World War 1 Aviation Technology Essay

On December 17th, 1903, two Americans, Wilbur and Orville Wright created the first successful airplane design. As the only sustained, controlled, heavier-than-air, human flight of the time, it was groundbreaking. Furthermore, their three-axis control became and remains the standard steering system on various fixed-wing aircrafts. Their basic design would be developed into the much-more-practical Wright Flyer III. However, large scale usage of aviation technology would not be observed until World War One. At the time, militaries around the world saw little potential in a technology barely out of its infancy. Nevertheless, airplane technology became much more sophisticated over the course of the war and its development foreshadowed aviation as a major form of …show more content…
However, the Great War was the first war in which planes were used significantly. By the end of 1914, as the frontlines became static and it became apparent that traditional forms of reconnaissance such as cavalry were useless. The cavalry would be killed by enemy fire before gaining any insight into enemy movements. Thus, cameras were mounted to planes and pilots were given the mission of aerial surveillance. The plane’s capacity for observation proved to be their greatest advantage which is exemplified in the First Battle of the Marne. Aerial observers, seeing a shift in German movements, noticed a gap, allowing the ground forces to halt the German’s invasion. Through their vantage view in the sky, the planes was a decisive factor of the Allies’ victory. With their use in warfare proven, the plane’s use evolved from mere observation to actual fighting. As the war progressed, aerial assaults came into use by both the Allies and the Central Powers. The first airborne attacks came in the form of bombings. The effectiveness of the first bomber aircrafts were limited by several factors. Planes could not carry heavier bombs which limited their offensive abilities. Furthermore, bombing attacks