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Jan 1, 1485
Ornithopter
Leonardo da Vinci designed the first known model of an aircraft similar to the modern airplane. There are no records of da Vinci ever building his aircraft. http://www.flyingmachines.org/davi.html -
Wright Flyer
After four years of research and three gliders, Oliver and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a powered airplane. Besides powered flight, they made three major contributions. They controlled their airplanes and gliders using aerodynamic adjustments rather than the center of weight, they refined their wing shape to create less drag and more lift, and for their propellor, they took an airfoil, and made it into a propeller blade to create "horizontal lift". https://goo.gl/dbGJZg -
First Monoplane
The first monoplane (an airplane with only one set of wings), was invented by Trajan Vuia, a Romanian inventor. Monoplanes are more efficient than biplanes, as they produce less drag for the same amount of lift. https://www.britannica.com/technology/monoplane -
Rotary Engine
French engineers added a rotary engine to reduce the weight. Rotary engines do not require radiators to cool, so they are much lighter. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/warplane/topicfeature.htm -
Jet Engine
The Heinkel He 178 was the first successfully flown jetplane. It was designed and built by the German Heinkel company, and flown for the first time just days before Germany started World War II. They expected their sales to take off with the war, but the German government had also been working on some jet designs of their own. The only Heinkel He 178 prototype was moved to an air museum, and was never flown again until it's destruction in a bombing raid in 1943. https://goo.gl/HLPvUk -
Supersonic Flight
Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the rocket-powered Bell XS-1. This was possible because aerodynamic changes that reduced the effect of shockwaves as the aircraft approached the speed of sound. http://www.chuckyeager.com/1945-1947-mach-buster
