-
Nov 8, 1485
The Ornithopter
In the 1480s it is said that Leonardo da Vinci made the first real studies on flight. The Ornithropter was never actually built but it was designed. Leonardo da Vinci wanted to show how a man could fly. -
First Hot Air Balloon
Joseph Michel and Jacques Montgolfier, they used a silk bag and the smoke from a fire to create the first hot air balloon. The first passengers were and sheep, a rooster, and a duck. After their success with the animals they sent Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent. -
Period: to
One version of a glider
George Cayley wanted to discover a way that man could fly like a bird. An unknown boy was the first to fly one of his gliders. Over the next 50 years he kept improving the glider. -
Another type of glider
Otto Lilienthal created yet another kind of glider. He was a German engineer who studied aerodynamics and he worked hard to create a glider that would fly. He wrote a book on aerodynamics that was published in 1899. After about 2500 flights he was killed because he lost control. -
Aerodrome
Samuel P. Langley was an astronomer, he realised that man needed power to fly. He built a model of the Aerodrome a type of plane that included a steam-powered engine. He recieved a 50,000 dollar grant to build a full sized one. It was too heavy to fly and crashed. He gave up, but he is well known as the director of Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC