The first person to make a controlled flight in an aeroplane with an engine was Orville Wright. His flight took place in the aeroplane Flyer on 17 December, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. The flight lasted just 12 seconds and was 36.5 metres long. Flyer was a biplane built by Orville and his brother Wilbur, who were bicycle makers.
Amazing! In 1914, the fastest aircraft were slower than the fastest racing cars. The world speed record for aircraft was just over 204 kilometres per hour, but the world land-speed record was 226 kilometres per hour. By 1920, aircraft had overtaken.
What is a monoplane?
A monoplane is an aeroplane with one pair of wings. Most early aeroplanes were biplanes, with two sets of wings. The graceful Antoinette VII of 1908 was one of the first monoplanes to fly.
Is it true? One plane had 20 wings.
Yes. In 1904 Englishman Horatio Phillips built a plane with 20 small wings one above the other. It was a complete failure. In 1907 he built a plane with no less than 200 wings!
Who was first to fly across the English Channel?
The first cross-channel flight was made by Frenchman Louis Bleriot in 1909. He made the trip in one of his own aeroplanes, a Bleriot number XI monoplane. It took just 37 minutes to fly from France to England. Bleriot won a prize of £1,000.
Picture Credit : Google