Flight - Duncan MacPhun - Wattpad

Flight

Reads 162
Votes 35
Parts 19
Time 1h 43m

Reads 162
Votes 35
Parts 19
Time 1h 43m

The Orville and Wilbur Wright flew under power in 1903.  The first flight travelled only 120 feet but Wilbur flew 24.5 miles in 38 minutes in August 1904. 

More powerful aircraft engines were developed during WW-1 but airframes were too fragile for aerial fighting. 

H.Focke's transverse twin-rotor helicopter, broke all helicopter world records in 1937.

After WW-1, designers used duralumin airframes and smaller, monoplane wings for fighter aircraft like the Supermarine Spitfire.
At Midway, in 1942, American dive-bombers sank three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers. 

I.Sikorsky developed the first practical single rotor helicopter with a single tail boom rotor and produced over 400 helicopters in WW-2.

The Messerschmitt Me 262 was the first jet fighter in action in 1944.

For maximum efficiency most jet aircraft need to cruise at about Mach 0.8 (610 mph) and at altitudes above 30,000 ft.

In 2021, with battery powered, contra-rotating propellers spinning at 2500 rpm, NASA's Dragonfly helicopter lifted off from the surface of Mars. It weighed only 2 pound.


WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization.  

Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago.  This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity.  The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity.

It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade.  The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned  how to destroy wealth.  Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas.

Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).All Rights Reserved

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Engineering by duncmacphun

Denis Papin built the first steam engine in 1705 and, by 1800, Boulton and Watt had built 451steam engines. In 1870, the British produced 4 million tons of coke for iron and steel production and locomotive and industrial engines. Axel Cronstedt identified tungsten in 1757. Tungsten carbide, proved almost as hard as diamond making it invaluable for cutting tools. Li Chun's Zhaozhou Bridge, in China, was finished in 605 CE and it is still in use. The Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Hong Kong, completed in 1997, has a main span of 430 metres (1,410 ft). In 1886, P.Héroult and C.Hall both dissolved alumina in cryolite, to make pure aluminum by electrolysis. E.Fouché and C.Picard developed oxygen-acetylene torches for welding and cutting steel in 1903. Henry Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds from Brazil, in 1876. Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization in 1840 and by 2017 the world produced 28 million tons of rubber; more than half of which was synthetic. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

FIGHT OR FLIGHT - B. Bradshaw by jothecrow

C H A N C E: do (something) despite its being dangerous or of uncertain outcome "You walked out on me! No text, call, or letter! Nothing! I just woke up one day and you were gone!" Rooster yelled at her. She stood there in pain from just seeing him, Rosemary couldn't look at him without seeing her mistakes. "I didn't mean to hurt you... I-I just couldn't say goodbye because if I did I never would have left. I have 3 children now because of my sister's death. I wasn't going to drag you along with that. You were already set back so much from Maverick and the hatred you had towards him, was something I didn't want. If I held you back then you would have hated me too," a few tears rolled down her face as she looked at his shoes. She couldn't bare to look up at him. He shook his head as he exhaled out trying to calm down. "But I would have never hated you. I can't hate you. It bothers me that I haven't been able to hate you for walking out on me... and then you have to hide with all the pain... I just wished you told me," he told her and took a step closer. She had looked up at him and her heart shattered even more. The whole group was there watching there fight but didn't even have words for any of it. Phoenix was the only one who knew about everything. The kids, her sister, her parents, all of it. Pheonix had watched her break down over and over and over, but she didn't realize how much it might have hurt her to see the one person she had loved her whole life. "I'm sorry, Bradley but I have to go," she turned around and passed the whole group. She didn't bare to change in the lockers but headed straight to her car.

Nuclear by duncmacphun

H.Becquerel found uranium emitted radiation and, in1898, M.Curie extracted minute traces of radium from ore. J.Maxwell predicted electro-magnetic radiation in 1855 and Einstein formulated special relativity; mass could be converted into energy. In 1905, E.Rutherford found radon gas emitted helium nuclei. In 1919, F.Aston identified 212 naturally occurring isotopes. But why was the atomic weight of helium exactly 4.000 and not 4.032? In 1925, Rutherford transmuted nitrogen into an isotope of oxygen. By 1934, J.Chadwick had found neutrons emitted by polonium and E.Fermi had transmuted uranium into plutonium. Fermi's research reactor went critical in 1942. The 235-uranium was extracted at Oak Ridge, while plutonium was produced in Washington state and the first atom bomb exploded in New Mexico in 1945. Two more atom bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war with Japan. The first practical nuclear power plant was developed for submarines and, by 2021, 442 fission reactors supplied about 10% of the world's electricity. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

Middle Era by duncmacphun

Jesus and Muhammad adopted the Hebrew's belief in one God and Christianity and Islam spread throughout the world. The Chinese were using gunpowder in the 9th century and, by the 13th , cannon dominated the battlefields. Paper money appeared in China from 1216, as many financial transactions were too large for heavy bronze coins. The Anglo-Saxons built light, fast ships to stop the Vikings raiding Britain and, in 1546, Henry VIII established the "Navy Royal" which Elizabeth I used to defeat the Spanish armada. Before 1764 a worker needed 50,000 hours to spin 100 lb of cotton thread on a hand-powered wheel but only 300 hours with a spinning machine. Between 1770 and 1773, James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle and mapped the coasts of New Zealand, Australia and the west coast of north America. By 100 BCE, Chinese were weaving complex silk brocade cloth. In 1804, J. M. Jacquard reinvented the Chinese loom, using a chain of cards to control which threads of weft or warp appeared on the cloth. This was the beginning of computers. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

TROIKA - Countryhumans USSR x America by Arrin99423

The world is electrified. Everything runs on electricity, from lighting to transport, life support to social media. Oblivion. Then, grid is down. And the world turns dark. And doesn't turn back on. America, the most forward thinking and innovative Western idealist, has answers. Her feminist values push her neck to neck with her male peers. She is one of the first to figure out that the grid will eventually fail, because of the vein of fossil fuel instability, trying to raise the alarm. When the grid does fail, she doesn't even get the satisfaction to say 'I told you so' before she is forced to collaborate in the TROIKA - a trio of biologist, engineer, and geophysicist that must find an immediate and then long-term solution to power the earth. Oh, and she has no choice. USSR, a cynic planner and injured war veteran, has questions. Torn between his eastern roots and western intelligence, he struggles to fit in, curb his aggression, and deal with personal loss. Instead of notifying the world of the impending grid failure, he builds a vast arsenal nuclear plants to power his land against the rules, and when the grid falls, his lights and machines keep running. When finally his arrest occurs, he finds himself in a unique situation, offered a position in the TROIKA - but if he declines, then a life of darkness behind bars awaits him. The goal of the TROIKA is simple: Be quick, be correct, be ready. It doesn't take long for USSR and America to loathe each other on principle, each with their own goals and ideals, clashing on everything from fashion to economics. Can they push away their pride and save the world, maybe even themselves? Or will their bitterness engulf everyone in thick, oily darkness forever? A single choice will ultimately decide their fate. TROIKA: The Future is Nuclear. The Future is Unclear. NOT for sensitive readers, please do not read if you cannot handle violence, loss, terminate disease or mature content - 16+ Thanks!

Earthrise: 2176 [Published - Sample Only] by WillFlyForFood

What if we were the first in our part of the galaxy to discover the secret of faster than light travel? What if this discovery was 10,000 years before it was supposed to be? Our neighbors had been watching for centuries and were surprised with our early arrival into the Web of Worlds... The Year is 2166: To the people of Earth, the universe seemed to be a very lonely place. Astronomers have discovered tens of thousands of planets; many had indications of organic life. SETI had been searching for signals for over 200 years. There had been a few tantalizing bits of radio or radar energy received but nothing ever proven to be of intelligent origin. But there was an alien civilization out there, in fact many of them linked together in a Web of Worlds. They were watching us quietly, carefully and patiently. It had long been the prime directive of the Web that no developing civilization be contacted until that civilization made it into interstellar space on their own; and that always took time, lots of time. Most Web worlds took 1,000 years or more to go from steam to the atom and none had made it from the atom to a sublight stardrive in less than 5,000 standard years. Every civilization of The Web had proven that faster than light travel was impossible, so there was plenty of time to watch the Earth... The watchers were astounded with the speed of progress of human science and also horrified at the periods of violence. By 2076 nuclear fusion power was widespread on earth. By 2100 the first interplanetary fusion ships explored the Sol system. The men and women of the Anglosphere Alliance began their first missions in ships approaching 0.1c. At that velocity, manned flight to even the nearest stars would take a lifetime. What would happen if a beautiful engineer and a brilliant physicist stumbled upon an artificial gravity field which would make a faster than light drive possible... Earthrise: 2176 A #1 Science Fiction Story Featured by wattpad

Health by duncmacphun

The human population increased from 1 billion to 7.8 billion between 1800 and 2020 because of sewage treatment, clean drinking water, vitamins, vaccines and antibiotics. In the USA in 1800, 46% of babies died before their fifth birthday; in 2020 less than 1% died. (Breastfeeding babies up to 12 months should be given 400 IU of vitamin D per day; 600 IU thereafter). In 1536, Jacques Cartier's crew were cured of scurvy with a tea made from the arbor vitae tree's needles (which have 50 mg of vitamin C per 100g). In 1796, Dr.E.Jenner developed a smallpox vaccine from cowpox. In 1812, When Napoleon invaded Russia only 40,000 soldiers survived a typhus epidemic; over 400,000 died. Between1848 and 1870, life expectancy in Liverpool, England, increased from 19 years to 40 years because of the new sewage system. In 1854, Dr. J. Snow identified a public well as the source of a cholera outbreak in London. In 1865, J.Lister applied a carbolic acid solution, to a boy's broken leg and was amazed when the leg bones fused back together without gangrene. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

Migration by duncmacphun

The Roman Empire began to decline after Germanic tribes crossed the river Rhine in 406 CE. When Constantine III recalled the legions from Britain, three years later, the Angles and Saxons invaded and Britain became known as Angleland. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410. The Vandals invaded north Africa in 429 and conquered Carthage before crossing the Mediterranean to sack Rome in 455 CE. Meanwhile, Christianity grew from a minor Hebrew religious cult to dominate much of Europe. With the continual violence, people reverted to a poorer lifestyle. However, the metal workers, glass blowers, carpenters, leather workers, rope makers, weavers, potters and farmers developed more efficient horse drawn plows, improved crop yields, build better boats and the first engineers designed water wheels to irrigate crops, grind seeds and saw wood. They invented wooden barrels, wagon wheels and windmills as the Chinese invented paper and printing. Meanwhile, the Indians revolutionized mathematics and Moslems discovered chemistry. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

Wealth by duncmacphun

Banking began in Florence, Venice and Genoa in the 14th century when Jews set up their benches in the piazzas to loan money and insure farmers crops. The ideas spread to Amsterdam and London, while the first stock exchange began in Amsterdam in 1611. Granted a charter in 1600, the East India company paid investors an average dividend of 16% per year. John Locke, by asserting that liberty was the basis for a prosperous society, influenced the United States Declaration of Independence. Lloyd's of London insurance market began in 1774. In 1776, Adam Smith explained how rational self-interest, competition and free markets would eliminate poverty. Milton Friedman maintained a country's abilities derived from its free markets while its failures came from government intervention. Bill Gates became rich by devising software that everyone wanted to buy. In the process he employed thousands in well paid jobs. In 2020, the U.S. flooded the economy with money to prevent a depression caused by a pandemic. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

Neolithic by duncmacphun

The first agricultural revolutions began about 10,000 BCE in Egypt, China and Mesopotamia (Iraq). Trading require counting and the first written language; in general use by 2600 BCE. The first epic poem, Gilgamesh, was written in cuneiform. The first alphabet assigned Semitic characters to Egyptian hieroglyphs about 2000 BCE. It was adopted by the Greeks about 800 BCE and later modified for the Roman Latin alphabet. The Chinese built the first blast furnaces (using piston-bellows driven by waterwheels) and cast iron farm tools and weapons were common by 500 BCE. Austronesians sailed outrigger canoes over 6,000 kilometers from Taiwan to reach New Zealand from about 3000 BCE. About 100 BCE the Malays of Indonesia traded between China, India and Africa in sailing ships carrying 1000 people and a 260 ton cargo. The Greek navigator, Pytheas, sailed to the north Atlantic about 325 BCE where he recorded polar ice, the Midnight Sun and lunar tides. The Roman Prefect of Egypt (26-24 BCE), Aelius Gallus, noted 120 trading ships leaving Myos Hormos for India. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

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Slide 1 of 10

Engineering cover

FIGHT OR FLIGHT - B. Bradshaw cover

Middle Era cover

TROIKA - Countryhumans USSR x America cover

Earthrise: 2176 [Published - Sample Only] cover

Migration cover

Neolithic cover

Engineering

Denis Papin built the first steam engine in 1705 and, by 1800, Boulton and Watt had built 451steam engines. In 1870, the British produced 4 million tons of coke for iron and steel production and locomotive and industrial engines. Axel Cronstedt identified tungsten in 1757. Tungsten carbide, proved almost as hard as diamond making it invaluable for cutting tools. Li Chun's Zhaozhou Bridge, in China, was finished in 605 CE and it is still in use. The Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Hong Kong, completed in 1997, has a main span of 430 metres (1,410 ft). In 1886, P.Héroult and C.Hall both dissolved alumina in cryolite, to make pure aluminum by electrolysis. E.Fouché and C.Picard developed oxygen-acetylene torches for welding and cutting steel in 1903. Henry Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds from Brazil, in 1876. Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization in 1840 and by 2017 the world produced 28 million tons of rubber; more than half of which was synthetic. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).