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missoulian.comTeachersA teachers aid for the World of Wonder page is available at missoula.com/wonder/teachersguide.pdf.

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At a bookstore near you: Two full-color World of Wonder compilations: “Plants & Animals” and “People & Places.” For more information, please visit QuillDriverBooks.com or call 800-605-7176

LEARN MORE ABOUT AVIATION IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF WORLD OF WONDER© 2012 Triefeldt Studios, Inc.Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

THE JET AGE

SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.; Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier; "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft," Barnes & Noble Books; "Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft," Jane's; www.greatachievements.org; www.pbs.org

ChangesAfter World War II, aircraft manu-facturers began to build jet airliners, open-ing a new world for passengers and cargo. The bigger and faster planes required new safety regula-tions, and in 1958, the United States formed the Federal Avia-tion Agency to address and enforce regulations and procedures.

Pioneers Alfred W. Lawson was a baseball player and the publisher of one of the first aviation magazines. He built the first multiengine pas-senger plane, the C-2, in 1919. He went on to build the 34-passen-ger L-4, which crashed on its first test flight.Walter Folger Brown was a con-troversial U.S. postmaster gen-eral who got the McNary-Watres Act (the Airmail Act of 1930) passed, forcing companies to merge in order to survive. United Airlines, American Airlines and TWA were some of the resulting companies.In 1947, U.S. Air Force pilot Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yea-ger made his-tory by breaking the sound barrier.Robert Ashby was the only Tuskegee Airman to become a pilot for a com-mercial airline. He flew with Frontier Air-lines from 1973 to 1986. In December 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager flew around the world nonstop in an aircraft called the Voyager.

Part three of four. Trim and attach to Page Two of the Airplane series.

Taking on passengers

Modern military planes

Trim here and attach to Page Four of the Airplane series.

Walter Folger Brown

(1869-1961)

Alfred W. Lawson

(1869-1954)

Jeana Yeager (1952- )

Dick Rutan (1938- )

Records indicate that airplanes were carrying passengers as early as 1913. Commercial airlines in the United States can trace their roots to the airmail carriers of the 1920s. But it was not until the 1930s that carrying passengers became a profitable business.

1926, Ford Trimotor 5-AT These planes could carry about 14 passengers and were used by most U.S. airlines for decades.

1935, Douglas DC-3 This 12-passenger, twin-engine aircraft had a range of nearly 1,500 miles (2,414 km) and was the first passenger airliner to make a profit without a postal subsidy.

1938, Pan Am Yankee Clipper Built by Boeing, this flying boat cost more than half a mil-lion dollars and could accommodate 100 passengers. A one-way ticket from New York to Europe cost $375.

1946, Bell X-1 This aircraft became the first to exceed the speed of sound.

Chuck Yeager (1923- )

1969, Boeing 747 This wide-body jumbo jet could carry more than 400 passengers. Pan Am was the first airline to offer jumbo-jet service.

1969, Concorde The first supersonic passenger aircraft could cross the Atlan-tic in less than three hours. Passenger ser-vice began in 1976.

1950s, Boeing 464 B-52 Stratofortress

1990s, Northrop Grum-man B-2 Spirit This multirole bomber is made with composite materials instead of metal and cannot be spotted by conventional radar.

1950s, Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow This state-of-the-art Canadian aircraft was canceled by politicians who thought missiles made them unnecessar-ily expensive. All early prototypes were ordered destroyed.

1964, Lockheed SR-71 This spy plane could reach speeds up to 2,193 mph (3,530 kmh).

2001, Global Hawk This unmanned aircraft flew from the United States to Australia nonstop in 23 hours and 23 minutes.

1981, F-117A Night-hawk stealth fighter This Lockheed Martin attack aircraft is difficult to detect with convention-al radar. It is sometimes called the Frisbee or the Wobblin’ Goblin.

1969, Hawker Siddeley Harrier “jump jet” The first vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter plane.

Robert Ashby (1926- )

The 20th century saw huge leaps in aviation and defense technology. A country with a large air force may have thousands of aircraft — from bombers and fighters, to transport planes and helicopters.

2000, Airbus A380 Airbus begins production of this double-decker commercial jet, with seating for 555 passengers.

1949, De Havilland DH-106 Comet The first jet-powered passenger airliner. It went into service in 1951.

1963, Learjet 23 The first small jet aircraft to enter mass production. More than 100 were sold by 1965.

1977, Mikoyan MiG-29 (Fulcrum)

This Russian carrier- based fighter could be

used to destroy air and land targets.