History of Aviation - The Height of Human Imagination

If there is one word that is constantly being proved wrong throughout history, it is the word 'impossible'. Whenever a human mind thinks of something that has never been done before, there are always a number of people present to say that it is not possible. Yet, from time to time, human intelligence has proved its superiority over human reasoning. Man has been able to achieve nearly everything that a mind is able to imagine. The best example in this aspect is aviation. From the earliest endeavor of flying via huge birds' wings to the unrevealed secret flying machine in military bases, there is a plethora of moments which added a new wing in the flight of technological advancements. Moreover, the fantasy of flying was not only limited to a certain class. Today, everyone can enjoy the flight as well as flying. Enthusiasts can choose to be air force pilots or commercial pilots. Many training centers and schools are offering training such as floatplane training and float endorsement for leisure flyers.

Aviation perhaps is one of the most amazing marvels, yet it is also a very common mean of transportation. It is really interesting to see how this unbelievable achievement turned into the business that it is today.

Supposedly, the very first successful attempt of making an object fly was the kite which was invented in China during 200BC. However, a very ancient myth Greek of Deadlus is also considered to be taken from a real incident. It is said that Deadlus tried to imitate the flight of bird by using wax to stick large wings to his body. The authenticity of this myth is debatable, yet it clearly does define man's wish to fly from the earliest of civilization.

Even after such failed endeavors, a nearly successful attempt of flying is said to be of around the ninth century. A Berber man took a short flight on his gliding machine and landed back to that point. This can possibly be the earliest glider, but the landing was more of a crash. The first recorded and credible event of such flight is found in year 1010th when an English monk Eilmer of Malmesbury flew about 200 meters in his glider.

In the 18th century, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who created designs and illustrations that are said to be the major inspiration for what we see as modern aviation. Da Vinci himself was a great believer in human's ability to fly in flying machines. He designed many machines which very much resemble the airplanes and helicopters that we see today.

The first modern flight was of Jean-Francois and Francois Laurent in a hot air balloon. The concept of hot air flight was nearly a century old, but it was in 1783 when these two gentlemen took the flight. The balloon later was enhanced as a steerable airship by Henri Giffard in 1852.

Not much later in 1884, the French army made the first ever electric powered airship. The Airships were based on the "lighter than air" theory, which suggested that an object lighter than air can float on the air like a ship on water. This was successfully achieved by heating the air, yet the airships were short lived and fragile. The new century brought a newer concept that was heavier than air flight, but that is a whole new chapter in history of aviation.

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