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A history of flight, 1903 to 1969

A timeline from Kitty Hawk to the Moon: fifteen events on a year axis, grouped by era.

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The pioneers

1903 to 1913. Inventors and showmen proving a powered aeroplane could be controlled at all, then that it could cross water and carry a passenger.

The First World War

1914 to 1918. Four years that turned a curiosity into an industry: engines, airframes and pilots were produced by the thousand.

The golden age

1919 to 1938. Record flights across oceans and continents, and the first airliners that could make money from passengers alone.

The Second World War

1939 to 1945. The jet engine and radar arrived, and long-range four-engine aircraft made the post-war airline possible.

The jet and space age

1946 to 1969. Faster than sound, jets across the Atlantic, a human in orbit, the jumbo jet and Concorde - and, in 1969, the Moon.

1903: First powered flight

17 Dec 1903. 12 seconds, 37 metres.

Date: 17 Dec 1903
Where: Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
Aircraft: Wright Flyer
Pilots: Orville and Wilbur Wright
That day: Four flights; the longest 59 seconds, 260 m

1909: Across the Channel

25 Jul 1909. Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.

Date: 25 Jul 1909
Pilot: Louis Blériot
Aircraft: Blériot XI monoplane
Why it mattered: Britain was no longer an island to an aeroplane

1914: The first scheduled airline

1 Jan 1914. Across Tampa Bay, one passenger.

Date: 1 Jan 1914
Airline: St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line
Aircraft: Benoist XIV flying boat
Pilot: Tony Jannus
Route: About 34 km across Tampa Bay

1919: Non-stop across the Atlantic

14–15 Jun 1919. Newfoundland to Ireland, 16 hours.

Date: 14–15 Jun 1919
Crew: John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown
Aircraft: Vickers Vimy
Route: St John's to Clifden, Ireland

1927: Alone across the Atlantic

20–21 May 1927. New York to Paris, 33½ hours.

Date: 20–21 May 1927
Pilot: Charles Lindbergh
Aircraft: Spirit of St. Louis
Route: Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget

1932: The first woman solo across

20–21 May 1932. Newfoundland to Northern Ireland.

Date: 20–21 May 1932
Pilot: Amelia Earhart
Aircraft: Lockheed Vega 5B
Time: About 15 hours

1936: The DC-3 enters service

1936. An airliner that paid its way.

Date: 1936
Aircraft: Douglas DC-3
First flight: 17 Dec 1935
Why it mattered: Airlines could profit from passengers alone

1939: The first jet flight

27 Aug 1939. A turbojet, in Germany.

Date: 27 Aug 1939
Aircraft: Heinkel He 178
Pilot: Erich Warsitz
Engine: Designed by Hans von Ohain

1947: Faster than sound

14 Oct 1947. Mach 1.06 in level flight.

Date: 14 Oct 1947
Pilot: Chuck Yeager
Aircraft: Bell X-1, rocket-powered
Where: Over the Mojave Desert, California

1952: The first jet airliner service

2 May 1952. London to Johannesburg.

Date: 2 May 1952
Airline: BOAC
Aircraft: de Havilland Comet 1
Why it mattered: Passengers above the weather, at twice the speed

1958: The 707 enters service

26 Oct 1958. New York to Paris by Pan Am.

Date: 26 Oct 1958
Aircraft: Boeing 707
First jet across the Atlantic: BOAC's Comet 4, three weeks earlier
Why it mattered: The jet that made long-haul travel ordinary

1961: A human in orbit

12 Apr 1961. One orbit, 108 minutes.

Date: 12 Apr 1961
Cosmonaut: Yuri Gagarin
Spacecraft: Vostok 1

1969: The jumbo jet flies

9 Feb 1969. In service with Pan Am in 1970.

Date: 9 Feb 1969
Aircraft: Boeing 747
First flight from: Everett, Washington

1969: Concorde's first flight

2 Mar 1969. In service from 1976.

Date: 2 Mar 1969
Aircraft: Concorde
First flight from: Toulouse
Pilot: André Turcat

1969: On the Moon

20 Jul 1969. 66 years after Kitty Hawk.

Date: 20 Jul 1969
Mission: Apollo 11
On the surface: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
In orbit: Michael Collins