History of flight

  • Jan 1, 1519

    leonardo da vinci

    -Created over 100 designs for flying machines-Wrote codex on flight of birds
    -No designs were ever built during his time-
    Present testing proves some may have worked
    -Helicopter based on da Vinci's Ornothopter design
  • Henry cavendish

    -Discovered hydrogen
    -No intentional contribution
    -Hydrogen later used in blimps
  • montgolfier brothers

    -Invented the hot air balloonInspiration came from smoke and ash rising from fire
    -First public viewed flight June 4th 1783First manned flight
    -November 21st 1783First human pilots of an untethered flight
  • george cayley

    -“first true scientific aerial investigator and the first person to
    understand the underlying principles and forces of flight”-1799- introduced airplane concept for a fixed wing flying machine-included different systems for lift propulsion and control-Referred to as the father of aerodynamics-Designed the first successful glider to carry a man through the air
  • john stringfellow

    -Created the first ever powered airplane
    -10ft long and steam powered
    -Flown in 1848 inside a abandoned factory
  • otto lilienthal

    -Referred to as the father of flight
    -Famous for his repeated, documented, and successful gliding attempts
    -While making a gliding attempt he fell 50ft to his death
    -Gave people the idea that flight was a very possible idea
  • wright brothers

    -created the first powered airplane-Used three axis control which is currently standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds-Used a homemade wind tunnel to create their design for the airplane
    -Created the engine used in the plane in their bike shop
    -First flight december 17th 1903-Clocked at 27mph and 200 ft distance at 10 ft altitude
  • frank whittle

    -Created the first turbojet engine-1930 had concept patented-Lost patent in 1935 due to 5 pound renewal fee-rival company appeared to be about to beat whittle
    -Threw together a engine using spare parts-May 15th 1941 first successful flight
  • de havilland

    -Created first commercial airliner
    -Named “comet”-Built in the U.K.
    -Square windows caused cracks in the fuselage
    -This defect caused it to lose its reputation as soon as Boeing
    came out with their first airliner
    -Also created the fighter jets known as spitfire and mosquito plus others
  • sputnik 1

    -First artificial earth satellite
    -Provided many scientific discoveries regarding atmosphere
    -Triggered the space age causing the space race and then the cold war
    -Launched Oct. 4 1957
    -Spent 3 months in space before falling back to earth
    -Travelled 70000000 km
  • apollo 11

    -First spacecraft to land man on the moon
    -Launched july 16 1969
    -Landed on the moon july 20th 1969
    -Returned july 24th 1969
    -Huge accomplishment for mankind
    -The crew took a piece of the wright brothers plane up with them