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The Story Behind the First Powered Flight by the Wright Brothers
What happened on 17 December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, how the four flights went, and how historians weigh the Wright claim against rival stories of earlier flights.
Transport and Exploration
Early Aviation
The Wright brothers and the key parts that made powered flight practical.
The Innovative Spirit of the First Airplane: The Wright Brothers
How a Dayton bicycle business, homemade wind tunnel tests and patient step-by-step experiments shaped the way Wilbur and Orville Wright solved the problem of flight.
The Invention of the Airplane Propeller: A Key Component
How the propeller grew from ancient screw ideas into a carefully shaped rotating wing, from the Wright design to variable-pitch and constant-speed propellers.
The Story of the Airplane Cockpit: A Key Component
How the pilot's station changed from an exposed seat or prone cradle to enclosed cabins, blind-flying instruments, and the glass displays of modern airliners.
The Story of the Airplane Control Tower: A Key Component
How ground-based air traffic control grew from signal flags and lamps at early airfields to radio-equipped towers, radar rooms and en route control centers.
The Story of the Airplane Engine: A Key Component
How aircraft engines evolved from the light four-cylinder Wright motor through rotary and radial piston engines to the gas turbine jets and turboprops of today.
The Story of the Airplane Navigation System: A Key Component
How pilots found their way, from following roads and rivers to magnetic compasses, radio range beams, VOR, inertial systems and satellite positioning.
The Story of the Airplane Wing: A Key Component
How people came to understand lift, and how wings developed from Cayley's glider and Lilienthal's curved surfaces to biplanes, monoplanes and swept wings.
The Story of the First Airplane: A Flight of Fancy
A look at the dreams, gliders and disputed claims that came before the Wright brothers' 1903 flight, separating documented flights from legend and later stories.
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More in transport and exploration
Railways Steam locomotives, rail networks and high-speed trains. Bicycles The bicycle and the parts that made it practical. Vehicles and Navigation Cars, aircraft, radar and satellite navigation. Electric Vehicles Electric cars, bicycles and chairs from early experiments to modern production. Satellites and GPS Sputnik, weather satellites and the satellite positioning system we use every day. Space Stations and Suits The first orbital stations and the suits that kept people alive in space. Submarines The history of underwater craft from early experiments to naval boats. Sailing Ships and Harbors Hulls, sails, rigging and port technology.