became apparent, the government decided to transfer mail transportation to private companies competitively.
In conclusion, aviation in the United States has become one of the most actively developing and thriving industries. In any country, the level of development of civil aviation is essential, at least due to the following three factors. First, it reflects the country’s achieved indicator of technological and economic development. Second, citizens’ quality of life is determined, along with other factors, by the possibility and accessibility of using civil aviation for air transportation inside and outside the country, as well as for other economic, economic, cultural, sports, and other purposes.
Work Cited
Petrescu, Relly, Aversa, Raffaella, Akash, Bilal, Bucinell, Ronald, Corchado, Juan, Apicella, Antonio, Tiberiu, Florian and Petrescu, Tiberiu. “History of Aviation: A Short Review”. Journal of Aircraft and Spacecraft Technology, vol.1, no.1, pp.30-49.