ANEX

he dream of flying is as old as mankind itself. However, the concept of

the airplane has only been around for two centuries. Before that time,
men and women tried to navigate the air by imitating the birds. They
built wings to strap onto their arm or machines with flapping wings
called ornithopters. On the surface, it seemed like a good plan. After
all, there are plenty of birds in the air to show that the 1490 Leonardo DaVinci's plan for a man
carrying ornithopter with flapping wings.
concept does work.

The trouble is, it works better at bird-scale than it does at the much
larger scale needed to lift both a man and a machine off the ground.
So folks began to look for other ways to fly. Beginning in 1783, a few
aeronauts made daring, uncontrolled flights in lighter-than-
air balloons, filled with either hot air or hydrogen gas. But this was
hardly a practical way to fly. There was no way to get from here to
there unless the wind was blowing in the desired direction.

It wasn’t until the turn of the nineteenth century that an English

baronet from the gloomy moors of Yorkshire conceived a flying
machine with fixed wings, apropulsion system, and movable control
surfaces. This was the fundamental concept of the airplane. Sir
George Cayley also built the first true airplane — a kite mounted on a 1783 Montgolfier hot-air balloon.
stick with a movable tail. It was crude, but it proved his idea worked,
and from that first humble glider evolved the amazing machines that
have taken us to the edge of space at speeds faster than sound.

This wing of the museum focuses on the early history of

1799 Sir George Cayley's plan for a
the airplane, from its conception in 1799 to the years just before
World War I. Because we are a museum of pioneer aviation, we don’t fixed-wing aircraft.
spend a great deal of time on those years after Orville Wright closed
the doors of the Wright Company in 1916. We concentrate on the
development of the airplane before it was commonplace, when flying
machines were odd contraptions of stick, cloth, and wire; engines were
temperamental and untrustworthy; and pilots were never quite sure
 whether they’d be able to coax their machine into the air or bring it
down in one piece.

A History of the Airplane is divided into four sections:

THE CENTURY BEFORE

In 1799, Sir George Cayley defined the forces of lift and drag and
presented the first scientific design for a fixed-wing aircraft. Building
on his pioneering work in aeronautics, scientists and engineers began
designing and testing airplanes. A young boy made the first manned
flight in a glider designed by Cayley in 1849. In 1874, Felix duTemple
made the first attempt at powered flight by hopping off the end of a The Aerial Steam Carriage, conceived
ramp in a steam-driven monoplane. Other scientists, such as Francis
Wenham and Horatio Phillips studied cambered wing designs mounted by William Henson in 1843, was the
first aircraft design to show propellers
in wind tunnels and on whirling arms. Finally in 1894, Sir Hiram Maxim
made a successful takeoff (but a woefully uncontrolled flight) in a .
biplane "test rig." At the same time, Otto Lilienthal made the first
controlled flights, shifting his body weight to steer a small glider.
Inspired by his success, Wilbur and Orville Wright experiment with
aerodynamic surfaces to control an airplane in flight. Their work leads
them to make the first controlled, sustained, powered flights on
December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

 The First Airplanes, 1799 to 1853

 Powering Up, 1854 to 1879
 Airmen and Chauffers, 1880 to 1898
 The Road to Kitty Hawk, 1899 to 1903
1874, Felix du Temple made the first
attempt at manned flight in a powered aircraf
He was not successful.

THE DECADE AFTER

T

Immediately after the Wright Brothers make their first powered

flights in 1903, they begin to develop their experimental aircraft into
a marketable product. By 1905 they have what they consider to be a
"practical flying machine." Other experimenters learn of their work
and begin to build on their success. By 1906, would-be pilots are
making tentative hops in uncontrollable aircraft. By 1909, after 1905 Wright Flyer III was the first practical
aircraft, capable of sustained flight and
watching the Wrights' flying demonstrations, they grasp the brilliance navigation.
 and necessity of three-axis aerodynamic control. The performance of
their aircraft quickly catch up to, then surpass Wright Flyers. The T
capabilities of and the uses for aircraft expand as designers and pilots
introduce float planes, flying boats, passenger aircraft, observation
platforms fitted with radios and wireless telegraphs, fighters, and
bombers. As World War I approaches, aircraft have become an
essential part of war and peace.
Dunne flying wing, built and tested by
 Landing Without Crashing, 1904 to 1905
 Wake Up Call, 1905 to 1909 the British in 1910, was the first top secret
 Faster, Higher, Farther, 1909 to 1912 aircraft.

 Girding for Battle, 1912 to 1914

PILOTS, PLANES, AND PIONEERS

The history of pioneer aviation is resplendent with heroes and

heroines who took spindly, underpowered aircraft and accomplished
amazing things. They were an odd collection of scientists,
entrepreneurs, adventurers, soldiers, and people who just wanted to
push personal and cultural boundaries. What they all had in common is
that they blazed the first trails through the sky and in doing so,
changed the world. This is a collection of short biographies, arranged
alphabetically. We have added longer bios for a few pioneers, and will
add more as time allows.
1911,Harriet Quimby became the first
 Short Biographies of Aviation Pioneers, A through Z
 Charley Furnas, the First Airplane Passenger licensed woman pilot in the United States.
 Cal Rodgers and the Tale of the Vin Fiz
 The Wright/Smithsonian Controversy

WHO WAS FIRST?

Almost as soon as the news of the Wright brothers' first flights at

Kitty Hawk and Huffman Prairie became known, there were claims that
others had been the first to fly. We shouldn't deny these "wannabees"
the acclaim they deserve; they are true aviation pioneers and
visionaries. It's interesting to note that with only a few exceptions,
none claimed this honor for themselves. It was claimed for them, often Workmen who built the Ezekiel Airship
 many years after they had completed their work. And the people who
for the Reverend Burrell Cannon
made these claims often had transparent reasons -- reputations to
uphold, axes to grind, books to sell, and tourism to encourage. The claimed to have made a flight in 1902.
accounts presented here reflect the conclusions of the majority of
aviation historians. We also address a favorite of conspiracy theorists,
a controversial agreement between the Wright estate and the
Smithsonian, allegedly designed to suppress whatever truth du
jour needs suppressing.

 The Smithsonian Contract

 Gustav Whitehead
 Alberto Santos-Dumont