HISTORY OF AERONAUTICS
Abstract
Mankind always had the ambition to fly, which might be originated by
scientific curiosity, imagination, inspiration through observing birds, desire to
explore and conquer the skies or combination of all these. As could be expected,
the first attempts of flight were based on mimicking birds. For instance,
Leonardo da Vinci studied the anatomy and flight patterns of birds, and
proposed several ideas to design a flying machine, all of which were based on
flapping wings (Petrescu et al., 2017). Eventually, in 1799, Sir George Cayley
proposed for the first time that an air vehicle should be composed of a fixed
wing for generating lift, a separate propulsion system, and a horizontal and
vertical tail for stability (Vos, Rizzi, Darracq, & Hirschel, 2002). However,
there were no suitable propulsion systems at that time considering that steam
engines were too heavy for flight purposes. Thus, the inventions of internal
combustion engine in 1863, and the four stroke gasoline engine in 1885 could
be considered to be the main developments that made flight a much achievable
ambition. Apparently, once flying became a reality, the exploration of the skies
reshaped the way we perceive the world, and forged a path toward unlimited
innovation. In this chapter, we provided the brief history of aeronautics with a
particular focus on developments in aeronautical materials. The major
milestones in the aeronautical history were provided chronologically by
highlighting the pioneers and visionaries whom compelled the boundaries to
make countless possibilities a reality.