Airplanes

By ahmed moussa

  • First successful flying model propelled by an internal combustion engine

    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.

  • Automatic gyrostabilizer leads to first automatic pilot

    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."

  • First electromechanical flight simulator

    First electromechanical flight simulator
    Edwin A. Link introduces the Link Trainer, the first electromechanical flight simulator. Mounted on a base that allows the cockpit to pitch, roll, and yaw, these ground-based pilot trainers have closed hoods that force a pilot to rely on instruments. The flight simulator is used for virtually all U.S. pilot training during WWII.

  • B-2 bomber developed

    B-2 bomber developed
    Northrop Grumman develops the B-2 bomber, with a "flying wing" design. Made of composite materials rather than metal, it cannot be detected by conventional radar. At about the same time, Lockheed designs the F-117 stealth fighter, also difficult to detect by radar.

  • 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.

  • Antonov An-225 Mriya

    Antonov An-225 Mriya
    The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Soviet Union's Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s. The An-225's name, Mriya in Ukrainian. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The si