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First powered flight
In 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright performed the first recorded powered flight, supported and controlled on a heavier aircraft. -
Bleriot IX
In 1909 Louis Bleriot invented the the first monoplane called Bleriot IX. Bleriot completed a 36.6km flight from Calais, France to Dover,UK, in 37 minutes. -
Gyrostabiliser
1914 was the year Lawrence Sperry demonstrates the automatic gyrostabilizer. This kept planes level and flying in a straight line. 2 years later he improved on the gyrostabilizer by adding steering mechanism to create automatic pilot. -
The First Fighter Plane
A French pilot named Roland Garros flew the first ever fighter plane. The plane was armed with a machine gun that shot through its propeller. While piloting the fighter plane took down 5 planes. -
Junker J4
In the year of 1917, Hugo Junkers built the first all-metal plane. The metal was a lightweight aluminium alloy called duralumin. -
Lightweight Air-cooled Radial Engines
In 1925 the Lightweight air-cooled radial engines were invented and with them, planes can be bigger and faster. -
Jet engine invented
A British inventor named Frank Whittle invents the jet engine. -
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. -
Jet engines
After securing it 7 years ago, in 1937 Frank Whittle with the help of Hans Von Ohain made the first test runs of the jet engine. -
Boeing 307
The Boeing 307 Stratoliner 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 were rough winds they would just fly above it and the passengers would have a more comfortable ride. -
Heinkel HE178
The Heinkel HE178 was the first fully jet-powered plane. -
Bell X-I
The Bell X-I broke the sound barrier on the 14 of October 1947 by Captain 'Chuck' Yeager. -
De Havilland DH 106 Comet
The prototype of the first jet-powered airliner takes its first flight. In 1952 it became a regular passenger jet giving a quiet and faster flight. -
Learjet
The Learjet was the first small jet to be mass produced -
X-15
The X-15 was created in 1960. It was six times faster than the Bell X-1 which broke the speed barrier 13 years ago. -
Concorde
The invention of the Concorde commenced in 1969. It was the first supersonic airliner with speeds that reached double the speed of sound. -
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 conducts its first flight. It is a wide-bodied commercial airline. It was the most successful airline ever made. -
Voyager
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 Spirit
The B-2 Spirit was the most expensive plane ever made, it cost more than one Billion dollars to build. The B-2 Spirit was a long-range bomber so it uses less fuel. -
Airbus 350
The Airbus 350 is a double-decker plane. It is the largest plane built and had enough seats for 555 people.
