Operation Torch History

Airplanes were in a similar position as tanks - the technology was really too new and immature for effective combat use. At best, the airplane provided better observation and reconnaissance ability than previously available, but, in a static trench-warfare setting (with the commonly poor European weather), the amount of benefit this provided is easy to overstate. Tactical and strategic bombing was non-existent; the airplane would have to wait for the wars of

Over 100 years ago, when humanity looked for new places to conquer, two men looked to the skies. Wilbur and Orville Wright built the first working motor airplane, and after that day, the world took a huge interest in aviation, causing many leading pioneers and innovators in the aerospace field to emerge, revolutionizing the way we look at the skies.

The 1920s was a decade of prosperity and prelude to the diverse introduction of new technologies. At the same time the automobile became popular, aircraft began to develop. Although during the World War II, aircraft is widely used to attack into enemy lines, prior to this, aircraft was used to deliver mail and compete for the distance it could fly without making any stop. One such aviator, Charles A. Lindbergh challenged to the first solo transatlantic flight and in a moment, he became one of the America’s most beloved hero.

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.

The First World War was monumental in history because of all the new technology that was introduced. One particular area that developed during the Great War was the use of airplanes by the German and Allied militaries. In comparison, they both had different mentalities towards an invention that was only made successful less than a decade before the outbreak of war in 1914 by the Wright Brothers in North Carolina, United States. The German Military welcomed the idea with open arms, investing in its potential for military uses, whereas the Allies remained reserved and hesitant, claiming that aircraft could not be used for anything more offensive than reconnaissance missions. These differences in opinions later affected the development of each air force. The German military kept making monthly improvements to their equipment whereas the allied pilots were slow in their respective air forces evolution. However, there was a common progression that both militaries had which was the slow phasing out of the cavalry on either side due to the effectiveness of the aircrafts reconnaissance capabilities. During the World War One, the German military took advantage of the new technology available to them, which gave significant results, whereas the Allies had a more traditional mindset for the beginning of the conflict.

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end,” said Robin Sharman. Advancements and progress that came from innovational minds took time and there were many obstacles and hardships. During the 1900s the world gave birth of the bright minds of the Wright Brothers that gave the world’s first successful airplane, also the modifications of the corset gave way to new fashion styles and trends and finally the tragic Galveston Hurricane paved the pathway of new mechanics and progressive ideas. Before, the thought of people being in the air and flying seemed impossible and dangerous, but the 1900s was a decade of advancement and many innovative minds such as Orville and Wilbur Wright, tried to build a “flying machine”. Unlike

Airplanes started to become a huge contribution to transporting our mail, weapons for wars, and many other things. Wilbur and Orville Wright, owners of a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, not only built, but flew the first airplane over the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903 (Tindall, Shi, 2013). “Planes did not advance as rapidly as automobiles. Although in 1914, the outbreak of the war soon changed that, once the Europeans developed it as a military weapon” (Tindall, Shi, 2013). During the war, an American aircraft industry had developed.

The jet fighter planes ended up playing a large role throughout the war. The use of helicopters was used throughout the war for resupply missions and they started using the helicopters as a medevac for wounded personnel. Since time is of the essence these new helicopter medevac’s saved a lot of people by getting them to a location for medical help significantly faster than previous methods. This method also became incredibly crucial during the Vietnam War along with the helicopters being armed with missiles and machine guns to cause damage and be able to evacuate the

Dwight D. Eisenhower started off as the supreme comander of the Allied forces in western Europe and on June 6th, 1944 (D-day) he led the massive invasion of the nazi occupied part of europe.

The brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, possibly the two most renowned representatives of American aeronautics, were the first to experience controlled, continuous flight of a powered airplane in history. Despite being autodidactic in the area of engineering, the duo proved to be extraordinarily successful, testing and refining their strategies to overcome successive challenges that arose with the building of a plane (Crouch 226). The two were so far ahead in the race for flight that they even anticipated and found solutions to problems that more learned scientists could not have even begun to predict. Successful, man-controlled, powered flight was a fundamental turning point in history; it transformed the methods of how the United States

America’s military attempt in Vietnam displayed extremely necessary use of air forces. An interesting fact I found was that I would believe that innovations would already be made previous to the war, but according to the reading, innovations and air combat advancements were being made as the war progressed. The portion Air War marks some of the most used and essential American aircrafts used in Vietnam which

The Aviation Branch of the U.S. Army, as we know it today, did not exist at the turn of the 1800 to 1900 centuries. The military did use a Balloon Corps and Detachment for the Civil and Spanish-American Wars respectfully. However, the Army deactivated both organizations after their usage in the campaigns. These artillery spotters and reconnoiters were helpful. However, the leadership did not see a usage for them outside of war. Therefore, it would take someone understanding the potential of air power to open a door for its peacetime usage. This occurred with the birth of the Signal Corps.

The history of flying dates back as early as the fifteenth century. A Renaissance man named Leonardo da Vinci introduced a flying machine known as the ornithopter. Da Vinci proposed the idea of a machine that had

BBC goes on to state”In the early days of war, the aircraft of the RFC were in use daily to monitor the movements of the German Army in France and Belgium. As the benefits of "eyes in the sky" became increasingly evident to both sides, it became obvious that steps would need to be taken to prevent the opposition from gaining a significant advantage.((BBC News).Pilots feed back information about artillery strikes and the movement of enemy troops. Unlike nowadays when pilots are sent out for combat pilots in World War One only experienced combat when the Allies or the Germans happened to cross paths during their reconnaissance. But, as time went on the need for “eyes in the sky” increased and so did the need for the need to be ahead of the enemy and everyone one wanted a way secure and advantage over their enemy. As a result, of this need planes received an advancement in their systems. Engineers made engines that produced a greater amount of power to the aircrafts and other advancements to improve their usability in war. As BBC also states “At first this consisted of little more than pilots taking pot shots at each other with their service revolvers. But as technology improved airframes became more manoeuvrable and engines more powerful and it was soon possible to mount machine guns.”(BBC). Airplane from then on became a necessity for the war do to their multifunctionality. Planes could either gain information on the enemy 's movements or they could go

On August 17th, 1917, General Jan Christian Smuts, of the Royal Flying Corps, captured the significance that aeroplanes would play not just as an auxiliary force, but a new form of warfare: