History of Aviation History of AviationLeonardo da Vinci designs a flying machine1487Francesco de Lana designs the first airship1670Laurenco de Gusmao fails in his attempt to launch a bird-shaped glider1709Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier's hot air balloon reaches a height of 6,560 feet (2,000 m)1783Jacques Charles tests the first hydrogen hot air balloon in Paris1783Jean Blanchard and John Jeffries become the first to cross the English Channel by air balloon1785Pilâtre de Rozier and Pierre Romain become the first men to be killed in a hot air balloon1785André Jacques Garnerin makes first successful parachute jump above Paris1797Jeanne-Genevieve Garnerin, became the first woman to make a parachute jump1799André Jacques Garnerin makes parachute jump of 8,000 feet (2,438 m)1802Jacob Degen survives a crash in Vienna in his ornithopter1809The Vauxhall air balloon flies from England to Germany, covering 480 miles in 18 hours1836George Cayley builds a triplane glider1849Henri Gifford builds an airship powered by a 3-hp steam engine1852Louis Charles Letur builds a parachute-glider in France1853A triplane built by George Cayley flies 900 feet (275 m) across a small valley1853Louis Charles Letur is killed in his pilot-controlled air machine1854Alphonse Pénaud's aeroplane travels 131 feet (39.92 m) in 11 seconds1871Vincent de Groof is killed when his aircraft launched from a balloon crashes1874Alexander Mozhaiski's aeroplane travels 98 feet (29.87 m) at Krasnoye Selo, Russia1884Otto Lilienthal, a German engineer, publishes a book outlining his theories on flight1889Clement Adler's aircraft, Eole, travels 165 feet (50.29 m) at Gretz1890Percy Pilcher flies his Bat glider for the first time1895Otto Lilienthal, the German engineer, is killed while flying his recently designed glider1896Percy Pilcher is killed when flying his new aircraft, the Hawk1899The LZ airship, designed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, makes its first flight1900Samuel Pierpont Langley builds the first aircraft powered by a gasoline engine 1901Samuel Pierpont Langley abandons his experiments when his aircraft, Aerodrome, crashes 1903Orville and Wilber Wright's fly the first heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk 1903Orville and Wilber Wright's Flyer II fails to take-off1904Ferdinand Ferber builds a biplane glider with fixed tail1904Orville and Wilber Wright's Flyer III flies 24.2 miles (38.95 km) in 38 minutes1905Blériot VII reaches a speed of about 50 mph (80 kpm)1907Louis Bleriot becomes the first man to fly across the English Channel1909The establishment of the Aéronautique Militaire1910First parachute jump from an aeroplane take place at St. Louis1912The establishment of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC)1912A Zeppelin airship bombs Liege in Belgium1914Roland Garros uses deflector plates1915Zeppelin raid on London kills 28 people1915First lightweight aircraft receiver tested in England1916First heavy bomber, the Handley Page, goes into action1916Charles Augustus Lindbergh flies nonstop between New York and Paris1927Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean1928Robert Watson-Watt demonstrates his radar system to Air Ministry1935The Hawker Hurricane, designed by Sydney Camm, makes its first flight1935The Spitfire, designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, makes its first flight1936The Messerschmitt 110 makes its first flight1936Frank Whittle tests the first prototype jet engine1937Amelia Earhart killed during an attempt on a round-the-world flight1937Junkers Ju 88A makes its first flight1939The Vought Corsair becomes the first fighter aircraft to fly at 400 mph1940Frank Whittle's jet-propelled Gloster E28 takes its first flight1941Wernher von Braun demonstrates his V2 Rocket to Nazi leaders1942The Messerschmitt Me 262 makes its first test flight1942The B-29 Superfortress makes its first flight1942Wing Commander Guy Gibson leads the Dambusters Raid1943The Arado Ar 234, the world's first jet bomber, makes its first flight1943Gloster Meteor, Britain's first jet-fighter, is used by the Royal Air Force1944The turbo-jet Heinkel He 162 makes its first test flight1944