564 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



they are to somewhere else that we want them to be in some amount 

 of time. It is significant that the quotient of distance over time is 

 velocity, or speed. 



What then differentiates this latest means of transportation from 

 the others? It is true that it strikes off into a different medium, one 

 of three dimensions, the air, but the essential difference is that it car- 

 ries out the function of transportation at greater speeds. From 

 moving under his own power at 4 miles an hour, man has contrived 

 to increase his speed to 40 miles an hour by automobile, to 65 miles an 

 hour by rail, to 200 miles an hour by air when traveling long distances. 

 One may ask: Is it likely that air transportation will continue to 

 advance and augment its services, even to become the major means of 

 transportation? To do this it must be economically sound; and the 

 year just ended shows that progress has reached a stage of advance 

 where this is now the case. 



We wish to see where we are going in this new field. Trends are 

 therefore important, and it is a major object of this paper to discuss 

 this item of trends, alluding to some of the engineering methods that 

 have been used in order to reach our present status, and to others 

 which will be used in order further to improve. Finally, we ask: 

 Should it be? Is it in general good for man to be able to travel from 

 place to place three or four times as rapidly as was heretofore possible? 

 Will his life be fuller and richer and will there be greater happiness 

 for a greater number if this maintains? My answer to all of these 

 questions is "Yes," as in the final analysis, the destiny of the airplane 

 will be to serve peaceful rather than warlike purposes. But the 

 attainment of such objective will not be automatic. We cannot be 

 too certain. We must constantly bear in mind the social implications 

 of science, and make sure that civilization is advanced and not retarded 

 by our scientific progress, particularly by its most recent acquisition, 

 the airplane. 



HISTORT 



With this brief statement of the case, let us now examine more 

 particularly the history of air transportation. In a lecture given by 

 Mr. E. P. Warner at Norwich University on this subject, he selects as 

 a starting point the year 1870 and I will follow his example. 



The Franco-Prussian War was under way and the city of Paris 

 was being besieged. Normal communication with the outside provinces 

 was completely cut off. The Parisians finally resorted to the use of 

 the free balloon to remedy this situation. During the 127 days of 

 siege, 64 balloons were sent up from Paris, carrying some 4 million 

 letters and 88 passengers to the outside world. Only a few of the 

 balloons were lost, either at sea or to the enemy, so that this initial 

 effort in air transportation may be considered to have been successful. 



