Page 86 - KBHA Bulletin 10

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THE AGE OF FLIGHT:
PILOTS, PLANES AND AIRFIELDS OF THE CAPE PENINSULA 1911 – 1939

Guy Ellis

The evolution of the aeroplane
(from Davy, 1937; Wright, 1953)

The human desire to fly has existed since time immemorial, inspired by the gliding and
soaring abilities of birds and the freedom it gave them. In Greek legend Icarus sought to

fly among the gods but ventured too close to the sun, his wax and feather wings melted,

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and he fell into the sea. Millennia were to pass before Leonardo da Vinci, in the 15
th

century, set down the early scientific foundations of flying, but it was only in the 20
century, the “Air Age”, that the age-old desire would be fulfilled.

Two principles underpinned the development of flight: the lighter-than-air principle

applied to balloons and zeppelins, and the gliding, or heavier-than-air principle, applied

to gliders and fixed-wing motor-driven aeroplanes.

The lighter-than-air principle

The lighter-than-air principle has no parallel in the animal world and was inspired by
the fact that smoke rises. It became operational only after the discovery of the nature of

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air and other gases during the 17 century: warm air rises; hydrogen and other light
gases also rise, and so invention of hot air and hydrogen balloons followed. The
Montgolfier brothers in France invented the hot air balloon, and the first human ascent

and voyage were made in October and November, respectively, of 1783. In the same

year the first hydrogen balloon ascent was made in France by the Robert brothers and J.
A. C. Charles. On 2 January 1785 Blanchard and Jeffries made the first successful

balloon crossing of the English Channel; in 1797 the first successful human parachute