Oct

The World’s Greatest Aviation Innovations

Posted by Published in Auto Blog

It seems all news is naughty news when it comes to aviation these days, and it’s too not good considering it overshadows just how wonderful it is that we can fly. Think about it — 100 years ago, few could assume it. nowadays we take it for granted.

It’s an amazing accomplishment, and too often humans lose sight of that. Aviation.com has compiled a list of the greatest innovations of aviation that have taken us ever further and faster in the 100 years since the Wright Brothers took wing. We looked at their list, tweaked it a bit and came up with our top 12 considering 10 wasn’t suitable.

1. Cabin Pressurization — The average passenger doesn’t think about cabin pressurization until their yellow safety masks fall from the ceiling, but the reality is that whether the technology hadn’t been developed during WWII, we wouldn’t be able to fly much above 10,000 feet.

2. Black Box — Morbid but fundamental, the black box was invented in the mid-1950s, and not only helps investigators memorize why a plane crashed, but how that knowledge can be applied to other aircraft to prevent a repeat.

3. The Concorde — It never delivered on its commercial promise, and it was an environmental poor boy, but who can deny that breaking the sound barrier aboard a commercial aircraft is cool. And have you ever seen a more beautiful plane?

4. Radar — certain, the airlines are dying to replace it with GPS technology, but for decades it’s been radar that helps air traffic controllers locate and track planes up to 200 miles absent. Would our contemporary air traffic infrastructure exist without it? Probably not.

5. The jumbo jet — Whether you think they’re graceful or ungainly, you can’t deny that jumbo jets have changed the face of commercial aviation. The economies of scale provided by a 400-seat airliner meant airlines could offer cheap tickets that made it possible for the masses to fly.

6. The hub and spoke system — public hate, hate, hate having to form stopovers at jam packed airports controlled by a singled-out airline. Yeah, they’re expensive to fly into and delay prone, but hub airports are a big part of the reason that you have 20 flights a day to choose from when flying within most large American cities.

7.The Very Light Jet (VLJ) — It’s been a durable road for the VLJ, with manufacturers suffering production problems and customers going out of commerce, but that doesn’t decrease the allure of a 37 foot, 3,500 pound

plane designed to carry four to six passengers on short hops that would otherwise require a car ride.

8. Winglets — Here’s another one that most of us don’t think about. The small upward-pointing extensions at the tips of aircraft wings reduce drag, improve climb performance, increase range, and invent flight more fuel efficient. With oil at by $100 a barrel, no wonder most airlines have added winglets across their fleets.

9. The flying wing — Yves Rossy keeps breaking records and defying expectations with his eight foot diameter, carbon composite flying wing. final week he made a successful 13 minute, 125 mph trip across the English Channel.

10. Stealth aircraft — What’s cooler than a plane that can outsmart radar? considering the surfaces of a stealth are designed to
absorb radio waves or reflect them absent from the receiver, stealth
planes can sneak in and sneak out undetected. Too not good they’re so expensive: the 21 plane B-2
program cost by $45 billion.

11. Jetway — Another one most of us don’t think about is the distant covered walkway the connects our departure
gate with our plane. It means we don’t have to wait external on the tarmac in sleet and rain, or contend with the shriek of jet engines. The A380 is served by three jet bridges, one of them main directly to the first course lounge.

12. Deicing — Ice buildup is the cause of many fatal aircraft
accidents, which is why applying monopropylene de-icing fluid to wings pre-flight has become standard operating procedure. Without it, air traffic would ground to a halt every moment things got a little stormy.

That’s it. That’s our top 12. Use the Reddit Widget below to tell us what we got wrong, what you’d add and why you think it’s critical.

Photo by Flickr user adpowers

Tell us what you consider the most critical aviation innovations…