Early flying machines

This article is an overview of early flying machines and aviation research, and an analysis of the debates over early flying machines. The goal is to examine the properties of flying machines, and to list the claims to allow a proper analysis of all the early flying machines. The story of flight begins more than a century before the 1903 Wright Flyer, and goes on some decades with rotorcraft.

Contents 1 Controversies 1.1 Invented by ? 1.2 Veracity of claims 1.3 Various claims 2 Early flying machine claims 3 Claims to first flying machine (unmanned) by date 4 Claims to first piloted flight by date 4.1 Pre-19th century 4.2 19th century 4.3 20th century 5 Table of flying machines 6 More than design or literature 7 Historic records 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Controversies

Invented by ?

Most 'inventions' are the result of a series of technological advances, and the relative importance of the various contibutions made by different people is often a cause for debate. An obvious example is the relative importance of Newcomen and Watts in the development of the steam engine. Like many inventions the production of a practical aircraft was the result of a long process of thought and experiment by a series of people, but culminated in a pivotal design. Following this pivotal design, development continues but with the benefit of some new breakthrough or a slightly new direction. Who receives the credit for a specific achievement can be difficult to decide in some cases due to the nature of what was developed, the definition of the award, and veracity of claims. Often things are independently invented by different people.

Veracity of claims

Sources are often lacking or little more than hearsay, and patriotism or personal interests often colours opinion. Early flying machines, such those that predated the development of practical photography are often doubted for lack of proof. Re-creations or claims made long after events can add confusion to even the more straightforward cases. The number and quality of witnesses is also often analyzed. Various governments and other organisations will often only give some claims a 'official' approval in attempt to elevate one attempt over another, usually in the interest of a national or cultural pride, or in order to set themselves up as technical and historical authority figures. A great deal of disinformation and revisions can take place as well with some claims, both from individuals and governments, to adjust the level of importance of some respective claims.

Various claims

More general titles like 'father of aviation' add another layer of complexity by implying a societal effect and an effect on other machines. Many titles given to various claims vary from country to country, and indeed among various references and encyclopedias - that all use different criteria when considering the validity of a claim, the meaning of the title used, and all the other issues mentioned above. Various advances are presented here, mostly prototype machines and also some important pieces of literature.
Since claims are event based, the possibiliy of a claim is in theory verifiable by attempting a recreation of the event, but proving something is possible is not the same as proving it happened, and generally such recreations are of dubious authenticity. Regardless, a success or a failure can weigh heavily in analysis of claims regarding a particular flying machine.

Early flying machine claims

Many arguments about early flying machines come down to the exact definition of a "flying machine", or "a flight". A "Flying machine" could be defined as in Collins English Dictionary : (an aircraft is) "any machine capable of flying by means of buoyancy or aerodynamic forces, such as a glider, helicopter, or aeroplane".

• The main claim is that the machine was lifted, statically (aerostat) or dynamically (aerodyne).^[1] Heavier than air aircraft rely upon the movement of specific surfaces through the air (wings or rotors) to generate lift.
• Stability and control characteristics could be additional claims; some early aircraft were able to fly although neither stable nor fully controllable (being pitch unstable^[2] or unable to turn^[3] for instance).
• The kind of power needed to forward movement is not included in "aircraft" definition; it may be external (gravity for gliders) or inboard (engine). In a glider this is produced by converting potential energy (height) to kinetic energy (speed). In powered flight there is an engine of some description.
• Anything that falls can trade height for some forward motion, so what becomes very important with powered flying machines is turning stored energy into lift. A criterion for powered flight would be the ability to maintain altitude and speed. However, a flying machine might not be able to take off under its own power, and such a benchmark would also depends on the conditions of the air, especially wind conditions, as headwind should be needed for takeoff. Also, starting height, and any additional energy given to aircraft can become a subject of debate.
• A claim could involve a machine taking or not taking advantage of ground effect, lowering induced drag when flying close to the ground.

Claims to first flying machine (unmanned) by date

Bamboo flying toys, China — around 400 BC

A bamboo-copter is a toy propeller that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in Warring States Period China around 400 BC

Archytas, Ancient Greece

According to Aulus Gellius, Archytas, the Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and strategist, was reputed to have designed and built the first artificial, self-propelled flying device, a bird-shaped model propelled by a jet of what was probably steam, said to have actually flown some 200 metres.^[4][5] This machine, which its inventor called The Pigeon (Greek: Περιστέρα "Peristera"), may have been suspended on a wire or pivot for its flight.^[6][7]

Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Brazil and Portugal, an experimenter with early airship designs

In 1709 Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrated a small airship model before the Portuguese court, but never succeeded with a full-scale model.

Mikhail Lomonosov, Russia — 1754

In July 1754, Mikhail Lomonosov demonstrated a small tandem rotor to the Russian Academy of Sciences. This aerodyne was self-powered by a spring.

Alphonse Pénaud, France — 1871

An early successful model airplane was the rubber-powered "Planophore". The 0.45 m (1 ft 6 in) span model achieved a flight of 60 m (200 ft) in August 1871.

Claims to first piloted flight by date

Pre-19th century

<dfn>Louis-Sébastien Lenormand, France — 1783</dfn>

He is considered the first human to make a witnessed descent with a parachute. On December 26, 1783 he jumped from the tower of the Montpellier observatory in front of a crowd that included Joseph Montgolfier, using a 14 foot parachute with a rigid wooden frame.

<dfn>Pilâtre de Rozier, France — 1783</dfn>

Pilâtre de Rozier made the first trip by a human in a free-flying balloon (the Montgolfière): 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) covered in 25 minutes, 21 November 1783, near Paris.

<dfn>Professor Jacques Charles and Les Frères Robert, (Anne-Jean and Nicolas-Louis)</dfn>

1. Le Globe, the first hydrogen gas balloon flew on 26 August 1783.

2. On 1 December 1783 La Charlière piloted by Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert made the first manned hydrogen balloon flight.

3. On 19 September 1784, La Caroline, an elongated craft that followed Jean Baptiste Meusnier's proposals for a dirigible balloon, completed the first flight over 100 km from Paris to Beuvry.

19th century

<dfn>John Stringfellow, England — 1848</dfn>

First heavier than air powered flight, accomplished by an unmanned steam powered monoplane of 10 feet (3.0 m) wingspan. In 1848, he flew a powered monoplane model a few dozen feet at an exhibition at Cremorne Gardens in London.^[8]

<dfn>Henri Giffard, France — 1852</dfn>

On 24 September 1852 Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight travelling 27 km (17 mi) from Paris to Trappes. It was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (then known as a dirigible). Both practical and steerable, the hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 hp steam engine that drove a 3 blades propeller.

<dfn>George Cayley, England — 1853</dfn>

First well-documented Western human glide. Cayley also made the first scientific studies into the aerodynamic forces on a winged flying machine and produced designs incorporating a fuselage, wings, stabilizing tail and control surfaces. He discovered and identified the four aerodynamic forces of flight - weight, lift, drag, and thrust. Modern airplane design is based on those discoveries including cambered wings. He is sometimes called the "Father of aviation".^[9][10]

<dfn>Jean-Marie Le Bris, France, flight in 1856</dfn>

Jean-Marie Le Bris was the first to fly higher than his point of departure, by having his glider pulled by a horse on a beach, against the wind.

<dfn>Jan Wnek, Poland — controlled flights 1866 - 1869.</dfn>

Jan Wnek controlled his glider by twisting the wing's trailing edge via strings attached to stirrups at his feet.^[11] Church records only—Kraków Museum unwilling to allow verification.

<dfn>Goodman Household, South Africa, 1871</dfn>

Goodman allegedly built and flew his own glider over one hundred meters. The story is that he crashed breaking both glider and a leg. The event took place in the Kwazulu Natal Midlands near Curry's Post in 1871 and is recorded variously in legend and local literature, although there are no contemporary written sources for the achievement.^[12][13]

<dfn>Félix du Temple de la Croix, France, 1874</dfn>

First take-off of a manned and powered aircraft, using a sloping ramp, resulting in a brief hop a few feet above the ground.

<dfn>Victor Tatin, France, 1874</dfn>

First airplane to lift itself under its own power, the Aeroplane was an unmanned plane powered by a compressed-air engine.

<dfn>John Joseph Montgomery, United States of America 1883</dfn>

First controlled glider flight in the United States, from a hillside near Otay, California.

<dfn>Charles Renard, France 1884</dfn>

Aboard the dirigible "La France", first closed course circuit, length 7.6 kilometres (4,7 mi) near Chalais-Meudon, august 9, 1884.

<dfn>Alexander Feodorovich Mozhaiski, Russian Empire — 1884</dfn>

First powered hop by a manned multi-engine (steam) fixed-wing aircraft, 60–100 feet (20-30 m), from a downsloped ramp.

<dfn>Clément Ader, France — October 9, 1890</dfn>

He reportedly made the first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight of a significant distance (50 metres) but insignificant altitude from level ground in his bat-winged, fully self-propelled fixed wing aircraft with a single tractor propeller, the Ader Éole. Seven years later, the Avion III is claimed to have be flown over 300 metres, just lifting off the ground, and then crashing. The event was not publicized until many years later, as it had been a military secret. The events were poorly documented, the aeroplane not suited to have been controlled and there was no further development.

<dfn>Otto Lilienthal, Germany — 1891 </dfn>

The German "Glider King" was a the first person to make controlled untethered glides repeatedly, and the first to be photographed flying a heavier-than-air machine. He made about 2,000 glides until his death August 10, 1896 from injuries in a glider crash the day before.

<dfn>Chūhachi Ninomiya, Japan - 1894</dfn>

Japanese inventor who developed several small powered models including an early tailless aircraft.

<dfn>Lawrence Hargrave, Australia—November 12, 1894</dfn>

The Australian inventor of the box kite, linked four of his kites together, added a sling seat, and flew 16 feet (4.9 m). By demonstrating to a sceptical public that it was possible to build a safe and stable flying machine, Hargrave opened the door to other inventors and pioneers. Hargrave devoted most of his life to constructing a machine that would fly. He believed passionately in open communication within the scientific community and would not patent his inventions. Instead, he scrupulously published the results of his experiments in order that a mutual interchange of ideas may take place with other inventors working in the same field, so as to expedite joint progress. [1]

<dfn>Hiram Stevens Maxim, United Kingdom — 1894</dfn>

The American inventor of the machine gun built a very large 3.5 ton (3.2 t) flying machine that ran on a track and was propelled by powerful twin naphtha fuelled steam engines. He made several tests in the huge biplane that were well recorded and reported. On July 31, 1894 he made a record breaking speed run at 42 miles per hour (68 km/h). The machine lifted from the 1,800-foot (550 m) track and broke a restraining rail, crashing after a short uncontrolled flight just above the ground.

<dfn>Samuel Pierpont Langley, United States — May 6, 1896</dfn>

First sustained flight by a heavier-than-air powered, unmanned aircraft: the Number 5 model, driven by a miniature steam engine, flew half a mile in 90 seconds over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. In November the Number 6 flew more than five thousand feet. Langley's full-size manned powered Aerodrome failed twice in October and December 1903.

<dfn>Octave Chanute, United States — Summer 1896</dfn>

Designer of first rectangular wing strut-braced biplane (originally tri-plane) hang glider, a configuration that strongly influenced the Wright brothers. Flown successfully at the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan, U.S. by his proteges, including Augustus Herring, for distances exceeding 100 feet (30 m).

<dfn>Carl Rickard Nyberg, Sweden — 1897</dfn>

Managed a few short jumps in his Flugan, a steam powered, manned aircraft

<dfn>Gustave Whitehead, United States — 1899</dfn>

Reportedly flew a steam-powered monoplane about half a mile and crashed into a three-story building in Pittsburgh in April or May 1899, according to a witness who gave a statement in 1934, saying he was the passenger.^[14]

<dfn>Percy Pilcher, England — 1899</dfn>

Pioneer British glider/plane builder and pilot; protege of Lilienthal; killed in 1899 when his fourth glider crashed shortly before the intended public test of his powered triplane. Cranfield University built a replica of the triplane in 2003 from drawings in Philip Jarrett's book "Another Icarus". Test pilot Bill Brooks successfully flew it several times, staying airborne up to 1 minute and 25 seconds.

<dfn>Augustus Moore Herring, United States — 1899 </dfn>

Claimed a flight of 70 feet (21 m) by attaching a compressed air motor to a biplane hang glider. However, he was unable to repeat said flight with anyone present.

20th century

<dfn>Dr Wilhelm Kress, Austria — 1901</dfn>

Tested Drachenflieger, tandem monoplane seaplane similar to Samuel Langley, which made brief airborne hops but could not sustain itself.

<dfn>Gustave Whitehead, United States — August 14, 1901</dfn>

First publicized account of a flight by an aeroplane heavier than air propelled by its own motor — Whitehead No. 21. Reports were published in the New York Herald, and the Bridgeport (CT) Herald. The event was reportedly witnessed by several people, one of them a reporter for the Bridgeport Herald. Reports said he started on the wheels from a flat surface, flew 800 metres at 15 metres height, and landed softly on the wheels. Other reports said he never flew.^[14]

<dfn>Lyman Gilmore, United States — May 15, 1902 </dfn>

Gilmore claimed to be the first person to fly a powered aircraft (a steam-powered glider). No witnesses.

<dfn>Gustave Whitehead, United States — January 17, 1902</dfn>

Whitehead claimed two flights on January 17, 1902 in his improved Number 22, with a 40 Horsepower (30 kW) motor instead of the 20 hp (15 kW) in the Number 21 aircraft and aluminium instead of bamboo. In two published letters that he wrote to American Inventor magazine,^[15] he said the flights took place over Long Island Sound and covered distances of about two miles (3 km) and seven miles (11 km) at heights up to 200 feet (61 m), ending with safe landings in the water by the boat-like fuselage. Some later affidavits assert he flew, others that he never flew.^[14]

<dfn>Orville & Wilbur Wright, United States — October 1902</dfn>

Completed development of the three-axis control system with the incorporation of a movable rudder connected to the wing warping control on their 1902 Glider. They subsequently made several fully controlled heavier than air gliding flights, including one of 622.5 ft (189.7 m) in 26 seconds. The 1902 glider was the basis for their patented control system still used on modern fixed-wing aircraft.

<dfn>Richard Pearse, New Zealand — March 31, 1903</dfn>

Several people reportedly witnessed Pearse make powered flights including one on this date of over 100 ft (30 m) in a high-wing, tricycle undercarriage monoplane powered by a 15 hp (11 kW) air-cooled horizontally opposed engine. Flight ended with a crash into a hedgerow. Although the machine had pendulum stability and a three axis control system, incorporating ailerons, Pearse's pitch and yaw controls were ineffectual. (In the mockumentary Forgotten Silver, director Peter Jackson recreated this flight, supposedly filmed by New Zealand filmmaker Colin McKenzie. The film was so convincing, Paul Harvey reported it as genuine on his syndicated News and Comment program).

<dfn>Karl Jatho, Germany — August 18, 1903</dfn>

On August 18, 1903 he flew with his self-made motored gliding aircraft. He had four witnesses for his flight. The plane was equipped with a single-cylinder 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) Buchet engine driving a two-bladed pusher propeller and made hops of up to 200 feet (60 m), flying up to 10 feet (3.0 m) high.

<dfn>Orville & Wilbur Wright, United States — December 17, 1903</dfn>

First recorded controlled, powered, sustained heavier than air flight, in Wright Flyer. In the day's fourth flight, Wilbur Wright flew 852 ft (260 m) in 59 seconds. First three flights were approximately 120, 175, and 200 ft (61 m), respectively. The Wrights laid particular stress on fully and accurately describing all the requirements for controlled, powered flight and put them into use in an aircraft which took off without the aid of a catapult from a level launching rail, with the aid of a headwind to achieve sufficient airspeed before reaching the end of the rail.

<dfn>John Joseph Montgomery and Daniel Maloney, United States 1905</dfn>

First high altitude flights with Maloney as pilot of a Montgomery tandem-wing glider design. The glider was launched by balloon to heights up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) with Maloney controlling the aircraft through a series of prescribed maneuvers to a predetermined landing location in front of a large public gathering at Santa Clara, California.

<dfn>Wilbur Wright, United States — October 5, 1905 </dfn>

Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles (39 km) in 39 minutes (a world record that stood until Orville Wright broke it in 1908) and returns to land the plane at the takeoff site.

<dfn>Traian Vuia, Romania — March 18, 1906 </dfn>

Fully self-propelled, fixed-wing aircraft using a carbonic acid gas engine and a single tractor propeller. He flew for 12 metres in Paris without the aid of external takeoff mechanisms, such as a catapult, a point emphasized in newspaper reports in France, the U.S., and the UK. The possibility of such unaided heavier-than-air flight was heavily contested by the French Academy of Sciences, which had declined to assist Vuia with funding

<dfn>Jacob Ellehammer, Denmark — September 12, 1906</dfn>

Built monoplane, which he tested with a tether on the Danish Lindholm island.

<dfn>Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazil — October 23, 1906</dfn>

The 14 Bis at Bagatelle field, Paris. The Aero Club of France certified the distance of 60 metres (197 ft); height was about 2–3 metres (6–10 ft). Winner of the Archdeacon Prize for first official flight of more than 25 metres. Described by some scholars as the first "sportsman of the air". As reported in previous years and months by Ader, Whitehead, Pearse, Jatho and Vuia, the 14-Bis biplane was able to autonomous takeoff without a launching rail, catapult or headwind, powered by an internal combustion engine.

<dfn>Breguet brothers, France — 1907</dfn>

Jacques and Louis Breguet helicopters experiments resulted in the Gyroplane No. 1 lifting its pilot up into the air about 60 cm (2 ft) for a minute. However, the flight proved to be extremely unsteady. For this reason, the flights of the Gyroplane No. 1 are considered to be the first manned flight of a helicopter, but not a free flight.

<dfn>Paul Cornu, France — 1907</dfn>

On 13 November 1907, the Paul Cornu helicopter lifted its inventor to 30 cm (1 ft) and remained aloft for 20 seconds. It was reported to be the first truly free flight with a pilot.

<dfn>Henri Fabre, France — 1910</dfn>

On march 28, 1910, the Fabre hydravion named "le canard", an experimental floatplane designed by Henri Fabre, was notable as the first hydroplane in history to take off from water under its own power.

<dfn>Juan de la Cierva, Spain — 1923</dfn>

De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft in 1923 with his C.4 autogyro prototype.

Table of flying machines

Literature, Designs only:

Designer/maker	Nationality	Title or specialty	Year	Status/Description
Roger Bacon	British	Secrets of Art and Nature	c. 1250	ornithopter design
Leonardo da Vinci	Italian	The Ornithopter	c. 1490	design, literature
Emanuel Swedenborg	Swedish	Flying Machine	1714	design, literature
Sir George Cayley	British	On Aerial Navigation	1809–1810	Technical literature. This work laid the ground rules for all later aircraft
Le Comte Ferdinand Charles Honore Phillipe d'Esterno		On The Flight Of Birds (Du Vol des Oiseaux)	1864	technical literature
Louis Pierre Mouillard	French	The Empire Of The Air (L'Empire de L'Air)	1865	literature
Otto Lilienthal	German	Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation (Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst)	1889	literature
James Means	American	The Problem of Manflight, Aeronautical Annual	1894–1897	literature
Octave Chanute	American (born in France)	Progress in Flying Machines	1894	His technical articles collected in a book
Wilbur Wright	American	Some Aeronautical Experiments	1901	Published speech to Western Society of Engineers, Chicago
Martin Wiberg	Swedish	"Luftmaskin"	1903	Received a patent for a design powered by a liquid fuel rocket

More than design or literature

Note overlapping years in several cases, so all items in this list may not be in strict chronological order.

Designer/Maker	Nationality	Machine name/description	Year	Claimed	Achieved
John Childs	American	"Feathered glider"	1757	Three successful flights in two days	Reports suggest that this was a fairground trick, involving sliding down a tethered rope. He had claimed to have performed the same stunt many times earlier in Europe
William Samuel Henson	British	Aerial Steam Carriage, "modern"-looking monoplane with "cabin", tail and twin pusher propellers	1842		Models only, publicity illustrations
John Stringfellow	British	The Stringfellow Machines	1848, 1868		Indoor flights by fixed-wing steam-powered models
Sir George Cayley	British	"Governable Parachute"	1849–1853		Child- and man-carrying glides, both towed and free-flying
Rufus Porter	American	The New York to California Aerial Transport	1849		Uncompleted steam-powered dirigible
Jean Marie Le Bris	French	The Artificial Albatross	1857, 1867		Towed gliding flight
Felix and Louis du Temple de la Croix	French	Du Temple Monoplane, aluminum construction, steam-powered	1857–1877		Powered manned hop from ramp
James William Butler, Edmund Edwards		The Steam-Jet Dart	1865
Francis Herbert Wenham	British	"Aerial Locomotion" (academic paper)	1866		Patented superposed wing design (biplane, mulitplane); invented wind tunnel
Jan Wnęk	Polish	glider	1866–1869	Controlled flights from local church tower
Frederick Marriott		Marriott flying machines	1869
Alphonse Pénaud	French	Planophore, Pénaud Toy Helicopter	1871		Rubber-powered fixed-wing and helicopter models
Thomas Moy	British	Moy Aerial Steamer, tandem wings, 120 lb (55 kg), 15 ft (4.6 m) wingspan, 3 horsepower, twin fan-type propellers	1875		Lifted 6 inches (0.15 m) from ground at London Crystal Palace
Enrico Forlanini	Italian	Demonstration in Milan, Helicopter, unmanned, steam-powered.	1877		rose to 13 meters (40 feet) for 20 s duration: first heavier than air self-powered machine to fly
Thomas Moy	as above	The Military Kite	1879
Charles F. Ritchel	American	Ritchel Hand-powered Airship	1878
Victor Tatin	French	Tatin flying machines	1879
J. B. Biot	French	The Biot Kite	1880
Alexandre Goupil	French	Goupi Monoplane, La Locomotion Aerienne	1883
John Joseph Montgomery	American	Montgomery monoplane, Tandem-wing Gliders	1883–1911		A pre-1900 foot-launched manned glide; balloon-launched after 1900
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski	Russian	Mozhaiski Monoplane, multi-engine, steam	1884		Powered manned hop from ramp
Massia and Biot		Massia-Biot Glider	1887
Pichancourt		Mechanical Birds	1889
Lawrence Hargrave	British immigrant to Australia	Hargave flying machines and Box Kites	1889–1893		influential designs
Clément Ader	French	Eole, Avion, bat-wing, steam-driven	1890–1897	Manned, powered hops from level surface
Chuhachi Ninomiya	Japanese	The Tamamushi (model)	1891
Otto Lilienthal	German	Bat-wing hang gliders, mono- and biplane	1891–1896		2,000 manned glides, dozens photographed
Horatio Frederick Phillips	British	Multiplanes	1893–1907		Multiple-wing test machines; successful flights in 1904 (50 feet) and 1907 (500 feet)
Hiram Stevens Maxim	British (born in America)	Maxim Biplane, a behemoth machine: 145 ft (44.2 m) long, 3.5 tons, 110 ft (33.5 m) wingspan, two 180 hp steam engines driving two propellers.	1894		Broke from restraining rail and made uncontrolled manned flight. Total flying distance, 1,000 ft (305 m) while restrained, 924 ft (282 m) free flight. Total 1,924 ft (586 m)
Pablo Suarez		The Suarez Glider	1895
Percy Sinclair Pilcher	British	Bat, Beetle, Hawk bat-wing hang gliders	1896–1899		Manned glides; fatal crash before planned public test of powered triplane; modern replica flown
Octave Chanute and Augustus Herring	American (Chanute born in France)	Hang gliders, "modern" biplane wing design	1896		Manned glides
William Paul Butusov, with Chanute group	Russian immigrant to U.S.	Albatross Soaring Machine	1896		unmanned unpowered uncontrolled hop from ramp
Samuel Pierpont Langley	American	Langley Aerodrome, Tandem wings, unmanned, steam-powered.	1896		5,000 ft. (1.7 km), photographed
William Frost	Welsh	Frost Airship Glider	1896	Manned, 500 meters, possibly with balloon assist
Carl Rickard Nyberg	Swedish	Flugan	1897 and on	Hops
Edson Fessenden Gallaudet	American	Gallaudet Wing Warping Kite	1898
Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr.	American	Gilmore Monoplane, steam driven	1898	Too little info
Gustave Whitehead	German (Emigrated to U.S.)	Monoplane with pilot and passenger, steam powered	1899	Flew 500 m, crash
Wilhelm Kress	Austrian	Kress Waterborne Aeroplane	1901	Long hops
Gustave Whitehead	as above	Whitehead Albatross, glider	1901
Gustave Whitehead	as above	No. 21, bat-wing, 20 hp motor, twin tractor propellers	1901	800 m, 4 flights, body shifting control	Modern replica successfully flown
Gustave Whitehead	as above	No. 22, 40 hp motor, twin tractor propellers	1902	Flew 10 km circle; control by variable propeller speed and "rudder"
Richard William Pearse	New Zealand	Pearse Monoplane	1903	150 m, believed controllable but unstable -numerous witnesses
Karl Jatho	German	The Jatho Biplane	1903	.	70 m powered hop, unstable
Wright Brothers	American	Wright Flyer, level launch rail, headwind for sufficient airspeed	1903	.	Four flights, longest 852 feet (260 m), 59 s, controlled
Guido Dinelli		Dinelli Glider, Aereoplano	1903	70 m, no motor
Wilbur Wright	American	Wright Flyer III, catapult launch	1905		24 miles (39 km), circling, max height about 50 feet (15.2 m)
Louis Blériot, Gabriel Voisin	French	Blériot-Voisin floatplane glider, Blériot-Voison biplane	1905		Towed up, 600 m
Alberto Santos-Dumont	Brazilian living in France	14-bis, Hargrave-style box-cell wings, sharp dihedral, pusher propeller, internal combustion. (Demoiselle in 1909, tractor monoplane with wing-warping)	1906		Controlled, rose off flat ground with no external assistance, 200 meters, 21 s, first official European flight
Jacob Ellehammer	Danish	Monoplane, helicopter	1906, 1912		Tethered powered fixed-wing flight
Traian Vuia	Romanian, flight experiments in France	Vuia I, Vuia II monoplanes, Carbonic acid engine on Vuia I, internal combustion engine on Vuia II	1906–1907		Powered manned hops
Glenn H. Curtiss and A.E.A.	American	June Bug, biplane with wingtip ailerons	1908		First official 1 km U.S. flight
Louis Blériot	French	Blériot XI monoplane, tractor propeller	1909		Crossed the English Channel, France to Britain, 23 miles (37 km)
Aerial Experiment Association (A.E.A)	American	Silver Dart	1909		First controlled powered flight in Canada
Edvard Rusjan	Slovenian	EDA 1	1909
Ivan Sarić	Croatian	Sarić 1	1910
Duigan Brothers, John and Reginald	Australian	Duigan Pusher Biplane	1910

Historic records

Inventor	Accomplishment or Claim	Year
Zhuge Liang	Kongming lantern, first hot air balloon	2nd or 3rd century
'Abbas Ibn Firnas	Single flight of manned ornithopter; ended in crash and injury.	875[16][17]
Eilmer of Malmesbury	Single flight of manned glider.	1010
Unknown Chinese	Manned kites are common. Reported by Marco Polo	1290
Lagari Hasan Çelebi	First manned rocket flight	1633
Bartolomeu de Gusmão	First lighter-than-air airship flight	1709
John Childs	Unnamed flying device, flew 700m three times over two days. Documentation suggests that he glided down along a 700m rope and landed where the rope was fixed to the ground.	1757
Montgolfier brothers	Modern hot air balloon	1783
Diego Marín Aguilera	Single flight of manned-glider-wings	1793
William Samuel Henson	Aerial Steam Carriage, flight of model	1842
John Stringfellow	Stringfellow Machines	1848, 1868
Henri Giffard	Non-rigid airship, hydrogen filled envelope for lift, powered by steam engine	1852
Sir George Cayley	Cayley Glider, flight of manned glider. Investigating many theoretical aspects of flight. Many now acknowledge him as the first aeronautical engineer.	1853
Rufus Porter	New York to California Aerial Transport, an early attempt at an airline	1849
Jean Marie Le Bris	Artificial Albatross	1857, 1867
Félix du Temple de la Croix	Monoplane (1874) Maybe first powered manned fixed-wing flight, a short hop, from a downward ramp.	1857–1877
James William Butler and Edmund Edwards	Steam-Jet Dart Patented a prophetic design, that of a delta-winged jet-propelled aircraft, derived from a folded paper plane.	1865
Francis Herbert Wenham	Wenham's Aerial Locomotion	1866
Jan Wnęk	Loty glider, many flights	1866
Frederick Marriott	Marriott flying machines, as well as an attempt at an early airline	1869
Alphonse Pénaud	Planophore, Pénaud Toy Helicopter	1871
Thomas Moy	Moy Aerial Steamer,	1875
Thomas Moy	The Military Kite	1879
Charles F. Ritchel	Ritchel Hand-powered Airship	1878
Victor Tatin	Tatin flying machines	1879
Massia and Biot	Massia-Biot Glider	1879? 1887?
Alexandre Goupil	Goupi Monoplane, La Locomotion Aerienne	1883
John J. Montgomery	Montgomery Monoplane and Tandem-Wing Gliders	1883–1911
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski	Mozhaiski Monoplane	1884
Charles Renard|Arthur Constantin Krebs	The first fully controllable free-flight was made with the La France	1884
Pichancourt	Mechanical Birds	1889
Lawrence Hargrave	Hargrave flying machines and Box kites	1889–1893
Clément Ader	Éole, Avion, short, manned and powered, flights	1890–1897
Chuhachi Ninomiya	Karasu model, Tamamushi model	1891 ,1895
Otto Lilienthal	Derwitzer Glider, Normal soaring apparatus and others, many flights	1891–1896
Horatio Phillips	Phillips 1893 Flying Machine, Phillips 1907 Multiplane	1893, 1906
Hiram Stevens Maxim	Maxim Biplane	1894
Pablo Suarez	Suarez Glider	1895
Octave Chanute and Augustus Herring	Chanute and Herring Gliding Machines	1896
William Paul Butusov	Albatross Soaring Machine	1896
William Frost	Frost Airship Glider	1896
Percy Sinclair Pilcher	Pilcher Hawk Based on the work of his mentor Otto Lilienthal, in 1897 Pilcher built a glider called The Hawk with which he broke the world distance record when he flew 250 m (820 ft)	1897
Samuel Pierpont Langley	Langley Aerodromes	1896–1903
Carl Rickard Nyberg	Flugan, very short manned flight	1897
Edson Fessenden Gallaudet	Gallaudet Wing Warping Kite	1898
Gustave Whitehead	A purported steam engine powered, 500-1000m flight, ending in collision with a three-story house, according to affidavit 37 years later by Louis Darvarich, self-described passenger.[18][19][20][21]	1899
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin	Zeppelin airship LZ 1. The first Zeppelin flight occurred on July 2, 1900 over the Bodensee, lasted 18 minutes. The second and third flights were in October 1900 and October 24, 1900 respectively, beating the 6 m/s velocity record of the French airship La France by 3 m/s.	1900
Wilhelm Kress	Kress Waterborne Aeroplane hops	1901
Gustave Whitehead	A newspaper reported a manned, powered, controlled 800m flight. Whitehead claimed four flights on the same day in the aircraft, designated Number 21.[22]	1901
Alberto Santos-Dumont	Santos-Dumont gained fame by designing, building, and flying dirigibles. On 19 October 1901, he won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize of 100,000 francs by taking off from Saint-Cloud, flying his steerable balloon around the Eiffel Tower, and returning.	1901
Gustave Whitehead	He claimed a manned, powered, controlled 10 km flight, a circle over Long Island Sound, one of two flights the same day, landing in the water twice without damage to the plane, designated Number 22.[23]	1902
Lyman Gilmore	Gilmore Monoplane Built a steam-powered airplane and claimed that he flew it on May 15, 1902.	1902
Richard William Pearse	Pearse Monoplane. First flight March 31, 1902 Waitohi, New Zealand. Evidence exists that on 31 March 1903 Pearse made a powered, though poorly controlled, flight of several hundred metres and crashed into a hedge at the end of the field. The aircraft had a tricycle type landing gear and primitive ailerons.[24]	1903–1904
Wright brothers	Completed development of the three-axis control system with the incorporation of a movable rudder connected to the wing warping control on their 1902 Glider. They subsequently made several fully controlled heavier than air gliding flights, including one of 622.5 ft (189.7 m) in 26 seconds.	1902
Karl Jatho	Jatho Biplane 10 hp 70m hops	1903
Guido Dinelli	Dinelli Glider, Aereoplano	1903, 1904
Wright brothers	Wright Flyer I, Successful, manned, powered, controlled and sustained flight, 259m, in 59 seconds, according to the Federation Aeronautique International and Smithsonian Institution. Preceded by three other flights, each less than 200 feet.	1903
Ferdinand Ferber and Gabriel Voisin	Archdeacon glider	1904
Wright Brothers	Wright Flyer III Wilbur Wright pilots a flight of 24 miles (39 km) in nearly 39 minutes on Oct. 5, a world record that stood until Orville Wright surpassed it in 1908.	1905
Louis Blériot and Gabriel Voisin	Blériot-Voison floatplane glider, biplane	1905
Traian Vuia	Vuia I, Vuia II, Several short powered flights. August 1906, 24m flight. July 5, 1907, Flew 20m. and crashed.	1906–1907
Jacob Ellehammer	Ellehammer monoplane September 12, 1906 became the second European to fly an airplane (after Traian Vuia). He made over 200 flights in the next two years using many different machines. No distance data found.	1906–1907
Alberto Santos-Dumont	First official European flight on 23 October 1906 in aircraft designated 14-bis or Oiseau de proie ("bird of prey"). On 12 November 1906, he flew the 14-bis 220 metres in 21.5 seconds. He won the Archdeacon Prize founded by the Frenchman Ernest Archdeacon in July 1906, to be awarded to the first aviator to demonstrate a flight of more than 25 m.	1906
Glenn H. Curtiss	AEA June Bug First official U.S. flight exceeding 1 kilometer (5,360 ft (1,630 m).	1908
Louis Blériot	Blériot V, Blériot XI On July 25, 1909 Louis Blériot successfully crossed the Channel from Calais to Dover in 36.5 minutes, 35 km	1909
Aerial Experiment Association (AEA)	Silver Dart on 10 March 1909, McCurdy flew the aircraft on a circular course over a distance of more than 35 km (20 mi).	1909
Aurel Vlaicu	Vlaicu 1909, Vlaicu I, Vlaicu II, Vlaicu III	1909–1910
Henri Fabre	Le Canard, First seaplane.	1910
Duigan Brothers	Duigan Pusher Biplane	1910
John William Dunne	With the Dunne D.5 tailless Biplane, the fifth in a series of tailless swept-wing designs, Dunne was among the first to achieved natural stability in flight in the same year.	1910.

See also

• Timeline of aviation
• Aviation history
• Accidents and incidents in aviation
• World War I Aviation
• Vaimanika Shastra
• List of years in aviation
• Incidents in Aviation
• History by contract

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Flying Machines
• Aviation Pioneers: An Anthology
• The Early Birds of Aviation
• Gustav Weisskopf 1. Motorflug der Welt 1901
• Gustave Whitehead's Flying Machines
• History Net article
• Wilbur Wright Birthplace Museum
• Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
• To Fly Is Everything
• Wright Aeronautical Engineering Collection
• FirstFlight - flight simulation, videos and experiments
• Kitty Hawk - Kill Devil Hills Wright Brothers Photographs 1900–1911 - Library of Congress
• Plane truth: list of greatest technical breakthroughs in manned flight by Jürgen Schmidhuber, Nature 421, 689, 2003
• About Santos Dumont first flight in Paris, with the "14-bis"
• HTML version of the Wright brothers' original patent
• Analysis of Wright Brothers' work
• U.S. Centennial of Flight
• AeroSpace Show - RTP-TV 2003 Video Tour of Wright Brothers Monument at Kill Devil Hills
• New Scientist Magazine Scientific Firsts: Print of Wright Flyer in France 1907
• PBS Nova: The Wright Brothers' Flying Machines
• 1905 Wright Flyer III
• National Park Service, Wright Brothers' Memorial
• Smithsonian Stories of the Wright flights
• Photographic Record of the Wright Brothers
• Scientific American Magazine (December 2003 Issue) The Equivocal Success of the Wright Brothers
• Wright Brothers videos and archive films on Google Video
• Centennial Flight

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