The Airplane - Humanity's Ultimate Dream Flying Machine
Mankind thought the idea of flight was something straight out of a fairy tale. Many great historical figures envisioned the power of flight and strived to achieve it. Countless amount of attempts, designs, and concepts only bought the dream closer. The Wright brothers worked on the first manned plane until centuries later, successfully soaring it across the air. The 'impossible' dream was attained. As a result, the idea of flight, no longer deemed a fairy tale, took the world by storm. Because of this, many other aviators worked on improving speed, structure, and efficiency. Today, there are many variants of planes. Uses of planes vary from farming to sky diving. Accessible to almost everyone in the world, we can say that mankind certainly went beyond the dream.
It was in March 2018. I was visiting a farm for a school field trip in Nuwara Eliya, a city located in the mountain regions of Sri Lanka. We were walking along a field filled with fruits and greens when suddenly, the farmer who was guiding us instructed us to move a little far from where we were. That's when we saw a small plane lower slightly to the field we were previously in and sprayed it with what I assume are pesticides on the crops. It was my first time seeing a plane being used for something other than travelling so it was quite an odd yet interesting sight to see.
Planes have made a huge impact on our life, whether it is for receiving overseas mail, going on vacation or even sightseeing. Likewise, there are a wide variety of planes available for many different activities like transporting heavy cargo, military purposes, fire fighting etc. And there are different types of planes as well, such as the glider which 'glides' in the air without an engine, A helicopter which has rotor blades on top of the main body or a seaplane which has a floating gear on its fuselage (main body of the plane) that prevents it from sinking. There are planes small enough to fit in your backpack! They are called drones. Drones are unmanned, battery-powered and remote-controlled aerial transportation device that is used to take photos from an elevated angle or used to deliver packages to different places.
Airplanes have improved a lot over the century since their invention. The first powered manned flight was designed, built and flown by the Wright brothers Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright. The first flight was flown by Orville Wright and reached 120 meters and lasted for 11 seconds. The most successful flight they had on the same day was the one that flew 852 ft in the air and lasted for 59 seconds. Wilbur Wright piloted this flight. Although the flight was invented in the 19th century, its design or the idea of it goes way back to the 14th century. The famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci designed a 'flying machine' that had wings with the main body made of wood. It is said that Da Vinci was fascinated with the idea of flight hence the many designs of the machine.
As years go by airplanes keep on getting better, and the variations keep increasing. The speed of an aircraft has improved incredibly compared to the past. Flights nowadays are safer, faster and easier to control as well. Planes are said to be the safest mode of transportation, yet there are way more people who seem to be afraid of flying in an aircraft rather than driving or riding in a car.
References
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight
https://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/a-brief-timeline-history-of-manned-flight/
https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/inventions/wright-brothers
https://www.droneblog.com/drone-considered-aircraft/
Author biography
Shumooh Shareef, born in 2007, is an aspiring psychiatrist currently residing in Malé, Maldives. She is an excellent team worker who looks for any opportunity to learn something new, especially about different cultures and people. Her hobbies include gymnastics, listening to music and journaling. Although she's quite a shy individual, her tendency to make friends cannot be any less. Her goal is to one day travel around the world and live in a remote island with her cat pets.
Cite this article as:
Shumooh Shareef, The Airplane - Humanity's Ultimate Dream Flying Machine, theCircle Composition, Volume 2, (2022). https://theCircleComposition.org/the-aeroplane/