-
The Airbus 380 is currently the world’s largest
passenger plane. It can carry 555 passengers on 2 decks. (Date ????) -
The first machine to carry a person into the air was a hot-air balloon.
It was built by the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783. -
The first successful airship was built in 1852. Airships were pushed
forward by propellers and they were a popular means of transport in
the early 20th century. -
The first aircraft with wings were gliders. Otto
Lilienthal made many short glider flights in the
1890s. -
In 1903, the Wright Brothers, American bicycle makers, built the first
powered aeroplane. Their plane was driven by a very light petrol engine
that they designed and built themselves because the other engines that were
available were too heavy. -
However, jet power was developed in the 1930s. Jet engines suck air
in at the front and eject it at the back at a very high speed and as the
air goes backwards, the engine and the aircraft are thrust forwards.
The Comet was the world’s first jet airliner and it flew for the first
time in 1949. -
The first true helicopters were invented by the Russian Igor Sikorsky.
They lifted vertically, and had two blades that turned in opposite
directions. They were first used in 1939. -
In 1969, the first supersonic airliner (Concorde) flew
for the first time at twice the speed of sound, reaching
a speed of 1600 km/h and crossing the Atlantic from
New York to London in less than three hours.