The forerunners of aerospace transistors came along in the late 1950s and 1960s and supplanted thermionic valves for many applications. The improved cost-effectiveness of transistors led to the development of digital aircraft systems throughout the 1960s and 1970s, initially in the military combat aircraft where it was used for Nav/Attack systems. For many years, the application of electronics to airborne systems was limited to analogue devices and systems with signal levels and voltages generally being related in some linear or predictive way. This type of system was generally prone to heat soak, drift and other non-linearities. The principles of digital computing had been understood for a number of years before the techniques were applied to aircraft. Size was the main barrier. The first aircraft to be developed in the US using digital techniques was the North American A-5 Vigilante, a US Navy carrier-borne bomber which became operational in the 1960s. The first aircraft to be d
The history of aviation is not only interesting but very important too, and there are several key events and developments that plot our path to commercial flight. The Concorde Although it ultimately proved an inefficient loss leader The Concorde is an important feature in aviation history. The first commercial supersonic mode of transport could travel the same distance as ordinary aircraft but in half the time making it very popular with jet-setting businessmen and high ranking politicians. Its main root was between Heathrow and JFK Airport in New York which it flew regularly from 1975 until its retirement in 2003. The Concorde suffered from economic issues for a long time and regular complaints from the public about noise pollution added to its problems until a Concorde aircraft crashed after take-off in Paris in July 2000, which practically solidified its termination. The Boeing 747 The seminal commercial aircraft is without a doubt the Boeing 747, carrying betw