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Page | 021 XX FOREWORD
• The U.S. government became interested in power flight for potential defense
applications, specifically reconnaissance missions.
In 1909, the Wright brothers built the first military aircraft under
government . contract. During World War I, aircraft technology progressed
rapidly. The flight speed reached about 150 mi/hr, and the engine power
attained 400 hp. After World War I, military interest in aircraft systems
dropped, but' aircraft technology had reached such a degree of maturity that
two nonmilitary application fields could emerge, namely:
• Commercial aviation, mail and passenger transport (first all-metal mono-
plane for passenger and mail transport, the Junkers F13, in 1919, sold
worldwide) '
• Stunt flying leading to general aviation (sport and private transportation)
In the period \rom 1920 to 1940, the speed increased from about 150 to
350 mi/hr through evolutionary improvements in vehicle aerodynamics and
engine technology, as discussed previously. At the end of World War II, the
flight speed of propeller aircraft reached about 400 to 450 mi/hr, and the power
output of the largest reciprocating engines was about 5000 hp. This constituted
almost the performance limit of the propeller I reciprocating engine propulsion
system. Today, the propeller/reciprocating engine survives only in smaller,
lower-speed aircraft used in general aviation.
In the late 1930s, jet propulsion emerged which promised far greater
flight speeds than attainable with the propeller or piston engine. The first
jet-propelled experimental aircraft flew in the summer of 1939 (the He-178),
and in early 1941, the first prototype jet fighter began flight tests (He-280). In
1944, mass-produced jet fighters reached a speed of about 550 mi/hr (Me-262).
In the early 1950s, jet aircraft transgressed the sonic speed. In the
mid-1950s, the first supersonic jet bomber (B-58 Hustler) appeared, and later
the XB-70 reached about Mach 3. Also during the 1950s, after more than 15
years of military development, gas turbine technology had reached such a
maturity that the following commercial applications became attractive:
• Commercial aircraft, e.g. Comet, Caravelle, and Boeing 707
• Surface transportation (land, sea)
• Stationary gas turbines
In the 1960s, the high-bypass-ratio engine appeared which revolutionized
military transportation (the CSA transport aircraft). At the end of the 1960s,
based on the military experience with high-bypass-ratio engines, the second
generation of commercial jet aircraft came into existence, the widebody
aircraft. An example is the Boeing 747 with a large passenger capacity of
nearly 400. Somewhat later came the Lockheed L-1011 and Douglas DClO. By |
