Just shy of 100 years...

[Mathman]

Well, ok, over a year shy of 100 years since the Wright Brothers, but...

I was just thinking about how far powered flight has come since that short flight in December in 1903.  Just think about it.  

15 years after that day (give or take), the plane was being used as a weapon of war.

35-40 years afterwards, the progression from piston engines to jet engines takes place. 15-20 years after that, we had progressed from jets going 500mph to 3 times the speed of sound on a regualr basis.

100 years after the Wrights, we have progressed to manned space flight that has become almost routine, space stations (Space Lab, Mir and the ISS), planes that supercruise, stealth technology, helicopters, development of hypersonic aircraft using air-breathing engines (not rockets), and so on and so on....

In my grandparents lifetimes, they saw planes progress from biplanes traveling at about 150-200mph to people walking on the moon and flying planes that go Mach 3.

Amazing, IMO, and just wondering what is going to happen in my lifetime....

[batdog]

Nasa's going to use cockroachs to explore the universe.

xBAT

[Pei]

Originally posted by Mathman
planes that supercruise,

English Electric Lightning, 1958

[mason22]

mathman is a god.

[ra]

The SR-71 may be the most advanced aircraft ever built, and it is nearly 40 years old.  Sad to see so little advancement in 40 years.  Most advances have been in electronics and materials, but aircraft themselves seem to have reached their limit.  For the last 40 years it's been just incremental improvements.

ra

[narsus]

ra

I don't think aircraft have met their limit the pilot has. Just think of the manueverability and acceleration/deceleration that could be achieved if there was no pilot. Hell we could have UFO's soon

[JB73]

dont forget about the "aurora" or however you spell it LOL

supposed mach 7+ and alt of 100k+

popular science mag did a story on it about 5 yrs ago .... then nothing.

personally i have the mindset that the government has SOMETHNIG int he works.

come on think about it.... the fastest plane known to man (the SR71 blackbird) was made in the early '60's if i remember right.

you mean to tell me that nothing has been developed since then thats faster?!?!!?!?!

oh well enough conspiracy theroy for now

[polka]

You can really get a look at the advancements made during that 100 years if you ever get the chance visit the U.S.A.F. Museum in Dayton Ohio. Here's a link to thier site. Roam around & look at all they have!

USAF Museum

[K98k]

Just shy of a 100 too!  Born December 5th 1902

[Sandman]

Originally posted by ra
The SR-71 may be the most advanced aircraft ever built, and it is nearly 40 years old.  Sad to see so little advancement in 40 years.  Most advances have been in electronics and materials, but aircraft themselves seem to have reached their limit.  For the last 40 years it's been just incremental improvements.

ra

If you're using speed as the yardstick, you're probably right.

Then again... look at the B2 or V22 or better yet, some of the new UAVs. These are aircraft that could not fly without the benefit of a computer.