IT TOOK OVER 2000 YEARS FOR MAN TO FLY BUT ONLY100 YEARS AFTER TO FLY THOUSANDS OF MILES PER HOUR

The discovery of a kite that could fly in the air by the Chinese around 400 BC started humans thinking about flying. Kites were used by the Chinese in religious ceremonies then. For many centuries, humans have tried to fly just like the birds and have studied the flight of them. Wings made of feathers or light weight wood have been attached to arms to test their ability to fly. But still no success. Leonardo da Vinci made the first real studies of flight in the 1480's. He had over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on bird and mechanical flight. His "Ornithopter" flying machine was never actually built. It was a design that Leonardo da Vinci created to show how man could fly. The modern day helicopter is based on this concept. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks on flight were reexamined in the 20th century by aviation pioneers.

In 1783, the first passengers in the colorful lighter than air balloon, invented by Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, were a sheep, a rooster and a duck. The first manned flight was in 1783 as well. Sir George Cayley is considered the father of aerodynamics. Cayley experimented with wing design in the 1800’s. Cayley designed many different versions of gliders that used the movements of the body to control the flight. German engineer, Otto Lilienthal, studied aerodynamics and worked to design a glider that would fly and his designs were used by the Wright brothers as the basis of their craft. After the Wrights found a glider shape that consistently would fly in their tests in the North Carolina Outer Banks dunes, they turned their attention to how to create a propulsion system that would provide the lift needed to fly. The early engine that they used generated almost 12 horsepower. The "Flyer" lifted from level ground to the north of Big Kill Devil Hill, at 10:35 a.m., on December 17, 1903. Orville piloted the plane which weighed six hundred and five pounds. The first heavier-than-air flight traveled one hundred twenty feet in twelve seconds.

Humankind was now able to fly! During the next century, many new airplanes and engines were developed to help transport people, luggage, cargo, military personnel and weapons. The 20th century's advances were all based on this first flight at Kitty Hawk by the American Brothers from Ohio.