The Inquest Short Story

Two weather airplanes: Enola Gay (flown by Capt. George Marquardt) and Laggin’ Dragon (flown by Capt. Charles F. McKnight).

     The name General Carl ‘Tooey’ Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. Famous engineers have taken the Wright-Brothers design and made great improvements to them while slowly integrating these new powerful means of transportation, weaponry and communication aids into the military. Since the onset of World War I there has been a debate on how to most effectively use these new airplanes in the Army’s collection. Most individuals believed that airplanes should be under control of the Army theater commander, while very

“”“All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades.”””

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker, more commonly known as “Eddie”, was the third of eight children, born to William and Elizabeth Rickenbacker in Columbus, Ohio on October 8, 1890. Just as most adolescent boys, he went through a defiant stage. As a child, he was quite the delinquent, for he began smoking at the age of 5 and often spent time with a group of ornery kids called the “Horsehead Gang.” He was quickly whipped into shape by his father, however, who tragically died at a construction site in 1904. Due to the absence of his father and the toll it took on his family, Rickenbacker quit school at age 12 and brought it upon himself to assume the position as the provider for his family. His longing for aviation did not start at this time, but during World War I. Even so, he made his impact on history during the 20th century through his many successes in aerial warfare.

With the invention of the machine gun the fighter plane was created and the first flying “aces” arose. This was important because when both sides were entrenched it became the job of the planes to create an opening. In addition to fighter planes the creation of bombers played a vital role in the war and in subsequent wars. Planes were now able to just drop a bomb on the enemy, causing a large amount of damage. The advancements in aircraft made during wartime paved the way for future generations to create advanced airplanes with useful additions like precise maneuvering equipment and missiles. In addition, post-war advancements include the invention of the tri-motor in 1926, the first single engine plane in 1927, and the first transatlantic passenger plane also in 1927. WWI had a huge effect on the development of plane technology because without it people may have never realized the potential for air warcraft except for the few pilots with the vision of dropping bombs on the

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

James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle is best remembered for his accomplishments during World War II. The attack on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese was led by Jimmy Doolittle, and was later titled, “The Doolittle Raid.” Even though this was a remarkable accomplishment, most aviators during this time thought the raid would be nothing more than a suicide mission. In order to complete this raid, the United States’ most senior commanders had to select an individual with a vast knowledge in aviation, someone who was willing to push the limits at a time when aviation was still in its infancy. James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle was exactly the man they needed to accomplish this task. He had been pushing the limits of aircraft

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

Joseph J. Foss is a World War II veteran who was born on April 17, 1915 in South Dakota. He was in the Guadalcanal Campaign as a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and served from October 1942 to January 1943. Charles Lindbergh inspired Foss to start flying, so he decided to take flying lessons while receiving a college education at the University of South Dakota. After graduating with a business degree, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. His persistence landed him a position as a fighter pilot and after his training, he became the executive officer of VMF-121 and was subsequently sent to the South Pacific. While there, he led a unit that later became known as “Foss’s Flying Circus.” With enthusiasm and good leadership skills, he successfully led

Orville started making kits for the model plying machine of his own which he then sold to people (Site). Orville's friend built a at later on and the he decided to make one himself. Wilbur said “it would be easier to build a flying Machine.” He was only joking at the time but later on he

"They knew I had never used the machine before and probably thought I would find some excuse at the last moment to back out of the flight. This attitude made me more determined than ever to succeed” (America’s First Lady of the Air). Harriet Quimby decided to fly the Blériot XI even though it didn’t have an amazing reputation. “The Blériot XI was by all accounts the trickiest plane Blériot had yet designed, and Quimby had never piloted the model, much less the particular plane Blériot had loaned her” (America’s First Lady of the Air). Harriet did not have any experience in flying over large bodies of water and all she had during the flight was a compass.

Details regarding the planes flown during the war in the novel were accurate compared to information about the real planes. Every time Jack’s crew took off for a mission, “He felt it straining, struggling to rise

The problems that the Wright brothers faced were not only the weather conditions but the airplane itself. When they first tested the motor, it vibrated too much and it broke the propeller shafts. The propeller shaft was very important because it was responsible for making the propeller spin. They had it repaired by Charlie Taylor in Ohio. When they received the aircraft back, they decided to test

put together the events that lead to All-in's departure, remembering only they consumed many cocktails with umbrellas and devoured Asian food at two in the morning. Not sure what they did for the other eight hours, All-in, simply claimed, it was the best send off he could have hoped for.