Each student must produce a paper of 10 to 12 pages. To be considered for maximum possible points. Note: You may turn it in early!
Title: The title of the paper is Four Aircraft, One Person, One Technology.
Ten to twelve pages, not counting photos/images.
Subject: Each student will write a paper on what he/she believes are the four most historically significant
aircraft in aviation (see “Aircraft” and “Exclusions” paragraphs), the most historically significant person in
aviation (see “Exclusions” paragraph), and the most historically significant technology in aviation.
Aircraft: Your paper must include four aircraft. At least one commercial passenger aircraft must be
included, at least one military aircraft must be included, and at least one general aviation aircraft must
be included. The fourth aircraft may be from any category: another commercial, military, or general
aviation aircraft or an aircraft from some other category (spacecraft, lighter-than-air, glider, etc.).
Exclusions: The Wright Brothers and the Wright Flyer (or any of the Wright Brothers’ gliders or powered
aircraft) are ineligible. Aircraft that never went beyond conceptual/mockup stage (e.g., Boeing 2707 SST,
Boeing Sonic Cruiser) are ineligible; only aircraft actually built and flown at least once may be included.
Grade: Provide a reasoned argument for each aircraft, person, and technological development in your
paper. Special Note: The course instructor is not looking for a paper that recites statistics (e.g., wing span,
top speed, maximum gross weight, maximum altitude, total number of aircraft produced, etc.). The
instructor is looking for your reasoned argument/rationale for why an aircraft, person, or technology is
historically significant and, in your view, the most important in its category. Justify your choices!
Plagiarized and/or “cut-and-paste” research papers will result in an automatic zero (0).
Most of the grade (175 points) for the paper will be based on the quality of your rationale. The rest of the
grade (25 points) will be determined by other factors (followed the format, length, etc.). Include at least one
photo of each aircraft, person, and technology named. (Pages of photos are not counted in the number
of pages required for the paper.)
Format: The instructor provides a Word document in D2L/Online Classroom (Brightspace) as a template
for your paper. Each paper must be double spaced, composed in Times New Roman, font size 12, with no
more than 1 inch margins, in the format specified by the instructor in the example. Submit your paper as
either a Word document (able to be opened on a Windows PC) or as a PDF document. [Note: If you do not
have Microsoft Word,
