Myths and Legends

Otto Lilienthal
Wright Brothers

World War I
World War II
Specialized  Aircraft
Space Exploration
 

      Before World War II, each country had equipped and trained its airplanes to fulfill specific, clearly defined jobs.  The United States, Great Britain, and Italy had concentrated particularly on developing the long-range strategic bomber. Germany, the USSR, and Japan, also, had built air forces designed  to support army operations. Also, the United States and Japan had supplied their navies with dive-bombing airplanes. Being an island power, Japan made torpedo bombers to use against enemy ships.

During the war in Europe, the British Isles served as the main base for Allied strategic bombing operations against its enemies.  The U.S. Army Air Force attacked in daylight  and the RAF carried out night raids. The AIRCRAFT CARRIER demonstrated how useful it was during the war in the Pacific. Radar quickly became an important tool in detecting approaching raiders, for navigation, and for bombing. Newly developed airplanes were equipped with advanced armament and weapons, including new types of bombs, heavy-caliber cannon, and rockets. Rocket-propelled fighters were introduced by the Germans, and the Japanese used Kamikaze (suicide) aircraft in attacking Allied ships. Two important inventions were the turbojet engine and the ATOMIC BOMB. The first working jet-propelled aircraft, and the only one of its type to see much action in World War II, was Germany's Messerschmitt Me 262. About a year later, atomic bombs were dropped by the U.S. Army Air Force on Hiroshima (Aug. 6, 1945) and on Nagasaki (Aug. 9, 1945), bringing World War II to an end on Aug. 14, 1945.