Important Events in the History of Aviation

Aerodacious (Aviation + Audacious = Aerodacious) eMail: Aerodacious Page LF-001 (Revised 01/21/2006)

Year	Month/Day	Person	Aviation Event
Circa 1500		Jean-Baptiste Dante	Made flights with a glider near Lake Trasimene, Perugia
1500		Leonardo Da Vinci	Sketched a parachute, an ornithopter and a helicopter.
1676-7		Besnier	Suggested an apparatus consisting of two rods, pivoted on the shoulder and equipped with fore and aft collapsible surfaces (like a book opening downward). Each up-stroke closed the surfaces and each down-stroke opened the surfaces for sustentation. Oscillating motion effected by action of hands and feet. He claimed a successful flight.
1742		Marquis de Bacqueville	Using imitation flapping wings, flew from his house on the Seine to the Garden of Tuileries. An accident midstream caused his failure (his wings ceased to act).
1781		Karl Meerwein	At Baden, computed the area of a spindle-shaped, man-supporting surface, from proportions of bird weight and wing surface. These figures were later substantiated by Lillienthal. Aviator was fastened to the middle of the under surface, holding a rod which operated the wings. One attempt by Meerwein was unsuccessful.
1809		Sir George Cayley	Built a glider of 300 foot wing surface, which skimmed the ground and sailed from hilltops.
1842		Henson	Patented a monoplane to be driven by a steam engine. Wing span was 140 feet.
1855		Captain LeBris	Made a partially successful flight with his glider.
1866-7		Francis Wenham	Showed that the lifting power of one plane of large area could be obtained by dividing the large plane into several smaller planes arranged in tiers; hence Wenham's type with six superposed planes.
1871		MA Penaudxx	Built a toy model plane which flew 131 feet in the Garden of he Tuileries.
1874		DS Brown	Presented before the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain a memoire on an aeroplane with tandem planes. A stabilizing tail unit was included in the design.
1876		Penaud	In collaboration with Gauehot, published designs of an aeroplane with two propellers.
1877		William Kress	Made a model plane fitted with two propellers and double control.
1879		Satin	Experimented with a model at Chalais-Mendon; model equipped with compressed air motor, actuating two propellers placed ahead of panels.
1886		Colonel Renard	Presented to the Societe des Anus dee Sciences, a paper on the principles of aerial navigation.
1889		Renard	Exhibited a model in the Exposition at Paris. Followed Wen- ham's principle of six superposed planes.
1889		Lillienthal	Published his paper, "Bird Flight as a Basis for the Art of Flying."
1890		Satin	Commenced his experiments with a model aeroplane.
1890	Oct 9	Clement Ader	Near Gretz, France experimented with a monoplane driven by a 40 HP motor.
1891		Langley	Published his memoir, "Experiments in Aerodynamics," the result of researches on the resistance of planes.
1891		Lillienthal	Began experimental flights with monoplane gliders near Berlin.
1893		Horatio Phillips	Constructed a multiplane aeroplane, with wings superposed, after the principle of Wenham. Equipped with a 5.5 HP motor and one propeller.
1894		Sir Hiram Maxim	Built a three-man carrying machine; was a multiplane of 104 feet span, 4,000 feet supporting surface. Propellers operated by a 360 HP steam engine which weighed 11 pounds per horse power. Total weight, 8,000 pounds. Machine left the supporting track in final test and was wrecked.
1895		Percy S. Pilcher	Built monoplane gliders which operated successfully.
1896	May 6	Professor SP Langley	Built a steam-driven toy monoplane model which flew over the Potomac successfully for over 3,000 feet, at from 20 to 25 miles per hour.
1896	Jun 22	Octave Chanute	Assisted by AM Herring and Avery, made experimental flights on sand dunes near Lake Michigan. They developed Chanute's multiple glider and the Chanute biplane glider.
1896	Aug 9	Lillienthal	Flew a biplane glider previous to fitting it with a 2 1/2 HP engine. Operating principle was to continually shift weight of aviator so that center of gravity and center of pressure fell on the same vertical line. On the second flight he was killed.
1897	Oct 12	Clement Ader	At Sartory, France, experimented with a machine equipped with 270 square feet of supporting surface. Weight, 1,100 pounds. Twin propellers, driven by a 40 HP steam engine, which weighed seven pounds per horse power.
1897	Oct 14	Clement Ader	Experiments continued. Machine wrecked on account of high wind.
1899	Sep 3	Percy S. Pilcher	Killed while gliding in gusty weather.
1900		Wilbur and Orville Wright	Experimented with gliders with arched surfaces and adjustable rudder in front. Flyer lay prone on upper surface of lower wing. Skids used for landing. Glider hovered in air for periods over a minute and glided over 600 feet. Velocity of 20 miles per hour necessary for sustentation.
1903	Dec 17	Wright Brothers	Fitted a biplane glider with a 16 HP motor, driving double screws behind the planes. Total weight of machine, 750 pounds. Flew at speed of 30-35 miles per hour for a period of twelve seconds. Tests made on the Kill-Devil Dunes, NC, ultimately sustained flight for a period of 59 seconds, covering 852 feet. First successful sustained flight in the world.
1904	Autumn	Wright Brothers	Made flights in a circle.
1905	Oct 5	Wright Brothers	Flew for a distance of 24 miles in 38 minutes.
1906	Sep 13	Santos Dumont	Made the first officially recorded European aeroplane flight, leaving the ground for a distance of 36 feet, flying at a velocity of 23 miles per hour, used a cellular aeroplane, resembling a Hargrave kite; equipped with a 40-50 HP motor. Two wheels fitted to machine to permit "taking off" and landing.
1906		Santos Dumont	Remained in air for twenty-one seconds, and travelled a distance of 700 feet, winning several prizes offered by the French Aero Club.
1907	Mar 30	Delagrange	Demonstrated a Voisin biplane.
1907	Oct 26	Henry Farman	Flew a Voisin over 2,500 feet in 52.5 seconds, in a straight line.
1908	Feb 11	Henry Farman	Made a complete circuit of about a mile, in one and one-half minutes.
1908	Jun 22	Delagrange	Flew in Milan, in a Voisin machine, covering a distance of 10 1/2 miles in sixteen minutes.
1908	Jul 4	Glenn H. Curtiss	Won the Scientific American trophy with the "June Bug," built by the Aerial Experiment Association, to the design of GH Curtiss. Machine weighed 650 pounds and had 370 square feet of supporting surface. Made 39 miles per hour. First previously announced flight in public.
1908		Henry Farman	Remained in air for 21.5 minutes, flying 3/4 mile, and carrying a passenger.
1908	Aug 8	Orville Wright	Made official flights at the Camp of Auvours, surpassing French records for duration, distance and height of flights.
1908	Sep 9	Orville Wright	Made flight of one hour's duration.
1908	Sep 21	Orville Wright	Made flight of 1 hour 31 minutes duration, covering 42 miles.xx
1908	Oct 10	Orville Wright	Made flight of 1 hour's duration, with passenger.
1908	Ocy 31	Farman	Made first cross-country flight from Chalons to Rheims, a distance of 16 miles, in 20 minutes. Rose 200 feet from course to clear obstacles.
1908	End of year		First great Aeronautical Salon held in Paris. Over a dozen full-sized machines exhibited.
1908			Lectures on Aeronautics commenced at Gottingen University.
1908	Dec 31	Orville Wright	Made flight of two hours 19 minutes duration, with passenger.
1909		Captain Spelterini	Italian officer explored the Alps in neighborhood of Mount Blanc.
1909			British government appointed a permanent Aeronautical Committee; also a special department on Aeronautics, at the National Physical Laboratory at Leddington.
1909	Jul 19	Latham	In a trial flight over the Channel, fell in the sea, seven miles from shore.
1909	Jul 25	Bleriot	Crossed the English Channel, Calais to Dover, in 37 minutes.
1909	Aug	GH Curtiss	Won the Gordon Bennett Cup in an international speed race at Rheims. Speed attained, 43 miles per hour, on Curtiss machine. Seven aeroplanes in the air.
1909	Sep 29	Wilbur Wright	Flew around the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor.
1909	Nov 3	Henry Farman	Broke the world's record for distance, covering 145 miles in 4 hours, 18 minutes, 53 seconds.
1909	Nov 6	Paulhan	Broke the record for altitude, attaining a height of 970 feet.
1910	Jan 7	Latham	Reset the world's record for altitude, climbing 3,281 feet: duration of flight, 42 hours 11 seconds.
1910	Jan 12	Paulhan	Surpassed Latham by climbing to 4,163 feet.
1910	Jan 19	Paulhan	Demonstrated bombing from an aeroplane.
1920	Apr 20	Sommer	Established the world's record in flight with three passengers, covering 4.3 miles in the vicinity of Douzy.
1910	May 28	Curtiss	Made Albany-Governor's Island flight, 135.4 miles, in 2 hours 32 minutes. First flight using a river as a guide for an aerial highway.
1910	Jun	Curtiss	Successfully alighted on water, at Lake Keuka, Hammondsport, NY. Curtiss demonstrated bombing from an aeroplane.
1910	Jul 7	Latham	Surpassed Paulhan in establishing the world's record for altitude, attaining 4,541 feet, at Rheims.
1910	Jul 13	Curtiss	Left Atlantic City and, flying oversea, covered 49.6 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes, at an elevation of 1600 feet.
1910	Aug	McCurdy	Received and sent wireless messages from an aeroplane in flight, at Sheepshead Bay, NY.
1910	Aug 11	Drexel	At Lanark, raised world record for altitude to 6,604 feet.
1910	August	Curtiss & Lt Fickelxx	Demonstrated aerial sharpshooting from an aeroplane, at Sheepshead Bay, NY.
1910	Sep 23	Chavez	Passed over the hospital at Simplon (Alps), at 2,000 m, crossed the pass at Dondo, flying toward Italy, and landed at Domodossola. First aviator to cross the Alps.
1910	Oct 15	Leblanc	Broke the speed record—1 mile in 53 seconds.
1910	Oct 16	Wynmalen Dufour	Made long distance flight of 285 miles in 9 hours.
1910	Dec 9	Legagneaux	Set altitude record for the year—19,171 feet at Pau.
1910	Dec 30	Labuteau	Set distance record for the year—362 miles at Buc.
1911		Curtiss	Successfully rose from the water, and made a sustained and controlled flight, after experiments extending over several years.
1911	Jan 18	Eugene Ely	Alighted on, and flew from the deck of a battleship, at San Francisco.
1911	Jan 29	MacCurdy	Flew from Key West to shore off Havana; 99 miles in 2 hours.
1911	Feb 23	Curtiss	Flew from land to water and from water to land, at San Diego, California.
1911	Jun 28	Lincoln Beachey	Flew over Niagara Falls and thru the Gorge.
1911	Sep 4	Garros	Set altitude record for the year—12,959 feet, at Parame.
1911	Sep 8	Helen	Flew over the Lhinnery-Gidy course, a distance of 1,252 kms. in 14 hours 7 minutes. Longest flight of the year.
1911	Dec 24	Gobe	Set distance record for the year—459 miles at Pau.
1911		CT Weymann	Won the Gordon-Bennett prize, flying a Nieuport monoplane at 80 miles per hour.
1911		Prier	Flew from London to Paris, 290 miles, without a stop.
1911	Dec		Third Paris Aero Show, in which 28 makes of machines were exhibited. Twenty monoplanes were shown, and fourteen biplanes. Average horse power was about 60.
1912	Jan 10	RC Fowler	Flew across the continent from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Francisco, Calif., a distance of 2,232 miles in 151 days. First transcontinental flight.
1912	Jun 12	S Christoferson	Made the first start from a roof, Portland, Ore.,in a Curtiss machine.
1912	Jul 12	Lieut. Andreadi	Flew from Sebastopol to Odessa and then to Petrograd, covering 1,860 miles in 27 days.
1912	Jul 19	Lieut. Lybousky	Flew from Sebastopol direct to Petrograd, covering 1,612 miles in 30 days.
1912	Sep 11	Fourny	Set the distance record for the year—627 miles at Etampes.
1912	Oct 17	Birtch	Made a tour, Denmark, covering 1,240 miles in 15 days.
1912	Dec 11	Garros	Set altitude record for the year—18,480 feet at Tunis.
1912	Dec 14	Janus	Flew from Omaha to New Orleans, 1,970 miles in 89 days.
1912		Jules Vedrines	Won the Gordon-Bennett prize, flying a 160 horse power Deperdussin monoplane, at 105 miles per hour.
1913	Jan 25	Bielovucic	Flying a Hauriot machine, crossed the Alps.
1913	March 11	Perreyon	Set altitude record for the year—19,270 feet at Buc, France.
1913		Prevost	Won the Gordon-Bennett prize, flying a 200 HP Deperdussin monoplane at 126.59 miles per hour.
1913	Apr		Monaca Meet, for over-water machines. The average horse power of motors used was 117; the maximum being the Salms at 200 HP in the Briguet.
1913	May		Prince Henry Meet (German). Average horse power used by competitors was 94.
1913	May	Robert Fowler	Flew across the Isthmus of Panama, following the line of the canal.
1913	Jun	Brindejonc	Flew a Morane-Sauliner monoplane from Paris to Warsaw, stopping at Berlin. Covered 933 miles in 11 hours including stops.
1913	Jun	Verplank & Havenxx	Made an all-over water trip from Chicago to Detroit, following the Great Lakes. Distance 880 miles.
1913	Sep 1	Adolphe Pegoud	Demonstrated the first inverted (upside down) flight in a Bleriot monoplane.
1913	Dec	Sopwith	Produced the first small high speed biplane of the "scout" class. Speed, 92 miles per hour. Fitted with an 80 HP Gnome rotary motor; landing speed, 37 miles per hour. Total gross weight, 1,040 pounds with a supporting area of 240 square feet.
1914	Apr		The Sopwith Scout won the Monte Carlo races. Refitted with twin floats and a 100 HP motor. Speed, 75 miles per hour.
1914	Jul		Trials of the "America," a Curtiss flying boat built to attempt a flight across the Atlantic. Gross load, 5,000 pounds; air speed, 65 miles per hour. Two motors used, each driving one propeller. The boat was a success.
1916			Curtiss Triplane Flying Boat, weighing 22,000 pounds (fully loaded), built and sent to England for trials. This machine flew successfully.
1914-18			WW-I. Development of machines for distinctive functions: (a) Speed Scouts and Single-seat Fighters: Spad, Nieuport, Morane Parasol, SE-6, SVA, SIA, Albatross (D class), Rumpler & Fokker. (b) Two-Seater Combat Machines: Bristol, Spad, Salmson, DeHaviland, Curtiss Triplane 18-2, Albatross (G class), Rumpler, DWF, LVG & Roland. (c) Reconnaissance and Day Bombing: Breguet, Voisin, Farman & WA (English). (d) Night Bombers: Handley Page, Caproni, Candron, Gotha & Friedrichshafen Zeppelin. (e) Coast Patrol: Curtiss Flying Boats, Macchi, FBA, Curtiss HA Hydroaeroplane, Lehner & Ago(Hydro). (f) Training Planes: (1) Primary—Curtiss JN, Standard JI, Avro & Farman. (2) Speed-Thomas Morse & S-4C.

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