first manned flights 1784 PARIS, FRANCE One of the earliest recorded flights was a hot air balloon. It had quite an unusual crew -- a rooster, a duck, and a sheep! After flying for about 5 miles, the hot air balloon touched down, and the first man to greet the flying menagerie was a French doctor, Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier. Pilatre was an Appointed Secretary in the cabinet of Marie Antoinette, and he worked hard in the court to be awarded the honor of the first manned balloon flight. King Louis XVI was at last persuaded. At age 26, Pilatre became the first man to ascend into the clouds -- well, 85 feet up. Standing in an open basket attached to a flimsy silk bag with an open flame, Pilatre was exhilarated with the joy of flight. On November 21, 1783, the tethers were cut, and Pilatre embarked on the first manned free flight in the history of aviation. With the Marquis d'Arlandes as his companion, Pilatre flew across Paris. The Marquis applied a wet sponge to the sparks that scorched holes in the balloon and almost set fire to the cordage that held the basket and balloon together. Twenty-five minutes after lift off, Pilatre gently set the balloon down at Butte-aux-Cailles to a hero's welcome. Pilatre designed a balloon that combined the lift of the hydrogen charliere and the control of the heated-air montgolfiere. Hydrogen gas and fire were risky traveling companions, but Pilatre desperately wanted to accomplish the first east-to-west crossing of the English Channel. On June 15, 1785, the balloon ascended above the gathered crowd. Within minutes, the charliere exploded. The charliere, montgolfiere and gallery plunged to the rocks on the coast of Wimereux. Unfortunately, neither Pilatre nor his co-pilot, Romain, survived the crash.
	wright brothers Wilber and Orville Wright developed an interest for flying while working their bike shop in Ohio. In 1899 they started making glider models, and the next year, they started making glider flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. After many experiments, they finally discovered how to control their planes. The Wright brothers built a biplane (an airplane with two wings, situated one above the other) called the FLYER in 1903. It had a 12 horse power (9-killowatt) gasoline engine, and wings 40 feet 4 inches long, wooden framing covered with cotton cloth. The engine turned two wooden pusher propellers (propellers that push the plane forward, instead of pulling it) located behind the back wings. The plane had wooden runners in place of wheels. They also had the most unique and successful way to control their special planes. It consisted of strings strung from the tips of the wings, to a "cradle" around the pilots' hips as he is lying on his stomach. By twisting the hips one could twist one wingtip or the other in order to keep the plane in balance and control in flight. Fly the Wright Flyer (requires Shockwave plug-in) Credit: http://firstflight.open.ac.uk/ Orville Wright became the first to fly successfully in a motor driven heavier-than-air machine on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk. The plane was launched from a 60 foot (18-meter) rail on a sand flat and flew 120 feet (37- meters) at about 30 mph (48 kph.) The flight lasted about 12 seconds. Three more flights were made that day. While Orville Wright made the first flight, Wilber made the longest - 852 feet (260 meters) in 59 seconds. The brothers continued to improve their planes and by the end of 1905 they built and flew the first fully maneuverable plane that could fly a half-hour at a time. Wilber made the first official flights in France and amazed the world with its flying ability. The plane was launched from a 60 foot (18-meter) rail on a sand flat and flew 120 feet (37- meters) at about 30 mph (48 kph.) The flight lasted about 12 seconds. Three more flights were made that day. While Orville Wright made the first flight, Wilber made the longest - 852 feet (260 meters) in 59 seconds. The brothers continued to improve their planes and by the end of 1905 they built and flew the first fully maneuverable plane that could fly a half-hour at a time. Wilber made the first official flights in France and amazed the world with its flying ability. Click here to view the Wright Flyer
	other pioneer planes and fliers In 1906, Albert Santos Dumont, a Brazilian who lived in France, became the third person to fly an airplane. Also in 1906, Trajan Vuia, a Romanian inventor living in France, constructed the first full sized monoplane (single-wing plane). Glenn H. Curtiss, an American inventor, made the first important airplane flight in the United States after the Wright brothers. Henri Farman, an English flier living in France, had made a circular flight of one kilometer earlier in 1908. John A.D. McCurdy, a Canadian engineering student, made the first successful airplane flight in Canada on Feb 23, 1909. On September 17, 1908, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Thomas E. Selfridge, went up in a plane with Orville Wright. One of the two propellers broke and the plane crashed killing Selfridge and injuring Wright. In spite of this tragedy, inventors were not discouraged, and in 1909 a French inventor, Louis Bleriot, made the first international airplane flight in his monoplane across the English Channel from France to England. In 1911, Calbraith P. Rodgers made the first airplane flight across the United States. The early fliers and their planes did much to lead to the improvement of airplane designs and to make flying safer and more popular. Related Links: Aviation Videos - History firstflight.com - Online flight school First Flight