History of Flight

It is impossible to say when people first dreamed of flying. In ancient Greek mythology Daedalus and Icarus made wings from feathers. In the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci drew diagrams of flying machines. But it wasn't until 1783 that people first flew in an aircraft-a balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers in France. The success of the Montgolfiers ensured that ballooning became popular in Europe in the 18th and 19TE centuries. This lead to steam-powered airships filled with lighter-than-air hydrogen gas, such as Giffard's of 1852 and the French army's La France of 1884. The 1800s also saw people experimenting with flying gliders. Englishman Sir George Cayley had success with a glider that was piloted by his coachman. In France, Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first "higher than departure" flight in 1856. A German, Otto Lilienthal, made over 2,000 flights in gliders before a flying accident killed him in 1896. Not long after, the Wright brothers successfully flew their propeller-driven plane near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.

The five decades following the Wrights' first flight saw the plane go from slow-flying crate to supersonic plane.

1903-1910: Other designers began to make their own plane designs. In 1909, the first air show was held at Reims, France. Some of the greatest pioneers of flight took part, such as Curtiss, Bleriot, Farman, and Latham. 

1911-1920: This decade saw the first aerial combat during World War I (1914-1918). In 1919, Alcock and Brown made the first flight across the Atlantic, nonstop, in a Vickers VimyT

1921-1940: These two decades were known as the "Golden Age" of flight. Epic flights were made by women as well as men. The first airliners appeared, and planes were being made out of lightweight metals.

1941-1950: Huge steps in flight were made during this period. Jet planes and rocket planes were produced during World War II (1939-1945). By 1947, a plane flew faster than sound.

 Questionnaire:

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