Early flying machines
Encyclopedia
Wright Flyer
The Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, designed and built by the Wright brothers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903 near the Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.The U.S...
, and goes on some decades with rotorcraft.
Invented by ?
Most 'inventions' are the result of a series of technological advances, and the relative importance of the various contibutions made by different people is often a cause for debate. An obvious example is the relative importance of Newcomen and Watts in the development of the steam engineSteam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
. Like many inventions the production of a practical aircraft was the result of a long process of thought and experiment by a series of people, but culminated in a pivotal design. Following this pivotal design, development continues but with the benefit of some new breakthrough or a slightly new direction. Who receives the credit for a specific achievement can be difficult to decide in some cases due to the nature of what was developed, the definition of the award, and veracity of claims. Often things are independently invented by different people.
Veracity of claims
Sources are often lacking or little more than hearsay, and patriotism or personal interests often colours opinion. Early flying machines, such those that predated the development of practical photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
are often doubted for lack of proof. Re-creations or claims made long after events can add confusion to even the more straightforward cases. The number and quality of witnesses is also often analyzed. Various governments and other organisations will often only give some claims a 'official' approval in attempt to elevate one attempt over another, usually in the interest of a national or cultural pride, or in order to set themselves up as technical and historical authority figures. A great deal of disinformation and revisions can take place as well with some claims, both from individuals and governments, to adjust the level of importance of some respective claims.
Various claims
More general titles like 'father of aviation' add another layer of complexity by implying a societal effect and an effect on other machines.Many titles given to various claims vary from country to country, and indeed among various references and encyclopedias - that all use different criteria when considering the validity of a claim, the meaning of the title used, and all the other issues mentioned above. Various advances are presented here, mostly prototype machines and also some important pieces of literature.
Since claims are event based, the possibiliy of a claim is in theory verifiable by attempting a recreation of the event, but proving something is possible is not the same as proving it happened, and generally such recreations are of dubious authenticity. Regardless, a success or a failure can weigh heavily in analysis of claims regarding a particular flying machine.
Early flying machine claims
Many arguments about early flying machines come down to the exact definition of a "flying machine", or "a flight". A "Flying machine" could be defined as in Collins English Dictionary : (an aircraft is) "any machine capable of flying by means of buoyancy or aerodynamic forces, such as a glider, helicopter, or aeroplane".- The main claim is that the machine was lifted, statically (aerostatAerostatAn aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
) or dynamically (aerodyneAerodyneAerodyne may refer to:*Heavier-than-air aircraft, deriving lift from dynamic motion through the air.*The Fender Aerodyne Telecaster, a contemporary model of the classic Fender Telecaster Electric guitar....
) . Heavier than air aircraft rely upon the movement of specific surfaces through the air (wings or rotors) to generate lift. - Stability and control characteristics could be additional claims; some early aircraft were able to fly although neither stable nor fully controllable (being pitch unstable or unable to turn for instance).
- The kind of power needed to forward movement is not included in "aircraft" definition; it may be external (gravity for gliders) or inboard (engine). In a glider this is produced by converting potential energy (height) to kinetic energy (speed). In powered flight there is an engine of some description.
- Anything that falls can trade height for some forward motion, so what becomes very important with powered flying machines is turning stored energy into lift. A criterion for powered flight would be the ability to maintain altitude and speed. However, a flying machine might not be able to take off under its own power, and such a benchmark would also depends on the conditions of the air, especially wind conditions, as headwind should be needed for takeoff. Also, starting height, and any additional energy given to aircraft can become a subject of debate.
- A claim could involve a machine taking or not taking advantage of ground effect, lowering induced drag when flying close to the ground.
Claims to first flying machine (unmanned) by date
- A bamboo-copter is a toy propeller that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in Warring States Period China around 400 BC
Archytas
Archytas
Archytas was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and strategist. He was a scientist of the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder of mathematical mechanics, as well as a good friend of Plato....
, Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
- According to Aulus GelliusAulus GelliusAulus Gellius , was a Latin author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office...
, Archytas, the Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and strategist, was reputed to have designed and built the first artificial, self-propelled flying device, a bird-shaped model propelled by a jet of what was probably steam, said to have actually flown some 200 metres. This machine, which its inventor called The Pigeon (Greek: Περιστέρα "Peristera"), may have been suspended on a wire or pivot for its flight.
Bartolomeu de Gusmão
Bartolomeu de Gusmão
Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão , was a priest and naturalist born in the then Portuguese colony of Brazil, noted for his early work on lighter-than-air airship design....
, Brazil and Portugal, an experimenter with early airship designs
- In 1709 Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrated a small airship model before the Portuguese court, but never succeeded with a full-scale model.
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art,...
, Russia — 1754
- In July 1754, Mikhail Lomonosov demonstrated a small tandem rotor to the Russian Academy of Sciences. This aerodyne was self-powered by a spring.
Alphonse Pénaud
Alphonse Pénaud
Alphonse Pénaud , was a 19th-century French pioneer of aviation, inventor of the rubber powered model airplane Planophore and founder of the aviation industry.-Biography:...
, France — 1871
- An early successful model airplane was the rubber-powered "Planophore". The 0.45 m (1 ft 6 in) span model achieved a flight of 60 m (200 ft) in August 1871.
Pre-19th century
- He is considered the first human to make a witnessed descent with a parachute. On December 26, 1783 he jumped from the tower of the Montpellier observatory in front of a crowd that included Joseph Montgolfier, using a 14 foot parachute with a rigid wooden frame.
- Pilâtre de Rozier made the first trip by a human in a free-flying balloon (the Montgolfière): 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) covered in 25 minutes, 21 November 1783, near Paris.
- 1. Le Globe, the first hydrogen gas balloon flew on 26 August 1783.
- 2. On 1 December 1783 La Charlière piloted by Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert made the first manned hydrogen balloon flight.
- 3. On 19 September 1784, La Caroline, an elongated craft that followed Jean Baptiste MeusnierJean Baptiste MeusnierJean Baptiste Marie Charles Meusnier de la Place was a French mathematician, engineer and Revolutionary general. He is best known for Meusnier's theorem on the curvature of surfaces, which he formulated while he was at the École Royale du Génie . He also discovered the helicoid...
's proposals for a dirigible balloon, completed the first flight over 100 km from Paris to BeuvryBeuvryBeuvry is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A suburban town immediately southwest of Béthune, southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D945, D72 and N41 roads...
.
19th century
- First heavier than air powered flight, accomplished by an unmanned steam powered monoplaneMonoplaneA monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
of 10 feet (3.0 m) wingspan. In 1848, he flew a powered monoplane model a few dozen feet at an exhibition at Cremorne Gardens in London.
- On 24 September 1852 Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight travelling 27 km (17 mi) from ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Trappes. It was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (then known as a dirigible). Both practical and steerable, the hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 hp steam engine that drove a 3 blades propeller.
- First well-documented Western human glide. Cayley also made the first scientific studies into the aerodynamic forces on a winged flying machine and produced designs incorporating a fuselage, wings, stabilizing tail and control surfaces. He discovered and identified the four aerodynamic forces of flight - weight, liftLift (force)A fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
, dragDrag (physics)In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
, and thrustThrustThrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
. Modern airplane design is based on those discoveries including cambered wingsCamber (aerodynamics)Camber, in aeronautics and aeronautical engineering, is the asymmetry between the top and the bottom surfaces of an aerofoil. An aerofoil that is not cambered is called a symmetric aerofoil...
. He is sometimes called the "Father of aviationAviationAviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
".
- Jean-Marie Le Bris was the first to fly higher than his point of departure, by having his glider pulled by a horse on a beach, against the wind.
- Jan Wnek controlled his glider by twisting the wing's trailing edge via strings attached to stirrups at his feet. Church records only—Kraków Museum unwilling to allow verification.
- Goodman allegedly built and flew his own glider over one hundred meters. The story is that he crashed breaking both glider and a leg. The event took place in the Kwazulu Natal Midlands near Curry's Post in 1871 and is recorded variously in legend and local literature, although there are no contemporary written sources for the acheivement.
- First take-off of a manned and powered aircraft, using a sloping ramp, resulting in a brief hop a few feet above the ground.
- First airplane to lift itself under its own power, the Aeroplane was an unmanned plane powered by a compressed-air engine.
- First controlled glider flight in the United States, from a hillside near Otay, California.
- Aboard the dirigible "La France", first closed course circuit, length 7.6 kilometres (4,7 mi) near Chalais-Meudon, august 9, 1884.
- First powered hop by a manned multi-engine (steam) fixed-wing aircraft, 60–100 feet (20-30 m), from a downsloped ramp.
- He reportedly made the first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight of a significant distance (50 metres) but insignificant altitude from level ground in his bat-winged, fully self-propelled fixed wing aircraft with a single tractor propeller, the Ader Éole
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Ader ÉoleThe Ader Éole, also called Avion, was an early steam-powered aircraft. The Éole was named after the Greco-Roman wind god Aeolos. It was developed by Clément Ader in 1890. Unlike many early flying machines, the Éole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but was to rely on the lift...
. Seven years later, the Avion III is claimed to have be flown over 300 metres, just lifting off the ground, and then crashing. The event was not publicized until many years later, as it had been a military secret. The events were poorly documented, the aeroplane not suited to have been controlled and there was no further development.
- The German "Glider King" was a the first person to make controlled untethered glides repeatedly, and the first to be photographed flying a heavier-than-air machine. He made about 2,000 glides until his death August 10, 1896 from injuries in a glider crash the day before.
- Japanese inventor who developed several small powered models including an early tailless aircraft.
- The Australian inventor of the box kite, linked four of his kites together, added a sling seat, and flew 16 feet (4.9 m). By demonstrating to a sceptical public that it was possible to build a safe and stable flying machine, Hargrave opened the door to other inventors and pioneers. Hargrave devoted most of his life to constructing a machine that would fly. He believed passionately in open communication within the scientific community and would not patent his inventions. Instead, he scrupulously published the results of his experiments in order that a mutual interchange of ideas may take place with other inventors working in the same field, so as to expedite joint progress. http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/hargrave.html
- The American inventor of the machine gun built a very large 3.5 ton (3.2 t) flying machine that ran on a track and was propelled by powerful twin naphtha fuelled steam engines. He made several tests in the huge biplane that were well recorded and reported. On July 31, 1894 he made a record breaking speed run at 42 mi/h. The machine lifted from the 1800 feet (548.6 m) track and broke a restraining rail, crashing after a short uncontrolled flight just above the ground.
- First sustained flight by a heavier-than-air powered, unmanned aircraft: the Number 5 model, driven by a miniature steam engine, flew half a mile in 90 seconds over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. In November the Number 6 flew more than five thousand feet. Langley's full-size manned powered Aerodrome failed twice in October and December 1903.
- Designer of first rectangular wing strut-braced biplane (originally tri-plane) hang glider, a configuration that strongly influenced the Wright brothers. Flown successfully at the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan, U.S. by his proteges, including Augustus Herring, for distances exceeding 100 feet (30.5 m).
- Managed a few short jumps in his FluganFluganFlugan was an early aeroplane designed and built by Carl Richard Nyberg outside his home in Lidingö, Sweden. Construction started in 1897 and he kept working on it until 1922. The craft only managed a few short jumps and Nyberg was often ridiculed, however several of his innovations are still in use...
, a steam powered, manned aircraft
- Reportedly flew a steam-powered monoplane about half a mile and crashed into a three-story building in PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
in April or May 1899, according to a witness who gave a statement in 1934, saying he was the passenger.
- Pioneer British glider/plane builder and pilot; protege of Lilienthal; killed in 1899 when his fourth glider crashed shortly before the intended public test of his powered triplane. Cranfield University built a replica of the triplane in 2003 from drawings in Philip Jarrett's book "Another Icarus". Test pilot Bill Brooks successfully flew it several times, staying airborne up to 1 minute and 25 seconds.
- Claimed a flight of 70 feet (21.3 m) by attaching a compressed air motor to a biplane hang glider. However, he was unable to repeat said flight with anyone present.
20th century
- Tested Drachenflieger, tandem monoplane seaplane similar to Samuel Langley, which made brief airborne hops but could not sustain itself.
- First publicized account of a flight by an aeroplane heavier than air propelled by its own motor — Whitehead No. 21. Reports were published in the New York HeraldNew York HeraldThe New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
, and the Bridgeport (CT) Herald. The event was reportedly witnessed by several people, one of them a reporter for the Bridgeport Herald. Reports said he started on the wheels from a flat surface, flew 800 metres at 15 metres height, and landed softly on the wheels. Other reports said he never flew.
- Gilmore claimed to be the first person to fly a powered aircraftFixed-wing aircraftA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
(a steamSteamSteam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
-powered glider). No witnesses.
- Whitehead claimed two flights on January 17, 1902 in his improved Number 22, with a 40 HorsepowerHorsepowerHorsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(30 kWWattThe watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
) motor instead of the 20 hp (15 kW) in the Number 21 aircraft and aluminiumAluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
instead of bambooBambooBamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
. In two published letters that he wrote to American Inventor magazine, he said the flights took place over Long Island SoundLong Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
and covered distances of about two miles (3 km) and seven miles (11 km) at heights up to 200 feet (61 m), ending with safe landings in the water by the boat-like fuselageFuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
. Some later affidavits assert he flew, others that he never flew.
- Completed development of the three-axis controlFlight dynamicsFlight dynamics is the science of air vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the vehicle's center of mass, known as pitch, roll and yaw .Aerospace engineers develop control systems for...
system with the incorporation of a movable rudder connected to the wing warping control on their 1902 Glider. They subsequently made several fully controlled heavier than air gliding flights, including one of 622.5 ft (189.7 m) in 26 seconds. The 1902 glider was the basis for their patented control system still used on modern fixed-wing aircraftFixed-wing aircraftA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
.
- Several people reportedly witnessed Pearse make powered flights including one on this date of over 100 ft (30.5 m) in a high-wing, tricycle undercarriage monoplane powered by a 15 hp air-cooled horizontally opposed engine. Flight ended with a crash into a hedgerow. Although the machine had pendulum stability and a three axis control system, incorporating ailerons, Pearse's pitch and yaw controls were ineffectual. (In the mockumentaryMockumentaryA mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Forgotten SilverForgotten SilverForgotten Silver is a New Zealand film mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a pioneering New Zealand filmmaker. It was written and directed by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, both of whom appear in the film in their roles as makers of the documentary.-Synopsis:Forgotten Silver purports...
, director Peter JacksonPeter JacksonSir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
recreated this flight, supposedly filmed by New Zealand filmmaker Colin McKenzie. The film was so convincing, Paul HarveyPaul HarveyPaul Harvey Aurandt , better known as Paul Harvey, was an American radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks. He broadcast News and Comment on weekday mornings and mid-days, and at noon on Saturdays, as well as his famous The Rest of the Story segments. His listening audience was estimated, at...
reported it as genuine on his syndicated News and Comment program).
- On August 18, 1903 he flew with his self-made motored gliding aircraft. He had four witnesses for his flight. The plane was equipped with a single-cylinder 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) Buchet engine driving a two-bladed pusherPusher configurationIn a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
propeller and made hops of up to 200 feet (60 m), flying up to 10 feet (3.0 m) high.
- First recorded controlled, powered, sustained heavier than air flight, in Wright FlyerWright FlyerThe Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, designed and built by the Wright brothers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903 near the Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.The U.S...
. In the day's fourth flight, Wilbur Wright flew 852 ft (259.7 m) in 59 seconds. First three flights were approximately 120, 175, and 200 ft (61 m), respectively. The Wrights laid particular stress on fully and accurately describing all the requirements for controlled, powered flight and put them into use in an aircraft which took off without the aid of a catapult from a level launching rail, with the aid of a headwind to achieve sufficient airspeed before reaching the end of the rail.
- First high altitude flights with Maloney as pilot of a Montgomery tandem-wing glider design. The glider was launched by balloon to heights up to 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) with Maloney controlling the aircraft through a series of prescribed maneuvers to a predetermined landing location in front of a large public gathering at Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
.
- Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer IIIWright Flyer IIIThe Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft built by the Wright Brothers. Orville Wright made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905. The Flyer III had an airframe of spruce construction with a wing camber of 1-in-20 as used in 1903, rather than the less effective 1-in-25 used in 1904...
in a flight of 24 miles (39 km) in 39 minutes (a world record that stood until Orville Wright broke it in 1908) and returns to land the plane at the takeoff site.
- Fully self-propelled, fixed-wing aircraft using a carbonic acid gas engine and a single tractor propellerTractor configurationthumb|right|[[Evektor-Aerotechnik|Aerotechnik EV97A Eurostar]], a tractor configuration aircraft, being pulled into position by its pilot for refuelling....
. He flew for 12 metres in Paris without the aid of external takeoff mechanisms, such as a catapult, a point emphasized in newspaper reports in France, the U.S., and the UK. The possibility of such unaided heavier-than-air flight was heavily contested by the French Academy of SciencesFrench Academy of SciencesThe French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
, which had declined to assist Vuia with funding
- Built monoplane, which he tested with a tether on the Danish Lindholm island.
- The 14 BisSantos-Dumont 14-bisThe 14-bis , also known as , was a pioneer-era canard biplane designed and built by Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont...
at Bagatelle field, Paris. The Aero Club of France certified the distance of 60 metres (197 ft); height was about 2–3 metres (6–10 ft). Winner of the Archdeacon Prize for first official flight of more than 25 metres. Described by some scholars as the first "sportsman of the air". As reported in previous years and months by Ader, Whitehead, Pearse, Jatho and Vuia, the 14-Bis biplane was able to autonomous takeoff without a launching rail, catapult or headwind, powered by an internal combustion engine.
- Jacques and Louis Breguet helicopters experiments resulted in the Gyroplane No. 1 lifting its pilot up into the air about 60 cm (2 ft) for a minute. However, the flight proved to be extremely unsteady. For this reason, the flights of the Gyroplane No. 1 are considered to be the first manned flight of a helicopter, but not a free flight.
- On 13 November 1907, the Paul Cornu helicopter lifted its inventor to 30 cm (1 ft) and remained aloft for 20 seconds. It was reported to be the first truly free flight with a pilot.
- On march 28, 1910, the Fabre hydravion named "le canard", an experimental floatplane designed by Henri Fabre, was notable as the first hydroplane in history to take off from water under its own power.
- De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft in 1923 with his C.4 autogyroAutogyroAn autogyro , also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust...
prototype.
Table of flying machines
Literature, Designs only:| Designer/maker | Nationality | Title or specialty | Year | Status/Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Bacon Roger Bacon Roger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods... |
British | Secrets of Art and Nature | c. 1250 | ornithopter design |
| Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance... |
Italian | The Ornithopter | c. 1490 | design, literature |
| Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others... |
Swedish | Flying Machine Flying Machine (Swedenborg) Swedenborg's Flying Machine was first sketched by the Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1714, when he was 26 years old. It was later published in his periodical in 1716. It postdates Leonardo_da_Vinci's designs.- Background :... |
1714 | design, literature |
| Sir George Cayley | British | On Aerial Navigation | 1809-1810 | Technical literature. This work laid the ground rules for all later aircraft |
| Le Comte Ferdinand Charles Honore Phillipe d'Esterno | On The Flight Of Birds (Du Vol des Oiseaux) | 1864 | technical literature | |
| Louis Pierre Mouillard Louis Pierre Mouillard Louis Pierre Mouillard was a Frenchman who worked on flight in the second half of the 19th century. His thesis, partly based on the investigation of birds in Alexandria, were later adopted by the Wright brothers as their own.He published numerous essays... |
French | The Empire Of The Air (L'Empire de L'Air) | 1865 | literature |
| Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley... |
German | Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation (Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst) | 1889 | literature |
| James Means | American | The Problem of Manflight, Aeronautical Annual | 1894 - 1897 | literature |
| Octave Chanute Octave Chanute Octave Chanute was a French-born American railway engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided the Wright brothers with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine... |
American (born in France) | Progress in Flying Machines | 1894 | His technical articles collected in a book |
| Wilbur Wright | American | Some Aeronautical Experiments | 1901 | Published speech to Western Society of Engineers, Chicago |
| Martin Wiberg Martin Wiberg Martin Wiberg was born in Viby, Scania, Sweden, enrolled at Lund University in 1845 and became a Doctor of Philosophy in 1850.... |
Swedish | "Luftmaskin" | 1903 | Received a patent for a design powered by a liquid fuel rocket |
More than design or literature
Note overlapping years in several cases, so all items in this list may not be in strict chronological order.| Designer/Maker | Nationality | Machine name/description | Year | Claimed | Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Childs John Childs (aviator) John Childs, the "Flying Man" of Boston, Massachusetts performed the first known flight in America on September 13, 1757 to a crowd of spectators, suspended by a rope from a feathered glider. The next day, on September 14 Mr... |
American | "Feathered glider" | 1757 | Three successful flights in two days | Reports suggest that this was a fairground trick, involving sliding down a tethered rope. He had claimed to have performed the same stunt many times earlier in Europe |
| William Samuel Henson William Samuel Henson William Samuel Henson was a pre-Wright brothers aviation engineer and inventor.Henson was born on 3 May 1812 , in Nottingham, England. Henson was involved in lace-making in Chard, which increasingly was mechanized at that time, and he obtained a patent on improved lace-making machines in 1835... |
British | Aerial Steam Carriage Aerial Steam Carriage The Aerial Steam Carriage, also named Ariel, was a flying machine patented in 1842 that was supposed to carry passengers into the air. It was, in practice, incapable of flight since it had insufficient power from its heavy steam engine to fly. A more successful model was built in 1848 which was... , "modern"-looking monoplane with "cabin", tail and twin pusher propellers |
1842 | Models only, publicity illustrations | |
| John Stringfellow John Stringfellow John Stringfellow was born in Sheffield, England and is known for his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage with William Samuel Henson.... |
British | The Stringfellow Machines | 1848, 1868 | Indoor flights by fixed-wing steam-powered models | |
| Sir George Cayley | British | "Governable Parachute" | 1849-1853 | Child- and man-carrying glides, both towed and free-flying | |
| Rufus Porter Rufus Porter For the American football player see Rufus Porter .For the American poet see Rufus L. Porter.Rufus M. Porter was an American painter, inventor, and founder of Scientific American magazine.... |
American | The New York to California Aerial Transport | 1849 | Uncompleted steam-powered dirigible | |
| Jean Marie Le Bris | French | The Artificial Albatross | 1857, 1867 | Towed gliding flight Gliding (flight) Gliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust. It is employed by gliding animals and by aircraft such as gliders. The most common human application of gliding flight is in sport and recreation using aircraft designed for this purpose... |
|
| Felix and Louis du Temple de la Croix | French | Du Temple Monoplane, aluminum construction, steam-powered | 1857-1877 | Powered manned hop from ramp | |
| James William Butler, Edmund Edwards | The Steam-Jet Dart | 1865 | |||
| Francis Herbert Wenham Francis Herbert Wenham Francis Herbert Wenham was a British marine engineer who studied the problem of manned flight and wrote a perceptive and influential academic paper which he presented to the first meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London in 1866.Wenham's report, "Aerial Locomotion," was published in the... |
British | "Aerial Locomotion" (academic paper) | 1866 | Patented superposed wing design (biplane, mulitplane); invented wind tunnel | |
| Jan Wnęk Jan Wnek Jan Wnęk is believed to have been an aviation pioneer.Jan Wnek was born in Kaczówka. He was illiterate but known to be very intelligent. Trained as a carpenter, this Polish peasant had a keen sense of detail and was also able to restore paintings... |
Polish | glider | 1866-1869 | Controlled flights from local church tower | |
| Frederick Marriott Frederick Marriott Frederick Marriott was an early aviation pioneer and creator of the Avitor Hermes Jr. which was the first unmanned aircraft to fly under its own power in the United States... |
Marriott flying machines | 1869 | |||
| Alphonse Pénaud Alphonse Pénaud Alphonse Pénaud , was a 19th-century French pioneer of aviation, inventor of the rubber powered model airplane Planophore and founder of the aviation industry.-Biography:... |
French | Planophore, Pénaud Toy Helicopter | 1871 | Rubber-powered fixed-wing and helicopter models | |
| Thomas Moy | British | Moy Aerial Steamer, tandem wings, 120 lb (55 kg), 15 ft (4.6 m) wingspan, 3 horsepower, twin fan-type propellers | 1875 | Lifted 6 inches (0.15 m) from ground at London Crystal Palace | |
| Enrico Forlanini Enrico Forlanini Enrico Forlanini was an Italian engineer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer, well known for his works on helicopters, aircraft, hydrofoils and dirigibles. He was born in Milan... |
Italian | Demonstration in Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... , Helicopter, unmanned, steam-powered. |
1877 | rose to 13 meters (40 feet) for 20 s duration: first heavier than air self-powered machine to fly | |
| Thomas Moy | as above | The Military Kite | 1879 | ||
| Charles F. Ritchel Charles F. Ritchel Charles Francis Ritchel, also known as C.F. Ritchel , was an American inventor of a successful dirigible design, the fun house mirror, a toy monkey bank and the holder of more than 150 patented inventions.-Dirigible:... |
American | Ritchel Hand-powered Airship | 1878 | ||
| Victor Tatin Victor Tatin Victor Tatin was a French inventor, who created an early airplane, the Aéroplane in 1879. The craft was the first model aeroplane to lift itself by its own power after a run on the ground.... |
French | Tatin flying machines | 1879 | ||
| J. B. Biot | French | The Biot Kite | 1880 | ||
| Alexandre Goupil | French | Goupi Monoplane, La Locomotion Aerienne | 1883 | ||
| John Joseph Montgomery | American | Montgomery monoplane, Tandem-wing Gliders | 1883-1911 | A pre-1900 foot-launched manned glide; balloon-launched after 1900 | |
| Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski | Russian | Mozhaiski Monoplane, multi-engine, steam | 1884 | Powered manned hop from ramp | |
| Massia and Biot | Massia-Biot Glider | 1887 | |||
| Pichancourt Pichancourt In 1889; Pichancourt developed the L'Oiseau Mechanique which aimed to imitate the motion of a bird's wings in flight.- References :... |
Mechanical Birds | 1889 | |||
| Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.- Early life :Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletcher Hargrave and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland... |
British immigrant to Australia | Hargave flying machines and Box Kites | 1889-1893 | influential designs | |
| Clément Ader Clément Ader Clément Ader was a French inventor and engineer born in Muret, Haute Garonne, and is remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation.- The inventor :... |
French | Eole, Avion Avion Avion may refer to:* Avion, the french name for airplane ; coming from latin "avus" . Same family as "aviation".* Avion * Avion... , bat-wing, steam-driven |
1890-1897 | Manned, powered hops from level surface | |
| Chuhachi Ninomiya Chuhachi Ninomiya was a Japanese aviation pioneer. He is remembered for his unique aircraft designs - the "Karasu-gata mokei hikouki" and the "Tamamushi-gata hikouki"... |
Japanese | The Tamamushi (model) | 1891 | ||
| Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley... |
German | Bat-wing hang gliders, mono- and biplane | 1891-1896 | 2,000 manned glides, dozens photographed | |
| Horatio Frederick Phillips Horatio Frederick Phillips Horatio Frederick Phillips was an early aviation pioneer from the United Kingdom. He was famous for building multiplane flying machines with many more sets of lifting surfaces than would be normal on modern aircraft... |
British | Multiplanes | 1893-1907 | Multiple-wing test machines; successful flights in 1904 (50 feet) and 1907 (500 feet) | |
| Hiram Stevens Maxim | British (born in America) | Maxim Biplane, a behemoth machine: 145 ft (44.2 m) long, 3.5 tons, 110 ft (33.5 m) wingspan, two 180 hp steam engines driving two propellers. | 1894 | Broke from restraining rail and made uncontrolled manned flight. Total flying distance, 1,000 ft (305 m) while restrained, 924 ft (282 m) free flight. Total 1,924 ft (586 m) | |
| Pablo Suarez | The Suarez Glider | 1895 | |||
| Percy Sinclair Pilcher | British | Bat, Beetle, Hawk bat-wing hang gliders | 1896-1899 | Manned glides; fatal crash before planned public test of powered triplane; modern replica flown | |
| Octave Chanute Octave Chanute Octave Chanute was a French-born American railway engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided the Wright brothers with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine... and Augustus Herring |
American (Chanute born in France) | Hang gliders, "modern" biplane wing design | 1896 | Manned glides | |
| William Paul Butusov, with Chanute group | Russian immigrant to U.S. | Albatross Soaring Machine | 1896 | unmanned unpowered uncontrolled hop from ramp | |
| Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation... |
American | Langley Aerodrome Langley Aerodrome The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S... , Tandem wings, unmanned, steam-powered. |
1896 | 5,000 ft. (1.7 km), photographed | |
| William Frost William Frost William Frost was a Welsh amateur aviator, who, some believe, made a manned flight of considerable distance in a winged powered flying machine of his own design.... |
Welsh | Frost Airship Glider Frost Airship Glider The Frost Airship Glider was designed and constructed by William Frost in the mid-1890s. According to the patent specification 1894-20431 issued in London, the craft was simply called 'A Flying Machine'.The preamble to the specification states:... |
1896 | Manned, 500 meters, possibly with balloon assist | |
| Carl Rickard Nyberg | Swedish | Flugan Flugan Flugan was an early aeroplane designed and built by Carl Richard Nyberg outside his home in Lidingö, Sweden. Construction started in 1897 and he kept working on it until 1922. The craft only managed a few short jumps and Nyberg was often ridiculed, however several of his innovations are still in use... |
1897 and on | Hops | |
| Edson Fessenden Gallaudet Edson Fessenden Gallaudet Edson Fessenden Gallaudet was a pioneer in the field of aviation, being the first person to experiment with warped wings in 1896. In 1898, he built a warping-wing kite to test his invention of a warping-wing mechanism; this kite survives and is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in... |
American | Gallaudet Wing Warping Kite | 1898 | ||
| Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr. Lyman Gilmore Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr. was an aviation pioneer. In Grass Valley, California, USA, he built a steam-powered airplane and claimed that he flew it on May 15, 1902. Due to the requirement of a heavy boiler and the dependency on coal as a power source, the flights would have been short... |
American | Gilmore Monoplane, steam driven | 1898 | Too little info | |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
German (Emigrated to U.S.) | Monoplane with pilot and passenger, steam powered | 1899 | Flew 500 m, crash | |
| Wilhelm Kress Wilhelm Kress Wilhelm Kress was a pioneer in aviations and constructor of aircraft.-Life:Kress came to Vienna in 1873, where he developed the first modern delta-flying hang glider in 1877... |
Austrian | Kress Waterborne Aeroplane | 1901 | Long hops | |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
as above | Whitehead Albatross, glider | 1901 | ||
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
as above | No. 21 Number 21 (plane) Number 21 was the name of an aircraft that aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead claimed to have flown near Bridgeport, Connecticut on August 14, 1901.... , bat-wing, 20 hp motor, twin tractor propellers |
1901 | 800 m, 4 flights, body shifting control | Modern replica successfully flown |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
as above | No. 22, 40 hp motor, twin tractor propellers | 1902 | Flew 10 km circle; control by variable propeller speed and "rudder" | |
| Richard William Pearse Richard Pearse Richard William Pearse , son of Cornish immigrants from St Columb near Newquay, a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering experiments in aviation.... |
New Zealand | Pearse Monoplane | 1903 | 150 m, believed controllable but unstable -numerous witnesses | |
| Karl Jatho Karl Jatho Karl Jatho was a German pioneer and inventor, performer and public servant of the city of Hanover.On August 18, 1903 he flew with his self-made motored gliding airplane 4 months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers. He made his first attempts with a plane with three lifting surfaces, but... |
German | The Jatho Biplane | 1903 | . | 70 m powered hop, unstable |
| Wright Brothers Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903... |
American | Wright Flyer Wright Flyer The Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, designed and built by the Wright brothers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903 near the Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.The U.S... , level launch rail, headwind for sufficient airspeed |
1903 | . | Four flights, longest 852 feet (260 m), 59 s, controlled |
| Guido Dinelli | Dinelli Glider, Aereoplano | 1903 | 70 m, no motor | ||
| Wilbur Wright | American | Wright Flyer III Wright Flyer III The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft built by the Wright Brothers. Orville Wright made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905. The Flyer III had an airframe of spruce construction with a wing camber of 1-in-20 as used in 1903, rather than the less effective 1-in-25 used in 1904... , catapult launch |
1905 | 24 miles (39 km), circling, max height about 50 feet (15.2 m) | |
| Louis Blériot Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000... , Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France... |
French | Blériot-Voisin floatplane glider, Blériot-Voison biplane | 1905 | Towed up, 600 m | |
| Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.... |
Brazilian living in France | 14-bis, Hargrave-style box-cell wings, sharp dihedral, pusher propeller, internal combustion. (Demoiselle Demoiselle Demoiselle may refer to:* Demoiselle crane, a crane of central Asia* Demoiselle Stakes, a horse race held in New York* Demoiselle Creek, New Brunswick* Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, an early aircraft... in 1909, tractor monoplane with wing-warping) |
1906 | Controlled, rose off flat ground with no external assistance, 200 meters, 21 s, first official European flight | |
| Jacob Ellehammer Jacob Ellehammer Jacob Christian Hansen Ellehammer was a Danish watchmaker and inventor born in Bakkebølle, Denmark. He is remembered chiefly for his contributions to powered flight.... |
Danish | Monoplane, helicopter | 1906, 1912 | Tethered powered fixed-wing flight | |
| Traian Vuia Traian Vuia Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and aviation pioneer who designed, builtand flew an early aircraft. His first flight traveled about 12 m at Montesson, France on March 18, 1906... |
Romanian, flight experiments in France | Vuia I, Vuia II monoplanes, Carbonic acid engine on Vuia I, internal combustion engine on Vuia II | 1906-1907 | Powered manned hops | |
| Glenn H. Curtiss and A.E.A. Aerial Experiment Association The Aerial Experiment Association was a Canadian aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell... |
American | June Bug, biplane with wingtip ailerons | 1908 | First official 1 km U.S. flight | |
| Louis Blériot Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000... |
French | Blériot XI Blériot XI The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in... monoplane, tractor propeller |
1909 | Crossed the English Channel, France to Britain, 23 miles (37 km) | |
| Aerial Experiment Association Aerial Experiment Association The Aerial Experiment Association was a Canadian aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell... (A.E.A) |
American | Silver Dart AEA Silver Dart -References:NotesBibliography* Aerial Experimental Association . Aerofiles. . Retrieved: 19 May 2005.* Green, H. Gordon. The Silver Dart: The Authentic Story of the Hon. J.A.D. McCurdy, Canada's First Pilot. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1959.* Milberry, Larry. Aviation in... |
1909 | First controlled powered flight in Canada | |
| Edvard Rusjan Edvard Rusjan Edvard Rusjan was a Slovene flight pioneer and airplane constructor. He died in an airplane crash in Belgrade.- Biography :Rusjan was born in Trieste, then the major port of Austria-Hungary... |
Slovenian | EDA 1 | 1909 | ||
| Ivan Sarić Ivan Šaric Ivan Šarić was a Roman Catholic priest who became the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna in 1922... |
Croatian | Sarić 1 | 1910 | ||
| Duigan Brothers, John and Reginald | Australian | Duigan Pusher Biplane | 1910 | ||
Historic records
| Inventor | Accomplishment or Claim | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang was a chancellor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He is often recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era.... |
Kongming lantern, first hot air balloon Hot air balloon The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air... |
2nd or 3rd century |
| 'Abbas Ibn Firnas Abbas Ibn Firnas Abbas Ibn Firnas , also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas and عباس بن فرناس , was a Muslim Andalusian polymath: an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician. Of Berber descent, he was born in Izn-Rand Onda, Al-Andalus , and lived in the Emirate of Córdoba... |
Single flight of manned ornithopter; ended in crash and injury. | 875 |
| Eilmer of Malmesbury Eilmer of Malmesbury Eilmer of Malmesbury was an 11th-century English Benedictine monk best known for his early attempt at a gliding flight using wings.- Life :... |
Single flight of manned glider. | 1010 |
| Unknown Chinese Zhonghua minzu Zhonghua minzu , usually translated as Chinese ethnic groups or Chinese nationality, refers to the modern notion of a Chinese nationality transcending ethnic divisions, with a central identity for China as a whole... |
Manned kites are common. Reported by Marco Polo Marco Polo Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently... |
1290 |
| Lagari Hasan Çelebi Lagari Hasan Çelebi Lagari Hasan Çelebi was a legendary Ottoman aviator who, according to an account written by Evliya Çelebi, made a successful manned rocket flight.-Account:... |
First manned rocket Rocket A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction... flight |
1633 |
| Bartolomeu de Gusmão Bartolomeu de Gusmão Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão , was a priest and naturalist born in the then Portuguese colony of Brazil, noted for his early work on lighter-than-air airship design.... |
First lighter-than-air airship Airship An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms... flight |
1709 |
| John Childs John Childs (aviator) John Childs, the "Flying Man" of Boston, Massachusetts performed the first known flight in America on September 13, 1757 to a crowd of spectators, suspended by a rope from a feathered glider. The next day, on September 14 Mr... |
Unnamed flying device, flew 700m three times over two days. Documentation suggests that he glided down along a 700m rope and landed where the rope was fixed to the ground. | 1757 |
| Montgolfier brothers Montgolfier brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were the inventors of the montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky... |
Modern hot air balloon Hot air balloon The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air... |
1783 |
| Diego Marín Aguilera Diego Marín Aguilera Diego Marín Aguilera was a Spanish inventor who was an early aviation pioneer. Born in Coruña del Conde, Marín became the head of his household after his father died. Marín was forced to take care of his seven brothers, and worked as an agricultural laborer, tending his animals and fields... |
Single flight of manned-glider-wings | 1793 |
| William Samuel Henson William Samuel Henson William Samuel Henson was a pre-Wright brothers aviation engineer and inventor.Henson was born on 3 May 1812 , in Nottingham, England. Henson was involved in lace-making in Chard, which increasingly was mechanized at that time, and he obtained a patent on improved lace-making machines in 1835... |
Aerial Steam Carriage Aerial Steam Carriage The Aerial Steam Carriage, also named Ariel, was a flying machine patented in 1842 that was supposed to carry passengers into the air. It was, in practice, incapable of flight since it had insufficient power from its heavy steam engine to fly. A more successful model was built in 1848 which was... , flight of model |
1842 |
| John Stringfellow John Stringfellow John Stringfellow was born in Sheffield, England and is known for his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage with William Samuel Henson.... |
Stringfellow Machine Stringfellow Machine Englishman John Stringfellow produced a number of aircraft designs.The Aerial Steam Carriage was designed by Stringfellow and William Samuel Henson in 1848, and is often considered to be the first practical design for a powered and manned flying machine, although only a model was ever flown... s |
1848, 1868 |
| Henri Giffard Henri Giffard Henri Giffard was a French engineer. In 1852 he invented the steam injector and the powered airship.-Career:Baptiste Henri Jacques Giffard was born in Paris in 1825... |
Non-rigid airship Non-rigid airship A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag... , hydrogen filled envelope for lift, powered by steam engine |
1852 |
| Sir George Cayley | Cayley Glider, flight of manned glider. Investigating many theoretical aspects of flight. Many now acknowledge him as the first aeronautical engineer. | 1853 |
| Rufus Porter Rufus Porter For the American football player see Rufus Porter .For the American poet see Rufus L. Porter.Rufus M. Porter was an American painter, inventor, and founder of Scientific American magazine.... |
New York to California Aerial Transport, an early attempt at an airline Airline An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit... |
1849 |
| Jean Marie Le Bris | Artificial Albatross | 1857, 1867 |
| Félix du Temple de la Croix Félix du Temple de la Croix Félix du Temple de la Croix was a French naval officer and an inventor, born into an ancient Normandy family... |
Monoplane (1874) Monoplane (1874) The du Temple Monoplane was a large aeroplane made of aluminium, built in Brest, France, by naval officer Félix du Temple in 1874.The plane had a wingspan of 13 m and weighed of only 80 kg without the pilot.... Maybe first powered manned fixed-wing flight, a short hop, from a downward ramp. |
1857 - 1877 |
| James William Butler and Edmund Edwards | Steam-Jet Dart Patented a prophetic design, that of a delta-winged jet-propelled aircraft, derived from a folded paper plane. | 1865 |
| Francis Herbert Wenham Francis Herbert Wenham Francis Herbert Wenham was a British marine engineer who studied the problem of manned flight and wrote a perceptive and influential academic paper which he presented to the first meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London in 1866.Wenham's report, "Aerial Locomotion," was published in the... |
Wenham's Aerial Locomotion | 1866 |
| Jan Wnęk Jan Wnek Jan Wnęk is believed to have been an aviation pioneer.Jan Wnek was born in Kaczówka. He was illiterate but known to be very intelligent. Trained as a carpenter, this Polish peasant had a keen sense of detail and was also able to restore paintings... |
Loty glider, many flights | 1866 |
| Frederick Marriott Frederick Marriott Frederick Marriott was an early aviation pioneer and creator of the Avitor Hermes Jr. which was the first unmanned aircraft to fly under its own power in the United States... |
Marriott flying machines, as well as an attempt at an early airline | 1869 |
| Alphonse Pénaud Alphonse Pénaud Alphonse Pénaud , was a 19th-century French pioneer of aviation, inventor of the rubber powered model airplane Planophore and founder of the aviation industry.-Biography:... |
Planophore, Pénaud Toy Helicopter | 1871 |
| Thomas Moy | Moy Aerial Steamer, | 1875 |
| Thomas Moy | The Military Kite | 1879 |
| Charles F. Ritchel Charles F. Ritchel Charles Francis Ritchel, also known as C.F. Ritchel , was an American inventor of a successful dirigible design, the fun house mirror, a toy monkey bank and the holder of more than 150 patented inventions.-Dirigible:... |
Ritchel Hand-powered Airship | 1878 |
| Victor Tatin Victor Tatin Victor Tatin was a French inventor, who created an early airplane, the Aéroplane in 1879. The craft was the first model aeroplane to lift itself by its own power after a run on the ground.... |
Tatin flying machines | 1879 |
| Massia and Biot | Massia-Biot Glider | 1879? 1887? |
| Alexandre Goupil | Goupi Monoplane, La Locomotion Aerienne | 1883 |
| John J. Montgomery John J. Montgomery John Joseph Montgomery was an aviation pioneer, inventor, professor at Santa Clara College.On August 28, 1883 he made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights of the United States, in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California... |
Montgomery Monoplane and Tandem-Wing Gliders | 1883 - 1911 |
| Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski | Mozhaiski Monoplane | 1884 |
| Charles Renard Charles Renard Charles Renard was a French military engineer. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he started work on the design of air ships at the French army aeronautical department. Together with Arthur C... >Arthur Constantin Krebs |
The first fully controllable free-flight was made with the La France La France (airship) The La France was a French Army airship launched by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs in 1884. Collaborating with Charles Renard, Arthur Constantin Krebs piloted the first fully controlled free-flight with the La France. The long, airship, electric-powered with a 435 kg battery... |
1884 |
| Pichancourt Pichancourt In 1889; Pichancourt developed the L'Oiseau Mechanique which aimed to imitate the motion of a bird's wings in flight.- References :... |
Mechanical Birds | 1889 |
| Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.- Early life :Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletcher Hargrave and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland... |
Hargrave flying machines and Box kite Box kite A box kite is a high-performance kite, noted for developing relatively high lift; it is a type within the family of cellular kites. The typical design has four parallel struts. The box is made rigid with diagonal crossed struts. There are two sails, or ribbons, whose width is about a quarter of the... s |
1889 - 1893 |
| Clément Ader Clément Ader Clément Ader was a French inventor and engineer born in Muret, Haute Garonne, and is remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation.- The inventor :... |
Éole Ader Éole The Ader Éole, also called Avion, was an early steam-powered aircraft. The Éole was named after the Greco-Roman wind god Aeolos. It was developed by Clément Ader in 1890. Unlike many early flying machines, the Éole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but was to rely on the lift... , Avion Ader Avion III -See also:... , short, manned and powered, flights |
1890 - 1897 |
| Chuhachi Ninomiya Chuhachi Ninomiya was a Japanese aviation pioneer. He is remembered for his unique aircraft designs - the "Karasu-gata mokei hikouki" and the "Tamamushi-gata hikouki"... |
Karasu model, Tamamushi model | 1891 ,1895 |
| Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley... |
Derwitzer Glider, Normal soaring apparatus and others, many flights | 1891 - 1896 |
| Horatio Phillips | Phillips 1893 Flying Machine, Phillips 1907 Multiplane | 1893, 1906 |
| Hiram Stevens Maxim | Maxim Biplane | 1894 |
| Pablo Suarez | Suarez Glider | 1895 |
| Octave Chanute Octave Chanute Octave Chanute was a French-born American railway engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided the Wright brothers with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine... and Augustus Herring |
Chanute and Herring Gliding Machines | 1896 |
| William Paul Butusov | Albatross Soaring Machine | 1896 |
| William Frost William Frost William Frost was a Welsh amateur aviator, who, some believe, made a manned flight of considerable distance in a winged powered flying machine of his own design.... |
Frost Airship Glider Frost Airship Glider The Frost Airship Glider was designed and constructed by William Frost in the mid-1890s. According to the patent specification 1894-20431 issued in London, the craft was simply called 'A Flying Machine'.The preamble to the specification states:... |
1896 |
| Percy Sinclair Pilcher | Pilcher Hawk Based on the work of his mentor Otto Lilienthal, in 1897 Pilcher built a glider called The Hawk with which he broke the world distance record when he flew 250 m (820 ft) | 1897 |
| Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation... |
Langley Aerodrome Langley Aerodrome The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S... s |
1896 - 1903 |
| Carl Rickard Nyberg | Flugan Flugan Flugan was an early aeroplane designed and built by Carl Richard Nyberg outside his home in Lidingö, Sweden. Construction started in 1897 and he kept working on it until 1922. The craft only managed a few short jumps and Nyberg was often ridiculed, however several of his innovations are still in use... , very short manned flight |
1897 |
| Edson Fessenden Gallaudet Edson Fessenden Gallaudet Edson Fessenden Gallaudet was a pioneer in the field of aviation, being the first person to experiment with warped wings in 1896. In 1898, he built a warping-wing kite to test his invention of a warping-wing mechanism; this kite survives and is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in... |
Gallaudet Wing Warping Kite | 1898 |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
A purported steam engine powered, 500-1000m flight, ending in collision with a three-story house, according to affidavit 37 years later by Louis Darvarich, self-described passenger.. | 1899 |
| Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin Ferdinand von Zeppelin Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company... |
Zeppelin Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899... airship LZ 1. The first Zeppelin flight occurred on July 2, 1900 over the Bodensee, lasted 18 minutes. The second and third flights were in October 1900 and October 24, 1900 respectively, beating the 6 m/s velocity record of the French airship La France by 3 m/s. |
1900 |
| Wilhelm Kress Wilhelm Kress Wilhelm Kress was a pioneer in aviations and constructor of aircraft.-Life:Kress came to Vienna in 1873, where he developed the first modern delta-flying hang glider in 1877... |
Kress Waterborne Aeroplane hops | 1901 |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
A newspaper reported a manned, powered, controlled 800m flight. Whitehead claimed four flights on the same day in the aircraft, designated Number 21 Number 21 (plane) Number 21 was the name of an aircraft that aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead claimed to have flown near Bridgeport, Connecticut on August 14, 1901.... . |
1901 |
| Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.... |
Santos-Dumont gained fame by designing, building, and flying dirigibles. On 19 October 1901, he won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize of 100,000 francs by taking off from Saint-Cloud, flying his steerable balloon around the Eiffel Tower, and returning. | 1901 |
| Gustave Whitehead Gustave Whitehead Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them.... |
He claimed a manned, powered, controlled 10 km flight, a circle over Long Island Sound, one of two flights the same day, landing in the water twice without damage to the plane, designated Number 22. | 1902 |
| Lyman Gilmore Lyman Gilmore Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr. was an aviation pioneer. In Grass Valley, California, USA, he built a steam-powered airplane and claimed that he flew it on May 15, 1902. Due to the requirement of a heavy boiler and the dependency on coal as a power source, the flights would have been short... |
Gilmore Monoplane Built a steam-powered airplane and claimed that he flew it on May 15, 1902. | 1902 |
| Richard William Pearse Richard Pearse Richard William Pearse , son of Cornish immigrants from St Columb near Newquay, a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering experiments in aviation.... |
Pearse Monoplane. First flight March 31, 1902 Waitohi, New Zealand. Evidence exists that on 31 March 1903 Pearse made a powered, though poorly controlled, flight of several hundred metres and crashed into a hedge at the end of the field. The aircraft had a tricycle type landing gear and primitive ailerons. | 1903-1904 |
| Wright brothers Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903... |
Completed development of the three-axis control system with the incorporation of a movable rudder connected to the wing warping control on their 1902 Glider. They subsequently made several fully controlled heavier than air gliding flights, including one of 622.5 ft (189.7 m) in 26 seconds. | 1902 |
| Karl Jatho Karl Jatho Karl Jatho was a German pioneer and inventor, performer and public servant of the city of Hanover.On August 18, 1903 he flew with his self-made motored gliding airplane 4 months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers. He made his first attempts with a plane with three lifting surfaces, but... |
Jatho Biplane 10 hp 70m hops | 1903 |
| Guido Dinelli | Dinelli Glider, Aereoplano | 1903, 1904 |
| Wright brothers Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903... |
Wright Flyer Wright Flyer The Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, designed and built by the Wright brothers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903 near the Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.The U.S... I, Successful, manned, powered, controlled and sustained flight, 259m, in 59 seconds, according to the Federation Aeronautique International and Smithsonian Institution. Preceded by three other flights, each less than 200 feet. |
1903 |
| Ferdinand Ferber and Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France... |
Archdeacon glider | 1904 |
| Wright Brothers Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903... |
Wright Flyer III Wright Flyer III The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft built by the Wright Brothers. Orville Wright made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905. The Flyer III had an airframe of spruce construction with a wing camber of 1-in-20 as used in 1903, rather than the less effective 1-in-25 used in 1904... Wilbur Wright pilots a flight of 24 miles (39 km) in nearly 39 minutes on Oct. 5, a world record that stood until Orville Wright surpassed it in 1908. |
1905 |
| Louis Blériot Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000... and Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France... |
Blériot-Voison floatplane glider, biplane | 1905 |
| Traian Vuia Traian Vuia Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and aviation pioneer who designed, builtand flew an early aircraft. His first flight traveled about 12 m at Montesson, France on March 18, 1906... |
Vuia I, Vuia II, Several short powered flights. August 1906, 24m flight. July 5, 1907, Flew 20m. and crashed. | 1906 - 1907 |
| Jacob Ellehammer Jacob Ellehammer Jacob Christian Hansen Ellehammer was a Danish watchmaker and inventor born in Bakkebølle, Denmark. He is remembered chiefly for his contributions to powered flight.... |
Ellehammer monoplane September 12, 1906 became the second European to fly an airplane (after Traian Vuia). He made over 200 flights in the next two years using many different machines. No distance data found. | 1906 - 1907 |
| Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.... |
First official European flight on 23 October 1906 in aircraft designated 14-bis Santos-Dumont 14-bis The 14-bis , also known as , was a pioneer-era canard biplane designed and built by Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont... or Oiseau de proie ("bird of prey"). On 12 November 1906, he flew the 14-bis 220 metres in 21.5 seconds. He won the Archdeacon Prize founded by the Frenchman Ernest Archdeacon in July 1906, to be awarded to the first aviator to demonstrate a flight of more than 25 m. |
1906 |
| Glenn H. Curtiss | AEA June Bug First official U.S. flight exceeding 1 kilometer (5,360 ft (1,630 m). | 1908 |
| Louis Blériot Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000... |
Blériot V Blériot V |-See also:-References:... , Blériot XI Blériot XI The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in... On July 25, 1909 Louis Blériot successfully crossed the Channel from Calais to Dover in 36.5 minutes, 35 km |
1909 |
| Aerial Experiment Association Aerial Experiment Association The Aerial Experiment Association was a Canadian aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell... (AEA) |
Silver Dart AEA Silver Dart -References:NotesBibliography* Aerial Experimental Association . Aerofiles. . Retrieved: 19 May 2005.* Green, H. Gordon. The Silver Dart: The Authentic Story of the Hon. J.A.D. McCurdy, Canada's First Pilot. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1959.* Milberry, Larry. Aviation in... on 10 March 1909, McCurdy flew the aircraft on a circular course over a distance of more than 35 km (20 mi). |
1909 |
| Aurel Vlaicu Aurel Vlaicu Aurel Vlaicu was a Romanian engineer, inventor, airplane constructor and early pilot.-Biography:Aurel Vlaicu was born in Binţinţi , Geoagiu, Transylvania. He attended Calvinist High School in Orăştie and took his Baccalaureate in Sibiu in 1902... |
Vlaicu 1909, Vlaicu I, Vlaicu II, Vlaicu III | 1909-1910 |
| Henri Fabre Henri Fabre Henri Fabre was a French aviator and the inventor of Le Canard, the first seaplane in history.Henri Fabre was born into a prominent family of shipowners in the city of Marseilles. He was educated in the Jesuit College of Marseilles, where he undertook advanced studies in sciences. He then studied... |
Le Canard Le Canard |-See also:-References:* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing-External links:*... , First seaplane. |
1910 |
| Duigan Brothers | Duigan Pusher Biplane | 1910 |
| John William Dunne John William Dunne John William Dunne FRAeS was an Anglo-Irish aeronautical engineer and author. In the field of parapsychology, he achieved a preeminence through his theories on dreams and authoring books preoccupied with the question of the nature of time... |
With the Dunne D.5 tailless Biplane, the fifth in a series of tailless swept-wing designs, Dunne was among the first to achieved natural stability in flight in the same year. | 1910. |
See also
- Timeline of aviationTimeline of aviationThis article does not contain direct references or citations but it builds upon other articles in Wikipedia which you can find in the links and in the year by year articles to the left. Those articles have references and citations...
- Aviation historyAviation historyThe history of aviation has extended over more than two thousand years from the earliest attempts in kites and gliders to powered heavier-than-air, supersonic and hypersonic flight.The first form of man-made flying objects were kites...
- Accidents and incidents in aviation
- World War I Aviation
- Vaimanika ShastraVaimanika ShastraThe Vaimānika Shāstra वैमानिक शास्त्र is an early 20th century Sanskrit text on aeronautics obtained by psychic channeling and automatic writing...
- List of years in aviation
- Incidents in Aviation
- History by contractHistory by ContractHistory by Contract, published in 1978, is a book written by Major William J. O'Dwyer, U.S. Air Force Reserve , of Fairfield, Conn. about the aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead....
External links
- Flying Machines
- Aviation Pioneers: An Anthology
- The Early Birds of Aviation
- Gustav Weisskopf 1. Motorflug der Welt 1901
- Gustave Whitehead's Flying Machines
- History Net article
- Wilbur Wright Birthplace Museum
- Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
- To Fly Is Everything
- Wright Aeronautical Engineering Collection
- FirstFlight - flight simulation, videos and experiments
- Kitty Hawk - Kill Devil Hills Wright Brothers Photographs 1900–1911 - Library of Congress
- Plane truth: list of greatest technical breakthroughs in manned flight by Jürgen SchmidhuberJürgen SchmidhuberJürgen Schmidhuber is a computer scientist and artist known for his work on machine learning, universal Artificial Intelligence , artificial neural networks, digital physics, and low-complexity art. His contributions also include generalizations of Kolmogorov complexity and the Speed Prior...
, Nature 421, 689, 2003 - About Santos Dumont first flight in Paris, with the "14-bis"
- HTML version of the Wright brothers' original patent
- Analysis of Wright Brothers' work
- U.S. Centennial of Flight
- AeroSpace Show - RTP-TV 2003 Video Tour of Wright Brothers Monument at Kill Devil Hills
- New Scientist Magazine Scientific Firsts: Print of Wright Flyer in France 1907
- PBS Nova: The Wright Brothers' Flying Machines
- 1905 Wright Flyer III
- National Park Service, Wright Brothers' Memorial
- Smithsonian Stories of the Wright flights
- Photographic Record of the Wright Brothers
- Scientific American Magazine (December 2003 Issue) The Equivocal Success of the Wright Brothers
- Wright Brothers videos and archive films on Google Video
- Centennial Flight