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Wright Flyer
First powered, controlled flight, 17 Dec 1903
On 17 December 1903 Orville Wright flew the Wright Flyer for 12 seconds and about 37 metres at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Three more flights that day went as far as 260 metres.
The Wright brothers made four flights on the morning of 17 December 1903 on the dunes near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville piloted the first, which lasted 12 seconds and covered about 120 feet (roughly 37 metres). The longest, piloted by Wilbur, lasted close to a minute and covered about 852 feet (roughly 260 metres).
The aircraft was a biplane with a small petrol engine driving two propellers that the brothers designed themselves. They controlled it by twisting the wing tips, a method called wing warping, and by moving a front elevator and a rudder. It took off from a wooden rail, into a strong headwind, and flew without wheels, which is why the flight is described as powered, controlled and sustained.
After the fourth flight a gust damaged the Flyer. The original aircraft is now displayed at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Others, including some in Europe, made early hops, but the Wrights' flights are the first widely accepted case of a controlled, powered flight carrying a person.The brothers had spent years testing gliders and a wind tunnel before this attempt, which is a large part of why their design succeeded where others had failed.