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Airfoil
Designed and patened by H.F. Phillips. Airfoils typically have a slight teardrop shape, with a curved upper surface and a flatter lower surface. As a result, air flowing over a wing creates an area of higher pressure beneath the wing, leading to the upward force that gets a plane off the ground. -
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Evolution of Airplane
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First successful flying model propelled by an internal combustion engine
Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-powered version of his tandem-winged "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. -
First sustained flight with a powered, controlled airplane
VideoWilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, complete the first four sustained flights with a powered, controlled airplane at Kill Devil Hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On their best flight of the day, Wilbur covers 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. -
Blériot XI
Louis Blériot’s unremarkable appearance masked a fine technical mind and a boldly adventurous, even courageous, personality. His Model XI is remembered for having made the first flight across the English Channel, on July 25, 1909—a feat of bravery, skill, and technology. And it had profound strategic implications -
Deperdussin Monocoque
Video Designed by Louis Béchereau. The Deperdussin Monocoque racer was an innovation of the Blériot-style, which blended monoplane approach with a much more refined form, giving it an appearance more typical of racers at the end of the 1920s. -
Automatic gyrostabilizer leads to first automatic pilot
Lawrence Sperry demonstrates an automatic gyrostabilizer at Lake Keuka, Hammondsport, New York. A gyroscope linked to sensors keeps the craft level and traveling in a straight line without aid from the human pilot. -
Junker J4
In the year of 1917 Hugo Junkers built the first all metal plane. The metal was a lightweight aluminum alloy called duralumin. -
Zeppelin-Staaken (Rohrbach) E.4/20
A monoplane designed by Adolf Rohrbach. It had a cabin that seated up to 18, as well as a lavatory and generous mail and luggage space. At its first flight, in 1920, both its design and performance—cruising more than 130 mph at less than full power, and ranging nearly 850 miles. -
Lightwiegt Aircooled Radial Engines
VideoIn 1925 the Lightwieght aircooled radial engines were invented and with them planes can be bigger and faster. -
Landing Gear
By 1930 Boeing and Lockheed had made commercial planes with retractable wheels. The landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft, and is used in both takeoff and landing. -
Boeing 242
In 1933 Boeing created the boeing 242, the first model airliner. It could carry 10 passengers in comfort. The Boeing 242 was twin engined and was completely metal. -
Boeing 307
Built by the Boeing company,the boeing 307 stratoline was the first fully pressurized plane. This allowed it to fly 6.096 km high. Because it could fly so high it flew above the weather so if there was rough winds they just fly above it and the passengers would have a more comfortable ride. -
Gloster E.28/39
It was designed by Gloster Aircraft Company.The first British jet-engined aircraft to fly. It was designed to test the Whittle jet engine in flight, leading to the development of the Gloster Meteor. -
The first modern flight recorder
Created by Australian researcher David Warren. A device to record cockpit noise and instruments during flight. It not only helps investigators learn why a plane crashed, but how that information can be applied to other aircraft to prevent a repeat. -
X-15
The X-15 was created by the North American Aviation in 1960. It reached the speed of mach 6, it was six times faster than the Bell X-1 which broke the speed barrier 13 years ago. -
Boeing 747
VideoBoeing conducts the first flight of a wide-body, turbofan-powered commercial airliner, the 747, one of the most successful aircraft ever produced. -
Voyager
Designed by Burt Rutan. The voyager was the first plane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop in only 9 days, using one tank of fuel. The voyager used a carbon-composite material which makes it lighter. -
B-2 Sprirt
VideoBuilt by Northrop Grumman, an American heavy penetration strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. It was the most expensive plane ever made, it cost more than one Billion dollars to build. -
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. -
Air Bus 350
Buit by Airbus, the A350 is the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer.Its variants seat 280 to 366 passengers in typical three-class seating layouts. -
F-35B
VideoLockheed Martin makes the first F-35B short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL), The F-35B variant is designed to operate from austere bases and a range of air-capable ships near front-line combat zones. It can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways on major bases. -
Boeing 787
VideoBuilt by Boeing. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner long-range mid-size widebody twinjet, largely constructed of carbonfibre material, makes its first flight.The 787 Dreamliner's distinguishing features include mostly electrical flight systems, swept wingtips, and noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles. -
Citation #1
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Citation #2
Airplanes that Transformed Aviation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/airplanes-that-transformed-aviation-46502830/?no-ist -
Citation #3
AIAA History of Flight Timeline : The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from https://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=5674. -
Citation #4
History of flight | aviation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight -
Citation #5
The Evolution of Airplanes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/evolution-airplanes -
Citation #6
History of the Airplane - Orville and Wilbur Wright. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Airplane.htm -
Citation #7
The Wright Brothers | The First Successful Airplane. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/
