Physics 101, Term Paper

Due Monday (December 6)

Longer than 5 pages, but shorter than 7, double-spaced typing. In your paper, you should address the following items.

• Before the Wright brothers, who were interested in building flying machines? Address historical needs and historical background.
• What was their motivation to build a flying machine? How did they earn money to build their experimental planes. Where did they perform flight tests? Why?
• There were other people who were interested in building the flying machine. The most prominent one was Samuel Langley (Langley Park is named after him). How did the Wright brothers come ahead of him?
• Airplanes play a very important role in modern wars. But, in the early years, the U.S. military establishment was quite reluctant to develop the air force. The person who fought against this fixed idea was Billy Mitchell. Discuss briefly about him.