Greatest contribution to aviation

[Sock]

What about Chuck Yeager huh?  If it wasn't also for him we'd all be speaking German.  A thousand million salutes to all who fought and died in WWII.  ~S~

[Hagar]

Most of the above made their own unique contribution to aviation. All respect to the Wright Brothers but if they hadn't done it, someone else would almost certainly have done so. von Ricthofen was a famous fighter pilot over a comparatively short period of time. I wouldn't say he was the best by a long chalk as many of his victories were against inferior opposition, usually slow, poorly armed reconaissance aircraft. Not sure what, if anything, he contributed to aviation in general.

[Professor Brensec]

A few comments.

Firstly, all praise to the Wrights for their ingenuity and perseverence. But as has been said, someone else would surely have done it, not too long later. In fact, there is some evidence that others did the same at around the same time.
Leonardo DaVinci was responsible for the design of the first 'viable' flying machine, even though nothing came of it. His dreams and visions could well have been responsible for the first serious efforts in gliding etc which was well before 'powered flight'.
As for pwered flight, it is the jet engine that has opened the horizons of aviation to the point where it can conquer distances that weren't dreamt of 100 years ago. Also the jet engine has made aviation available to the masses as far as viable long range travel is concerned. Also there is the 'quick response' capability of the military due to the jet engine.
For all these reasons, I MUST say the inventor of the jet engine.

P.S. Chuck Yaeger did break the sound barrier first 'in level flight' but it was broken (on two occasions) in an F86 by a fellow named Walsh or Welsh in a dive a couple of months before Yaeger.
So the statement that he first broke the barrier is not technically correct. I beleive the history books and official records now include the qualifying phrase 'in level flight'.

That's all from me...........for now.  ;D

[Oz]

Also the jet engine has made aviation available to the masses as far as viable long range travel is concerned. Also there is the 'quick response' capability of the military due to the jet engine.
For all these reasons, I MUST say the inventor of the jet engine.

Which...is Frank Whittle...for those who dont know..
And you gotta give a seperate credit to Igor Sikorsky. Where would we be without helicopters  ;)

[Ivan]

[quote]I would say one of the greatest contributions to aviation over the last 100 years (as far as military aircraft are concerned) was made by Martin-Baker & their ejector seats. If you visit their site there's a counter displaying the number of lives saved to date.

[Scottler]

The greatest contributors to aviation are every little boy and every little girl who has looked to the sky and smiled knowingly.

[Crumbso]

oh boo yourself kraut. only kidding.

but I think that no one can design a greater beauty than the spitfire.

[Iroquois]

I'd have to say the Wrights of course but also Werner Von Braun (Did I spell his name correctly?), German inventer of the V2 rocket and also assisted in the design of the SaturnV rockets that would take man to the moon. He also worked on most of the early NASA projects including Gemini, which is why the rockts are painted black and white, to resemble his early V2s (before it was a bomb). The Wrights brought us aviaton but Von Braun took away it's Earthy limits, opening up the "final frontier", if you pardon the Star Trek expression, allowing us to "boldly go where man has gone before".

I should also mention Jim Floyd, Vice-President of Avro Canada, he brought the first jetliner to North America, which was simply called the Jetliner. This changed the way North Americans saw passenger air travel and would later pave the way for the Boeing 707.  Also Howard Hughs for introducing these first North American jets to the market.

Of course the Wrights are important but I cannot vote for them simply because, aerodynamics beginning to be understood in the early 20th century and there were numorous successful flights by others only weeks apart. The Wrights were one of the first to use areodynamic testing and wind tunnels to test there designs, so in reality, they were the first successful designers.

[Hagar]

PS. I forgot to mention. Charles Lindbergh made the first successful solo trans-Atlantic flight. A great achievement but the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic was made by Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten-Brown in a Vickers Vimy (a converted twin-engined biplane WWI bomber) featured in FS2004. They took off from Lester's Field, near St. Johns, Newfoundland on June 14,1919 & landed (crashed) in a bog at Clifden in Ireland on the following day, some eight years before Lindbergh's success.

[Professor Brensec]

Maybe not so much the ejector seat people but the French bloke who invented the parachute!
He would have to be the greatest contributor to the saving of human life in aviation. That's gotta count for a HUGE contribution. (The ejector seat being just a clever extension, but still pretty useless without the 'chute.

Also the parachute allowed the dropping of equipment and supplies both during wartime and peacetime, especially to flood and famine victims. More saving of human life and easing of suffering through the parachute.

Yep.........I think my conscience vote will have to go to him.
(I'll just jump into google and find out his name........lol

[Professor Brensec]

Whoops - sorry......the inventor of the parachute was Slovakian. A bloke named Stefan Banic. He first demonstrated in 1914.

Excuse my ignorance.

For some reason I had a Frenchman in my head.  ;D

[Professor Brensec]

I've just read that Stefan Banic gave the patent rights for his parachute to the Air Corp and the Society for the Promotion of Aviation. He made no money at all.
While at this time, others were making fortunes out of their inventions he chose to donate the device for the betterment of aviation and mankind.

Having read this, I really think this man must get the vote for the most unselfish, greatest contribution to aviation.

[Sock]

Thanks brensec I never knew that.  But even this Welsh or whatever is name is probably didn't do it first.  During WWII many pilots died from not being able to pull out of a high speed dive.  At least one of them could have gone super sonic.  And of course no one would have lived to tell about it!  Even if no one did it during the war some say the Russians could have gotten to the barrier first.  They would have used a German designed plane and German pilots, captured after the war.  If this did happen they were probably to ashammed to admit they did it because they didn't use their own plane or pilots.  Oh...when did the F-86 enter service with the USAF?  It was before 1947 right?  I thought it entered service after Yeager broke the barrier?  

[Hagar]

[quote]Whoops - sorry......the inventor of the parachute was Slovakian. A bloke named Stefan Banic. He first demonstrated in 1914.

Excuse my ignorance.

For some reason I had a Frenchman in my head.

[Hagar]

[quote]Oh...when did the F-86 enter service with the USAF?