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Timeline
of Flight
103 years after Orville Wright flew 120 feet on the Wright Flyer,
Steve Fosset flew the Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer 26,389 miles nonstop
around the world, and then some. Worlds apart, but both remarkable
achievements.
Over the last 100 years huge steps have been made in the aviation
and aerospace industry, by multi-billion dollar government projects
and privateer inventors alike. Here is a timeline of events covering
the advances and defining moments in flight over the last century.
| Orville Wright pilots the first heavier than air
machine, the 'Wright Flyer' for 12 seconds covering
120 feet. |
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| Orville
Wright makes the first flight lasting more than
30 minutes. (33 mins) |
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| Lt.
Thomas E. Selfridge becomes the first person to
die in an air crash. Orville Wright is seriously
injured, and the inherent danger of flight is highlighted. |
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| First
flight across the English Channel is completed by
Louis Blériot. |
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| Baroness
Raymonde de la Roche (France) becomes the first
licensed female pilot. |
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| Henri
Fabre becomes the first man to take off from water. |
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| First
aeriel combat takes place between Allied and German
pilots shooting at each other using pistols. No
recorded deaths. |
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| First
aerial bombings of civilian population by German
Zeppelins on British towns. |
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| First
nonstop Transatlantic crossing by John Alcock and
Arthur Brown (England). |
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| First
lifesaving parachute jump by Lt. Harold Harris,
after the plane he was testing became inoperable.
(First planned parachute jump from an airplane was
in 1911). |
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| Charles
Lindbergh becomes the first man to fly solo across
the Atlantic, from New York to Paris in the 'Spirit
of St. Louis'. |
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| Fritz
Von Opel becomes the first man to pilot a rocket
powered aircraft. The flight lasts 75 seconds and
covers 2 miles. |
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| First
successful helicopter flight is made by Hanna Reitsch.
Reitsch was also the first female test pilot. |
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| First
turbine jet flight by a Heinkel He-178 piloted by
Erich Warsitz (Germany). |
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| First
jet powered fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt
Me 262 is test flown for the first time. It entered
service for the Luftwaffe late in 1944 and although
it was the fastest aircraft of the war it made a
negligible impact on the allied advance. |
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| The
X-1 experimental rocket plane piloted by Charles
(Chuck) E. Yeager breaks the sound barrier. |
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| 1949.
February 27 - march 2nd |
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first nonstop round the world flight is made by
a Boeing B-50A Superfortress piloted by Capt. James
Gallagher and a crew of 13 USAF personnel. Four
aerial re-fuelings were required. |
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| The
first commercial jetliner, a De Havilland Comet,
flies between London (UK) and Johannesburg (South
Africa). |
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| Yuri
Gagarin (USSR) aboard Vostok 1 becomes the first
man in space. |
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| The
Tupolev Tu-144 (Russia) becomes the first commercial
passenger jet to break the sound barrier. |
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| Neil
Armstrong (USA) becomes the first man to set foot
on the moon. Buzz Aldrin of the same Apollo mission
is second. |
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| The
'Gossamer Condor' flown by Bryan Allen becomes the
first effective human powered aircraft, and navigates
a 3 mile course. |
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| The
'Solar Challenger' becomes the first solar powered
aircraft to fly across the English Channel. |
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| 1986.
December 14th - 23rd |
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first nonstop round the world flight without refueling
is made by 'Voyager', piloted by Dick Rutan and
Jeana Yeager. |
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| First
nonstop round the world flight by a balloon is done
by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, flight starts
in Switzerland and ends in Egypt. |
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| SpaceShipOne
from Scaled Composites becomes the first private
manned spacecraft by achieving an altitude greater
than 328,000 feet twice within 14 days. |
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| 2005.
February 28th - March 3rd |
| The
first nonstop solo round the world flight without
refueling is done by Steve Fossett in the Virgin
Atlantic Globalflyer. |
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| Steve
Fossett lands in England after flying round the
world once, and crossing the Atlantic twice, covering
a distance of 26,389.3 miles. |
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