Aviation

First powered flight

Dec 17, 1903

Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first recorded powered, sustained, and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine.

First trans-Atlantic flight

May 21, 1927

Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

Jet engine invented

Jan 16, 1930

British inventor Frank Whittle invents the jet engine.

First woman flies across Atlantic

Jun 21, 1932

Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly a solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

Record-breaking flights

Jan 17, 1937

New Zealander Jean Batten makes record-breaking flights around the world.

First jet-propelled aircraft

Aug 27, 1939

Germany’s Heinkel 178 is the first fully jet-propelled aircraft to fly.

Aerial agriculture developed in NZ

Sep 24, 1940

Seed sowing, top dressing and crop dusting are developed in New Zealand with ex-WW2 pilots and planes. Ossie James, in particular, is noted for his role in this.

Aircraft exceeds speed of sound

Oct 14, 1947

Charles Yeager pilots the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in level flight.

First supersonic transport flight

Mar 2, 1969

First flights of supersonic transport – Soviet TU-144 and Anglo-French Concorde.

Concorde passengers

Jan 17, 1976

Concorde begins its first passenger-carrying service.

First non-stop flight around world

Dec 23, 1986

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager fly the US ultralight Voyager around the world in a 9-day non-stop flight from California to California.

First non-stop world solo flights

May 16, 2006

Steve Fossett makes the first non-stop solo flight around the world (2005) and in 2006 lands in England after flying around the world once and crossing the Atlantic twice – a distance of 26,389.3 miles (42,469.46 kilometres).

Solar flight around the world

Jun 26, 2016

Solar Impulse 2 is the first plane powered by a renewable energy source to tour the globe.

Electric aircraft

Dec 11, 2019

In December the world’s first fully-electric aircraft for commercial flight completed a test in Canada.

New Zealand's first electric flight

Nov 1, 2021

On 1 November 2021 Gary Freedman flew New Zealand's only electric plane, (just one of around 30 in the world), from Blenheim to Welllington, see this Kea Kids news story on Stuff.