Aviator learns german

Learning German (deutsch lernen) or learning how to speak several foreign languages definitely has a lot of benefits. It can give an individual the edge over his or her colleagues and it can improve the communications of a businessman with his or her clients. A particular field where being fluent in several foreign languages would be a great advantage would be in aviation, particularly in commercial aviation.

The history of aviation goes a long way back, as the desire of humans to fly started during the existence of prehistoric man. Although many people believe that human flight was first done using an airplane in the 1900s, there have actually been some soaring done by other people from other parts of the world many years before the first airplane flew. In the 9th century, two Muslim Moors Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas and Armen Firman built and flew gliders.

In the 13th century after leaving China, Marco Polo brought back some stories about human-carrying kites. He said that these kites could stay aloft through the power of the wind, but the kites were secured to the ground. There was also a Chinese book that was written in the 4th century which contained some ideas that were related to helicopters or rotary wing aircraft. Two centuries later, famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci designed an aircraft which closely resembled a glider. His design was constructed sometime during the late 20th century using materials which have not been able available to him in his time. The prototype was able to fly, however the design was interpreted using modern knowledge of aerodynamics. In the 17th century, a Turkish scientist, Lagari Hasan Celebi was able to launch himself into the air using a rocket. This rocket was made of a rather large cage that had a top filled with gunpowder. It was said that his flight was able to last a total of 20 seconds, reaching a height of about 300 meters. After that, he was rewarded by the Sultan of Turkey with a military position in their Ottoman army.

The first known human flight actually took place in the year 1783. The flight was done through a hot air balloon that carried Francois d’Arlandes and Francois Pilatre de Rozier. Their flight reached a distance of around five miles. However, their hot air balloon cannot be steered and used the heat of a wood fire for power. The wind controlled its flight. A short time later, “ballooning” became a popular leisure activity in Europe. It was at that time when the first detailed understanding of what the relationship between altitude and the atmosphere started.

In 1852, Henri Giffard used an airship or a steam engine powered balloon to fly 15 miles over France. In 1884, the first controllable free flight was made using an electric powered airship. However, this airship was very fragile and short lived. Later on, airships were used in the two World Wars and are still sometimes used today. In 1903, the famous Wright brothers were able to fly the Kitty Hawk, the heavier-than-air, powered and controlled aircraft in North Carolina. Three years later, the first true powered flight was made by Alberto Santos-Dumont in Europe in 1906. It was considered to be the first true powered flight as it did not require the use of any catapults or headwinds in order to take off.

The first passenger airline would be DELAG which stands for Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft, which was founded in 1909 with government assistance. The airline’s headquarters was based in Frankfurt. Today, there are hundreds of commercial airlines offering passenger services in almost all countries. Crew members of airlines usually undergo a lot of screening procedures and are made to go through extensive training to make sure that they would be well-prepared to provide all the needs of their passengers, while ensuring their comfort and safety. Some airlines even make their crew members to take up a language course (Sprachkurs) which teaches the essentials of learning German and other language. This helps the crew members to communicate with all passengers that go on any of their flights.