The world's first aircraft. Aircraft. History of invention. The conquest of airspace in ancient China

Balloons and airships

Balloons, gliders and airships served as the first aircraft for man. In the 20th century, the development of powered aircraft proceeded at a phenomenal rate. On its first flight in 1903, Orville Wright's aircraft flew no more than the wingspan of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, which first flew in 1969. The temptation to think that the history of flight began with the Wright brothers (USA) is great, but in fact, man first took to the air a century before Orville and Wilber Wright switched attention from bicycles to airplanes.

In 1783, exactly 120 years before the famous flight of the Wright brothers, the Frenchman Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier became the first person to take to the air. For this purpose, he used a tethered balloon filled with hot air, which was designed by his compatriots Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. The following month, Rosier and the Marquis d'Arlande (France) made their first free flight, again on a hot air balloon.

The first prototype of a helicopter

Just a year after experimenting with balloons, two Frenchmen, Lonoy and Bienvenue, created the first prototype of a helicopter, which became the first heavier-than-air craft to take to the air. But only half a century later, it was possible to build an apparatus heavier than air capable of lifting a person: in 1849, Sir George Cayley (England) designed a glider with three wings, which lifted a ten-year-old boy into the air, thus making the first ever flight on an apparatus heavier than air.

Henri Giffard

This achievement was soon followed by the first controlled human flight. It was made in 1852 by Henri Giffard (France) on his steam-powered airship. A year later, Caylee created the first glider capable of lifting an adult, the coachman Cayley participated in the tests, who immediately after the flight demanded calculation, allegedly stating: "I was hired to drive horses, not fly."

Free flight and controlled flight had already taken place by the middle of the 19th century, and Cayley, often called the “father of aircraft,” proved that heavier-than-air flight was possible, but heavier-than-air powered flight remained an elusive goal.

French aviator Clement Ader

French aviator Clément Ader made the first takeoff in a heavier-than-air craft as early as 1890, but never managed to transition to controlled flight. In 1901, in the Connecticut newspaper "Bridgeport di Herold", USA, it was reported that Gustav Whitehead (Weiskopf, Germany-USA) made the first long-duration controlled flight on an apparatus with an engine heavier than air, but this statement was not supported by anything and did not receive official recognition . Another unsubstantiated announcement of the same kind was made by Richard Pierce (New Zealand), claiming that in March 1903 he made the first flight in an airplane.

But be that as it may, the first documented, confirmed, controlled, perfect with an engine, a flight of an apparatus heavier than air, which lasted 12 seconds in the air and covered a distance of 36 m, became sufficiently long and stable. This is the flight of Orville Wright on the Wright Flyer glider. in Kill Devil Hills, true Carolina, USA. It took place at 10:35 on December 17, 1903.

Dmitry Demyanov, Samogo.Net (

Leonardo da Vinci thought about flying in the sky with the help of a special device in the 16th century, but the first flight was officially registered at the beginning of the last century. There is still fierce debate about who we owe the possibility of air travel to, but the fact remains that the first flight was officially registered in 1903. The very first airplane in the world was invented by the Wright brothers.

Aviation history

The first attempts to build an aircraft capable of lifting a person into the air began at the end of the 18th century. The history of the invention of the flying machine originates in England, when Sir George Cayley took up this issue in earnest and published several scientific papers, in which he detailed the principle of construction and operation of a prototype of a modern aircraft.

The inventor began his work with birdwatching. The scientist devoted a long time to measuring the flight speed of birds and the wing span. These data subsequently became the basis of several publications that marked the beginning of the development of aviation.

In his first sketches, Cayley envisioned the aircraft as a boat with a tail at one end and a pair of oars at the bow. The structure was supposed to be driven by oars, which would transfer rotation to a cruciform shank at the end of the vessel. In this way, Cayley unmistakably depicted the main elements of the aircraft. It was the work of this scientist that laid the foundation for the development of aviation and became the impetus for the development of the concept of the aircraft.

The pioneer of aviation in its modern sense was another English inventor - William Henson. It was he who received an order to develop a project for an aircraft in 1842.

The "steam air crew" proposed by Henson described all the main elements of a propeller-driven aircraft. As a device that moves the entire structure, the inventor proposed to use a propeller. Many of the ideas proposed by Henson were subsequently developed and began to be used in early aircraft models.

Russian inventor N.A. Teleshov patented the project for the construction of an "aeronautics system". The concept of the flying machine was also based on a steam engine and a propeller. A few years later, the scientist improved his project and was one of the first to propose the idea of ​​​​creating a jet aircraft.

A feature of Teleshov's projects was the idea of ​​transporting passengers in a closed fuselage.

Who invented the airplane

Despite the fact that the development of the design of the aircraft was carried out by many scientists in the middle of the 19th century, the invention of the aircraft is attributed to the Wright brothers, whose airplane made a short flight in 1903.

Not everyone agrees that the Wright brothers were the first. Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont designed, built and tested the world's first airship prototype in 1901. It was then that it was proved that controlled flights are indeed possible.

According to another version, the championship in the invention of the first working aircraft should be given to the Russian inventor A.F. Mozhaisky, whose name will forever remain in the history of aviation. Thus, disputes about who invented and who created the aircraft are still ongoing.

Interesting! Despite the fact that officially the invention of the aircraft is awarded to the Wright brothers, all Brazilians are sure that Santos-Dumont invented the world's first aircraft. In Russia, it is believed that the first prototype of a modern aircraft was built by Mozhaisky.

The work of the Wright brothers

The Wright brothers were not the first inventors of the airplane. Moreover, the first uncontrolled human flight also does not belong to them. Nevertheless, the Wright brothers were able to prove the most important thing - that a person is able to fly an aircraft.

It was Wilbur and Orville Wright who first carried out controlled flight on an aircraft, thanks to which the idea of ​​​​the possibility of carrying out passenger transportation by air was further developed.

At a time when all scientists were puzzling over the possibility of installing more powerful engines to lift the aircraft into the air, the brothers focused on questions of the ability to control the aircraft. The result was a series of wind tunnel experiments that provided the basis for the development of airplane wings and propellers.

The first powered glider built by the brothers was named Flyer 1. It was made of spruce, as this material is lightweight and durable. The device was driven by a gasoline engine.

Interesting! The engine for the Flyer-1 was made by mechanic Charlie Taylor, a design feature was light weight. To do this, the mechanic used duralumin, also called duralumin.

The first successful flight was made on December 17, 1903. The plane climbed a few meters and flew about 40 meters in 12 seconds. Then there were repeated tests, as a result of which the duration and altitude of the flight increased.

Santos Dumont and 14bis

Alberto Santos-Dumont is known as the inventor of hot air balloons, he is also sometimes credited as the creator of the world's first controlled aircraft. He also owns the invention of airships, which were controlled by an engine.

In 1906, his plane called "14-bis" took off and flew over 60 meters. The height to which the inventor raised his aircraft was about 2.5 meters. A month later, Alberto Santos-Dumont flew 220 meters on the same plane, setting the first longest flight record as a result.

A feature of the "14-bis" was that the design was able to take off on its own. The Wright brothers failed to achieve this, and their plane took off with outside help. It was this nuance that became fundamental in the debate about who should be considered the inventor of the first aircraft.

After the "14-bis" the inventor seriously engaged in the development of a monoplane, as a result, the world saw the "Demoiselle".

Alberto Santos-Dumont never rested on his laurels and kept his inventions a secret. The inventor willingly shared the designs of his aircraft with thematic publications.

Aircraft Mozhaisky

The scientist presented the project of his aircraft for consideration back in 1876. Mozhaisky faced a misunderstanding of the officials of the Military Ministry, as a result, he was not allocated funds to continue his research.

Despite this, the scientist continued to develop, investing own funds, because of which the construction of the prototype of the Mozhaisky aircraft dragged on for many years.

Mozhaisky's plane was built in 1882. The first tests of the aircraft ended in disaster, but witnesses claim that the aircraft still rose some distance from the ground before it crashed.

Since there is no documentary evidence of the flight, it is impossible to consider Mozhaisky the first person to fly an airplane. However, the development of the scientist served as the basis for the development of aviation.

So who was the first

Despite numerous disputes about the year in which the aircraft was invented, the first officially registered flight belongs to the Wright brothers, which is why the Americans are considered the "fathers" of the first aircraft.

It is inappropriate to compare the contribution to the development of aviation by the Wright brothers, Santos-Dumont and Mozhaisky. Despite the fact that Mozhaisky's first aircraft was built 20 years before the first controlled flight, the inventor used a different construction principle, so it is impossible to compare his aircraft with the Wright brothers' Flyer.

Santos-Dumont was not the first to fly, but the inventor used a fundamentally new approach to the construction of an aircraft, thanks to which his device took to the air on its own.

In addition to the first controlled flight, the Wright brothers made a significant contribution to the development of aviation, the first to propose a fundamentally new approach to the construction of the propeller and wings of the aircraft.

It makes no sense to argue which of these scientists became the first, because they all made a huge contribution to the development of aviation. It was their work and research that became the basis for the invention of the prototype of the modern airliner.

The first military aircraft

Prototypes of the Flyer by the Wright brothers and the Santos-Dumont aircraft were used for military purposes.

If the brothers initially pursued the goal of inventing technology that would give an advantage to the American army, then the Brazilian Santos-Dumont was against the use of aviation for military purposes. Despite this, his work served as the starting point for the creation of a number of aircraft, which were then used during the war. Interestingly, Mozhaisky initially also pursued the construction of an aircraft that would be used for military purposes.

The first jet aircraft appeared at the height of World War II.

The first passenger aircraft

The first passenger aircraft appeared thanks to I.I. Sikorsky. The prototype of the modern airliner took off in 1914 with 12 passengers on board. In the same year, the Ilya Muromets airliner set a world record by making its first long-distance flight. He flew the distance from St. Petersburg to Kyiv, making one landing for refueling.

The airliner also participated in the transport of bombs during the First World War. The war forced Russian aviation to freeze in development for some time.

In 1925, the first K-1 aircraft appeared, then the world saw Tupolev passenger airliners and aircraft developed by KhAI. Since that time, more and more attention has been paid to passenger aircraft, they are acquiring greater passenger capacity and the ability to fly over long distances.

History of the development of jet aircraft

The first idea of ​​a jet aircraft was proposed by the Russian inventor Teleshov. An attempt to replace the propeller with a piston engine was made in 1910 by a designer from Romania, A. Coanda.

These attempts were unsuccessful, and the first successful test of a jet aircraft took place in 1939. The tests were carried out by the German company Heinkel, however, several mistakes were made during the design of the model:

  • wrong choice of engine design;
  • high fuel consumption;
  • frequent need for refueling.

However, the first jet aircraft prototype was able to develop high speed climb - more than 60 meters in one second of flight.

Due to design errors made, the jet aircraft could not move more than 50 kilometers from the airfield, due to the need for frequent refueling. Due to a number of shortcomings, the first successful model never got into mass production.

The first production aircraft was the Me-262 in 1944. This model has become an improved version of the previous Heinkel model.

Then the development of jet aircraft was picked up by Japan and Great Britain.

Video

Thus, jet aircraft appeared in the midst of the Second World War. They have serious combat victories on their account, however, the losses among them are also very high. First of all, this is due to the fact that the pilots simply did not have time to complete a full-fledged training in managing a fundamentally new aircraft. From the moment of the first successful flight to the advent of jet aircraft, only 30 years passed, during which there was a big breakthrough in aviation.

Even in ancient times, people dreamed of taking to the air and learning to fly like birds. History has brought to us a lot of evidence of the attempts of various people to make wings and fly. So, in 1020, the English monk Aylmer of Malmesbury, inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, made artificial wings and jumped off the tower of the local abbey. Having flown a short distance, upon landing, the monk broke his legs and wanted to repeat the flight by improving the design and adding a tail, but the abbot forbade him to do so. Most of the "inventors" ended up much worse - they were crushed to death. And yet - what is the history of aircraft and when did the first successful devices appear that allowed people to take to the air?

The history of flights begins in ancient China. Even in the 3-4 centuries BC. e. The Chinese invented the kite. Initially, this device was used to entertain the people at all kinds of holidays.

chinese dragon kite

However, kites soon found other uses. For example, fishermen began to use kites to catch fish by tying bait to them, kites were used to exchange signals over long distances, they even delivered messages and scattered leaflets with their help. Of course, the Chinese also had the idea that a large kite could lift a person into the air. Flying a kite was quite risky, but history has preserved evidence of successful flights. The first written mention of such a flight that has come down to us dates back to 559. This year, the cruel Emperor Qi Wenxuandi ordered large kites to be flown by his political opponents, who were condemned to death. One of them managed to fly several kilometers and land safely outside the city.

It is amazing that thousands of years passed before hang gliding, i.e., in fact, the same simple unpowered aircraft as the Chinese kite, became popular and spread. One of the enthusiasts of such flights was Otto Lilienthal, who made at the end of the 19th century. more than 2000 successful flights on gliders of our own design. He used the same materials as the Chinese - wooden rods and silk.

photo - flights of Lilienthal

Unfortunately, one of the flights ended in an accident - a gust of wind overturned the glider and Lilienthal fell, breaking his spine. “Sacrifices are inevitable,” he said about this. And the modern history of hang gliding began only in the 70s of the 20th century. The date of birth of the modern hang glider is 1971.

Before the advent of airplanes and helicopters, in a simple way to fly was the use of aircraft lighter than air - balloons and airships. Interestingly, the story here again leads us to China. Probably as early as the 3rd c. BC e. Air lanterns were invented in China. This lantern is a simple rice paper construction with a small burner inside.

Chinese air lanterns

The Chinese used air lanterns in ceremonies and as a means of signaling. Thousands of years passed before people began to fly in balloons.

Inventors hot air balloon the Montgolfier brothers from France are considered. The brothers were not entirely guided right ideas- they came up with the idea to make an analogue of the cloud and put it in a bag so that it could lift this bag into the air. To this end, they filled their bowls with smoke from burning a mixture of straw and wet wool. However, their approach led to success. First, the brothers experimented with small balloons at home, and then arranged a large demonstration of a balloon for the residents of their city of Annone. This happened on June 4, 1783. Soon they learned about the balloon in Paris, and in the autumn of the same year the Montgolfier brothers launched their balloons already in Versailles. For the first time in a balloon, they decided to launch passengers - they were a sheep, a duck and a rooster. Finally, making sure that a balloon flight would not harm a person, on October 19, 1783, the first balloon flight was made by people.

first balloon flight

Balloons had a significant drawback - their flight depended on the direction of the wind, therefore, during the 19th century. attempts to create a controlled aircraft with an engine did not stop. We tried both options with installing an engine on a balloon, and with installing an engine on a glider. But despite the fact that the idea of ​​controlled flight was expressed shortly after the flight of the first balloon, it took more than a hundred years before controlled flight became a reality. It wasn't until 1884 that Frenchmen Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs were able to build an airship capable of moving freely in any direction. Their airship had an elongated shape and was equipped with an electric motor that ran on batteries.

airship Renard and Krebs

Attempts to put an engine on a glider and thus invent an airplane did not lead to much success for a long time. Among such attempts was, for example, Mozhaisky's plane. Mozhaisky, rear admiral of the Russian fleet, began to invent the aircraft as early as the 50s of the 19th century. Starting with gliders that lifted harnessed horses into the air, Mozhaisky moved on to designing an aircraft with an engine. Unfortunately, steam engines, which he tried to equip the plane with, were too heavy and could not keep it in the air, although there is evidence that Mozhaisky's plane was able to take off for a short time.

Mozhaisky plane (model)

Mozhaisky spent all his money on inventive activity, sold the estate and eventually died of an illness in poverty. The then Russian officials were not interested in the ideas of Mozhaisky and did not finance his work, as a result, the Americans, the Wright brothers, became the generally recognized inventors of the aircraft. They made their first confirmed flight in 1903, 13 years after Mozhaisky's death.

The first documented flight of an aircraft designed by the Wright brothers took place on December 17, 1903. At the same time, the aircraft was launched using a rail catapult, and the distance it flew was only 30 meters.

first flight of the Wright brothers

The Wright brothers invented not only the aircraft itself, but also a light gasoline engine for it, which became a real breakthrough in aircraft construction. Nevertheless, time has passed from the first flight to the active development of aviation. The following year, the Wright brothers, in the presence of journalists, could not repeat their success, the plane went to the hangar, and the inventors began to design a new, more advanced model. The US military was in no hurry to conclude a contract with the Wright brothers, doubting the ability of bicycle mechanics (this was the specialty of the inventors) to design something worthwhile. In Europe, reports about the flights of the Wright brothers were generally considered a lie. Only in 1908, after impressive demonstration flights by inventors both in the US and in Europe, opinion changed, and the Wright brothers became not only famous, but also rich.

In 1909 Russian government finally realized the importance of inventions in the field of aviation. It refused to buy the Wright brothers' aircraft and decided to build its own aircraft. The first Russian airplane was built and flown in 1910 by Professor Alexander Kudashev.

Since ancient times, people, watching the rapid flight of birds, also dreamed of conquering the sky. To do this, they worked tirelessly to realize their dream - the creation of the first aircraft. Today it is quite difficult to say exactly who invented the plane. Many scientists of the past centuries were involved in this. Among them is, for example, the well-known artist Leonardo da Vinci, who, back in the 15th century, presented drawings of aircraft developed by himself (balloons, helicopters, airplanes, etc.).

The creation of the first aircraft in the world would not have been possible without attempts to conquer the sky by the American scientist and engineer George Cayley. He was seriously engaged in the development of such aircraft as gliders. His compatriot John Montgomery managed to achieve even greater success in this area. In 1883 he created the world's first controlled glider. A year earlier, the first domestic aircraft, designed thanks to the efforts of Rear Admiral A.F. Mozhaisky. And although his flight can hardly be called ideal, since the mechanic was injured during the landing, nevertheless, he made a considerable contribution to the development of the history of aviation.

December 17, 1903 is a memorable date when the first aircraft was created. This was done by two brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright. They took to the air their very first personal aircraft called "Flyer-1". This aircraft stayed in the air for approximately 59 seconds and flew 260 meters over the Kitty Hawk Valley. This fact is recognized by most of the world community. However, there are those who question it greatly. The last championship in this issue they give it to the Brazilian designer Santos-Dumont, whose plane took off on its own under engine power on October 23, 1906.

The name of the famous Ukrainian scientist I.I. Sikorsky is also associated with aviation. He became famous throughout the world as the creator of the C-2 aircraft, which won a lot of prizes. The year of creation of this aircraft is 1910, and two years later its analogue, improved in terms of aerodynamic parameters, appeared - the C-6 aircraft. In addition, the scientist paid considerable attention to the creation of fighters for military aviation, such as the Grand (Russian Knight) and Ilya Muromets. I.I. Sikorsky is known not only as a creator of aircraft, but also as a pilot. He set a lot of world records for the speed of flights.


Today it is difficult to imagine what the first aircraft was, of course, it differed in many ways from modern models. However, even then, more than two centuries ago, mankind still managed to conquer the sky.

Invention of flying machines

Being an inventor of flying machines was not easy. The same work had to be done several times. The aircraft did not want to fly in any way, they fell, broke, crashed. And I had to start all over again.

Without such pioneers and romantics of early aviation as Clement Ader, Alexander Mozhaisky, Gustav Whitehead and the Wright brothers, we will not see aircraft. Although not all early aviation inventors took off into the air, but all their attempts gave a big impetus to the development of aviation.


Invented by Gustav Whitehead
Wright brothers
Invented by the Wright Brothers

The Wright brothers were among the first to understand that an aircraft should not soar uncontrollably in the air, but it must be controlled. Now their merits are topics for discussion whether they were the first innovators of the idea of ​​​​using a rudder and engine on a glider or not. But in any case, regardless of the outcome of the disputes, the Wright brothers introduced the engine and rudder to their glider.

In 1856, Jean-Marie Le Bris launched his glider into the air. In order for the glider to rise as high as possible into the air, it was dispersed by horses, according to the principle of a kite.


Jean-Marie Le Bris and his designs

But before you is the invention of the previously mentioned Clement Ader, his invention of Avion III in 1897 rose to a height of more than 9 meters and is still a topic for debate.


Avion III Avion III

At the same time, Gustav Whitehead and Paul Butusov worked on their inventions. Oddly enough, but their inventions were also similar to each other.


Left: model by Gustave Whitehead 1901; Right: Invention by William Paul Butusov.

Alphonse Penot, a French inventor and aviation pioneer, designed an airplane in 1876 with a closed cockpit, retractable landing gear and a working wing skin. Unfortunately, the project was never implemented.


Alphonse Peno and his plane

Now let's talk about the famous aircraft designer Gianni Caproni. Caproni at one time made a great contribution to the development of aviation. Caproni was the founder modern methods conducting air wars. Throughout his life, he designed more than 100 types of aircraft - mostly heavy bombers.

But despite this, he always wanted his planes to carry good, not war. In the picture below, just a peaceful Caproni aircraft designed in 1921. The fuselage was a boat, and on the sides of it there were 9 wings, 9 engines and this colossus weighed about 24 tons. The plane flew once.


Plane Caproni

Samuel Pierpont Langley not only designed an aircraft, but also built a full-sized airfield on a boat, so that it would be convenient to take off directly from the water.


Invented by Samuel Pierpont Langley.

Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) was a German engineer and the first research pilot and one of the most famous aviation pioneers. During his short life, he designed, built and tested eleven aircraft. Unfortunately, during one of the tests of the glider, Otto died. Before his death, he managed to say - "Victims are inevitable."


Otto Lilienthal and his invention

Here is another of the romantics of aviation - Samuel Franklin Cody. Cody learned the secret of kites by befriending a Chinese chef.

Over time, he learned to make large kites and even fly them. In the late 1890s, Cody created a flying machine based on a box kite that could lift a person into the air. In 1902, Cody patented such an extravagant aircraft.

And at the turn of the century, Cody crossed the English Channel in his aircraft, although he was towed all the way by a boat.

George R. White and Canadian inventor Doug Fröbe continued to build bird-like flying machines in the 1930s.

Russian aircraft.

In conclusion, I will tell you a little about the Russian aircraft designer Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky. In 1884, in the fall, at a military training ground in Krasnoye Selo, his plane took off from the ground during the next test, but immediately after takeoff, it rolled over on its side and broke its wing. This was a historic event, because for the first time a plane with a person on board was able to take off from the ground. For comparison, the Wright brothers made their first airplane flight only in 1903. So for Mozhaisky it was big win and he also obtained proof that an apparatus heavier than air could take off.

Mozhaisky A.F.

Quote: “Whatever random circumstances favor the first takeoff, no matter how it ends, A.F. Mozhaisky was the first life-size aircraft in the world, tested and separated from the ground with a man on board. According to the scheme, it was more perfect than all previous projects and all aircraft built both in Russia and abroad until 1907. It contained all six main structural groups that make up a modern aircraft: hull, wing, empennage, landing gear, control and power point» (V.B. Shavrov “History of aircraft designs in the USSR until 1938”, M. “Engineering”, 1978)

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