Felicia Tang "It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Aviation!" - Informative Speaking - Nationals 2019
Summary
TLDRThis speech delves into the history and physics of aviation, from ancient myths to modern marvels. It highlights the Wright brothers' pioneering flight and the dual-use of aviation in both warfare and humanitarian efforts. The speaker reflects on the tragic misuse of aviation in terror and war, yet celebrates its power to connect and save lives, sharing a personal story of refuge and opportunity.
Takeaways
- 😄 The speaker's brother inspired a competitive spirit in him, leading to the creation of the perfect paper plane.
- 📚 The history of aviation dates back to mythological times, with the story of Daedalus and Icarus symbolizing humanity's desire to fly.
- 🚀 The Wright brothers achieved the first sustained powered and controlled airplane flight in 1903, marking a significant milestone in aviation history.
- ✈️ Aviation was quickly weaponized during World War 1, demonstrating the dual-use nature of technological advancements.
- 💥 The deployment of the B-29 Superfortress in 1945 showcased the destructive power of aviation in warfare.
- 🛫 The Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949 highlighted aviation's role in humanitarian aid and the geopolitical significance of air transport.
- 🔍 The four fundamental forces of flight are push, lift, drag, and gravity, which are essential to understanding how aircraft fly.
- 📐 Daniel Bernoulli's principle explains how the shape of an aircraft's wings generates lift through differences in air pressure.
- 🚗 The comparison of a Volkswagen Beetle to an aircraft wing illustrates the concept of lift due to shape and speed.
- 🚀 Rockets operate on the principle of exhaust gases providing thrust, similar to how aviation utilizes the forces of flight.
- 🌐 The speaker emphasizes the duality of aviation, which can be both a tool for destruction and a means of connection and salvation.
- 💔 The speaker's personal story connects the power of aviation to his family's escape from Cambodia, demonstrating its life-changing potential.
Q & A
What is the historical significance of the story of Daedalus and Icarus in relation to aviation?
-The story of Daedalus and Icarus from Greek mythology is significant as it represents the earliest known concept of human flight. Daedalus crafted wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape a labyrinth, emphasizing the human desire and ingenuity to achieve flight, despite Icarus's tragic end due to flying too close to the Sun.
Who were the Wright brothers and what did they achieve in the field of aviation?
-The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, were American inventors and pioneers of aviation who achieved the first sustained powered and controlled airplane flight in 1903. They were inspired by the flight of birds and their success marked the beginning of modern aviation.
How did the Wright brothers' inspiration from birds influence their invention?
-The Wright brothers studied the flight of birds, even sitting on one to observe its movements closely. This understanding of how birds fly helped them design their aircraft, contributing to their successful invention of the first powered airplane.
What is the significance of the B-29 Superfortress in aviation history?
-The B-29 Superfortress is significant as it was the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb during World War II, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This event demonstrated the immense destructive power that aviation could wield and its potential for large-scale devastation.
How did aviation play a role in the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949?
-During the Berlin Airlift, the United States and its allies used aviation to deliver food, water, and supplies to West Berlin, which was blockaded by the Soviet Union. This massive airlift showcased the humanitarian and strategic uses of aviation in providing essential aid.
What are the four forces that allow an aircraft to fly?
-The four forces that allow an aircraft to fly are thrust (push), lift, drag, and gravity. Thrust propels the plane forward, lift counteracts gravity to keep the plane in the air, and drag is the resistance the plane encounters while moving through the air.
What is the Bernoulli principle and how does it relate to lift in aviation?
-The Bernoulli principle, formulated by Daniel Bernoulli, states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure. In aviation, this principle explains how the shape of an aircraft's wings allows for faster air movement over the top of the wing, creating lower pressure compared to the slower-moving air underneath, thus generating lift.
How does the shape of a car, like the Volkswagen Beetle, relate to lift at high speeds?
-The curved shape of the Volkswagen Beetle can create lift at high speeds, similar to how an aircraft wing generates lift. As the car travels at high velocities, the air pressure difference created by its shape can cause the car to lift off the ground.
What is the dual nature of aviation as presented in the script?
-The dual nature of aviation refers to its ability to both connect and devastate. On one hand, aviation has been used for humanitarian purposes, such as airlifting supplies and people to safety. On the other hand, it has been weaponized, leading to destruction and loss of life, as seen in warfare and terrorist attacks.
How did aviation impact the speaker's personal life and family history?
-The speaker's father was a Cambodian refugee who, along with his family, was airlifted to safety from Cambodia to a refugee camp in Thailand during the Khmer Rouge regime. This flight to freedom ultimately led to the speaker's father immigrating to America, highlighting the positive impact of aviation in providing opportunities for a new life.
What is the speaker's perspective on the future of aviation and its potential?
-The speaker views aviation as a symbol of human achievement and potential, capable of doing the unimaginable. Despite its history of being weaponized, the speaker emphasizes the positive aspects of aviation, such as connecting people and providing life-saving opportunities, and encourages us not to let its tragic uses overshadow its virtues.
Outlines
🛫 The Journey of Aviation
The speaker, code one nine nine, shares a personal story of sibling rivalry in paper airplane competitions, which led to a deep dive into understanding aviation. The narrative explores the history of human fascination with flight, from the myth of Daedalus and Icarus to the Wright brothers' first powered flight. It touches on the early 20th-century developments, the weaponization of aviation in World War 1, and its role in significant historical events like the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Berlin Airlift. The speaker emphasizes the dual nature of aviation, highlighting both its destructive and connective capabilities.
🚀 The Physics of Flight
This section delves into the physics behind aviation, explaining the four forces that enable flight: push, lift, drag, and gravity. The speaker uses the example of a Volkswagen Beetle to illustrate the concept of lift and compares it to the functioning of rockets. The Bernoulli principle is introduced to explain how air pressure differences create lift. The speaker also discusses the societal impact of aviation, noting its role in both warfare and humanitarian efforts, and reflects on the complex nature of human innovation and its potential for both good and harm.
🌏 The Duality of Aviation
The final paragraph discusses the duality of aviation, highlighting its potential for both destruction and connection. The speaker recounts the story of their father's escape from Cambodia to America, symbolized by an airplane that represented hope and opportunity. The narrative emphasizes the transformative power of aviation, which has enabled medical airlifts, firefighting efforts, and the honoring of veterans, as well as the darker side of its use in warfare and terrorism. The speaker concludes by celebrating the incredible achievements of human flight, despite its complex and sometimes tragic history.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Aviation
💡Competition
💡Daedalus and Icarus
💡Wright Brothers
💡Physics
💡Lift
💡Drag
💡Daniel Bernoulli
💡Amelia Earhart
💡Humanitarian Aid
💡Globalization
💡Duality
Highlights
Competitive paper plane making as a childhood activity
Years of perfecting the art of paper plane design
The historical roots of aviation in the myth of Daedalus and Icarus
Wilbur and Orville Wright's pioneering and inspiration from birds
The Wright brothers' first sustained powered and controlled airplane flight in 1903
Aviation's weaponization during World War I
The use of aviation in warfare, exemplified by the B-29 Superfortress and atomic bombings
The Berlin Airlift as a demonstration of aviation's humanitarian use
The four forces of flight: push, lift, drag, and gravity
Daniel Bernoulli's principle explaining lift generation
The analogy of a Volkswagen Beetle to illustrate lift
The physics of rocket propulsion and achieving orbit
The duality of aviation: from beauty to destruction
Amelia Earhart's perspective on the allure of aviation
The impact of aviation on global terrorism and its tragic consequences
Aviation's positive role in connecting people and saving lives
The personal story of the speaker's father escaping Cambodia and the significance of aviation
The transformative power of aviation and its potential for good and evil
The speaker's reflection on the complex nature of aviation and its impact on humanity
Transcripts
our next speaker is code one nine nine
it's a bird it's a plane it's aviation
[Applause]
my brother and I are pretty competitive
we used to have these competitions to
see who could make the best and fastest
flying planes and he would always win
you know when I just it got to this
point where I became desperate to find
out how he was doing it so I spent years
secretly perfecting my craft mastering
every fold creasing
and after many trials and many errors I
developed the perfect paper plane
Aviation how things fly today let's
first explore the history of aviation
next we will learn about the physics
behind it before finally understanding
the duality of aviation and its ability
to connect people the idea of aviation
has existed since mythological times the
story of Daedalus an Athenian craftsman
and his son Icarus highlights our innate
obsession with flying basically Icarus
and his father Daedalus found themselves
imprisoned in a little pickle called the
labyrinth but de talus being a brilliant
craftsman made a pair of wings out of
wood glue and feathers
he told Icarus not to fly too close to
the Sun or his wings would melt but
Icarus was like you know what dad I
believe I can fly I believe I can touch
the sky yeah and then his wings melted
and he fell to his death
though the story of Icarus is compelling
the first real-life flying device wasn't
actually built until the early 20th
century inventors and pioneers of
aviation Wilbur and Orville Wright were
brothers who achieved the first
sustained powered and controlled
airplane flight in 1903 in fact they
were inspired by birds and even went as
far as to sit on a bird to study flight
the bird they sat on is currently on
display at the National Air and Space
Museum in Washington DC just 11 years
following the Wright brothers success
aviation was weaponized by the Axis
powers in World War 1 surprise surprise
mankind figured out how to fly and the
first thing we did was strap a machine
gun on it so we could kill each other
more effectively nonetheless the
advancements made during World War one
helped pave the way for a new era of
flight warfare in August of 1945 the
United States deployed the b-29
Superfortress the first aircraft to drop
an atomic bomb the cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki were near completely
destroyed and the extent of the effects
of this action is still unknown however
it demonstrated the possibilities of how
our nation's resources could be
mobilized when the Soviet Union blocked
all land routes into West Berlin the
United States sent a massive airlift of
food water and supplies for a year this
back-and-forth relationship of using
aviation to destroy our enemies then to
send aid to our allies still exists
today thanks to these advancements we
are now able to understand how aviation
works let me break it down for you there
are four forces that allow something to
fly push lift drag and gravity when you
throw a paper plane into the air you're
giving it a push to move forward as the
plane is moving forward air moving over
and on
the wings are providing an upward lift
lift allows a plane to fly at the same
time air pushing back against the plane
is creating a drag force working with
gravity to slow it down Swiss
mathematician and physicist Daniel
Bernoulli came up with the principle
that helps determine how the shape of an
aircraft's wings or propellers generate
lift their curved over the tops of the
air moves faster and flat on the bottom
so that air moves slower fast-moving air
equals low air pressure while
slow-moving air equals high air pressure
the result lift to better illustrate
this concept let's use cars if you drive
a Volkswagen Beetle at the speed of a
hundred miles per hour the car will
begin to lift this is due to its
infamous curved shape okay watch this
[Applause]
have you ever noticed what happens when
you let the air out of a balloon the air
moves in one direction while the balloon
moves in the other rockets work in the
same way exhaust gas is coming out of
the engine nozzle give the rocket a push
to move upwards once the rocket is
traveling at a speed of 28,000
kilometres per hour it's going fast
enough to enter orbit according to what
canvas forms calm when participants of a
study were asked what they would choose
if they could have any superpower the
number one choice wasn't flying but the
number two choice was why you see ever
since we could comprehend it humans have
been fixated on this idea of taking
flight aviation pioneer and American
author
Amelia Earhart once said the lore of
flying is the lore of beauty aviation is
sensational Icarus and the Wright
brothers lived for it and the citizens
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki died from it
the duality of human nature is reflected
upon how we choose to use aviation
every country highlighted in red has
been affected by either drone attacks
air raids missile bombings or flight
enabled terrorist attacks yes we
achieved worldwide globalization but at
what cost
humanity and all of its complex nature
took an idea as simple as what if we
could fly and we turned it into a means
to drop bombs and inflict terror on each
other we bastardized aviation which was
once a symbol of globalism and we turned
it into a symbol of terrorism how we
chose to use this innovation is tragic
but we cannot allow it to corrupt the
virtue of aviation and its ability to
connect people it is because of aviation
that 150 thousand patients are given a
better chance to live after being
airlifted to hospitals each year it is
because of aviation that the California
wildfires can be extinguished helping to
save my home it is because of aviation
that 222 thousand American veterans were
able to visit the Washington DC
memorials
as a reminder that their sacrifice has
not been forgotten and it is because of
aviation that a hundred and fifty eight
thousand Cambodian refugees were granted
safe passage to America
when my father was four years old he
lived with his family in Cambodia under
the hostile Khmer Rouge reign he and his
family were forced to work as slaves on
a farm where due to malnutrition and
being overworked he lost his mother a
grandma who I'd never met when he was 8
years old they had heard of an
opportunity to escape Cambodia to a
refugee camp in Thailand and immediately
seized the opening and after almost a
year of anxious waiting ticket to
freedom had finally arrived in the shape
of a plane this plane would carry my dad
to America it was representative of
opportunity of a chance at a new life
enabling me to be here today to tell his
story there is no question that aviation
has the power to devastate our world
since its creation aviation has been
weaponized and developed into a
dangerous product however the extent of
its capabilities go both ways if you
showed someone from 200 years ago a
modern-day plane they'd insist or magic
and they're not completely wrong I mean
yes aviation is the epitome of
technological progress it can be
explained by physics and perfected to a
science but there is so much more to it
we created something that enables us to
do the unimaginable humans did not come
into this world with a gift of flight
but look at us now
we're soaring
[Applause]
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