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HISTORY OF FLIGHT

Around 400 BC - China

Chinese were the first to use kites which amused them as well as were used as flying objects for testing weather conditions.  The invention of kites were vey important during those times as that is what triggered the invention of balloons and gliders.

Humans try to fly like birds

For many centuries, humans kept trying to fly like birds. Wings made of feathers or light weight wood were atached to arms to fly. The results as you can imagine were disastrous.

Aeolipile          

Aeolipile was created by an ancient greek engineer using steam as power source.

1485 Leonardo da Vinci - The Ornithopter

Leonardo da Vinci's Ornithopter          

Leonardo da Vinci created varius drawings that illustrated different theories of flight and they are considered to be the first aviation drawings somewhere close to reality.

However his drawings were never put to creation, but it remained as a drawing and modern day helicopter is the closest resemblance to his drawing board creations.

1783 - Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier- the First Hot Air Balloon

The brothers, Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, invented hot air balloons.  They made fire to blow hot air into a silk bag which rose in air when hot air was filled in it.

In 1783, the balloon was tested with animals as passengers. It climbed to six thousand feet and travelled almost 1 mile in its maiden journey.  Then test were conducted with humans as passengers.  The first flight with passengers was in November 1783.

1799 - 1850's - George Cayley

A version of Glider           

George Cayley made different versions of gliders and were tested with humans.

For 50 years he continued with his endeavors and kept on improving the structure of gliders, he even designed a tail for the glider to control air flow. He created a biplane design for addition of strength to his glider structure, also he was the first to realise that anything to fly will need power for it to stay in air for a longer time.

Cayley even wrote in one of the magazines that fixed wing planes with power to assist and a tail portion to control will be the best possible way for man to fly.

19th And 20th Century Efforts

1891 Otto Lilienthal

One of Lilienthal's Gliders        

Otto Lilienthal was the first successful inventor to create a glider which could actually fly humans and stay in air for a longer time.

He was excited with the idea of flight and wrote many books on aerodynamics, which had fascinated the Wright brother and formed the basis upon which they conducted their studies and experiments.

After doing more than 2500 flights, he was killed in an aviation related accident when his glider crashed after being caught in strong winds.

1891 Samuel P. Langley

Langley's Aerodrome   

Samuel langley was an astronomer who realised during his initial days of experimenting to fly that power is the main source for flying.  He invented a glider like structure with steam powered engine to assist the flying.  It flew for almost a mile before running out of fuel.

Langley was assisted by government with a grant of $50000 for his experiements, but had to give up after a long research and still no results. He was later the Director of Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

1894 Octave Chanute

Octave Chanute was considered an aviation expert.  He wrote many compilations on the various efforts in aviation since ages.  The Wright Brother used all these books as a basis for much of the experiments conducted by them.  Chanute also followed the Wright Brothers experiments closely and used to comment on the technical aspects of their progress in his write ups.

1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright and the First Flight

Orville and Wilbur Wright were passionate and deliberate in their quest for flight. They spend their early years into flying invention reading about all the inventions till then.  They found out how kites flew, how gliders were functioning, how power was required for flying and most importantly they realised the power of air which was the basic foundation and concept of flying overlooked by all other inventors. After this they spent more time learning about the control aspects of an object in air.

They desinged and put to use a wind tunnel to chekc the flow of air and its effect on a gliders wings.  They then start looking for an engine that could give the required power as well as the lift required for the object to fly. The engine they used only generated 12 horsepower.

The Wright Brother's Flyer       

The first flight by Wright Brothers was on December 17, 1903. Orville was the pilot of the plane weighing six hundred and five pounds.

Actual Flight of The Flyer at Kitty Hawk          

The first flight travelled 120 feet in 12 seconds and Orville is credited with the first flight in human history.  During the years to come, many an inventions in the field of aviation took place, but nothing has changed in the basic concept of flying from the way it was used in Kitty Hawk by the American Brothers from Ohio.