Origin, History of the United States Air Force
Hot Air Balloons, The Signal Corps, US Air Service, Army Air Corps
Nov 12, 2008
In 1783, three Frenchmen launched the first manned hot air balloon into flight. America’s own Benjamin Franklin was one of the “experts” who certified this historic flight. The French Army under Napoleon were the first to use balloons in warfare but the experiment did not impress the Emperor and he disbanded the “Aerostatic Corps”. In 1861 the Union Army made extensive use of balloons for reconnaissance. They provided valuable information but the safety record was lacking and they were not used after 1862. Many nations used them extensively as time went on but the Germans were the most successful using them so effectively in World War One that US Pilots were given credit for a kill when they brought one down behind enemy lines.
The Invention of the Airplane
Of Course 1903 and the birth of the Airplane on the shores of Kitty Hawk in North Carolina ushered in the age of aviation and military use of Aircraft followed, although not as quickly as you might think. The Wright brothers were not at fault here. Instead a political roadblock had to b overcome because the US Congress had backed a competitor of Orville and Wilbur and it had produced a horrific failure. Air flight was seen as the “pork barrel” project of the day when the $50,000 grant literally went up in flames. It was not until President Theodore Roosevelt got behind the plan that the Army decided to prompt the US Signal Corps to look into using the airplane.
The United States Army Air Service 1907-1917
The first aviation contract required the bidder to create an airplane that could carry two people, of up to 350 lbs. combined, for 125 miles at the whopping air speed of 40 mph. Of 41 bids supplied, only the Wright bothers could provide a plane that met the requirements. The Wright Type A Military Flyer was accepted and renamed as Signal Corps Aeroplane #1. The Wrights earned $25,000 PLUS A $5,000 bonus. The first two Army pilots, trained by Wilbur Wright were Lts. Frank P. Lahm and Frederic E. Humphreys. The first Combat service was during the expedition led ny General John Pershing against Mexican invader Pancho Villa. They did not distinguish themselves.
World War One, The First War in the Air
One of the most aviators of this war was a German, Manfred von Richtofen who is better known as The Red Baron. His Fokker airplane was a reverse engineered product of French plane downed early in the war. Two American pilots stood out in this conflict and helped which established air fighting as a standard part of US war strategy. Lt. Frank Luke downed 14 German balloons and 4 aircraft in 17 days. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor after being shot down in 1918. The other standout pilot was America’s Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, who had 26 confirmed kills during the war.
Bombers and Rocket Ships
In the build up to World War II, Airplanes gained enough range and capacity to be able to become significant attack weapons of war. It was this great firepower that inspired the rocket ships and space flight that dominated the second half of the 20th Century. In World War two the Army Air Corp established the significance and value of Air Warfare. Air power contributed greatly in the Navy as well as aircraft carriers became a vital part of America’s defense. On July 26, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed legislation which provided for a separate Department of the Air Force and the United States Air Force was officially funded and formed. It’s initial focus was on creating flying weapons using the new jet rocket technology and while Airplanes were decommissioned after the war, funding for jet flight kept the Air Force relevant. In the intervening years the United States Air Force has become the Supreme Air Force in the entire world and has gained the respect of every opponent who has fomented a challenge.
Sources
Contrails Volume 49, 2003-2004 by the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado
Ben Franklin, An American Life by Walter Isaacson, 2003, Simon and Schuster
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