First in flight 101

Air Planes

By BlueC0

  • First Air Plane is Invented

    First Air Plane is Invented
    In 1804 an English baronet, Sir George Cayley, launched modern aeronautical engineering by studying the behavior of solid surfaces in a fluid stream and flying the first successful winged aircraft of which we have any detailed record

  • First Sustained Flight in an Airplane

    First Sustained Flight in an Airplane
    Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, complete the first four sustained flights with a powered, controlled airplane

  • The Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane, introduced

    The Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane, introduced
    Hugo Junkers, a German professor of mechanics introduces the Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane built largely of a relatively lightweight aluminum alloy called duralumin.

  • First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic

    First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic
    On May 21, Charles Lindbergh completes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, traveling 3,600 miles from New York to Paris in a Ryan monoplane named the Spirit of St. Louis. On June 29, Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitland complete the first flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii. At 2,400 miles it is the longest open-sea flight to date.

  • First modern commercial airliner

    First modern commercial airliner
    In February, Boeing introduces the 247, a twin-engine 10-passenger monoplane that is the first modern commercial airliner. With variable-pitch propellers, it has an economical cruising speed and excellent takeoff. Retractable landing gear reduces drag during flight.

  • B-52 bomber

    B-52 bomber
    Boeing makes the B-52 bomber. It has eight turbojet engines, intercontinental range, and a capacity of 500,000 pounds.

  • First aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering

    First aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering
    Boeing debuts the twin-engine 777, the biggest two-engine jet ever to fly and the first aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering. Only a nose mockup was actually built before the vehicle was assembled—and the assembly was only 0.03 mm out of alignment when a wing was attached.

  • Joint research program to develop second-generation supersonic airliner

    Joint research program to develop second-generation supersonic airliner
    NASA teams with American and Russian aerospace industries in a joint research program to develop a second-generation supersonic airliner for the 21st century. The centerpiece is the Tu-144LL, a first-generation Russian supersonic jetliner modified into a flying laboratory. It conducts supersonic research comparing flight data with results from wind tunnels and computer modeling.