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In 1799, Sir George Cayley set forth the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift.
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Cayley was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as early as 1803.
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In 1853 Cayley built a successful passenger-carrying glider.
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Between 1867 and 1896 the German pioneer of human aviation Otto Lilienthal developed heavier-than-air flight.
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In 1883, the American John J. Montgomery made a controlled flight in a glider.
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In 1894, his machine was tested with overhead rails to prevent it from rising.
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On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first successful experiment in which a machine carrying a man rose by its own power, flew naturally and at even speed, and descended without damage.
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By 1905, the Wright Flyer III was capable of fully controllable.
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In 1906, Alberto Santos Dumont made what was claimed to be the first airplane flight unassisted.
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In 1943, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first 'operational' jet fighter aircraft, went into service in the German Luftwaffe.
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The Boeing 747 was the world's biggest passenger aircraft from 1970 until it was surpassed by the Airbus A380 in 2005.
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The Boeing 707, the first widely successful commercial jet, was in commercial service for more than 50 years, from 1958 to 2010.