If you’ve travelled, chances are you may have flown in a plane.
But have you ever wondered how we arrived at the point where we can travel thousands of miles in a matter of hours by hurtling through the air?
Watching the birds in the air, traveling with seeming ease to far-off lands, seeing the world from a different perspective, the imagined absolute freedom – it’s no wonder humanity has dreamed of flying for millennia.
And until recently, it was one of the forms of transportation that eluded us.
Strap in and take a look at some of the most notable points in the history of flight!
Table of Contents
Daedalus and Icarus
The most famous ancient flyers? Daedalus and Icarus.
According to Greek mythology, Daedalus was a master craftsman who had built the labyrinth in which the Minotaur was kept. Fearing retribution after a group of Athenians (led by the hero Theseus) escaped the maze, Daedalus crafted wings made of feathers and beeswax for himself and his son Icarus to flee the island of Crete.
Daedalus warned his son not to fly too low or too high. But in his excitement, Icarus disobeyed his father and flew higher towards the sun. The heat melted the beeswax, destroying the wings, and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
Where to see Daedalus and Icarus today: The island of Icaria, one of the Aegean islands, is said to have been named after Icarus and located near where he died.
The legend has also been portrayed several times in art. One example is The Fall of Icarus by Jacob Peter Gowy, now part of the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid, although currently on display at the Museo de Bellas Artes de La Coruña in La Coruña.
The first flying apparatus
One of humanity’s first successful flying devices was the kite, which was developed in China. Originally, they were made of wood (probably bamboo) and cloth (such as silk), before they were made from paper.
Kites in ancient China weren’t just for recreation. They were used in war (for communication), measuring distances, and testing winds.
And in case you’re wondering, yes, kites were used to fly people – as a form of execution.
Where to see kites today: While there are a lot of places you can pick up a kite, there is a dedicated kite museum – the World Kite Museum is located in Long Beach, California.
Medieval attempts at flight
Medieval people also dreamt of flying. The attempts mostly consisted of mimicking the wing movements of birds.
The two most famous would-be aviators from the Middle Ages both survived their attempted flights: Abbas ibn Firnas attached a couple of wings to himself, covered himself in feathers, and jumped from a tower in Cordoba, Spain in the 9th century; 11th century English monk Eilmer of Malmesbury also made himself wings and jumped from a tower, reportedly flying over 200 meters (220 yards) before breaking both legs upon landing.
Both flights were said to have failed, in part, because Abbas and Eilmer forgot to give themselves tails.
Where to see Abbas and Eilmer today: Abbas ibn Firnas is honored with a statue at Baghdad International Airport; Eilmer is portrayed, with his flying device, in a 20th century stained-glass window at Malmesbury Abbey, his old abbey.
Leonardo Da Vinci
There seemingly isn’t much that Renaissance man (in every sense of the word) Leonardo da Vinci wasn’t interested in – and flight was one of his favorite topics.
His observations on the flight of birds (which he complied in his aptly named book, Codex on the Flight of Birds) led him to invent concepts for flying machines – notably an ornithopter (a machine powered by the flapping of wings) and an aerial screw (a type of early helicopter).
While most of these inventions would never have worked in reality, Leonardo’s findings did lay the groundwork for modern aerodynamics, such as identifying that air acts as a fluid.
Where to see Leonardo’s flying machines today: The Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology in Milan has, perhaps unsurprisingly, the world’s largest permanent exhibition dedicated to Leonardo, including replicas of some of his flying machines. The actual Codex on the Flight of Birds is kept at the Royal Library of Turin, although is rarely on display.
Montgolfier Balloon
Brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were paper manufacturers from France. After noticing that paper and fabric bags rise after heat is directed into them, they decided to replicate the phenomenon on a large scale.
In 1783 in Paris, the Montgolfier brothers launched the first successful hot air balloon flights. The first passengers were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. A month later, Étienne piloted the first manned flight in a tethered balloon, and a month after that, two other Frenchmen completed the first manned flight in an untethered balloon designed by the brothers.
Where to experience a Parisian hot air balloon flight today: Want to experience Paris in a hot air balloon, like the Montgolfier brothers (or the undoubtedly confused sheep, duck, and rooster they sent up first)? You can! This company provides hot air balloon rides over the French capital, subject to weather conditions.
Sir George Cayley
While Leonardo had made the first forays into the field of aerodynamics, it was George Cayley, “the father of aviation,” under whom the science really took off.
The English engineer identified the four forces of flight (weight, lift, drag, and thrust), laying the foundations for later aviation pioneers. Around 1849, he built the first glider to reliably carry a human.
Where to see the George Cayley glider today: A replica of Cayley’s glider can be found at the Yorkshire Air Museum.
Wright Brothers
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brother Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first sustained flight of a heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft – in other words, the first airplane to fly. The brothers made four flights that day, each ranging from 12 to 59 seconds in duration. It may not have seemed like much, but the age of aviation was born.
Where to see the Wright Flyer today: The plane is on full display at the National Air and Space Museum branch of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
First helicopter ride
Paul Cornu was a bicycle maker with an interest in aviation. On November 13, 1907, he hovered 5-7 feet (1.5 – 2m) off the ground for 20 seconds in a machine of his own invention – the first flight by a helicopter.
Where to see the Cornu helicopter today: The Cornu helicopter perished along with its inventor in an Allied bombing in 1944. Two replicas were made 100 years later; one was presented to the Air and Space Museum (Musée de l’Air et de l’Éspace) in La Bourget, France, while the other was built for the Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg (Helicopter Museum of Bückeburg) in Germany.
First scheduled commercial flight
The first commercial flight took place on January 1, 1914, between St. Petersburg and Tampa, in Florida. The airline ran for a mere 4 months. The price of a ticket? $5.
Where to see evidence of the first commercial flight today: The original plane was damaged after a hard landing, but the St. Petersburg Museum of History in St. Petersburg, Florida has faithful reproduction.
Militarization of Aviation in WWI
Less than 10 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, airplanes began to be used for military purposes. The first country to employ airplanes for war? Italy, who used them during the Italo-Turkish War (1911 – 1912). The war saw the first plane flown for a reconnaissance mission, the first aerial bomb drop, and the first shootdown of a plane.
But it was during WWI that the use of airplanes for war accelerated.
Planes and airships were recognized for their reconnaissance capabilities near the onset of the war, as was their abilities to drop bombs.
But it was the fighter plane that was WWI’s major contribution to aviation.
At first, aerial combat consisted of exchanging smiles and waves, or shooting pistols at each other.
The breakthrough came with the Fokker Eindecker plane, which has a forward-facing machine gun synchronized to fire between the rotations of the plane’s propeller. As a result, dogfights – aerial combat between two fighter planes in close range – became increasingly common.
This new method of fighting also gave birth to a new type of war hero: the flying ace. These pilots were credited with shooting down five or more planes during aerial combat.
The most successful ace of WWI? Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron (he wasn’t just Snoopy’s nemesis or the frozen pizza brand), with 80 confirmed kills.
Warfare would never be the same.
Where to see WWI planes today: Several museums have WWI planes or faithful reproductions. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome north of New York City puts on an airshow every weekend in the summer, where you can witness a WWI dogfight.
Transatlantic flight pioneers
As someone who takes transatlantic flights regularly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of the first people to fly between Europe and North America.
The first nonstop transatlantic flight was flown in 1919 by two British WWI vets, John Alcock and Arthur Brown. They took off from St. John’s, Newfoundland before crash landing 16 hours later in a bog in Cliften, Ireland, in a disaster-filled flight that makes today’s economy class look a smooth ride in a luxury private jet.
In 1927, American Charles Lindburgh flew from New York to Paris in his plane Spirit of St. Louis; not only was it the first solo transatlantic crossing, it was also, up to that time, the longest flight in terms of nautical miles. The feat shot Lindburgh to global stardom.
The first female to cross the Atlantic, as a passenger, was Amelia Earhart in 1928. Four years later, she became the first woman to fly solo on a transatlantic flight. She also achieved several other records before disappearing during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937.
Where to see the planes of transatlantic pioneers today: Alcock and Brown’s plane is on display at the Science Museum in London. Lindburgh’s Spirit of St. Louis and Earhart’s Lockheed Vega 5B (which she flew on her solo transatlantic flight) are both owned by the Smithsonian; the former hangs in the atrium of the National Air and Space Museum, the latter is not currently on display.
Airships and the Hindenburg Disaster
The first airship was design in 1670 by Jesuit priest Francesco Lana de Terzi, but it wasn’t until 1852 that the first engine-powered controlled flight took place in an airship designed and piloted by French engineer Henri Giffard.
The U.S. Navy took a keen interest in airships during the interwar period, but it was the German Zeppelins that ushered in the “Golden Age of Airships” when passengers made transatlantic trips in these monolithic aircrafts that functioned much like luxury oceanic liners in the air.
That all came to a dramatic halt in 1937 when the German Hindenburg – the largest aircraft ever built – caught fire during its attempted landing in New Jersey. 35 passengers and crew were killed in a disaster that received widespread media coverage. The Age of Airships was over.
But the Hindenburg Disaster didn’t mark the end of the airship. They continued to be used in reconnaissance, long-term observation, and advertising (think: Goodyear blimp), but interest in airships has recently been renewed thanks in part to new technologies making them safer and their zero emissionsoutput.
Where to see memorials to the Hindenburg Disaster today: The Hindenburg Disaster took place in what is now the U.S. military facility of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst. Pre-arranged tours of the crash site are offered by the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society.
Tenerife airport disaster
On March 27, 1977, KLM Flight 4805 was getting ready to take off for Amsterdam, while Pan Am Flight 1736 had just landed from New York. The two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands, Spain.
583 people were killed, including everyone on the KLM flight. It was the deadliest crash in aviation history.
Where to see memorials to the Tenerife air disaster today: Because of the devastating number of Dutch nationals killed (most of the KLM flight’s passengers were Dutch), there is a national memorial for the victims at Westgaarde Cemetery in Amsterdam. Another memorial is at Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary in Westminster, California (the Pan Am flight had originated in California).
The International Tenerife Memorial March 27, 1977 was inaugurated on the island of Tenerife, where the disaster occurred, on March 27, 2007, 30 years after the accident.
Concorde
The Concorde was the first passenger jet to break the speed of sound – it could fly at Mach 2.
A joint venture between the UK and France, only 20 of these distinctive aircraft were ever made and of those, only 14 were put into service. The first commercial flight took off on January 21, 1976.
High operating costs and the fact that the Concorde could only fly at full speed over the ocean due to its deafening sonic boom meant that scheduled routes were limited to between London or Paris and New York City. The flight time was 3 hours.
The Concorde had an impressive safety record; there was only one accident, the tragic crash of Air France Flight 4590, where 113 people (including four on the ground) lost their lives. After temporarily being grounded, the Concorde resumed flights before finally being retired in October 2003.
Where to see the Concorde today: 18 of the 20 Concordes built survive; 16 are on display to the public. A few of the places you can see the Concorde include: the Air and Space Museum (Musée de l’Air et de l’Éspace) in La Bourget, France, the Imperial War Museum Duxford, Heathrow Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport, and the Intrepid Museum in New York City.
Space exploration
While we’ve seen that flight has been around for a while, spaceflight only really began in the 20th century.
The first creature to orbit the earth was a dog, Laika, who in 1957 was launched into space by the Soviets on Sputnik 2.
- Want to know more about Laika and other remarkable dogs? Check out my article here.
The first human to enter space and orbit the earth was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. They had launched a few days earlier from Florida aboard Apollo 11, in an event that was televised around the world.
A few non-governmental or scientific individuals flew in space in the subsequent years, but it wasn’t until 2001 that the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, orbited the earth.
While space tourism isn’t yet widespread, who knows whether it will be in the not-too-distant future? After all, just 125 years ago, commercial flying was just a pipe dream too.
Where to see Apollo 11: Apollo 11’s command module is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum branch of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., in the same atrium as the Wright Flyer.
Where to see a rocket launch: The Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, the same place the Apollo 11 mission launched from, provides the closest public viewing of rocket launches.
There you have it! A short history of flight. Did I miss your favorite flight milestone? Let me know in the comments!
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