Can you imagine a world without aeroplanes? Or what the future will be like with them? Since early civilisation, humans have wanted to fly and developments in aerospace made that dream possible. Here’s a quick recap on our ongoing fascination with flight and a look forward to where aerospace is going next.
Aerospace
ALL ABOUT
AEROSPACE
First human flight in hot air balloon, built by Montgolfier brothers in Paris
1783
1903
The Wright brothers create first successful airplane, making first controlled and powered flight in North Carolina
Boeing introduces first modern commercial airline, the 10-seater 247
1933
1952
Comet starts regular passenger services as first jet-powered commercial aircraft between London and South Africa
Boeing 747 makes its first commercial flight from New York to London – holding 480 passengers, becomes known as the “Jumbo Jet”
1970
1976
Concorde operates first passenger supersonic flights
First aircraft produced through computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering, Boeing’s twin-engine 777
1995
2007
Airbus A380 makes first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney, surpassing the Boeing 747 with a maximum of 853 passengers
the future...
Hypersonic aircraft and electric planes
Hypersonic flight happens at over ‘Mach 5’ – or 5 times faster than the speed of sound. We’re talking 3,800mph. So we’ll soon be able to travel to New York in 2 hours!
DID YOU KNOW?
Planes deliberately look like BIRDS
Aeroplanes have been born from what’s known as ‘biomimicry’ – when nature is imitated to solve complex human problems. Aircraft designers took inspiration from the streamlined shape of birds to improve airflow and reduce drag. That’s why aeroplane wings taper on the outside and take the same shape as bird wings.
DID YOU KNOW?
One plane has MILLIONS of parts
The average car has over 30,000 parts (which is a lot, when you think about it), so you might guess a plane has maybe ten times as many? Try 200 times. Yip, a 747 has over SIX MILLION parts.
