History of flight | Airplanes, Dates, & Facts - Britannica
Thus, the story of the invention of the airplane begins in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, with the first serious research into aerodynamics—the study of ...
History of flight \| Airplanes, Dates, & Facts \| Britannica

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[history of flight](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight)

Table of Contents


- [Introduction](/technology/history-of-flight)

- [The invention of the airplane](/technology/history-of-flight#ref260577)



- [Construction of the sustaining wings: the problem of lift](/technology/history-of-flight/Construction-of-the-sustaining-wings-the-problem-of-lift)

- [The generation and application of power: the problem of propulsion](/technology/history-of-flight/The-generation-and-application-of-power-the-problem-of-propulsion)

- [Balancing and steering the machine: the problem of control](/technology/history-of-flight/The-generation-and-application-of-power-the-problem-of-propulsion#ref260580)

- [Other aviation pioneers](/technology/history-of-flight/Other-aviation-pioneers)

- [List of select pioneer aircraft](/technology/history-of-flight/Other-aviation-pioneers#ref275078)

- [Pistons in the air](/technology/history-of-flight/Other-aviation-pioneers#ref260582)



- [The headliners](/technology/history-of-flight/Other-aviation-pioneers#ref260583)

- [The first airlines](/technology/history-of-flight/The-first-airlines)

- [From airmail to airlines in the United States](/technology/history-of-flight/From-airmail-to-airlines-in-the-United-States)

- [The aeronautical infrastructure](/technology/history-of-flight/The-aeronautical-infrastructure)

- [Wartime legacies](/technology/history-of-flight/The-aeronautical-infrastructure#ref260587)

- [Postwar airlines](/technology/history-of-flight/The-aeronautical-infrastructure#ref260588)

- [General aviation](/technology/history-of-flight/General-aviation)

- [The jet age](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-age)



- [Origins](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-age#ref260591)

  - [First experiments](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-age#ref260592)

  - [World War II](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-age#ref260593)

- [The jet enters the civilian world](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-enters-the-civilian-world)

  - [Technical advantages and challenges](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-enters-the-civilian-world#ref260595)

  - [The airlines reequip](/technology/history-of-flight/The-jet-enters-the-civilian-world#ref260596)

  - [Progress in engines and airframes](/technology/history-of-flight/Progress-in-engines-and-airframes)

    - [Airliners](/technology/history-of-flight/Progress-in-engines-and-airframes#ref260598)

    - [Business aircraft](/technology/history-of-flight/Progress-in-engines-and-airframes#ref260599)

  - [Avionics, passenger support, and safety](/technology/history-of-flight/Avionics-passenger-support-and-safety)

- [Turbine-powered helicopters](/technology/history-of-flight/Avionics-passenger-support-and-safety#ref260601)

[References & Edit History](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/additional-info) [Related Topics](/facts/history-of-flight)

[Images & Videos](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/images-videos)

[![Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine](https://cdn.britannica.com/40/96240-004-A9CAD60A/flying-machine-Leonardo-da-Vinci-plans-ornithopter.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/40/96240-050-142CC589/flying-machine-Leonardo-da-Vinci-plans-ornithopter.jpg)[![Wright flyer, 1905](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-004-EA9D64C6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-050-56FE97A6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg)[![George Cayley's glider, 1853](https://cdn.britannica.com/12/99712-004-F6E5F2CC/George-Cayley-glider-English-notion-aircraft-flight-1853.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/12/99712-050-61C19763/George-Cayley-glider-English-notion-aircraft-flight-1853.jpg)[![Lilienthal glider](https://cdn.britannica.com/51/99051-004-5578BCAA/Otto-Lilienthal-German-one-gliders-1895.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/51/99051-050-CB87FFA1/Otto-Lilienthal-German-one-gliders-1895.jpg)[![Wright glider](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/18933-004-E91B5FE4/Wilbur-Wright-banking-turn-right-glider-North-October-24-1902.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/18933-004-E91B5FE4/Wilbur-Wright-banking-turn-right-glider-North-October-24-1902.jpg)[![Langley aerodrome of 1903](https://cdn.britannica.com/05/99705-004-232D7A6A/launch-aerodrome-houseboat-Samuel-Pierpont-Langley-Potomac-Oct-7-1903.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/05/99705-004-232D7A6A/launch-aerodrome-houseboat-Samuel-Pierpont-Langley-Potomac-Oct-7-1903.jpg)[![first flight by Orville Wright, December 17, 1903](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/4738-004-F9A19A6F/Orville-Wright-history-airplane-flight-Kill-Devil-December-17-1903.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/4738-050-C1D653C7/Orville-Wright-history-airplane-flight-Kill-Devil-December-17-1903.jpg)[![Pilcher Hawk](https://cdn.britannica.com/14/99714-004-F947FADB/Percy-Sinclair-Pilcher-Hawk-English-wings-1896.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/14/99714-004-F947FADB/Percy-Sinclair-Pilcher-Hawk-English-wings-1896.jpg)[![Santos-Dumont and his No. 14-bis](https://cdn.britannica.com/23/99723-004-489FF64E/Alberto-Santos-Dumont-flights-Brazilian-Europe-airplane-1906.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/23/99723-050-264626E9/Alberto-Santos-Dumont-flights-Brazilian-Europe-airplane-1906.jpg)[![Louis Blériot and Type XI monoplane](https://cdn.britannica.com/55/76155-004-A426D5A7/Louis-Bleriot-monoplane-Type-XI-English-Channel-July-25-1909.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/55/76155-050-C76325AA/Louis-Bleriot-monoplane-Type-XI-English-Channel-July-25-1909.jpg)

Quizzes


[![Close-up profile view of American aviator Amelia Earhart sitting in the cockpit of a helicopter. Earhart wears a bomber jacket and flight goggles on her head.](https://cdn.britannica.com/76/164576-131-6B4BA221/Amelia-Earhart.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/quiz/early-aviation)

[Early Aviation](/quiz/early-aviation)

Related Questions


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[![Encyclopaedia Britannica First Edition: Volume 1, Plate XLIII, Figure 1, Astronomy, Solar System, Equation of Time, Precession of Equinoxes, Earth, orbit, ecliptic, apogee, perigee, line of apsides, mean anomaly, tropical year, Sydereal, Julian](https://cdn.britannica.com/30/119830-131-D828BB6C/Encyclopaedia-Britannica-First-Edition-Volume-1-Figure.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/story/first-day-of-fall)

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Contents


[Science](/browse/Science)[Physics](/browse/Physics)[Matter & Energy](/browse/Matter-Energy)

# history of flight

aviation



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- [NASA - History of Flight](https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/UEET/StudentSite/historyofflight.html)
- [Spartan College - History of Aviation](https://www.spartan.edu/news/history-of-aviation/)



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- [NASA - History of Flight](https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/UEET/StudentSite/historyofflight.html)
- [Spartan College - History of Aviation](https://www.spartan.edu/news/history-of-aviation/)


Written by


[Tom D. Crouch\
\
Curator Emeritus, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Author of _The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright_ and many others.](/contributor/Tom-D-Crouch/4335)

Tom D. Crouch,

[Walter James Boyne\
\
Former director, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1983–86. Author of _The Leading Edge_ and many others.](/contributor/Walter-James-Boyne/3907)

Walter James Boyne• [All](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/additional-info#contributors)

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.](/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419)

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Table of Contents


[![Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine](https://cdn.britannica.com/40/96240-050-142CC589/flying-machine-Leonardo-da-Vinci-plans-ornithopter.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop)](https://cdn.britannica.com/40/96240-050-142CC589/flying-machine-Leonardo-da-Vinci-plans-ornithopter.jpg)

Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine

[See all media](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/images-videos)

Related Topics: [aviation](/technology/aviation)_(Show more)_

[See all related content →](/facts/history-of-flight)

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In the **history of flight**, the most important landmarks and events include an understanding of the [dynamic](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamic) reaction of [lifting](https://www.britannica.com/science/lift-physics) surfaces (or [wings](https://www.britannica.com/technology/wing-aircraft)), building absolutely reliable engines that produce sufficient power to propel an [airframe](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airframe), and solving the problem of flight control in three dimensions. At the start of the 20th century, the [Wright brothers](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers) demonstrated that the basic technical problems associated with heavier-than-air flying machines had been overcome, and military and civil [aviation](https://www.britannica.com/technology/aviation) developed quickly afterward.

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-050-56FE97A6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-050-56FE97A6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg)

[Wright flyer, 1905](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-050-56FE97A6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg) The Wright brothers' first practical flying machine, with Orville Wright at the controls, passing over Huffman Prairie, near Dayton, Ohio, October 4, 1905.(more)

This article tells the story of the invention of the [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane) and the development of civil aviation from piston-engine airplanes to jets. For a history of military aviation, _see_ [military aircraft](https://www.britannica.com/technology/military-aircraft); for lighter-than-air flight, _see_ [airship](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airship). _See_ [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane) for a full [treatment](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/treatment) of the principles of aircraft flight and operations, aircraft configurations, and aircraft materials and construction. For a comparison of select pioneer aircraft, [_see below_](https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/Other-aviation-pioneers#ref275078).

_[(Read the biography of Wilbur Wright that his brother, Orville, wrote for Britannica in 1929.)](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Orville-Wright-on-Wilbur-Wright-2215554)_

## The invention of the [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane)

On the evening of Sept. 18, 1901, [Wilbur Wright](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers), a 33-year-old businessman from Dayton, Ohio, addressed a distinguished group of Chicago engineers on the subject of “Some Aeronautical Experiments” that he had conducted with his brother Orville Wright over the previous two years. “The difficulties which obstruct the pathway to success in flying machine construction,” he noted, “are of three general classes.”

> 1. Those which relate to the construction of the sustaining wings.
>
> 2. Those which relate to the generation and application of the power required to drive the machine through the air.
>
> 3. Those relating to the balancing and steering of the machine after it is actually in flight.

[![Close-up profile view of American aviator Amelia Earhart sitting in the cockpit of a helicopter. Earhart wears a bomber jacket and flight goggles on her head.](https://cdn.britannica.com/76/164576-131-6B4BA221/Amelia-Earhart.jpg)\
\
Britannica Quiz\
\
Early Aviation](/quiz/early-aviation)

This clear analysis—the clearest possible statement of the problem of heavier-than-air flight—became the basis for the Wright brothers’ work over the next half decade. What was known at that time in each of these three critical areas and what additional research was required are considered below.