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Jan 1, 1490
Da Vinci's Plans for Flight
In the late 15th century, Leonardo Da Vinci developed ideas and plans for machines capable of flight. Many of his ideas included rotorcraft, fixed wing-gliders, and parachutes. These first ideas were originally man-powered, however, Da Vinci realized the impracticality of a man-powered flight machine and developed ideas of controlled gliding flight. -
Discovery of Hydrogen Gas
In 1766, the discovery of hydrogen gas led to new advancements in the world of aeronautics. With the newfound gas led to the invention of the hydrogen balloon, a device capable of flight in the similar fashion of how a helium balloon today flies. -
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The Hot Air Balloon
-On 4 June, the Montgolfier brothers showed an unmanned hot air balloon.
-On 27 August, Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers launched the first unmanned hydrogen-filled balloon
-On 19 October, the Montgolfiers launched the first manned flight, a tethered balloon with humans on board
-On 21 November, the Montgolfiers launched the first free flight with human passengers
-On 1 December, Jacques Charles and the Nicolas-Louis Robert launched a manned hydrogen balloon as a crowd of 400,000 watched -
Airships Rise and Fall
Airships, otherwise known as dirigibles or zeppelins, solved the issue of maneuverability that hot air balloons lacked. Henri Giffard created the first powered airship. Consisting of a gondola and a framed overhead covering, the airships utilize hydrogen and helium to fly rather than heat. However, the airship era came to a close on May 6, 1937 when the Hindenburg burst into flames and crashed into the ground, killing 36 people total. -
The Beginning of "Heavier than Air Aviation"
On October 9, 1890, French inventor Clément Ader made one of the first powered flights. His “flight” was only 20 centimeters above the ground but covered a total distance of 50 meters, which was quite significant at the time. However, the official and most universally accepted date that kick started aviation as we know it today is December 17, 1903. On that day Orville and Wilbur Wright made four flights in their Flyer, the longest of which lasted 59 seconds and covered 852 feet. -
First Passenger Air Service
The world’s first scheduled passenger air service began in Florida on January 14, 1914. It operated between St. Petersburg and Tampa. Despite only lasting for four months, the flights helped pave the way for modern-day transcontinental service. -
Safer, Standardized Civil Flights
In 1944, the Convention on International Civil Aviation, aka the Chicago Convention, was established. The agency’s goal was to standardize the efficiency, safety and consistency of all civil flights. Today that standardization has paid off in safer, more economical airliners operated by the major carriers. -
Era of Digital Aviation
With the emphasis during the modern era on adopting digital or computerized techniques, the aviation industry has really taken off. During the 1970s, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software enabled the creation of better aircraft designs. Computer simulations have also led to the discovery of better materials for creating lighter and stronger airplanes.
