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Jan 1, 1485
The Ornithopter
Leonardo designed many mechanical devices, and studied the flight of birds as well as their structure. About 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter. Tho, he actually never attempted to build the ornithopeter. -
Model Glider
Bartolomeu Laurenço de Gusmao designed a model glider in 1709. He presented a detailed artwork to King John V of Portugal, seeking royal favour for his invention of an airship. -
The First Hot Air Balloon
The Montgolfier brothers, born in Annonay, France, were the inventors of the first hot air balloon. The first demonstrated flight of a hot air balloon took place on June 4, 1783, in Annonay, France. When the brothers held a flame near the opening at the bottom, the bag (called a balon) expanded with hot air and floated upward. -
Biplane Design
In 1804 George Cayley designed and built a model monoplane glider. The model featured an adjustable cruciform tail, a kite-shaped wing mounted at a high angle of incidence and a moveable weight to alter the center of gravity. It was probably the first gliding device to make significant flights. -
Wright Brothers
When the Wright Brothers were young, their father bought them a small ‘helicopter’ built in France. They later commented that this helicopter sparked an interest in flight. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. -
Jet Engine
Frank Whittle, British inventor, invented the jet engine in 1930. He was an English engineer and pilot, He was only 22 when he first thought to use a gas turbine engine to power the massive planes of the air army. With private financial support, he began construction of his first engine in 1935. -
First Satellite
Soviet Union launcheed the first man-made earth satellite, Sputnik 1. While the Sputnik was launched, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. -
First Reusable Spacecraft
U.S. launched the first reusable spacecraft, the Columbia shuttle. NASA's space shuttle was the world's first reusable spacecraft. It launched like a rocket, and returned to Earth like a glider. -
Sealth Airplane
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft. It was a black project, an ultra-secret program until the late 1980s. The project began in 1975 with a model called the "Hopeless Diamond". -
The Kite
Kites were first invented in China. The first kite was made from bamboo and silk in China. The earliest written account of kite was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over a wall to measure how far was it.
