1. The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles, a fact I learned in my earth science class many years ago. Today, the earth feels considerably smaller thanks to the amazing advances in technology over the past 100 years. While the way we communicate has had the greatest impact on our world; the development of aviation comes in a close second. The past century has seen commercial aviation go from non-existent to an everyday necessity for accomplishing many different tasks and goals. In the early 1900's aviation was solely for military, the wealthy and of course the "crazy" inventors who thought it possible for man to soar through the sky. Fast forward 100 years and aviation has become affordable to just about anyone with a job. In fact, much of the world relies on aviation and if you think about it, there is nothing we do today that is not in some way or another affected by aviation. It has changed the way we travel, how we distribute food and goods, how we respond to emergencies, how we interact with people in other countries, how we wage war, and how we enjoy peace. Most importantly, it has changed how we view the world – and ultimately, ourselves. The aviation industry had large impacts on national and global economies, politics, military, tourism, environments as well as health and medicine. In 1903, a popular English novelist, George Gessing, said in no uncertain terms, “The invention of the airplane will make war impossible in the future.” It makes sense on paper; meaning if you can see your opponent's every move from the air and they yours, then what would be the point to fighting? Would it not always end in a draw? One hundred and ten years later we know that statement could not be further from the truth. Airplanes had a rough start during WWI due to them being unreliable and causing more lives to be lost than victories to be won. During the span of time between WWI and WWII, technology developed considerably and
