Fantastic Flying Machines

Fantastic Flying Machines

Introduction Close your eyes and imagine if you could fly like a bird. Where would you go? What would you see? If you had never seen or heard of an airplane, could you imagine what it would be like to fly? Let's look at some of the fantastic machines that make flying possible.

People have always wanted to fly. They watched birds fly. They dreamed about how wonderful it would be. A few people had good ideas about what made objects move through the air. One man made a small toy propeller that could spin through the air. In the 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci, an artist, drew amazing plans for a helicopter. It might have worked- but he never built it. People experimented. Some strapped wings onto their arms and flapped. A few tied themselves to big kites. Almost everyone crashed over and over--but they wanted to fly!

History of Flight In 1783, two French brothers invented the hot-air balloon. Their first passengers were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. George Cayley built the first glider that carried a person. Later, an engineer invented a better glider and published his ideas in 1889. A few years later, his ideas and notes inspired many of the designs of the Wright brothers.

Orville and Wilbur Wright thought about all of these early ideas. They thought about why most of them didn't work. After many tests, the Wright brothers built the first successful airplane that was powered by an engine. It could only carry one person, so they took turns testing it. On December 17, 1903, it was Orville's turn. That day, he flew for one full minute and went 260 meters (850 ft). People could fly!

Airplanes Planes have improved a lot since the early days of flight. Large passenger airplanes are the first type of flying machine that most people see. Have you flown in an airplane on a vacation trip? These types of planes can carry about 450 passengers and their luggage. They can take you across the country or around the world.