Air transport

Modem air transport using craft which is heavier than air requires a good deal of power merely to stay in the air. It is for this reason that air transport uses more fuel to carry a ton over a distance of a mile than land or water transport. Another drawback of air transport is that whereas a ship, truck or train whose engines break down can stop until they are mended, an aircraft with the same trouble must land. This means that an aircraft must have several engines and this increases its cost. Safety precautions for air transport also tend to make it expensive. It cannot be relied upon for regular services in places or seasons with low clouds and mist. The great advantage of air transport being its high speed, all civilized countries try to develop it. If you want to save time, you will naturally fly by air.

Balloons. The earliest form of air transport was balloons, which are sometimes called "free balloons" because having no engines they are forced to drift by the wind flow. This fact alone makes balloons not reliable enough for carrying people. If they were safer, they would be used more for transportation, but at present the scientists use balloons mostly for obtaining information about the upper atmosphere, its density, and other scientific subjects. Weather balloons are particularly used by meteorologists. They carry instruments whose readings are automatically sent back to the ground by the radio, the position of the balloon being obtained by radar. Small balloons released from air-fields are observed to obtain the direction and strength of the wind.

Aeroplanes. The heavier-than-air machines called aeroplanes were rather slow in being adopted for transport. The first aeroplane flight was made in 1884.

World War I quickened the development of aeroplanes enormously. By 1918 they were no longer unreliable things capable of only short flights, but powerful machines able to carry heavy loads at high speeds for long distances. What was more, the ending of the war meant that thousands of aeroplanes and skilled pilots were available.

The first aeroplanes were machines that had been used as bombers. They were quickly converted for use by passengers by fitting extra seats and windows. The first regular public air service from London to Paris was started in August.

During World War II the value of aeroplanes for carrying heavy loads was recognized. This led after the war to an increase in the practice of sending goods by air. Air freight is expensive but is often thought worth while for such goods as early vegetables, fruit and flowers, as well as for things urgently needed such as spare parts for machinery, medical supplies, films and photographs. Some parts of the world are hundreds of miles from a road, railway or waterway, and air transport is the only possible kind of transport. Such places are kept supplied wholly by air.

After World War II, bigger and faster airliners were introduced. Jet-propelled aircraft were first used in 1950. Air transport is very valuable for emergency medical work. The most important use of air transport besides carrying passengers is carrying mail. If the letters are sent by air mail, they are not long in coming. Although it is unlikely that aircraft will ever replace ships for carrying heavy and bulky cargoes such as oil, coal, minerals, grain and machinery, air transport is already proving a serious rival to passenger ships on some routes.

Helicopters and Hovercraft. Helicopters are very useful in places where there is no room for long, flat runways. Modern turbo-jet airliners need a run of nearly two miles long to take off, but helicopters can use small fields, platforms mounted on ships and the flat tops of buildings. Helicopters were first introduced for regular airline service in 1947. Later, helicopters were used for carrying passengers and mail on short routes, and for taking airline passengers between the centres of cities and the main airports.

While helicopters gain in needing very little space for taking-off and landing, they lose because the speed at which they move forward is quite low. So the problem was to develop an aircraft combining the advantages of the helicopter with the high speed of an ordinary aircraft. If the designers could develop such a machine the problem would be solved. So for this purpose the hovercraft was designed. Hovercrafts are likely to be useful for ferry services - for example, in ferrying motor cars across the English Channel. They may also be useful for travel in roadless countries.

ІІІ. Language

Ex.7. Match word and word combinations in column A with those in column B:

Ex.8. Find the right ending of the sentences and translate these sentences:

1. An aircraft must have several engines and this increases ……………. ….

a) its application;

b) its cost;

c) its power.

2. Safety precautions for air transport also tend to make it ………………….

a) expensive;

b) cheap.

3. Balloons are not reliable enough ………………………..

a) for carrying goods;

b) for carrying animals;

c) for carrying people.

4.Weather balloons are particularly used by ……………...

a) geologists;

b) meteorologists;

c) pilots.

5.World War I quickened the development of aeroplanes ………………….

a) a little;

b) much;

c) enormously.

6.Helicopters were used for carrying passengers and mail ………….

a) on long routes;

b) on middle routes;

c) on short routes.

Ex. 9. Fill in the blanks using the following words:

a) bombers; b) emergency; c) runways; d) ferry services; e) fly; f) speed

1.The great advantage of air transport is its high …

2. If you want to save time, you will naturally ….. by air.

3. The first aeroplanes were machines that had been used as …….

4. Air transport is very valuable for ……. medical work.

5. Helicopters are very useful in places where there is no room for long …...

6. Hovercrafts are useful for ……..

Date: 2015-09-05; view: 412; Нарушение авторских прав