The dream of flying is as old as mankind itself.

However, the concept of the airplane has only been

around for two centuries. Before that time, men and
women tried to navigate the air by imitating the birds.
They built wings to strap onto their arm or machines
with flapping wings called ornithopters. On the
surface, it seemed like a good plan. After all, there
are plenty of birds in the air to show that the
concept does work.
1490 Leonardo DaVinci's plan for
a man-carrying ornithopter with
flapping wings

The trouble is, it works better at bird-scale than it

does at the much larger scale needed to lift both a
man and a machine off the ground. So folks began
to look for other ways to fly. Beginning in 1783, a
few aeronauts made daring, uncontrolled flights in
lighter-than-air balloons, filled with either hot air or
hydrogen gas. But this was hardly a practical way to
fly. There was no way to get from here to there
unless the wind was blowing in the desired direction.
It wasnt until the turn of the nineteenth century that
an English baronet from the gloomy moors of
Yorkshire conceived a flying machine with fixed
wings, apropulsion system, and movable control
surfaces. This was the fundamental concept of
the airplane. Sir George Cayley also built the first
true airplane a kite mounted on a stick with a
movable tail. It was crude, but it proved his idea
worked, and from that first humble glider evolved the
amazing machines that have taken us to the edge of
space at speeds faster than sound.

1783 Montgolfier hot-air

balloon.
1799 Sir George Cayley's plan for a
fixed-wing aircraft.

This wing of the museum focuses on the early history of the airplane, from its
conception in 1799 to the years just before World War I. Because we are a museum
of pioneer aviation, we dont spend a great deal of time on those years after Orville
Wright closed the doors of the Wright Company in 1916. We concentrate on the
development of the airplane before it was commonplace, when flying machines were
odd contraptions of stick, cloth, and wire; engines were temperamental and

untrustworthy; and pilots were never quite sure whether theyd be able to coax their
machine into the air or bring it down in one piece.

A History of the Airplane is divided into four sections:

The Aerial Steam Carriage, conceived by

William Henson in 1843, was the first
aircraft design to show propellers

THE CENTURY BEFORE

In 1799, Sir George Cayley defined the
forces of lift and drag and presented the
first scientific design for a fixed-wing
aircraft. Building on his pioneering work in
aeronautics, scientists and engineers
began designing and testing airplanes. A
young boy made the first manned flight in a
glider designed by Cayley in 1849. In 1874,
Felix du Temple made the first attempt at
powered flight by hopping off the end of a
ramp in a steam-driven monoplane. Other
scientists, such as Francis Wenham and
Horatio Phillips studied cambered wing
designs mounted in wind tunnels and on
whirling arms. Finally in 1894, Sir Hiram
Maxim made a successful takeoff (but a
woefully uncontrolled flight) in a biplane
"test rig." At the same time, Otto Lilienthal
made the first controlled flights, shifting his
body weight to steer a small glider. Inspired
by his success, Wilbur and Orville Wright
experiment with aerodynamic surfaces to
control an airplane in flight. Their work
leads them to make the first controlled,
sustained, powered flights on December
17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
In 1874, Felix du Temple made the first
attempt at manned flight in a powered
aircraft. He was not successful.

THE DECADE AFTER

The 1905 Wright Flyer III was the first
practical aircraft, capable of sustained
flight and navigation.

Immediately after the Wright Brothers make

their first powered flights in 1903, they begin
to develop their experimental aircraft into a
marketable product. By 1905 they have what
they consider to be a "practical flying
machine." Other experimenters learn of their
work and begin to build on their success. By
1906, would-be pilots are making tentative
hops in uncontrollable aircraft. By 1909, after
watching the Wrights' flying demonstrations,
they grasp the brilliance and necessity of
three-axis
aerodynamic
control.
The
performance of their aircraft quickly catch up
to, then surpass Wright Flyers. The
capabilities of and the uses for aircraft expand
as designers and pilots introduce float planes,
flying boats, passenger aircraft, observation
platforms fitted with radios and wireless
telegraphs, fighters, and bombers. As World
War I approaches, aircraft have become an
essential part of war and peace.
The Dunne flying wing, built and tested
by the British in 1910, was the first top
secret aircraft.

PILOTS, PLANES, AND PIONEERS

In 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first
licensed woman pilot in the United States

The history of pioneer aviation is resplendent

with heroes and heroines who took spindly,
underpowered aircraft and accomplished
amazing things. They were an odd collection
of scientists, entrepreneurs, adventurers,
soldiers, and people who just wanted to push
personal and cultural boundaries. What they
all had in common is that they blazed the
first trails through the sky and in doing so,
changed the world. This is a collection of
short biographies, arranged alphabetically.
We have added longer bios for a few
pioneers, and will add more as time allows.
.

WHO WAS FIRST?

Almost as soon as the news of the Wright brothers' first flights at Kitty Hawk and
Huffman Prairie became known, there were claims that others had been the first to
fly. We shouldn't deny these "wannabees" the acclaim they deserve; they are true
aviation pioneers and visionaries. It's interesting to note that with only a few
exceptions, none claimed this honor for themselves. It was claimed for them, often
many years after they had completed their
work. And the people who made these claims
often had transparent reasons -- reputations
to uphold, axes to grind, books to sell, and
tourism to encourage. The accounts
presented here reflect the conclusions of the
majority of aviation historians. We also
address a favorite of conspiracy theorists, a
controversial agreement between the Wright
estate and the Smithsonian, allegedly
designed to suppress whatever truth du
jour needs suppressing.
Workmen who built the Ezekiel Airship

for the Reverend Burrell Cannon claimed

to have made a flight in 1902