History of Powered Flight

Abstract

As we move through the 2lst century, with each fly-by-wirefighter, each 550-seat airliner costing many years of work, it seems unimaginable that it all began with a few lengths of muslin cloth and a rickety engine, and incredible bravery or naivety 100 years ago. History was made on December 17, 1903 on the wind-swept sand dunes of Kitty Hawk (North Carolina), when the Wright brothers made the first powered heavier than-air airplane J light with a degree of control. This article commemorating the I00 In anniversary of the Wright brothers' first light, attempts to highlight the untiring efforts of people in aviation history. The significance of these early efforts to fly from George Caley's glider to the latest Airbus A-380 and the development of aviation in India from JRD Tata's pioneering efforts to the indigenous development programmes of a 2 seater light plane (Hansa), a l4 seater light transport multi-role aircraft (Saras), the Light Combat Airuaft Oejas) and the Advanced Light Helicopter (Dhruv) are touched upon. In brief, it traces the formative and the recent years of aviation. It spans the period from Isg|through Wright brother's impact, first passenger airplanes, engine development when the pilots competed for air races to the present scenario, when any point on earth can be reached in only a few hours by air.