The Evolution of Aviation in World War I and II Essay Example for Free

The Evolution of Aviation in World War I and II Essay Because of urgent needs, aviation evolved rapidly in the First and Second World War. It was in the First World War that air fights occurred upon the development of fighter planes and that aerial bombings were carried on by bomber planes. Along with the invention of fighters and bombers was an innovation in design of airplanes for increased speed and capacity for higher altitudes. The Second World War saw the continued evolution of aviation, still geared upon increased speed and capacity for higher altitudes. What was the main difference in the first and Second World War was the development of the turbojet engine as an alternative to piston-engines. Radar was also used in aviation for the first time in the Second World War. This paper will discuss how aviation evolved in the First and Second World War. It will also explore the major differences in Research and Development during those era. II. Aviation in World War I When countries of Europe entered into a conflict that was called the First World War, airplanes and airships were already popular inventions. Prior to the conflict, these flying machines were primarily used for transport. Also there was air competition, specifically regarding design and speed, that were participated by many European countries and winners were awarded with money. However, some countries had also seen the military potential or usefulness of these flying machines in war time especially for reconnaissance or spying (Murphy, 2005, p. 33). And when European countries embraced the devastating First World War, airplanes and airships were put into good use. In the early days of the war, airplanes and airships were utilized extensively for reconnaissance. Airplanes were not primarily thought as weapons for warfare. In fact, the condition of military aviation in most countries when the war broke was only in its infancy stage. It was Germany who owned the largest operationally deployed aircraft but it was France who produced the best quality and had the largest aeroplane manufacturing base (Cowin, 2000, pp 8-9. ). Although Russia was also technologically advance in terms of air power, it lacked the industrial infrastructure to develop its aircraft needs. The United States on the other hand, although the first to develop the ‘heavier-than-air† flight in 1903, was slow in advancing its air technology (Murphy, 2005, p. 34-37). Reconnaissance was a very important part of military strategy in the war. Airplanes and Zeppelins (German airships) were used for long-range spying. Reconnaissance involved the photographing of fronts and scouting to see the movements and weakness of the enemy troops and to also keep track of where one’s own troops were already at after launching. Commanders used all reconnaissance information for their battle plans (Murphy, 2005, p. 50). The effectiveness of reconnaissance helped to change aviation history. It was the success of aircraft reconnaissance that contributed to the stalemate of warring nations as war progresses. In this connection, reconnaissance aircrafts became targets of new high powered ground weapons. Nations therefore had to make a way to protect their reconnaissance aircrafts. Moreover, trench warfare also called for an immediate action to prevent the enemy from conducting aerial spying ( Murphy, 2005, p. 48). These situations gave rise to the development of mostly biplanes (two winged) fighters and bombers. Consequently the development of fighters and bombers results to design innovation of the airplane (Murphy, 2005, p. 48). Pilots used pistols and rifles for firing especially in dogfights were flying fighter planes exchanged bullets at each other. However, it was not an effective weapon against a moving target. Designers had thought of installing the newly invented lightweight machine guns instead. Earlier, inventors had observed that it is more effective to fire a machine gun through the arc of the propeller using a tractor driven aircraft (plane propeller at the front) so that pilots can use the airplane for aiming. Pusher planes (planes that have propellers and engine at the rear) may seem advantageous at first in that the machine gun can be put at the nose of the plane however this left the rear of the plane vulnerable to attack and also it was hard and slow to maneuver. There is danger, however, in tractor driven aircraft in that the bullet may hit the propeller and strike the pilot or damage the engine. To solve this problem, a Dutch aircraft designer, Anthony Fokker, developed a synchronized machine gun in his monoplane called the Eindecker. It works by synchronizing the interrupter gear with the camshaft so that the interrupter gear could be timed to prevent the gun from firing at a moment when a bullet would strike a propeller blade (Murphy, 2005, pp. 52-54). The bombers, on the other hand, were developed out of a strong desire to strike behind enemy lines and to cripple their capacity and will to fight. In the early days of the war, the Germans had attempted to use their Zeppelins for bombings but it was extremely vulnerable to ground fire. In fact, they lost three Zeppelins by the end of August 1914 alone ((Murphy, 2005, p. 48). Other innovations in the design of the airplanes were also called for to gain advantage over the enemy. In fact, at the end of the First World War, the airplane had undergone rapid physical renovation that it bores little resemblance to the â€Å"frail wooden and cloth war birds that had entered the war† ( Eckert , 2006, p. 58). Prior to 1914, most planes were designed after the Wright Flyer with control surfaces in front of the wings for a canard type or having wings that were shaped like birds or pigeon type. In this prewar model (or birdman era), the fuselage and the wings were made from plywood covered with fabric and held together by string to meet the requirement of achieving the least possible weight for the entire structure in â€Å"heavier than air† flights. The replacement of thin airfoils with a self-supporting cantilevered wings held in place by struts and wires was an important innovation to reduce air resistance and increase speed along with strong motors. The influence of the wingspan and shape of wings were also studied. Before long the airplane evolved into a full metal construction, example, the Junkers F-13 (Eckert, 2006, pp. 58-59). Another innovation in aviation was in increasing speed and rising at high altitudes to avoid being shot down by the enemy and to carry heavy loads of bombs. It calls for a remarkable advance in the power of the engines. At the beginning of the war, most of the engines were of about 50 horsepower and the aircraft flew at 70 or 80 miles per hour and rising around 10,000 feet only (Cowin, 2000, p. 9). By the end of the war, some planes were powered by engines of more than 300 horsepower. Fighter planes could travel at 140 to 150 miles per hour and rising at 30,000 feet (Cowin, 2000, p. 84).