Lockheed Sr 71 Blackbird.

“Never before had so much brain-power been focused on a single problem.”(Laurence qtd. in “Eyewitness”). Many inventions can be said to have changed the world, and the way it worked. Only a core few of these many inventions can be said to change air warfare, and few of those are as game-changing as the B-29 Superfortress by Boeing. The B-29 was the plane that dropped the atomic bombs in World War Two (“bomber”). The plane by Boeing was used most in World War Two as a strategic long-range bomber. This invention revolutionized the concept of war, and war is a factor in all life on planet earth. The B-29 bomber changed warfare by sparking the innovation of aircraft technology, saving lives, and allowing more power to be carried by the means

Airplane design and other technologies such as weaponry, engines, and reconnaissance tools developed greatly during the war and are still present in today’s aircraft. For instance, the Germans developed the first jet aircraft, which its revolutionary design is now used in almost all planes worldwide, from commercial airliners to cargo planes. According to Crosby, "the trailblazing Me 262 was the first operational jet aircraft and the Third Reich had high hopes for the futuristic fighter. On July 25, 1944, the Me 262 became the first jet to see combat." (106) In short, the jet engine which was invented by the Germans in World War II is used in modern day

The first flight occurred in 1903 when the Wright brothers famously took their airplane for a final test flight in December. In the years after this historic flight many people start to see the potential for airplanes in war, transportation, and shipping. Other builders disregarded previous doubt about flying and began to replicate the ideas of the Wright brothers in creating planes with three axes. In addition, the approach of WWI prompted military personnel to pursue uses of airplanes as a war machine. The airplane influenced many aspects of American culture after it’s invention including civilian life, war technology, and individual possibility.

A = 960–1000 A- = 940–959 B+ = 920–939 B = 890–919 B- = 870–889

On the morning of April 30 1975, with White Christmas playing on the radio, the last American boarded a helicopter on the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon effectively ending a long and painful chapter in US military history (Leeker, 2015). The iconic photo of Americans climbing the embassy staircase to board the waiting helicopter became a lasting symbol and serves to highlight the critical role the helicopter played in the Vietnam War. While the United States had tested the feasibility of helicopters in the Korean War, their utility and combat power fully matured over the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam. This was never more apparent than during the final hours of the Vietnam War. The massive air evacuation that took place undoubtedly saved

Although serving as an instructor in World War I, most of Kindelberger’s largest impacts came during the inter-war years and World War II. While working as a mid-tier draftsman and designer with the Martin Company, he helped with the design of the illustrious Martin Bombers which were a series of superior bombers used towards the end of World War I. The Martin Bombers had new some never before seen features such as closed cockpits, rotating guns and retractable landing gear as well as much more. The innovation in these planes changed the standards for bombers at the time thus leading to other bomber designs being obsolete. Then, with his experience at Martin, Kindelberger was able to move over to the Douglas Aircraft Company where his genius really began to shine through. With Douglas Kindelberger designed seventy one models for both military and civil use. One of his greatest accomplishments was the creation timeless DC series. Kindelberger’s great brain child, the DC-2, would be outshined by other aircraft in the DC family, but it still paved the way for commercial airliners. The DC-2 was one of the first airliners and would

As a branch the air defense artillery is not well educated on its history. With this paper we will show that air defense artillery was vital asset for Korean and United States forces. We will also cover the history of coastal artillery along with a few early weapon systems and the minor changes made to them during the evolution of the air defense from the beginning leading up to the Korean War. In doing so we will highlight the weapon systems used by the United States during the Korean War. Our thesis in this paper is that the Korean War was one of the key points in the development of the air defense branch as a whole.

he Hindenburg was the biggest air ship ever made in the world at its time. The Hindenburg was made to take passengers across the Atlantic ocean in about three days. The survival rate for humans aboard the ship was 60%. It was bigger than the titanic it was 803.3 feet long. The ship was filled with helium until the United States made a rule that the ship could no longer be able to be filled with helium it was to be filled with hydrogen. That’s when things went downhill.

The United States Army’s idea of medically evacuating wounded Soldiers by use of helicopters, during the Vietnam War, was not a new concept. The Army used the Bell Aircraft

The Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser is a large and powerful surface combatant in the United States Navy. The cruiser has the ability to engage short range air, undersea and surface targets, as well as a long range strike capability. With around 300 crew and 30 officers (Navy 4), this billion-dollar warship (Navy 4) can serve in many roles when it comes to the mission of the United States Navy.

Towards the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began looking for an aircraft to replace the SBD Dauntless, a scout dive bomber, with a single seat dive bomber and torpedo attack aircraft. Douglas Aircraft Co. was given this task and they began to come up with some early concepts. Their first design concept did not go well, and before the Navy pulled their contract, three men: Ed Heinemann, Leo Devlin and Gene Root designed the A-1 Skyraider literally overnight in a hotel room (Jackson, B.R. (1969) Douglas Skyraider. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, Inc.). According to the author, the next day they presented their plan to the Navy Department and they were rewarded by being able to begin production of 15 experimental models of the Skyraider. They also had to meet the Navy’s requirement of producing an airplane that had to have a gross weight below 18,000 lbs, have great lifting capabilities and be easy to rearm, refuel and maintain (Jackson, B.R. (1969). These goals were met and by the spring of 1945, the Skyraider was ready for test flights (Jackson, B.R. (1969). After several successful test flights, the Navy decided to place an order

The Kennedy space center had a lot of displays about aeronautics, like old WWII fighter planes and some of the world’s fastest planes. But they were famous for their space displays, which consisted of old rockets, launch pads, and old Extravehicular Mobility Units (Spacesuits).Out of all these displays, my most favorite display was the space shuttle display. It had so many facts about space shuttles and at the time, space shuttles were probably my most favorite thing. (A space shuttle is a machine that goes up like a rocket, but lands like a glider.) Even my favorite toy was a space shuttle plushie. I knew almost everything there is to know about space shuttles. I remember telling my dad facts about the space shuttle, “ The underbelly of the shuttle, which gets very hot during launch and landing was covered with thousands of individually numbered silica tiles. The parts that don’t get as hot were covered with Nomex felt fabric. Shuttles had very small wings which made the shuttle as aerodynamic as a brick. That’s why it’s affectionately referred to as a flying brick.” while he was driving us to the Kennedy space center for the

Clarence Leonard, "Kelly" Johnson who was born on February 27, 1910 in the city of Ishpeming, Michigan. He was the designer of the Sr-71 Blackbird. He won an award for his first aircraft design at the age of 13 and his parents were Swedish. He went to Flint Central High School and graduated in the year of 1928. He later went to the University of Michigan and earned a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. His nickname “Kelly” came from a kid that used to call him “Clara” and the nickname “Kelly” stuck with him ever since. He lived by a motto of “Be quick, be quiet, and be on time.” He married Althea Louise Young, but she later died, and then Johnson married his secretary Mary Ellen Elberta Meade, which had

The Loughead Brothers developed their first aircraft in 1913. They successfully flew this aircraft over Alcatraz at a top speed of 63 mph. Their first military aircraft was developed a little too late for deployment in the First World War. That untimely event sent one of the brothers, Malcom Loughead to venture out away from the aircraft industry and left the other brother to go at it alone. So in a since that was the first time this company faced its first major obstacle on the way up the aircraft industry ladder. Over the years, Lockheed was bought and sold and eventually landed with Robert Gross after he purchased it for $40,000 in 1932. Over the next three decades he turned Lockheed into a leader in the aircraft industry. In that time Lockheed experience some great strides in

Both the Martin Company and Lockheed Aircraft Company had significant accomplishments prior to creating the joint company that is in existence today. The Martin Company was responsible for achieving the first major over-ocean flight, the first successful scout-torpedo bomber for the U.S. Navy, the first successful trans-Pacific flight in a Martin M-130 seaplane, development and production of the B-26 Marauder bomber for World War 2, the Pershing ballistic missile, and the Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile (Lockheed Martin at a Glance, n.d.). In 1961, the Martin Company merged with the American-Marietta Corporation to become the Martin Marietta Corporation. Additional contributions from the