Graphs of Aircraft historical performance.

[blueprint]

This will be off topic for most of you.

I am having a debate that goes
"War accelerates the development of scientific and technological knowhow".
I believe it does.
I am having this debate on a science forum with some rather testy chaps who think that it dosent.
They say that there is no evidence that aircraft performance was accelerated by WW2 and the cold war and that these improvements would have happened anyway.

Could someone provide me with links to sites that have statistical evidence to support my argument.

Much appreciated in advance.
Peter.

 

[ferdo]

Hi

I'm agree with you. Try these links.

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_us/

http://www.aviation-history.com/index.html

http://www.whom.co.uk/squelch/bb_aviate.htm

You can find another web sites about aircrafts history searching with Google.
Regards
Fernando

 

[blueprint]

Thank you for those excellent links Fernando.

 

[matt00000]

I wouldn't bother to argue with them as they are obviously a bit simple!

Incidently racing is probably the other factor and cost...
(ie schneider trophy etc)

 

[drawoh]

Blueprint,

Read up on the Hawker Typhoon sometime. This is a good example of a project that would have been killed in peacetime.

The Typhoon was a high performance aircraft with a big but unreliable new engine, and structural problems eventually found to be caused by flutter of the horizontal stablizer. It was planned to be a high altitude interceptor, but the engine turned out to have its maximum performance at low altitude.

The Germans were launching low altitude hit and run raids with Focke Wulf 190s that current British aircraft were unable to intercept. The Typhoons were placed in service to intercept them.

Eventually, they straightened out the engine and flutter problems, but it illustrates the sort of hassle an airforce will tolerate from its technology, when it is being shot at.

As far as statistics are concerned, WWI might be a better source. I think that there was much more aircraft development during the period of 1914-1918, than there was in 1939-1945.

JHG

 

[davidjh]

Hard to believe you are getting an arguement. They just have to read the various biooks on the subject. See the aviation history wenb sites. To back up the chap who mentioned the Typhoon. The first British jet, the Meteor, was rushed into service with a terrifying loss of British pilots in its testing. Boeing lost the #2 B-29 in 1942/43 in a flight test accident, with the famed Eddy Allen, with doumentation now available noting he was flying it only because the war was on, and the US was losing at the time. Lockheed brought the first US jet fighter to flight test in an incredibly short period of time. With subsequent narrow escapes and accidents in the test program - which were accepted during the war but which (like the other programs)would not have been accepted during peacetime.

 

[edbgtr]

Hi Peter

Let the Doubting Thomases log onto the NACA Technical Report site at

http://naca.larc.nasa.gov

to view the massive amount of absolutely fundamental and benchmark work that was done during and just after WWII. If that doesn't convince them, nothing will.

The leap-frog, catch-up game that went on between the opposing sides during that war is phenomenal.

Ed.

 

[blueprint]

That is a great site reference.

Thanks Ed.