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Aviation History Has Influenced My Educational Direction, Term Paper

¶ … aviation history has influenced my educational direction, it truly made me stop and think. Was it perhaps Deadalus, the ingenious craftsman more than 3,000 years ago, which directed me onto this life path? The story of one man's desire to be like the birds, free of Earth's surly bonds, expressed in a two sets of wings made of gull feathers and wax. Whether the tale is true or not, his inventiveness surely has inspired me.

Perhaps it was George Cayley and his aeronautical research that sparked my desire for aeronautical engineering. Certainly he was a man that I wouldn't mind following in his creative footsteps. Cayley's identification of the drag vector and lift vector are core concepts that no engineer could be without. And, his work on heavier-than-air flight is what fascinates me about aeronautical engineering.

To take pieces of what would normally be cumbersome material...

Even in today's world where thousands of flights a day are made, this concept captivates my soul. Although others simply take flight for granted, I cannot help but stop and stare each and every time a plane flies overhead, amazed at the intricate workings that made the seemingly impossible, heavier-than-air flight, possible.
Upon further consideration, though, I would have to say that the Wright brothers flight of the Flyer I is definitely a contender for the most significant aviation event that has affected my course of study. The engineering that went into this feat was awe-inspiring. From working with kites to building their own engine to designing the aircraft controls, the Wright brothers proved what perseverance and dedication could accomplish in the field, and made me realize that…

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Then again, perhaps it was the development of the Bell X-1 and Chuck Yeager's historic flight on that clear October morning in 1947. Supersonic flight changed the course of advanced aviation. I can only imagine what it must have been like to know that that 'wall of air' at the sound barrier was out there, and that the buffeting was so intense it could literally tear an aircraft to pieces. Designing a plane to go where no aircraft had gone before must have been incredibly exciting and rewarding.

Perhaps it's the current advancements in aviation technology, though, that truly have motivated me to take up aeronautical engineering. Just this March, the X-43A made its historic flight and successfully reached Mach 7. When I read about this incredible 11-second flight, all I could think was, "That's what I want to do with my life. No question."

So, in the end, perhaps it wasn't one single event in aviation history that set me on the path of aeronautical engineering. I believe I know now that it was the entire history of aviation, coupled with the unbounded future. It was each and every person that has woven this intricate tapestry of a field of study that has truly gotten into my blood. It's this history that makes me passionately long to be a part of it, a marriage of science and art that is not found in many other fields, an elegant study of efficiencies that leads to the ultimate escape from our own limitations and makes aircrafts truly greater than the sum of their parts. I simply can think of nothing else I would rather spend the rest of my life doing.
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