Inventing the Airplane, Changing the World Essay Sample

Planes are the reason we are growing as a society, without them we wouldn’t have grown as fast as we did. Wilbur and Orville Wright invented a plane back in 1903, and we have been inventing new and better planes ever since. Nowadays when traveling long distances or ordering a package, a plane will be used. The invention that had the biggest impact on humanity is planes.

Planes are used for fast travel. “…the sound barrier was broken in 1947 by Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager piloting the Bell X-1(a US Army rocket plane)…” (Tyson). To break the sound barrier, you have to travel to 770 mph and above; meaning that Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager had to go 770 mph in a plane (specifically the Bell X-1) to break the sound barrier. We have a plane that powers itself only with gravity alone and we can send it off on the opposite side of the world from the targeted city, once we deploy it the city will only have 45 minutes to evacuate (Tyson). This plane can travel the entire globe in 1 hour and 30 minutes if it has enough area. In 1 day Louis Beriot crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover (Tyson). These are separated heavily, and it must’ve been a hard journey to make in 1909, only 6 years after the initial success of the flight. With those 3 historical moments, it is easy to see fast travel is easy with planes.

Long distances are hard to travel without planes. “…the V-2 could be launched several hundred miles from its target…” (Tyson). Planes can travel several hundred miles. “-six years after Lindbergh's historic solo flight across the Atlantic…” (Tyson). Lindbergh had flown 3,600 from New York to Paris. “…circumnavigate the globe by air in a zeppelin,” (Tyson). Circumnavigate is commonly used to say go around the world, so using a special plane called a zeppelin you can go fully around the world. Planes can be used to travel very long distances, especially specific ones designed to go that far.

Some people say that planes have only allowed us to travel, which is for the most part true until you look at the other jobs pilots can take. “…the aeroplane is not just a toy but a possible instrument of warfare…” (Tyson). This quote is the first suggestion to make planes into fighter planes/jets. The aeroplanes were used as fighters and bombers in warfare (Tyson). The suggestion turned into a reality making planes into fighters for war. “V-2 moved under the influence of gravity alone; in other words, it was a suborbital ballistic missile, the fastest way to deliver a bomb from one location on Earth to another.” (Tyson). This quote is referring to a plane that was used as a missile. Warfare around the world now uses planes commonly.

When one considers planes help us go long distances and they can be used as warfare weapons it is clear that planes have helped us the most. Inventions are important when it comes to helping the society, and we should acknowledge the invention that has helped us the most. We wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have today without the airplane.