The History of Flight

Did you know? A quick look at 100 years of aviation and space exploration: December 17, 1903: The Wright Flyer, piloted by Orville Wright, becomes airborne for 12 seconds and travels 121 feet over Kitty Hawk, N.C., as the first manned powered flight. May 22, 1906: The U.S. government issues Orville and Wilbur Wright a patent on their flying machine after turning down two earlier submissions. Nov. 13, 1907: French inventor Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter. The flight lasts 20 seconds, hovering …

…space and the first person to orbit Earth. Feb. 20, 1962: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth. July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. Jan. 21, 1976: The Concorde, the first commercial supersonic jet, takes off. April 12, 1981: NASA launches the space shuttle Columbia. It is the first shuttle to fly into orbit. Dec. 17, 2003: The 100th anniversary of flight. There are approximately 250 airlines, more than 19,000 airports and 55,000 general aviation pilots today in the USA.