flight

By Joe Douglas
  • Jan 15, 1480

    Leonardo da Vinci's Ornithopter

    Leonardo da Vinci made the first real studies of flight in the 1480's. He had over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on flight.

  • Actual Flight of The Flyer at Kitty Hawk

    The first heavier-than-air flight traveled one hundred twenty feet in twelve seconds. The two brothers took turns during the test flights. It was Orville's turn to test the plane, so he is the brother that is credited with the first flight.

  • Picture of the actual 12 horsepower engine used in flight

    They designed and used a wind tunnel to test the shapes of the wings and the tails of the gliders. After they found a glider shape that consistently would fly in the tests in the North Carolina Outer Banks dunes, then they turned their attention to how to create a propulsion system that would create the lift needed to fly. The early engine that they used generated almost 12 horsepower.

  • One of The Montgolfier's Balloons

    In 1783, the first passengers in the colorful balloon were a sheep, rooster and duck. It climbed to a height of about 6,000 feet and traveled more than 1 mile.

  • One of Lilienthal's Gliders

    He was fascinated by the idea of flight. Based on his studies of birds and how they fly, he wrote a book on aerodynamics that was published in 1889 and this text was used by the Wright Brothers as the basis for their designs.

  • Langley's Aerodrome

    In 1891, his model flew for 3/4s of a mile before running out of fuel

  • A Model of a Wright Brothers Glider (1900

    The next step was to test the shapes of gliders much like George Cayley did when he was testing the many different shapes that would fly. They spent much time testing and learning about how gliders could be controlled.

  • PARIS AERO SALON

    Front view of Ader's "Avion No. 3." The bird-like appearanc2 of the machine is well
    shown, as also are the curious feather propellers

  • One Version of a Glider

    George Cayley worked to discover a way that man could fly. He designed many different versions of gliders that used the movements. Over 50 years he made improvements to the gliders. He changed the shape of the wings so that the air would flow over the wings correctly. He designed a tail for the gliders to help with the stability. He tried a biplane design to add strength to the glider. He also recognized that there would be a need for power if the flight was to be in the air for a long time

  • 70th anniversary of Gloster Whittle E-28 first flight

    The Gloster Whittle E-28 was the first British jet-engined aircraft to fly, although there is no mention of it in the Flight issue after the first flight which was reportedly 15 May 1941.