Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - History Other How The airplane changed war How The airplane changed war In many ways World War II presents post Civil War American attitudes about technology and science. Trace either the most relevant technology or scientific assumption from 1865 to 1945 showing how it changed or why it stayed the same from the Civil War for the end of World War II. (Length 3 pages) America has faced several major wars including the Civil War, World War I and II. These wars have cause great advances in technology and different techniques of fighting. The Civil War was based on men fighting men with muskets and swords as the only fighting tool, this war cause over 600,000 Americans to loose their lives. World War I technology played a larger role with the introduction of the airplane, explosives and armored vehicle. By the end of World War II technology was fighting the war, less men were needed to fight on the ground and battles were taken to the air. The airplane has been modified from the balloons used in the Civil War to have a powerful role in combat. During the Civil War battles were fought on the ground and people rarely took to the air. Most aircraft of the late nineteenth century were made of mechanical wings or lighter than air. Observers used balloons on the battlefield to report the status of advancing troops. Gliders were used for observations but were limited to where they could be used. During the late 1890s the American war department placed more of a focus on developing a heavier than air flying machine. In 1903 Orville Wright in North Carolina made the first fight of the modern aircraft which resulted in more research in the development of the airplane. Before World War I European designers were working with the information of Wright brothers to make a faster and more capable combat plane. The American Army and Wright brothers used their biplane design to make bombing runs to test the effectiveness of air power. Anthony Herman Fokker, a Dutch-American engineer designed guns that would fire between the spaces of the propeller. With a timer a plane became the first combat plane in 1915 before that time planes were used for bombing and observations of troops. By the end of World War I both sides had aircraft that was capable of flying to altitudes of 25,000 feet and speeds of 155 miles per hour. This was an amazing feat for wartime pressures for development. After the war commercial air service was started and planes were being used for the transportation mail. The United States Postal Service supported the development and Donald Douglas and Boeing started production of planes for transportation of people and goods. In 1941 there were fewer than 300 planes in service when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States had a very weak airforce. Production had to be increased rapidly, by the end of the war aviation companies were making almost 50,000 planes a year. The jet engine and pressurized cabin were developed which allowed planes to fly higher and faster. America focused their attention on the development of fighters and bombers. Aircraft allowed troops to be relocated to the front lines very quickly. Japan attacked America at a very good time. We were battling out of a depression that caused the development and production of the airplane to slow because of a lack of funding. Once the word of the strike on Pearl Harbor was heard the government was forced to produce planes to fight the much stronger Japanese aircraft. This was answered with the rapid production of the B-17 bomber and jet fighters. A huge focus was placed on scientific development that allowed America to finish with a much stronger airforce to defeat Japan. With all this technology the United States needed to have very competent pilots. The airforce started Academies that were taught by the best pilots. They kept training at a maximum we were turning out well-trained pilots. Japan on the other hand sent their best pilots to face combat and were shot down which left them without any trained pilots that were not capable for combat missions. This made it very easy for the United States to destroy the Japanese airforce. Aircraft gave us a different angle on attacking the enemy. Curtis Lamay planned and executed several firestorms, which destroyed cities in Japan. He planned on dropping flaming bombs with the B-29 bomber. This firestorm caused severe destruction with extreme heat at the center, which turned buildings into dust and caused hurricane force winds that effected the land for miles around the focus of the attack. These attacks devastated huge cities that supported the Japanese military. America always wanted to be the biggest, fastest and powerful. World War II forced America to catch up rapidly to gain this rank. At the end to World War II the United States gained this rank with the severe defeat of Japan’s airforce. At the end of the war there was a large surplus of planes that were used to boost the fleet of commercial aircraft. Wars have caused death and devastation but there are some positive effects, war causes a boost of support for scientific development. Without World War I and II it is hard to say where the status of planes could be in American society. Bibliography: Word Count: 884
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.