Airline Timeline by Liberty Nicholson

1903- The Wright Brothers flight

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:25:27 UTC

Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright's invention shaped the way of aviation in today's world and significantly changed travel for the future. The brother's were definitely not the first people to experiment with flying, however, what makes them different from everyone else is that they were the first people to succeed in making a stable and controllable aircraft. This aircraft that they made could successfully take off and land under its power using a three-axis control system for steering. With their advanced knowledge of mechanics and aerodynamics they were able to design the engine and propellers for the aircraft that made it possible to fly their creation. On that day they made four flights, getting longer and faster each time they flew, and as a result the longest flight lasted 59 seconds covering 852 feet whilst in flight. Following this they continued to work on and improve their aircrafts, even moving between different places like Ohio and France to attract more attention to their project. Despite facing lots of competition from people claiming to have flown before them and better than them, they faced legal battles to claim and protect their rights, and to this day they are still famous for the development of aviation and shaping the future of travelling as aircrafts continued to develop and become more advanced.

1917- Junkers- first metal aircraft

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:26:46 UTC

The Junkers J.I was the first full metal aircraft in the world in mass with 227 being manufactured within two years. From 1917 to 1919 they mass produced their metal aircrafts using their J8 layout as a template for the F-13 aircraft, which was the first fully metal airline ever created. This shaped the way to the development of aviation in todays world as it made safer alternatives for travelling by developing on the Wright Brothers creation to make it more efficient and usable. They faced some troubles following the commencement of the First World War as aviation wasn't being used often, however they hadn't been well known in the aviation industry even before the war as Junkers & Co replaced hot-air stoves and gas heating inserts for the Junkers J1, the first all metal aircraft. After the war, the pressures from the military authorities caused Junkers & Co to merge with Fokker Aeroplanbau, leading to the creation of the Junkers F13, the first fully metal commercial aircraft. This creation paved the way for many other aircrafts that could be developed due to this.

1930- Jet Engine

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:27:02 UTC

Frank Whittle was the first person to register his creation of the jet engine on the 16th of January 1930, despite Von Ohain being considered the designer of the first turbojet engine in operation. Frank Whittle managed to successfully create a jet engine for an aircraft that took off for the first time in 1941, but unfortunately for him, he was not the first to do this. Von Ohain managed to create a jet engine that set off on a test flight on the 27th of August 1939, just beating Whittle to it. Jet engines are a crucial component of most aircrafts used today, it gives bigger aircrafts the power to take off and fly through the air quickly and successfully, with no complications. Due to the invention of the jet engine in 1930, it has led to the development of travelling, transportation, warfare and sports as they have changed for the better and have made it easier to navigate. As planes get bigger, and cargo or the amount of passengers increase, jet engines only get bigger as comapanies work to develop their aircrafts to meet the demand. Jet engines have made it possible for them to improve their aircrafts and have allowed for huge development in the aviation industry.

1969- Concorde

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:27:30 UTC

Concorde 001 was the first Concorde flight, taking place in 1969 after Britain and France worked together to create the supersonic jetliner for many years. The aircraft was 193 feet long, 38 feet tall and had a wingspan of 84 feet when production was finished and it was ready for flight. The huge Rolls-Royce engine located at the back of the aircraft gave it the power to exceed along the runway and take off with 12 tonnes on board. The aircraft managed to reach 10,000 feet at less than 300mph as the pilot, Andre Turcat navigated the take off and the flight through the air. After flying for 27 minutes, Concorde successfully made its way back to the runway it had earlier taken off from after a smooth flight. This successful voyage meant that in the years to come 130 passengers could be on board the aircraft flying around from London to New York within around 3 hours and 25 minutes, where it would usually take around 7 hours and 40 minutes. After this, there would be much more testing that would need to be done before being able to transport passengers, however the first flight was a success. This successful flight allowed for paved the way for future flights as they could use it to develop aircraft to be successfully quicker in the future.

1969->70- B747

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:28:13 UTC

The Boeing 747 was first introduced to a crowd of thousands of people on the 30th of September 1968 at the Everett factory. The B747 was build for long-haul travel with double the usual passenger capacity compared to the Boeing 707. It was a very large aircraft, measuring more than 210ft long with a wingspan of 195ft. The long-haul aircraft could fly 4,620 miles without having to refuel, which meant it could fly from London to New York direct without stopping, this was the most any aircraft could travel during this time. During the manufacturing process Boeing managed to build up $1 billion of debt from funding to create the jet, however the success of the Boeing 747 allowed them to make that back up once it was in operation. British Airways ended up using the 747 model the most over the years flying 101 different models of the aircraft, as still in 2018 they operate the most long-haul flights using this model. Since the first Boeing 747 was built in 1968, which was first put into operation the following year, around 1,500 aircrafts of this model have been built to use for long-haul travel around the world. The original B747 shaped the way of travel today as it allows people from all over the world to travel long-haul easier and quicker, being able to fly longer distances in one trip instead of having to stop over and catch multiple flights, making it a lot easier and efficient for companies and passengers.

2005- Airbus A380

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:28:41 UTC

After three years of development and testing for the Airbus A380, it finally took flight on the 27th of April 2005. The double-decker aircraft held a record breaking capacity of seating and exceeded the wingspan and height of any other jet known to that day. This airbus actually created a lot of competition with the Boeing 747. Despite this, after many more years of testing and making improvements on the aircraft, it finally made it's first commercial flight on the 25th of October 2007. The first flight carried six passengers on board; including the pilot, co-pilot and the four engineers. The 3 hour 54 minute flights went a success and checked off all the primary flight test objectives as it disembarked at Toulouse's Blagnac International Airport. However, despite the flight being successful and managing to land, there was some difficulties faced with the landing gear failing to lock which caused a few complications, and during another flight the cabin temperature dropped to zero degrees making it incredibly cold on board for those involved in the commercial test flights. For aviation this allowed for huge development in the creation of new aircrafts as the new double-decker design meant long-haul flights could have a higher capacity, so companies could fly more people at once and get more income.

2013->14- B787 Dreamliner

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:29:14 UTC

Unfortunately, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner didn't really go to plan. At first there was delays in the manufacturing process due to the Boeing company discovering hairline fractures in the wings, meaning the targeted delivery date may need to be altered. The manufacturing process for this had actually been very widely controversial around the world ever since it was first introduced and all of the problems arose. The process of getting the B787 Dreamliner into operation actually began in 2007 but repeatedly kept getting delayed over and over again for a range of different reasons. Despite this, in 2009 the aircraft made its maiden flight, the official introduction of the B787 Dreamliner. Years later, in 2013 a fire began on an empty Japan Airlines 787 on the 7th of January, then, the following day on the 8th another was forced to land after a crack was found in the windshield, also on the same day another flight was forced to cancel after a fuel leak was discovered. And the problems continued to arise across the span of 2013 and 2014. From management computers abroad failing to hydraulic failure to battery problems, and the list goes on, nothing was really going to plan for this company at all, during these two years especially, as the problems they were being faced with continued to grow uncontrollably. The difficulties faced by the B787 Dreamliner shaped how newer aircraft are now made in order to make them safer as it showed manufactures what not to do, and encouraged them to work out safer more effective aircrafts so they don't face the same problems the Boeing Company did.

2018- Virgin Galactic

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:29:47 UTC

The first Virgin Galactic flight soared into space in 2018 with the SpaceShipTwo which reached the edge of space. It was the first US commercial human flight that had managed to reach space since 2011. The take off attracted a large crowd of spectators wanting to witness the historic event. This flight reached a 50 mile altitude just four years after the original SpaceShipTwo crashed, killing the co-pilot and severely injuring the pilot during a test flight. The 2018 flight carried two pilots, four Nasa research payloads and a mannequin on board, and managed to land back on Earth safely only one hour after it toom off from California's Mojave air and space port. Virgin Galactic then later reported that the aircraft reached a height of 51.4 miles and managed to travel at 2.9 times the speed of sound. Following that flight, an array of people became interested in a voyage on the aircraft as 600 people paid or put down deposits to fly aboard. Two of the people paying $250,000 for a 90 minute flight were Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber. This aircraft has created more opportunities in aviation to travel much further distances that are within a realm that may have once seemed impossible. This aircraft allows for more development in aircrafts flying to space that could later be offered to a wider range of people, and could be the future of aviation and travelling.

2019->20- Boeing 777X

100203966 — 2024-01-10 09:30:16 UTC

The Boeing 777X, as of the year it was created, will have been the largest and most efficient twin engine jet in the world with the best performance yet. It can fly whilst using 10 percent less fuel and emissions as a result of the breakthrough of aerodynamics and engines, and as a result of this there will be a decrease of 10 percent in operating cost. It has a spacious cabin, 16 inches wider than any competition, with new custom architecture and innovations, making it unique and an aircraft of the future. The Boeing 777X made it's debut flight on the 24th of January 2020 to a crowd of around 8,000 people. It was delayed a day due to unsafe weather conditions, however by the following day the weather had improved and the conditions were safe to fly in. It has a long range capability and an increased capacity, and has definitely influenced and changed the aviation world and the way that they will produce future aircrafts to make them better equipped and improved. However, as of 2023, the Boeing 777X still remains in the certification process due to COVID, engine difficulties along the way and scrutiny they have faced that has meant the first delivery has had to be pushed back a few years. Yet, the creators have still been busy running tests and booking new customers. When the Boeing 777X is in full swing it will impact the travel industry massively.

Boeing 737 max

100203966 — 2024-01-15 14:07:21 UTC

The Boeing 737 max is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737 manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The jetliner originally experienced multiple errors and failures in the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System which led to two crashes that caused fatality killing 346 people. The first accident took place in October 2018 with the Lion Air jet which crashed into the Indonesian sea, then the second one occurred four months after when an Ethiopian Airline crashed not long after take off, however these have both been blamed on flaws in the flight control software. Despite this, after the recurring disasters being faced across aviation using these aircrafts, the 737 max was grounded in March 2019 worldwide up until November of 2020. In 2020 it was cleared to fly again by the Federal Aviation Administration, and commercial flights started back up again in the December of that year. Boeing made many improvements to the hardware and software on the aircraft so that the issues didn't occur again, however in April 2021, over 100 Boeing 737 max aircraft had to be grounded again due to possible problems with the electrics, and then recently an Alaska Airline experienced an engine blow out following take off. These problems are some of the most recent once faced by the Boeing aircrafts and don't paint a good image for the company. Other airline companies could potentially learn from these fatalities though as they can asses where Boeing went wrong and make the changes themselves to make sure the same problems and risk don't occur again, tarnishing the aviation industry or bringing harm to it's customers.

1963- Learjet

100203966 — 2024-01-15 14:08:43 UTC

The production of the Swiss aircraft Learjet first began in February of 1962 in Wichita, then the first flight took off on October 7th 1963. It started the trend of luxurious, chic and fast executive aircrafts in the travel industry with people being influenced by the Learjet aircraft. The American aircraft opened up new opportunities for business aircrafts that were efficient, small and faster to travel in, opening up a whole other market in the indutry. This jet could reach a top speed of 561 mph and managed a 3G rate of climb at 6,900 feet per minute. However, unfortunately the flight that took off on the 7th of October for it's first flight actually crashed, yet it was due to human error from the pilot so the aircraft itself was still awarded and further developed following this flights as production began. This production later came to an end in 1966 having produced 101 aircrafts, 27 of those not being as great as planned as they did end up crashing of becoming broken. Despite this, the Learjet aircrafts will continue to influence the travel industry and influence the creation of fast, efficient and extravagantly designed aircrafts for faster, more luxurious travel in aviation.