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May 31, 1260
Roger Bacon
Click here to learn more!Roger Bacon was a Franciscan monk in Engalnd. He believed that a person could sit in a engine powered flying machine, with artificial wings attached to the machine that would beat the air and lift off. -
May 31, 1500
Leonardo da Vinci
Click here to learn more!Leonardo da Vinci drew pictures of planes and human-powered flight. One of the machines he drew was called a "ornithoptor". It was supposed to attach to a person's back and lift them up in the air by 2 large flaps. He also invented to parachute which makes jumping from larger heights possible by making the person fall gently down to the ground. -
Joseph & Jacques Montgolfier
Click here to learn moreJoseph & Jacques Montgolfier invented the Hot Air Balloon. They tested this creation by flying it for over 8 km over Paris. They realized that balloons made of linen bags filled with hot air can lift 2 people up into the sky. they were the first men to create a machine that can lift 2 people up. -
Sir George Cayley
Click here to learn more!Sir George Cayley of England was the first man to create and build a glider. His first Glider was big enough to carry a small boy. In 1853 he made a the very first glider to carry a older adult. He tested this creation by flying it across a valley around his house which was in Brompton Hall, near Scarnorough. -
Otto Lilienthal
Click here to learn more!Otto Lilenthal of Germany was the first person to be a heavier-than- air pilot. In 1891 he discoved ways to control glider planes.
To test this type of flight he climbed up a hill and lanched a glider. He controled this glider by shifting his weight. -
The Wright Brothers
Click here to learn more!In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wight created the first successful powered flight! The plane contained a 12 horse powered engine and also a propeller. the wings were 12 m long on each side of the plane. They tested their creation at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because that place can have strong winds. The flight lasted 12 seconds and travelled 36.5 m. -
Chuck Yeager
Click here to learn more!In 1947, Chuck Yeager created the first rocket-powered X-1 Plane. At that time it wasn't possible for an aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, but Chuck Yeager disagreed. Flying that fast no one believed that a pilot could even survive that much speed. He created the plane and set a new airspeed record of more than twice the speed of sound in 1952.
