0400 BC-03-01 00:00:00

First Self Propelled Flying Device

Archytas was reputed to have designed and built the first artificial, self-propelled flying device. Called "the Pigeon", it was a bird-shaped model propelled by a jet of what was probably steam, said to have flown some 200 m (660 ft). This machine may have been suspended for its flight.

1450 BC-03-01 00:00:00

First Human Flight

According to Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax holding together the wings melted, so he fell from the sky and died.

1502-01-01 00:00:00

First Design for a Man-Powered Aircraft

Leonardo da Vinci researched the wing design of birds and designed a man-powered aircraft in his Codex on the Flight of Birds, noting for the first time the distinction between the center of mass and the center of pressure of flying birds. Now held at the Royal Library of Turin, the codex begins with an examination of the flight behavior of birds and proposes mechanisms for flight by machines.

1530 BC-01-01 02:33:44

Soaring Through Time!

1783-01-01 13:52:09

First Hot Air Balloon Flight

The first hot air balloon was an experiment carried out by the Montgolfier brothers at Versailles. It was made of paper and powered by hydrogen gas emitted from a flame lit beneath the balloon. It flew 1500 feet over the Paris skyline.

1799-01-01 00:00:00

First Introduction of a Modern Airplane

George Cayley set forth the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control. Cayley was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as early as 1803, and he built a successful passenger-carrying glider in 1853.

1856-01-12 18:59:07

First Powered Flight

Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first powered flight, by having his glider "L'Albatros artificiel" (The Albatross) pulled by a horse on a beach

1883-01-01 00:00:00

First Controlled Flight

American inventor, physicist, and engineer, John J. Montgomery made a controlled flight in a glider which he called the Evergreen Monoplane Glider. Unlike most of its predecessors, the pilot of the Evergreen was seated below the wing, not between them.

1891-11-21 12:40:42

First Human Flight

German pioneer of human aviation Otto Lilienthal developed heavier-than-air flight. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. Lilienthal's work led to him developing the concept of the modern wing. The "Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat" is considered to be the first airplane in series production and his work heavily inspired the Wright brothers.

1894-08-06 16:51:49

First Engine Powered Aircraft

After much success with his invention of the machine gun, Sir Hiram Maxim began experimenting with aeronautics. In 1894, his machine was tested with overhead rails to prevent it from rising. The test showed that it had enough lift to take off. The craft was uncontrollable and it is presumed that Maxim realized this because he subsequently abandoned work on it. Now, it survives as an amusement park ride in Blackpool, England

1903-01-24 04:05:10

First Airplane Flight

Orville and Wilbur Wright invented and flew the first airplane, recognized as "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight". The Wright Flyer (sometimes called the Flyer 1 or the 1903 Flyer) was the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to fly successfully. The flight lasted just 12 seconds, traveled 120 feet, and reached a top speed of 6.8 miles per hour.

1907-05-30 18:54:11

First Helicopter

French engineer and bicycle maker Paul Cornu designed and built the first helicopter to successfully fly. Cornu himself piloted the first flight and ascended to an altitude of 1 foot. He hovered there for 20 seconds before descending and landing on the 4 bicycle wheels which acted as the helicopter's landing gear. The helicopter looked similar to a flying bicycle and featured rotating blades instead of wings.

1919-04-01 19:12:32

First Transatlantic Flight

British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. Also, a small amount of mail was carried on the flight, making it the first transatlantic airmail flight. For this flight, they were awarded the honor of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by King George V at Windsor Castle.

1930-04-01 19:12:32

First Jet Engine

Hans von Ohain of Germany was the designer of the first operational jet engine, though credit for the invention of the jet engine went to Great Britain's Frank Whittle. Whittle registered a patent for the turbojet engine in 1930 and received that recognition but did not perform a flight test until 1941. He had considered using a fan enclosed in the fuselage to generate a fast flow of air to propel a plane at high altitude. A piston engine would use too much fuel, so he ultimately used a gas turbine.

1932-02-18 03:57:34

First Female Solo-Flight

E Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly a solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight. On May 20th, 1932, Earhart set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland towards Paris, France. After a 15-hour flight, she ended up landing in Culmore, Ireland. Apart from holding this title, she was also the first female pilot to fly solo from the Hawaiian Islands to the US mainland.

2016-09-28 20:34:00

First Solar- Powered Flight

Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse 2 is the first plane powered by a renewable energy source to tour the globe. The journey took a very long time—505 days to fly 26,000 miles at an average speed of about 45 mph. The plane made 16 stops, including in India, China, the U.S., Italy, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates -- where it first took off. Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered aircraft equipped with more than 17,000 solar cells that weighs only 2.4 tons with a wingspan of 235 ft.