History of Airplanesfrom the Wright Brothers up to 1909. just the first decade
In 1903, after exhaustive experiments in gliding, Wilbur and Orville Wright finally flew a motor-driven airplane. Over the next five years they built other airplanes, which differed little from the one that first took wing at Kitty Hawk. Their first public flights, in September, 1908 (Orville Wright at Fort Meyer, and Wilbur Wright at Le [...]
This machine, built by the Voisins and first experimented with in the late part of l909, embodied several unorthodox biplane features, but had little success. The Goupy and the Breguet, aeroplanes of this type, however, turned out to be much more practical.
Top Speed: 50 m.p.h.
Engine: 40 horse-power 4-cylinder Voisin
Wingspan: 37 [...]
Col. Cody, an American living in England, distinguished himself in the early 1900s as the successful operator of man-lifting kites. His work in this line, with regard to army use and scouting, attracted much attention in England. In 1907, Col. Cody commenced work on a motor aeroplane of huge dimensions. [...]
The first sustained flight of a powered airplane in Europe was made by Santos-Dumont on November 12th, 1906, in a biplane of his design. In 1907 he began work on a monoplane, and after much alteration, he finally developed the highly successful little monoplane, the “Demoiselle,” the smallest aeroplane in [...]
The 1909 R. E. P. monoplane was considered by many to be one of the most perfect types of aeroplanes. Great finish was exhibited in its construction and form, but due probably to motor troubles it never was flown for any great length of time. M. Pelterie, the designer, was one of [...]
June 4, 1910 - a sixteen year boy, Marcel Hanriot, takes off in a graceful aeroplane designed by his father, Rene Hanriot.
The Hanriot monoplane was developed in 1910, and gave aviators excellent results. It did not depart radically from common monoplane lines of the time, but differed largely in structural details [...]
The early Hans Grade monoplane resembles a modern ultra-light, with the the pilot perched under the wing and small engine, sitting in a light under-carriage.
Hans Grade was one of the first German aviators to design and successfully fly an aeroplane. In the fall of 1909 he began flights on his interesting monoplane, and [...]
In November, 1914, the Japanese surrounded the German outpost of Tsingtao, China. Aviator Gunther Pluschow was ordered by the Governor to escape capture to Germany.
Pluschow flew out of Tsingtao in his Rumpler Taube monoplane on a cold morning, amidst heavy anti-aircraft fire from the surrounding hills, swarming with Japanese soldiers. With a packet of [...]
After his famous cross-Channle flight in his type XI airplane, Louis Bleriot also designed a passenger-carrying type of monoplane, the No. XII., which differed in structure from the No. XI. A type similar in form to the No. XII. is the small No. XIII., with which Bleriot attained high speed at Rheims [...]
Resembling a giant dragonfly, with its long thin body and delicate wings, the Antoinette IV, introduced in October 1908, was an aerodynamically advanced monoplane. It featured a slim fuselage, trapezoidal wings with marked dihedral, and cruciform tail. It was the first practical monoplane with ailerons, although they performed poorly and were replaced with wing warping [...]