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Soaring High

By Phuc Anh

The 20th century is the time when most changes

in history took place. Which transportation do you

think is the most important way to travel? I think it isthe airplane. Without the airplane, you wont be able to

travel far in a short amount of time. After the first

airplane was invented, people started to get the idea

and invented different types of airplane like jets,

seaplanes, passenger planes, and etc. The invention of

airplane was a turning point in history.

First Airplane

The first airplane was invented by the Wright Brothers in 1903. It is mostly

made of wood, fabric, and metal. The airplane is called Wright Flyer. The airplane

weighed 605lbs, the length is 21ft, and the wingspan is 40ft 4in. The Wright Flyer

was tested on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Wright Flyermade four flights that day and Orville Wright was the pilot of

the plane. The first flight was 120ft far, 10ft above the

ground, and stayed in the air for 12 seconds. The longest

flight of the day was 852ft far and stayed above the ground

for 59 seconds. After the Wright Flyer was successfully

invented, the Wright Brothers made the Wright Flyer II and

the Wright Flyer III.

First Jet

Many years later

since the Wright

Flyer was invented, the invention of the jet

appeared. Dr. Hans von Ohain, an engineer from

Germany, and Sir Frank Whittle, a Royal Air Force

(RAF) engineer officer from Britain, are known as

the inventors of the jet. Frank Whittle was the first

to sign up a patent for his

jet in 1930 and Hans von

Ohain was given a patent

for his jet in 1936. Hans

von Ohains jet, Heinkel

He 178, flew in 1939

while Frank Whittles jet,

Gloster E 28/29, flew in

1941. The Gloster E

28/29 has the length of

25ft 4in, 8ft 10in high, with the wingspan of 29ft,

and its empty weight is 2,886 lbs. The Gloster E

28/29 can go 338mph at maximum speed. To

compare with the Gloster E 28/29, the Heinkel He

178 is 24ft 6in long, 6ft 10in high, with the

wingspan of 23ft 3in, and the empty weight is 1,620

lbs. The Heinkel He 178 can fly 380 mph at

maximum speed which is faster than the Gloster E

28/29.This is the Wright Flyer taking off, and Orville was on it.

An airplane flying high in the sky.

This is the Gloster E 28/29 invented bySir Frank Whittle.

This is the Heinkel He 178 invented byHans von Ohain.

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As you can see, there are different

airplanes for different purposes. Some are for

carrying passengers, some are used in military

for attacks. Airplanes help save your time

because it can travel anywhere in short amount

of time. It is not just only changes how people

travel, but also changes how people fight in

war, transport goods, transport mails, and etc.

Generally speaking, my favorite type of

airplane is the passenger airplane because it is

the fastest and the most convenient way to

travel to many different places in the world.

Airplane is a great invention that changes our

worlds history.

First Passenger Airplane

The Sikorsky Ilya Muromets is known to

be the first passenger aircraft. In 1913, it is

invented by a Russian American aircraft

designer, Igor Sikorsky in Riga, Latvia. The

Sikorsky Ilya Muromets was also a military

bombing aircraft. On December 10, 1913, it

took off for the first time. On February 11,

1914, it took off the second time carrying 16

passengers. The airplane has the height of 13ft

1in, the length is 57ft 5in, its top wings

wingspan is 97ft 9in, its bottom wings

wingspan is 68ft 11in, and the empty weight is

6,930lbs. At maximum speed, it can travel 68

mph.

First Seaplane

The first seaplane nickname is

called Le Canard. It was invented in

1910 by a French aviator named Henri

Fabre. The Le Canard is 27ft 10in long,

the wingspan is 45ft 11in, and the height

is 12ft 2in. It can fly 55 mph at

maximum speed. The airplane Le

Canard flew on March 28, 1910 inMartinique, France and its inventor,

Henri Fabre, flew the plane. The plane

flew 1500 ft far. It once crashed during a

flight on April 12, 1911.

The famous Sikorsky Ilya Muromets flying.

An ordinary modern passenger airplane flying high.

The first seaplane flying with Henri Fabre the airplaneinventor on it.