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November 21, 1783, is popularly thought of as marking the first giant breakthrough in modern flight. On that date, two brothers, Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier from France, achieved flight in the world’s first manned hot-air balloon, later known as a Dirigible. Up until then, the struggle for flight was characterized by trying to find a way to make a human lighter than air… Or more accurately, vehicle that was lighter than air and could carry a man. It was thought an impossibility for a vehicle that was heavier than air to be able to fly. In addition, it was accepted as fact that in order to maneuver in flight and achieve more than the simple vertical displacement attainable with a Dirigible, one would need wings like a bird. These two realities seemed to integrate to spell out certain failure  for anyone attempting to attain manned flight.

In 1888, – Joseph Le Conte, Natural History Professor at the University of California said the following,

“Put these three indisputable facts together: One: There is a low limit of weight, certainly not much beyond 50 pounds, beyond which it is impossible for an animal to fly. Nature has reached this limit, and with her utmost effort has failed to pass it. Two: The animal machine is far more effective than any we can hope to make; therefore the limit of the weight of a successful flying machine can not be more than fifty pounds. Three: The weight of any machine constructed for flying, including fuel and engineer, cannot be less than three or four hundred pounds. Is it not demonstrated that a true flying machine, self-raising, self-sustaining, self-propelling, is physically impossible?”

On December 17, 1903, a short 15 years later, Orville and Wilbur Wright proved the professor wrong and flew the first heavier-than-air, powered plane, paving the way for modern aviation. With World War I came the advent of ailerons, also called “flaps.” These permitted the planes to roll, boosting maneuverability and allowing the infamous dogfights that happened during the war.

Although aviation technology was moving forward rapidly, it still wasn’t able to carry cargo or multiple passengers. For this, the Dirigible was used, and still considered to be the future of flight, even though biplanes were shown to be better during the course of WWI. The introduction of the Douglas DC-3, the first passenger airliner, altered the way aviation was seen in 1935. In 1937, the Hindenburg Disaster put an end to the age of the Dirigible.

By the end of WWII, aviation was flying to new heights of technology. With large bombers, Jet aircraft, and the invention of rocket propulsion, commercial planes were able to unite the world in ways never before imagined possible. Also, the creation of rockets cleared a path for space exploration in the years ahead.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher, was quoted in approximately 1750 as saying,

“At first we will only skim the surface of the earth like young starlings, but soon, emboldened by practice and experience, we will spring into the air with the impetuousness of the eagle, diverting ourselves by watching the childish behavior of the little men or awling miserably around on the earth below us.”

During the space race between America and Russia, aviation took two flights, one to the cosmos, and another into the back yards of would-be pilots. Small, private aircraft, such as single engine planes and business jets began to hit the runways on a more personal level than ever before seen in the history of aviation. Not only is attending a Austin flight school a very real possibility, but the dream of owning your own aircraft had finally been reached. And the day when owning a airplane or being a member of a Austin flying club is as common as owning an automobile, might be just around the corner.

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