The First Airplane Flight
On December 17th of 1903 the first airplane flight was conducted by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright. Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wrights made the first successful self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft flight. Piloted by Orville, the aircraft was a gasoline-powered, propel-driven biplane, which stayed in flight for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet initially.
“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.” — Wilbur Wright
In Remembrance of Chuck Yeager
On December 7th, aviation lovers mourned the loss of Chuck Yager, a previous World War II Air Force officer and test pilot, who became the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Yeager accomplished many milestones for aviation in the United States.
“There is no such thing as a natural born pilot. Whatever my aptitudes or talents, becoming a proficient pilot was hard work, really a lifetime’s learning experience. For the best pilots, flying is an obsession, the one thing in life they must do continually. The best pilots fly more than the others; that’s why they’re the best. Experience is everything. The eagerness to learn how and why every piece of equipment works is everything. And luck is everything, too.” — Chuck Yeager
