Airplanes Designs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Airplanes Designs - Essay Example However, the major concern of the aircrafts that were designed in the early 20th century, starting with the breakthrough that was made by the Wright brothers who developed the first full operational aircraft in 1903, was to develop an aircraft that was lighter than air (Anderson, 12). Therefore, the ancient designs focused on making lighter aircrafts, and therefore entailed the changes in the materials used to make the aircrafts. Further, the aircraft design influences the performance of the aircrafts by further introducing new performance requirements, especially during the first world war, when it became apparent that there was no way the war could have been won without air combat. As a result, the war crafts were designed to consist greater maneuverability, coupled with high speed and ability to fly high altitudes (Stokes, 147). Later, the design influenced the size of aircrafts, towards making large aircrafts to fly, while also allowing heavy loads to be flown in their air, witho ut the impact of the weight of the aircraft brining the air craft down (Wragg, 31). Thus, simply put, the design of the aircraft affect the performance of the airplane through determining the speed, maneuverability, load and weight capacity, usage for example in wars and he safety of the aircraft while taking off, flying and landing. How designs changed over the time The ancient Airplane Designs entailed the use of twin tractor propellers as their engine, and a fitted horizontal tail, while the aircraft was powered by compressed air, with the aircraft being fitted with an air tank that acted as a fuselage (Anderson, 7). This was later advanced to a single flight engine that was developed by the Wright brothers for their aircraft, which was fitted with 2 hp water-cooled four-cylinder, with a fuel injection (Wragg, 56). Further, in 1926, more advancement was made in the engine modification and an air-cooled radial engine, which was lighter, was introduced, marking the beginning of tra nsformation of the Airplanes Designs from engine-focused into size modification, considering that the lighter, air-cooled radial engine made it possible for the aircrafts to fly for longer and carry more weight (Stokes, 153). The Airplanes engine designs advancement was further achieved courtesy of a V-8 engine that was an improvement on the previous four-cylinder engine, which then introduced the aspect of direct fuel injection in aircraft engines, as well as the evaporative water cooling concept that allowed the water cooling the engine to evaporate, thus making the aircrafts even lighter, making it possible for the engine to generate a high power of 50 hp (Anderson, 44). The advancement in the Airplane Design saw the rise of the 3-cylinder semi radial fan-engine, which forthwith introduced the concept of aircraft engine using a fan, as opposed to the previous cooling of the engine using water, in 1909 (Wragg, 51). Consequently, it was now possible to fly an aircraft that was much heavier than the air, and the design aspect of the aircraft changed focus from the engine to the body of the aircrafts, with the transformation of the wings to make them thinner and more efficient, while the safety concerns were further addressed through interior designs that incorporated seat designs that were able to remain in place