The 20 most influential people in the history of flight

When the Wright brothers "took off" 100 years ago, they probably did not expect that the flying machine they built would have such an impact affecting the entire human society.

Airplanes make war more brutal, and they also made terrorists more complacent on September 11, 2001. Despite this, we cannot deny that airplanes bring more progress to mankind. It has shortened the distance between people, the earth and the universe, and the future between mankind and the future... We look forward to the day when flight makes distance no longer a distance.

-Herald

●Orville Wright? 1871-1948? and Wilbur Wright? 1867-1912?

December 17, 1903 , Orville Wright climbed into a 272-kilogram flying machine and made the first powered, sustained, controllable flight in human history over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. Three days ago, his brother Wilbur Wright also made a test flight, but because he pulled the nose of the plane too high, the plane stalled and fell into the beach during takeoff. For the brothers, who were born in Akron, Ohio, the 17th is their most important day. For the past few months, they had been working on operational powered flight. On that day, Orville's flight lasted 12 seconds and flew about 36.58 meters. On the same day, he flew three more times, the best of which lasted 59 seconds and flew 260 meters. Soon after, the Wright brothers established the Wright Company to engage in the purchase and sale of aircraft.

●Charles Lindbergh?1902-1974?

In 1919, New York hotel owner Raymond Outlaw promised that if anyone could fly a plane from New York After landing and flying across the Atlantic to Paris, he would pay the warrior $25,000. Several pilots lost their lives for this huge sum of money. It wasn't until 22:21 pm on May 21, 1927, French local time, that the 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh piloted a plane to land at Le Bourget Airport in the suburbs of Paris, and the bonus was finally realized. At the same time, a hero was born, newspapers everywhere reported on it, and Lin Bai was considered the world's first media celebrity.

●Amelia Earhart?1897-1937?

The most famous woman in the history of aviation is undoubtedly Amelia Earhart. "Ms. Lindbergh" means Lindbergh among women. In 1928, Earhart and two others flew across the Atlantic Ocean. Four years later, she became the second pilot to fly alone after Lindbergh. In 1934, Earhart flew from Hawaii to California, a journey that had already killed 10 pilots. In 1937, Earhart took off from Florida, intending to fly around the world and eventually reach California. Unfortunately, Earhart disappeared along with her plane, believed to be between 56.14 kilometers and 160.4 kilometers off the coast of Howland Island.

●Samuel Langley?1834-1906?

As one of the most famous scientists in the United States in the late 1880s, Samuel Langley devoted many years to In the research career of controllable and powered aircraft. At the same time, Langley was president of the Smithsonian Society, so he had more raw material than the Wright brothers. However, Langley lost to the Wright brothers in the competition to develop the first flying machine. Although Langley's failure brought him public disgrace, his name shines brightly at NASA's Langley Research Center. The first aircraft carrier built by the United States in the early 1920s was also named after him.

●Glenn Curtis?1878-1930?

Like the Wright brothers, Curtis was a bicycle shop owner and also produced motorcycles. When flight captured the world's attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he turned his attention from wheels to wings.

In 1907, Curtis joined the Alexander Graham Bell Aeronautical Experimental Association and by 1914 became America's most famous aircraft builder. He developed many influential aircraft of the time, including the first airship and airplane that could take off and land on a ship. Because of these contributions, Curtis is known as the "Father of Sea Flight."

-Military

●Manfred von Richthofen?1892-1918?

Perhaps the most important competition in aviation history was in On the battlefield. Before World War I, Richthofen was just an ordinary soldier in the German mobile army. In 1915, he joined the Luftwaffe and quickly became Germany's ace pilot, nicknamed the "Red Duke". There is no doubt that Germany has the upper hand in this competition. In 1917, Richthofen was appointed director of the aerial aerobatic team, which required extremely high flying skills. In World War I, General Sergeant Richthofen shot down 80 aircraft and was the pilot who shot down the most aircraft at that time. In 1918, Richthofen died over the Somme. The cause of death is unknown. It is more credible that he was shot down by the Camel aircraft of Canadian Captain Brown or shot down from the ground by Australian machine gunner Barron. It is said that when the news of his death came, neither the Germans nor the British or French pilots believed it. Everyone's reaction was: "How could he die?" In the minds of both parties, the "Red Duke" has long been a myth. .

●Jimmy Doolittle?1896-1993?

American Doolittle’s most significant contribution to the history of aviation was in the First World War and the Second World War He served as a pilot in World War I and led one of the most important American operations in World War II. In the 1920s and 1930s, Doolittle shocked the world with his proficient driving skills. He was the first pilot to complete a cross-country crossing of the United States in 24 hours and the first to attempt a blindfolded flight. On April 18, 1942, Doolittle led a squadron of 16 bombers on a long-distance raid against Japan in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This operation was originally an emotional decision by the US government, but it ultimately proved to have certain strategic significance. Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his outstanding performance. Later, Doolittle played an important role in America's European wars.

●Arthur Harris? 1892-1984?

One of the most controversial figures in the history of air combat is Harris. He was born in South Africa and participated in a world war. He served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during the war and was promoted to bomber squadron commander in 1942. Subsequently, he proposed the strategic concept of "area bombing" for the first time, no longer strictly limiting attack targets to military targets. Under this strategy, Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden in Germany were all bombed on a large scale, resulting in the deaths of approximately 600,000 innocent civilians. After World War II, Harris faced numerous accusations, but he did not feel any fault and claimed that it was the large-scale bombing campaign that forced Germany into a defensive position.

●Francis Gableski?1919-2002?

Francis Gableski was the most outstanding of the seven ace pilots in World War II. He is also one of the most respected fighter pilots in American history. However, his career as a pilot did not get off to a smooth start. Gableski trained hard to barely pass the military's elimination test. During World War II, he shot down 28 enemy planes and became the most famous pilot in the United States.

●Adolf Grand? 1912-1996?

Among the 9 decorated pilots of the German Luftwaffe, he was the only one who flew all the way from biplanes to jets The person behind the plane? He was Lieutenant General Adolf Grande, who died in February 1996. Speaking of Grande, his registered trademark - mustache and cigar, as well as the Mickey Mouse decorative pattern on his aircraft? I believe it is a familiar symbol to many people. And it is true that he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general as a pilot. Rare.

Because of his persistent hobby of flying, Grande won a lot of respect even among the hostile countries in World War II. Grande became famous when he resigned in January 1945 over a decision made by his boss, Hermann G?ring.

-Space

●Neil Armstrong?1930-?

Armstrong took a big step for mankind: On July 20, 1969, he passed away As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, he became the first person to set foot on the moon. Armstrong was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and served as an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati in the 1970s.

●John Glenn? 1921-?

On February 20, 1962, Glenn orbited the spacecraft "Friendship 7" and became the first person to orbit the Earth. An orbiting American, Glenn had previously flown fighter jets. He was elected to the Senate in his hometown of Ohio in 1974, 1980 and 1986. At the age of 77, Glenn once again entered space aboard the Discovery spacecraft.

●Chuck Yeager?1923-?

Whether he was performing combat missions or testing supersonic flight, Chuck Yeager was a cold-blooded man. Before engaging in test flying, he was already an ace pilot and shot down 12.5 enemy planes in World War II. In October 1947, he became the first person to break the speed of sound, setting a record of Mach 2.44 in 1953. Because he did not have a college degree, Yeager was unable to become an astronaut. However, his supersonic test flight had a profound impact and broke people's previous assertion that interstellar exploration was impossible.

●Yuri Gagarin?1934-1968?

Gagarin, who survived the Nazi war of aggression, became a hero of Russia. In the 1950s, he became mankind's first astronaut. It was April 12, 1961. Gagarin orbited the Earth on the Vostok-I spacecraft for 108 minutes. Seven years later, Gagarin died in a plane crash during a test flight.

-Business

●William Boeing?1881-1956?

Although he did not graduate from Yale University, Boeing finally saw the end of an industry he loved Branded with his own name. After purchasing his first airplane in 1914, Boeing began to turn his attention to aircraft manufacturing. He firmly believed that he could create a better aircraft model. With the help of their friend George Conrad Westervelt, also an engineer, they built the first B&W seaplane, naming it the Bluebird. . Encouraged by this success, Boeing created Pacific Aviation Products Corporation, later renamed Boeing Airplane Company. The company produced fighter planes in World War I, and in the late 1920s, Boeing Air Transport began delivering letters. Since World War II, Boeing's reputation may also be attributed to its commercial aircraft.

●John Tripp?1899-1991?

Perhaps the biggest problem with aircraft is the ability to fly long distances and fly faster than ever before. One of the pioneers was John Tripp. Becoming president of Pan American Airways in 1927, he began to focus on mail routes from major Western cities to Havana, Cuba. In the 1930s, Tripp's seaplanes plied the first commercial routes across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, laying the foundation for Pan Am's dominance of postwar intercontinental transportation. Another of his contributions was the introduction of the Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 jumbo jets into commercial operation.

●Henry Ford?1863-1947?

In 1923, Ford started the Ford Air Transport Service using an all-metal, single-engine monoplane built by the Stewart Metal Aircraft Company. In 1925, the company had its first commercial route dedicated to one company.

That same year, Ford built the first modern airport in Dearborn, Michigan, and opened the Stewart Metal Aircraft Division of the Ford Motor Company. By 1926, Ford had become the world's largest commercial aircraft manufacturer. Ford made a major contribution to World War II: it produced the four-engine B-24 Liberator bomber.

●Donald Douglas?1892-1981?

Douglas obtained a degree in aeronautics from MIT in just 2 years. Subsequently, he worked for many aircraft manufacturing companies and opened his own factory in California in 1920. It was in this factory that Douglas began building his first airplane: David Davis, a wealthy adventurer, paid $40,000 to ask Douglas to help him build an airplane that could fly across the United States without stopping. Douglas then began building torpedo bombers for the U.S. Navy. In 1936, he developed what became known as the first modern passenger aircraft, the DC-3, a series of C-47 military aircraft that played an important role in World War II. In the 1950s, Douglas's company was a leader in commercial airliner manufacturing. Douglas devoted itself to the development of the DC-8 aircraft and built the twin-engine DC-9 passenger aircraft in 1965. However, financial difficulties eventually led Douglas' company to merge with the McDonnell Aircraft Company of St. Louis in 1967, which is the source of today's McDonnell Douglas aircraft.

●William Powell Lear?1902-1978?

Lear invented the car cassette player and the 8-track tape recorder. After learning to fly an airplane in 1931, he Efforts were focused on improving aircraft piloting. By 1950, he had obtained more than 100 patents on aircraft radio, communications and navigation equipment. One of his greatest contributions was the invention of the first autopilot for jet aircraft: making it possible to land safely in low-visibility environments.