The Airplane Before the '20sOn December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers showed the world that man could fly. Their invention of the airplane astounded everyone; poorp people, rich people, and especially the middle-class people. At first it was not as great a hype as some other inventions during its time because of how dangerous flying still was. But through various twists and turns, the airplane was a ble to become a great success in the 1920s and even gaining the rank of being one of the most important inventions of the 1920s.During the decade preceding the 20s, airplanes had been used in World War I for reconnassance and attacks, but its high instability and poor control made it less glamorous as other weapons of World War I. So it was tossed aside as an impractical invention. After World War I, the airplane started to become a hit again. At local carnivals and fairs, airplane pilots would fly around in the air doing various tricks and stunts to entertain an audience. Gradually, the airplane stunts at local carnivals became commonplace throughout America. The Airplane Catches on in the '20sAlthough the airplane had become used more throughout America, it was never taken seriously by anyone. Until the federal government developed the idea of Air-Mail. The idea of using airplanes to transport mail quickly caught on. Instead of receiving long-distance mail in a few weeks, one could receive it in only a few days. Air-Mail quickly became a success. As Air-Mail became more popular, other industries began turning to the airplane as a for of freighting that was much faster than land based transportation. So the airplane quickly became an integrated part of American business during the 1920s.After using airplanes to transport freight became commonplace, the idea of airplanes carrying people quickly took hold. A few airplane companies begaan to offer flying people from one place to the other, for a price though. Usually it was fairly costly and only upper-class people could afford it. But as flights became more common, prices fell, and it almost reached a point where upper-middle class people could afford flights. Although the airplane did not catch on as quickly as other inventions of the 1920s did, it still caught on. And it sure did catch on. During the 20s, many people began to do airplane stunts and tricks to entertain themselves. Various people would climb onto an airplane wing and start dancing the Charleston, or try flying around in circles for a whole day. Airplane fads even managed to produce an American hero, Charles A. Lindbergh, when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean by himself in an airplane. The success of the airplane in the 1920s surely makes the airplane one of the most important inventions of the 1920s. |
