Timeline of Plane Evolution
1901 First successful flying model
Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-powered version of "Aerodromes." the first successful flying model to be propelled by an internal combustion engine. As early as 1896 he launches steam-propelled models with wingspans of up to 15 feet on flights of more than half a mile.
1903 First flight with a powered, controlled airplane
Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, completed the first four flights with a powered, controlled airplane at Kill Devil Hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilbur covered 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. In 1905 they introduced the Flyer, the world’s first practical airplane.
1904 Fixed "boundary layer" described by Ludwig Prandtl
German professor Ludwig Prandtl presented one of the most important papers in the history of aerodynamics, an eight-page paper describing the concept of a fixed "boundary layer," the molecular layer of air on the surface of an aircraft wing. Over the next 20 years Prandtl and his graduate students study theoretical aerodynamics.
1910 First take off from a ship
Eugene Ely piloted a Curtiss biplane on the first flight to take off from a ship. He departed from the deck of a ship in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and lands onshore. Hooks were attached to the plane's landing gear, a simpler version of the system of arresting gear and safety barriers used on modern aircraft carriers.
1914 First automatic pilot
Lawrence Sperry demonstrated an automatic gyrostabilizer in New York. A gyroscope linked to sensors kept the craft level and traveling in a straight line without aid from the human pilot. Two years later Sperry and his father, Elmer, demonstrated the first "automatic pilot."
1914-1918 Improvements in structures, control, and propulsion systems
During World War I, the urgent need of higher speed, higher altitude, and greater maneuverability improved aerodynamics, structures, and control and propulsion system design.
1915 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a federal agency, improved advanced aeronautical research in the U.S.A.
1917 An all-metal airplane, introduced
Hugo Junkers, a German professor introduced the Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane built of a lightweight aluminum mixture called duralumin.
1918 Airmail service
The U. S. Postal Service started using airmail service from Polo Grounds in Washington, D.C., on May 15. Two years later, on February 22, 1920, the first transcontinental airmail service arrived in New York from San Francisco in 33 hours and 20 minutes, nearly 3 days faster than mail delivery by train.
1919 U.S. Navy aviators make the first airplane voyage of the North Atlantic
U.S. Navy aviators made the first airplane crossing of the North Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to London, stopping in Azores and Lisbon. A few months later British Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Albert Brown made the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
1919 Passenger service across the English Channel
Britain and France introduce passenger service across the English Channel, flying between London and Paris.
1925-1926 Lightweight, air-cooled radial engines
The introduction of a new lightweight, air-cooled radial engines revolutionized aeronautics, making bigger, faster planes.
1927 First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic
On May 21, Charles Lindbergh completed the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, traveling 3,600 miles from New York to Paris in a plane named the Spirit of St. Louis. On June 29, Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitland completed the first flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii. At 2,400 miles it is the longest open-sea flight to date.
1928 First electromechanical simulator
Edwin A. Link introduced the Link Trainer, the first electromechanical flight simulator. It allows the cockpit to pitch, and roll. The flight simulator was used for almost all U.S. pilot training during WWII.
1933The 12-passenger twinengine DC-1
Douglas introduced the 12-passenger twin-engine DC-1, designed by Arthur Raymond. A key requirement is that the plane can take off, fully loaded, if one engine goes out.
1933 First modern commercial plane
In February, Boeing introduced the 247, a twin-engine 10-passenger monoplane was the first modern commercial airliner.
1935 First practical radar
British scientist Sir Robert Watson-Watt patented the first practical radar system. During World War II radar was successfully used in Great Britain to detect aircraft and provide information to bombers.
1935 First transpacific mail service
Pan American inaugurated the first transpacific mail service, between San Francisco and Manila, on November 22, and the first transpacific passenger service in October the following year. Four years later, in 1939, Pan Am and Britain’s Imperial Airways begin scheduled transatlantic passenger service.
1937 Jet engines designed
Jet engines designed independently by Britain’s Frank Whittle and Germany’s Hans von Ohain make their first test runs. (Seven years earlier, Whittle, a young Royal Air Force officer, filed a patent for a gas turbine engine to power an aircraft, but the Royal Air Ministry was not interested in developing the idea at the time. Meanwhile, German doctoral student Von Ohain was developing his own design.) Two years later, on August 27, the first jet aircraft, the Heinkel HE 178, takes off, powered by von Ohain’s HE S-3 engine.
1939 First practical singlerotor helicopters
Russian emigre Igor Sikorsky develops the VS-300 helicopter for the U.S. Army, one of the first practical singlerotor helicopters.
1939-1945 World War II spurs innovation
A world war again spurs innovation. The British develop airplane-detecting radar just in time for the Battle of Britain. At the same time the Germans develop radiowave navigation techniques. The both sides develop airborne radar, useful for attacking aircraft at night. German engineers produce the first practical jet fighter, the twin-engine ME 262, which flies at 540 miles per hour, and the Boeing Company modifies its B-17 into the high-altitude Flying Fortress. Later it makes the 141-foot-wingspan long-range B-29 Superfortress. In Britain the Instrument Landing System (ILS) for landing in bad weather is put into use in 1944.
1947 Sound barrior broken
U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager becomes the fastest man alive when he pilots the Bell X-1 faster than sound for the first time on October 14 over the town of Victorville, California.
1949 First jet-powered commercial aircraft
The prototype De Havilland Comet makes its first flight on July 27. Three years later the Comet starts regular passenger service as the first jet-powered commercial aircraft, flying between London and South Africa.
1950s B-52 bomber
Boeing makes the B-52 bomber. It has eight turbojet engines, intercontinental range, and a capacity of 500,000 pounds.
1952 Discovery of the area rule of aircraft design
Richard Whitcomb, an engineer at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, discovers and experimentally verifies an aircraft design concept known as the area rule. A revolutionary method of designing aircraft to reduce drag and increase speed without additional power, the area rule is incorporated into the development of almost every American supersonic aircraft. He later invents winglets, which increase the lift-to-drag ratio of transport airplanes and other vehicles.
1963 First small jet aircraft to enter mass production
The prototype Learjet 23 makes its first flight on October 7. Powered by two GE CJ610 turbojet engines, it is 43 feet long, with a wingspan of 35.5 feet, and can carry seven passengers (including two pilots) in a fully pressurized cabin. It becomes the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production, with more than 100 sold by the end of 1965.
1969 Boeing 747
Boeing conducts the first flight of a wide-body, turbofan-powered commercial airliner, the 747, one of the most successful aircraft ever produced.
1976 Concorde SST introduced into commercial airline service
The Concorde SST is introduced into commercial airline service by both Great Britain and France on January 21. It carries a hundred passengers at 55,000 feet and twice the speed of sound, making the London to New York run in 3.5 hours—half the time of subsonic carriers. But the cost per passenger-mile is high, ensuring that flights remain the privilege of the wealthy. After a Concorde accident kills everyone on board in July 2000, the planes are grounded for more than a year. Flights resume in November 2001, but with passenger revenue falling and maintenance costs rising, British Airways and Air France announce they will decommission the Concorde in October 2003.
1986 Voyager circumnavigates the globe (26,000 miles) nonstop in 9 days
Using a carbon-composite material, aircraft designer Burt Rutan crafts Voyager for flying around the world nonstop on a single load of fuel. Voyager has two centerline engines, one fore and one aft, and weighs less than 2,000 pounds (fuel for the flight adds another 5,000 pounds). It is piloted by Jeana Yeager (no relation to test pilot Chuck Yeager) and Burt’s brother Dick Rutan, who circumnavigate the globe (26,000 miles) nonstop in 9 days.
1990s B-2 bomber developed
Northrop Grumman develops the B-2 bomber, with a "flying wing" design. Made of composite materials rather than metal, it cannot be detected by conventional radar. At about the same time, Lockheed designs the F-117 stealth fighter, also difficult to detect by radar.
1995 First aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering
Boeing debuts the twin-engine 777, the biggest two-engine jet ever to fly and the first aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering. Only a nose mockup was actually built before the vehicle was assembled—and the assembly was only 0.03 mm out of alignment when a wing was attached.
1996-1998 Joint research program to develop second-generation supersonic airliner
NASA teams with American and Russian aerospace industries in a joint research program to develop a second-generation supersonic airliner for the 21st century. The centerpiece is the Tu-144LL, a first-generation Russian supersonic jetliner modified into a flying laboratory. It conducts supersonic research comparing flight data with results from wind tunnels and computer modeling.