First Flights with Neil Armstrong

The development of helicopters is chronicled from Da Vinci’s drawings, through Cierva and Pitcairn’s autogyros, to Sikorsky, Bell, and others whose post war helicopters vied for the civilian market. As a crop duster during an agricultural crisis, and in the Korean War, the helicopter proved its worth as a practical flying machine.

After World War II, jet aircraft technology used for bombing and military transport was quickly applied to large passenger aircraft. Spared the wartime devastation of the aviation industry in Europe, Americans soon dominated the skies.

Born of a fear of communism and a vision to keep the peace with massive nuclear deterrence, the American Strategic Air Command possessed the largest, fastest piston engine bombers of the period. While designers and engineers struggled with structural challenges, pilots and crews struggled with the increasing complexity of flying these gigantic machines.

The U.S. and Russia channeled massive funding into the development of fighters with fantastic speeds and high tech weapons, in which computers became crucial flying aids. Fighters were developed without guns, since they would be firing guided missiles beyond visual range. But before long a new generation of highly maneuverable dog-fighting jets was needed.

Flying for sport, business, agriculture and photographic survey, a fleet of mostly single engine light aircraft comprised a fast growing segment of aviation. The technological inventions in general aviation are usually not state of the art, but rather clever ways of using existing technology to make affordable aircraft for private owners.

At the height of the cold war in the 1960s, the U.S. and Soviet Union raced to build huge supersonic bombers capable of delivering nuclear payloads. High costs and the accuracy of high speed cruise missiles changed priorities, and the U.S. bombers developed in the 1980s were subsonic: the low-flying, radar evading B-1B and the B-2 Stealth Bomber.

Already proven effective in transport and rescue, the helicopter took on an offensive role in Vietnam. Modern helicopter gunships are equipped with high-tech systems including night vision and anti-tank weapons.

During the 1960s, the general population embraced air travel and larger aircraft were needed for the growing airlines. While jumbo jets ruled long-haul passenger transport, a whole spectrum of narrow body jets competed for the smaller routes.

Space age materials and modern aerodynamic designs come together in aircraft for those who find exhilaration flying low and slow – whether powered by small engines or sailing on air currents alone.

When a fighter or bomber strikes ground forces, it is acting as an attack aircraft. Many fighters can play this role, but recent wars have shown the value of dedicated attack aircraft, designed to hit hard and survive extensive battle damage.

From the earliest days of flight the military used aircraft to look behind enemy lines. After the top secret U-2 was shot down over Russia, Lockheed developed the SR-71. Flying at Mach 3 near the edge of space, it could outfly missiles.

Chuck Yeager’s flight through the “sound barrier” in the X-1 set the stage for the U.S. experimental X-program, a systematic exploration of new ideas and obstacles in aviation. Pilots flew at the edge of technical knowledge in untried, untested aircraft.

In the 1920s, aircraft designers began searching for ways to incorporate the powerful propulsion of rockets into their flying machines. Efforts to harness and control rocket propulsion resulted in many failures but also some dramatic successes.