Development of Aircraft - Kalin

First Hot Air Balloon

Nov 21, 1783

Two brothers, Joseph and Jaques Montgolfer, created the first ever hot air balloon and the first ever manned flight of one.

First Flights

Dec 17, 1903

Orville and Wilbur Wright capped four years of research and design efforts with a 120-foot, 12-second flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina - the first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine. Prior to that, people had flown only in balloons and gliders.

Kitty Hawk

Jan 5, 1904

The Wrights issue a statement to the Associated Press describing their first powered flights at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903.

Second Model

Mar 26, 1904

The Wrights build a second airplane, the Flyer II. It is a copy of their first Flyer, but it has a more powerful motor.

Third Flyer

May 19, 1905

The Wrights build a third Flyer, scavenging the drive train and hardware from the second one. The new Flyer III incorporates many improvements.

Collaborating

Nov 2, 1905

Gabriel Voisin and Louis Blériot, France, decide to collaborate and form the world's first airplane manufacturing company. They make an odd-looking aircraft with oval wings and test it as a both glider and a powered airplane. It fails to fly, so they rebuild it with standard wings in front and an elliptical tail. It still refuses to fly.

Alberto Santos-Dumont,

Nov 12, 1906

Alberto Santos-Dumont, France, flies 722 feet (220 meters) in his 14-Bis, winning the Coupe Ernest Archdeacon cash award for making a flight over 100 meters (328 feet).

Voisin Fréres Company

Nov 17, 1906

Gabriel Voisin and his brother Charles form the Voisin Fréres Company to manufacture airplanes.

Incorperating Wright Company

Nov 22, 1909

Orville and Wilbur Wright incorporate the Wright Company to manufacture airplanes. The company is backed by New York financiers, including Delancy Nicoll, Cornelius Vanderbilt, August Belmont, Morton Plant, Thomas F. Ryan, Theodore P. Shonts, Russel Alger, and Robert Collier.

Flight School

Mar 10, 1910

Orville Wright and Charlie Taylor arrive in Montgomery, AL with five students and an airplane in tow. They open a flight school at a location that will one day become Maxwell Air Force Base.

Take off from Water

Mar 28, 1910

Henri Fabre makes the first successful take-off from water in a seaplane that he designed and built.

Belmont International Aviation Tournament

Period: Oct 22, 1910 to Oct 30, 1910

At the Belmont International Aviation Tournament, the first international air meet in America the Wrights unveil what will become their most popular airplane, the Wright Model B.

Japanese aircraft

Oct 25, 1910

Capt. Yoshitoshi Tokugawa, Japan, builds and flies the first Japanese aircraft, the Kai-1. It's patterned after a Farman design.

Prachute Jump

Mar 1, 1912

Albert Berry makes the first successful parachute jump from an airplane, dropping 1500 feet from a Benoist pusher piloted by Tony Janus.

Fokker Aeroplanbau

Mar 7, 1912

Anton Fokker establishes an airplane factory, Fokker Aeroplanbau, near Berlin, Germany. Ninety percent of his planes are sold to the German military.

First Woman to Parachute

Jun 21, 1912

Tiny Broadwick becomes the first woman to parachute from an airplane. The airplane is piloted by Glenn Martin.

Military Aviation Services

Oct 1, 1912

The German armed forces establishes the Military Aviation Services.

First True Airliner

Aug 26, 1913

Igor Sikorsky flies the huge 4-engine Ilya Muromets, the first true airliner. It is equipped with a heated cabin, electric lighting, wicker chairs, a bedroom, a lounge and even the first airborne toilet.

Aerobic Pilot

Sep 13, 1913

Adolphe Pegoud flies the first public loop-de-loop in a Bleriot monoplane near Buc, France. This and other stunts (such as flying inverted) make him the first aerobatic pilot.

Modern Parachute

Jul 4, 1914

Tiny Broadwick makes the first jump with a modern parachute – packed in a backpack and released with a rip cord – over San Diego, California.

World War 1

Aug 1, 1914

World War I breaks out in Europe. At this time, the US Army Aviation Division has only 12 officers, 54 enlisted men, and 6 airworthy airplanes. Glenn Curtiss cancels his plans for a trans-Atlantic flight.

Model J

Sep 26, 1914

Glenn Curtiss and B. Douglas Thomas rework the Model J to produce the Curtiss Model N. Curtiss and Thomas later refine the design to create the capable Curtiss Model JN or "Jenny."

First flight of a jet-powered aircraft

Aug 27, 1939

Sir Frank Whittle of Britain and Hans von Ohain of Germany created this invention. The jet age was born and a new era of air travel at a better speed was about to begin.

First Helicopter

May 13, 1940

Igor Sikorsky designed a truly successful helicopter incorporating all the components that have become standard on helicopters today.

First Commercial Flight

Oct 27, 1958

The Boeing 707 was also the first aircraft to introduce economy seating that made air travel affordable.

Leaving the solar system

Jun 13, 1983

Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar sytem.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Period: Oct 3, 1985 to Oct 7, 1985

STS-51J: First flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Youngest Pilot

Jul 27, 1994

Vicki Van Meter, age 12, becomes the youngest pilot to make a transatlantic flight in a Cessna 210.

Capturing Earth

Mar 27, 1998

NASA announces that the Hubble Space Telescope has captured the first actual image of a planet outside our own solar system.

More campacity

Jul 31, 2002

First flight of the Boeing 747-ER, which can carry 15,000 more pounds of people or cargo and can fly about 780km farther

Aviation World Record

Mar 4, 2004

Steve Fossett sets an aviation world record for speed around the world non-stop and non-refueled, completing the journey in a plane called Global Flyer, in 67 hours and 1 minute.

Longest Non-stop filght

Nov 10, 2005

A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner set a world record for the longest non-stop flight by a commercial jet. The plane flew 12,586 miles from Hong Kong to London. The plane made the trip in 22 hours and 42 minutes.