Airplanes

1st airplane

1901

first successful flying model propelled by an internal combustion engine Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-powered version of his tandem-winged "Aerodromes." the first successful flying model to be propelled by an internal combustion engine. As early as 1896 he launches steam-propelled models with wingspans of up to 15 feet on flights of more than half a mile.

2nd airplane

Dec 17, 1903

First sustained flight with a powered, controlled airplane Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, complete the first four sustained flights with a powered, controlled airplane at Kill Devil Hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On their best flight of the day, Wilbur covers 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. In 1905 they introduce the Flyer, the world’s first practical airplane.

3rd airplane

1904

Concept of a fixed "boundary layer" described in paper by Ludwig Prandtl German professor Ludwig Prandtl presents one of the most important papers in the history of aerodynamics, an eight-page document describing the concept of a fixed "boundary layer," the molecular layer of air on the surface of an aircraft wing. Over the next 20 years Prandtl and his graduate students pioneer theoretical aerodynamics.

4th airplane

1910

First take off from a ship Eugene Ely pilots a Curtiss biplane on the first flight to take off from a ship. In November he departs from the deck of a cruiser anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and lands onshore. In January 1911 he takes off from shore and lands on a ship anchored off the coast of California. Hooks attached to the plane's landing gear, a primitive version of the system of arresting gear and safety barriers used on modern aircraft carriers.

5th airplane

1914

Automatic gyrostabilizer leads to first automatic pilot Lawrence Sperry demonstrates an automatic gyrostabilizer at Lake Keuka, Hammondsport, New York. A gyroscope linked to sensors keeps the craft level and traveling in a straight line without aid from the human pilot. Two years later Sperry and his inventor father, Elmer, add a steering gyroscope to the stabilizer gyro and demonstrate the first "automatic pilot."

10th airplane

1919

U.S. Navy aviators make the first airplane crossing of the North Atlantic U.S. Navy aviators in Curtiss NC-4 flying boats, led Lt. Cdr. Albert C. Read, make the first airplane crossing of the North Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to London with stops in the Azores and Lisbon. A few months later British Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Albert Brown make the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.

20th airplane

1939

1939 First practical singlerotor helicopters Russian emigre Igor Sikorsky develops the VS-300 helicopter for the U.S. Army, one of the first practical singlerotor helicopters.

27th airplane

1963

1963 First small jet aircraft to enter mass production The prototype Learjet 23 makes its first flight on October 7. Powered by two GE CJ610 turbojet engines, it is 43 feet long, with a wingspan of 35.5 feet, and can carry seven passengers (including two pilots) in a fully pressurized cabin. It becomes the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production, with more than 100 sold by the end of 1965.

33rd airplane

1996

1996-1998 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.