Amy Horney
CIS 270-WX-01
Maj Sook Ha
Help Received: Works Cited
Taking Communication to the Sky
Americans were the first to pioneer the first successful flight in a powered airplane. The Wright Brothers took flight in 1903 and there has been no stopping the improvement of the airplane since then. Of course, there have been many changes made to the airplane itself, specifically by the American people but it is not just the improvements made on the airplane that have changed. The way people use airplanes has also changed. We no longer use airplanes solely for transportation. Airplanes are now used for communication. Airplanes are able to transport people, messages, products, and support the military at faster and more reliable rates than ever before.
Not very long after the Wright Brothers took flight, airplanes started being incorporated into the mail system. In 1918, “The U.S. Postal Service [inaugurated] airmail service from Polo Grounds in Washington, D.C., on May 15. Two years later…the first transcontinental airmail service arrives in New York from San Francisco in 33 hours and 20 minutes, nearly three days faster than mail delivery by train,” (National Academy of Engineering). The airplane took the U.S. Postal Service to a whole other level in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. People could now communication with others across the country at a considerably faster rate. They were able to satisfy the needs of customers who needed to communicate with others quickly, much quicker than they would have if they had sent their letters by train like before the airplane.
Not only did airplanes allow communication via mail, they obviously also allowed the transportation of people. Before the airplane, people used trains, horses, and such to travel long distances. The problem with these modes of transportation is that they can only go so far, meaning they can only go as far as the land takes them. The American people needed a way to travel and across the oceans to communicate face-to-face with others. In 1927, “On May 21, Charles Lindbergh completes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic traveling 3,600 miles from New York to Paris in a Ryan monoplane named the Spirit of St. Louis,” (National Academy of Engineering). Obviously, there was the steamship and other boats that allowed people to do this but they were not nearly as fast as the airplane. Solo flights eventually turned into commercial, multi-person flights and allowed more people to travel. Traveling via boat across the ocean from the United States to Europe would take days, maybe weeks. The airplane allowed them to travel from the U.S. to Europe in the matter of a day. This was essential for the communication between American diplomats and European diplomats when conversations and/or conferences could not be held over the telephone.
Airplanes also played a significant role in the United States military. In 1912, Anton Fokker established an airplane factory in Germany, which attributed to the fact that at that time “90 percent of his planes are sold to the German military,” (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company). This affected the United States because this came just in time for the first World War and gave the Germans a significant advantage. Soon after, the American military started adopting airplanes into their attack strategies, giving the United States an aviation aspect in their military. Eventually, the communication from aircraft was able to occur directly from the aircraft while it was in the air. For example, on July 27, 1912, “Lt. John Rodgers and Ensign Charles Maddox send the first wireless message from an aircraft to a ship. Flying a Wright Model B, they contact the torpedo boat USS Stringham,” (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company). This changed the way war is fought by the U.S. military forever. Those that were in the sky were now able to communicate what they saw with those on the ground.
More recently, airplanes have allowed for more high-tech uses such as delivering packages in minimal amounts of time and private jets chauffeuring people to different destinations at staggering speeds. The most important attribute that the airplane has given to the American people specifically in terms of communication has been efficiency. The airplane has allowed Americans to communicate with each other via mail or face-to-face much faster than it has in the past. From the horses to trains and now to airplanes, the progression of communication speed only has room for improvement. Planes are now the primary mode of communication for physical objects but soon they will be replaced with the new, cutting-edge technology. They have paved the way for newer and better forms of communication by opening up the field to beyond the ground.
Works Cited
Keitz, Maribeth. “Airplane Timeline – Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century.” Airplane Timeline – Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century. National Academy of Engineering, 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
“Wright Brother Aeroplane Company/Site Entrance and Guide.” Wright Brothers
Aeroplane Company Entrance and Guide. N.p. 2011. Web. 13 Mar 2016.