For Centuries human beings gazed up into the sky, watched the birds and wondered how they too would be able to harness the power of flight to get up there. From Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machine, to the efforts made by the Wright brothers, flight was something that humans had to keep trying at and finally succeeded in achieving.
The 20th Century was the real era of flight. Of course, the world wars meant that new technology was needed quickly, and many of the aeroplanes that were invented then were the predecessors of our modern flying machines. Then of course the space race began, and in addition to leaving the Earth and getting into the sky, humans left the planet altogether.
The technological achievements of flight are always something that engineers are working on, and whether it is NASA’S newest space rocket, or a luxury jet plane to take people on holiday, there is always a push to advance how flight can be made quicker and of course safer for those involved.
Flying also puts a machine into an environment that can be tough. For example extreme heat is something that can be a challenge when designing space =craft, and in the skies, planes can suffer from corrosion. Technology like this electroless nickel coating www.poeton.co.uk/standard-treatments/electroless-nickel-plating can help to protect the parts of the craft and make it safer as well as improving its durability.
Engines have also been something that need to be reliable – as well as the fact that an engine needs to be able to do its job to maintain lift, it is also important that they are resistant to catching fire – carrying a large amount of highly combustible fuel has always been a problem for designers of both aircraft and space rockets, and in the early days of these machines has resulted in some terrible accidents.
Fortunately, much is learned when accidents occur and a fire breaks out, and it is something that aircraft designers and engineers are always aware of and keen to reduce the risk of when they are creating new craft – whether they are going to be flying to the moon or taking people on their holidays!
