The Days Man Took Flight—Celebrating National Aviation Day
In remembrance of one of the greatest contributors to mankind's modern technology, people worldwide are sharing their stories and their awe of airplane designer Orville Wright (of the Wright Brothers) for today's 75th annual National Aviation Day.
Long have been the days that man dreamed of flight. Looking to the skies filled with vast expanses of the unknown, and nothing but clear clouds and seas of blue, but it wasn't until the advent of the first airplane that man realized he could lift off from the ground much higher than a leap.
In fact, the first flight went nearly 10 feet off the ground, although it only lasted about 12 seconds as Orville Wright's memory recalled. The discovery of controlled flight can be attributed to two classic American inventors, and brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright. Developing the concept of a biplane, the brothers successfully built a prototype for what would soon come to be the almost prehistoric relics of the history of flight.
Since their discovery, many has pushed his boundaries farther and farther. Beginning with military technology, utilized in surveillance and drone strikes, aviation technology rapidly expanded as engineers realized they could develop powerful motors that could lift aircrafts hundreds of feet above the surface of the Earth. But even that was not high enough. In April of 1961, 58 years after the Wright brothers' historic first airplane flight, Soviet Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into space and orbiting the Earth for 108 minutes.
Since then, aviation has become wildly used in both the public and private sectors, with airplanes buzzing tourists and businessmen worldwide on non-stop flights high in the clouds. And since Franklin Roosevelt declared in 1939 that August 19th, Orville Wright's birthday, should forever be National Aviation Day, mankind has celebrated all of the ingenuity and inspiration that helped us first take flight into a new era.
In observance of today, some of NASA's top pilots and directors have chosen to share their stories. Here's what they had to say:
"I grew up with airplanes and got my pilot's license at age 16, soon after I got my driver's license, and flew a Piper Tri-Pacer. Most people tell me they were really scared when they soloed. I was just happy to have my dad out of the plane and not yelling at me" director of NASA's Ames Research Center, S. Pete Worden said. Having been in planes since the age of six months in 1950, Worden had a long history with aviation even before he stepped behind the controls of his first plane. "[My dad] learned to fly in World War II and his training method was to yell as if I was an aviation cadet. He'd scream '&@#$! You're going to kill us both!' I was so happy to have him out of the airplane and out of my ear, that soloing was a real joy."
Jim Free, the director of the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, had a very different experience on his first solo flight, which happened aboard a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airplane flying from Cleveland to Buffalo, New York in 1982.
"I was ready to jump out of my skin I was so excited. The jetway felt like it was a mile long and the sensation of takeoff was incredible" Free said. "I could feel every bump and my ears popping like crazy. The flight was at night, and the view out the window of all the lights was mesmerizing.
Want to add your story to the mix and help commemorate this ever-improving achievement? NASA has asked that readers, astronauts and pilots alike share their stories today and use the hastag #myfirstflight to help add to the growing history of aviation.
© 2024 ParentHerald.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
