People have always looked up at the sky and wondered what it would be like to fly. They would watch the birds soar and land and take off again.

Several inventors studied the bird's wing over the years and tried to copy it.
A bird's wing is shaped for flight. Once this was understood, people were able to build the wings of an airplane.

We hope that once you have read through our project on flight you will be able to understand how a plane can take off, fly and land.

• Greek Mythology: Icarus and Daedalus; This is the earliest story about man's attempt at flying.

• Montgolfier's Balloon; The first man made "aircraft"

• Sir George Cayley's Gliders;An Englishman that is given credit for the first design of an aircraft that looks like today's airplanes and gliders.

• Otto and Gustav Lilienthal; They made many glider flights in the years before the Wright brothers.

• Octave Chanute; He was an aviation pioneer who indirectly helped the Wright brothers with their powered flying machine.

• Orville and Wilbur Wright:Two brothers that used their knowledge of bicycles to change history.


Flight Home