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"The Wright Flyer (often retrospectively referred to as Flyer I and occasionally Kitty Hawk) was the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright brothers. It was the first successful powered, piloted, controlled heavier-than-air aircraft. The Wright Flyer was a canard biplane configuration. The Wright Flyer was based on the Wrights' experience testing gliders at Kitty Hawk between 1900 and 1902. The Wrights built the aircraft in 1903 using 'giant spruce' wood as their construction material. Since they could find no suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee Charlie Taylor to build a new design from scratch. A sprocket chain drive, borrowing from bicycle technology, powered the twin propellers, which were also made by hand. In 1904, the Wrights continued refining their designs and piloting techniques in order to obtain fully controlled flight. Major progress toward this goal was achieved in 1904 and even more decisively with the modifications during the 1905 program, which resulted in a 39-minute, 24 mile nonstop circling flight by Wilbur on October 5. While the 1903 Flyer was clearly a historically important test vehicle, its near-mythical status in American imagination has obscured its place as part of a continuing development program that eventually led to the Wrights' mastery of controlled flight in 1905. In 1910 the Wrights first made attempts to exhibit the Flyer in the Smithsonian Institution but talks fell through with the ensuing lawsuits against Glenn Curtiss and the Flyer may have been needed as repeated evidence in court cases. In 1916, Orville brought the Flyer out of storage and prepared it for display at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Wilbur had died in 1912.) He replaced parts of the covering, the props, and the engine's crankcase, crankshaft, and flywheel. The crankcase, crankshaft and flywheel had been sent to the Aero Club of America for an exhibit in 1906 and were never returned to the Wrights. A number of individuals and groups have attempted to build reproductions of the Wright Flyer for demonstration or scientific purposes."

"The Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was first flown by Andre Turcat in 1969. The aircraft was initially referred to as ""Concorde"", with the French spelling, but the name was changed officially by Harold Macmillan to ""Concord"". Concorde pioneered a double-delta shaped wings, variable inlet ramps, supercruise capability, thrust-by-wire engines and a droop-nose section for improved landing visibility. In February 1965, there were two Concordes prototype built. The first was the 001, which was built by Aerospatiale at Toulouse and 002, built by BAC at Filton, Bristol. On September 4, 1971, Concorde embarked on a sales and demonstration tour, as the flight programme progressed. While the Concorde 002 toured the Middle and Far East on June 2, 1972. These trips resulted to 70 aircraft orders, but a number of incidents occurred that resulted to a sudden number of order cancellations such as the oil crisis in 1973 and the sonic boom, takeoff-noise and pollution. The Concorde service commenced in 1976 and still in service for about 27 years. The airliner flew regular transatlantic flights from British Airways and Air France to New York JFK and Washington Dulles in just less than half the time compared to other airliners. In 1971, the US had cancelled its supersonic transport (SST) programme. Concorde's scheduled flights started on January 21, 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio (via Dakar) routes. New York banned Concorde locally, the time When the Us ban on JFK Concorde operations was lifted in February 1977. From 1974 onwards, European Airlines flew both demonstration and test flights. There were 20 Concordes built in total, six for development and 14 for commercial service. "

"More than a million spectators were cheering as RAF Flight officer H.R.D. Waghorn set down his Supermarine S-6 in southern England's Solent Channel on September 10, 1929. Waghorn had just flown an average of 328 mph around the triangular course to defeat his Italian rivals and capture Britain's second straight Schneider Trophy win. France, Italy and the U.S. had all won the Schneider trophy in the past, as had Britain. But none of the four had managed to win three out of five consecutive races, as required for retiring the trophy. Now Britain stood within reach of the elusive goal and, shortly after Waghorn's victory, Prime Minister McDonald vowed that England would do her level best to win the next race in 1931. But a few months later, McDonald's Air Ministry stunned the Aero Club of Britain -- sponsors of the country's Schneider Trophy entries -- by announcing the government would give no financial support to future Schneider trophy efforts. Without this financial support, the Aero Club could not develop a new racer to compete with heavily subsidized French and Italian challengers expected in 1931. The British public was outraged. Their country's prestige was at stake. Soon several million pounds were raised to support the home team. Disaster struck the Italian and French teams. Mid-summer crashes claimed a top plane and top pilot from each. Crippled by these losses, both countries withdrew from the race a week before it was scheduled to be run. On Sunday, September 13, 1931, RAF Lieutenant John Boothman flew the S-6B, unopposed, over the Solent Channel course at an average speed of 340 mph. With courage, skill and a little bit of luck, England had retired the Schneider Trophy. Was it worth all the money, work and heartache to claim a fairly ugly, now almost forgotten trophy? The British think it was. Because five years after the 1931 race, Reginald J. Mitchell introduced a new Rolls Royce powered interceptor fighter incorporating many lessons he had learned designing Schneider Trophy seaplanes. Someone gave Mitchell's fighter a nickname, which stuck: ""Spitfire."" "

"S-43 is an amphibious aircraft manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft in the 1930s. It was also known as the Baby Clipper in airline service. The S-43 was a smaller version of S-42 flying boat. The S-43 was used primarily by Pan American World Airways. Pan American Airways used the S-43 in Caribbean and South American routes. The S-43 was also operated by other airlines including Norway, West Africa, Russia, China, Hawaii and Philippine islands. There were 15 S-43s used primarily by the Navy as utility transports and some were also assigned to the Army and the Marines. The S-43 incorporates two Pratt & Whitney R-1690-52 radials with 750 hp each. It has a crew of two pilots and a seating capacity of 15 passengers. It has a maximum speed of 190 mph and a range of 775 miles. "

"The Spirit of St. Louis is a custom-built airplane which was flown by Charles Lindbergh. The Spirit of St. Louis is officially known as the Ryan NYP, designed by Donald A. Hall of Ryan Airlines in San Diego, California. Lindbergh wanted to increase fuel efficiency and he has the opinion that single-engine planes could travel farther and it led to the design of the Spirit of St. Louis, which was one of the most streamlined aircraft at that time. Donald A. Hall decided that the tail and control surfaces would not be altered from his original Ryan M2 design. It resulted to a less stable aircraft, by which the experienced Lindbergh nevertheless approved. There was a dispute about the preference of design since the estimated 40-hour flight would be very challenging in terms of pilot fatigue. Hall and Lindbergh weighed the advantages and disadvantages of the setup, determining that an unstable aircraft would help keep Lindbergh awake and this resulted in a plane with unstable flight characteristics, with a tendency to curve, dip and bank at random times and the cockpit was also purposely uncomfortable, but it was custom-fitted to Lindbergh's tall and lanky frame. Lindbergh also insisted the elimination of unnecessary weight such as radio since it was unreliable at that time. On May 20 and 21, 1927, Spirit of St. Louis, piloted by Lindbergh, made the first non-stop solo transatlantic flight, making him an instant celebrity and media star. He won the $25,000 Orteig prize. Lindbergh subsequently flew the Spirit of St. Louis to Belgium and England before going back to the United States upon order by President Calvin Coolidge. Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis on promotional and goodwill tours across the United States and Latin America. Spirit of St. Louis' final flight was on April 30, 1928, having flown from St. Louis to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., wherein Lindbergh presented the historic aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution. The Original Spirit of St. Louis is currently displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, in the main atrium on the same side as the Bell X-1 and SpaceShipOne. Many static and flying replicas have been made. There were three replicas of the Spirit of St. Louis converted from Ryan B-1s for the 1957 film The Spirit of St. Louis starring James Stewart"

The R3C-2 is a racing aircraft built in land and seaplane form manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the Schneider Trophy race. The R3C was introduced in 1925. James Doolittle won the trophy with a Curtiss R3C-2 but the other two Curtiss R3C-2s, piloted by George Cuddihy and Ralph Oftsie did not reach the finish line. The next day, Doolittle set a new world record. The primary user of the R3C is the United States Army. The R3C-2 incorporates a Curtiss V-1400, 619 hp. The R3C-2 has a crew of 1 and has a maximum speed of 248 mph.

"Piper J-3 Cub is a small and light aircraft built and manufactured by Piper Aircraft and designed by C. G. Taylor. After Piper moved his company from Bradford to Lock Haven, the J-3 replaced the J-2. The Piper J-3 Cub quickly became popular when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt took a flight in aJ-3 Cub, posing for a series of publicity photos, promoting the CPTP. The Piper J-3 Cub's maiden flight was 1938. Piper J-3 Cub was a favorite among pilots and non-pilots and there are still thousands currently in use. In the late 1940's J-3s were replaced by the PA-11 and then the Piper PA-18 Super Cub, introduced untl 1981. There's a total of 19,703 Piper J-3 cub built. "

"The Beechcraft (now Raytheon) Premier I, a light jet aircraft, first flew on December 22, 1998 flown by Charlie Volk and Warren Gould. It was the first all new product of the Raytheon Aircraft Beech/Hawker combine to fly, and is an all-new entry-level corporate jet designed to compete head on with Cessna's highly successful CitationJet/CJ1 series. Construction of the first Premier I began in late 1996 and rollout was on August 19 1998. The Premier 1 received FAA certification, including single pilot approval, in 2001. It also received FAA RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) certification in May 2003. Upgrade kits for RVSM capability are available for aircraft already delivered. The Premier I is the first composite-fuselage corporate jet to be FAA certified. The Premier I has high-speed cruise of more than 520 miles per hour. A standard-equipped aircraft with full fuel, a pilot and four passengers has a range of more than 1,650 miles and is certified to operate up to 41,000 feet. Last year Raytheon Aircraft was awarded the National Society of Professional Engineers' (NSPE) 2000 New Product Award in the mega size company category for its development of the Premier I. The all new Premier I Raytheon Aircraft is constructed with a high-strength composite, carbon fiber/epoxy honeycomb fuselage, completely produced by computer-controlled, automated machines, giving the aircraft a medium-jet sized cabin at light jet acquisition and operating costs. Last May 2005, Raytheon has announced an upgrade, from Premier I the Premier IA, which received certification in October 2005. The aircraft has an improved interior, seating and avionics suite and 'acoustical liner' to reduce cabin noise levels. "

"On December 21, 1999, the Boeing Plant held a ceremony attended by 1000 employees and other guests. Trans World Airlines (TWA) Inc. took delivery of the last MD-80 to come off the twinjet production line on December 23. The MD-80 is one of the most successful airplane programs in commercial aviation history. Douglas Aircraft, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing delivered 1,191 MD-80s from 1979 to 1999. More than 1,180 are still in service with more than 50 domestic and foreign airlines. The final MD-80, an MD-83 model featuring non-stop range of approximately 2,880 statute miles, brings to 102 the number of MD-80 twinjets operated by TWA. The first MD-80 also known as DC-9 Series 80, or Super 80, made its initial flight on Oct. 18, 1979. Less than a year later, on Sept. 13, 1980, Swissair took the first delivery. The airplane entered passenger service the following month. TWA took delivery of its first MD-80 and an MD-82 on April 18, 1983. The MD-80 is the quiet, clean and modern successor to the popular DC-9. "

"Derived from the DC-9, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a twin-engine, medium-range, single-aisle commercial jet airplane. It was introduced commercially in October 1980 by Swissair and can seat up to 172 passengers. Douglas Aircraft developed the DC-9 in the 1960s as a short-range companion to the larger DC-8. The MD-80 was the second generation of the DC-9. It was originally called the DC-9-80 before it was redesignated in July 1983 as a marketing move, to show that McDonnell Douglas had an airliner for the 1980s. The MD-80 features a fuselage about 14 feet longer than the DC-9. The wings were redesigned by adding sections at the wing root and tip for a wing that is 28 percent larger. The cockpit, avionics, aerodynamics and engines were upgraded. It also has a higher maximum take-off weight, greater fuel capacity and longer range than the DC-9. The MD-80 has been used by airlines around the world. While many airlines have started to retire the aircraft in the 2000s, it is still flown extensively by some, including Delta Air Lines, on domestic routes. Delta is the second largest operator of the MD-80, after American Airlines. "

"The MD-11 is a widebody airliner based on the DC-10 and was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas/Boeing. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 entered the American's fleet in 1991 as its long-haul international aircraft to supplement and replace the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The MD-11 is available in four models: passenger, all freighter, convertible freighter and combi. An extended range feature is available on all versions. The MD-11 incorporates three 60,000/62,000-pound thrust P&W PW4462 engines or three 61,500-pound thrust GE CF6-80C2 engines. It has a speed of 588 mph and a range of 7,000 to 10,000 miles. The MD-11 has a seating capacity of 290 to 350 passengers. By January 1998, there were 174 MD-11s delivered and the aircraft was in service with more than 20 operators and has served more than 100 cities in 55 countries with more than 270 scheduled daily flights. The MD-11 retired in 2001 and had earned a reputation as a good passenger/cargo airplane. The last MD-11 was delivered on February 22, 2001."

"The Macchi M.C. 72 is an experimental seaplane designed and built by Macchi Aeronautica, an aircraft company. Macchi M.C. 72 was built in 1931, and was planned to compete in the final Schneider Trophy race. Unfortunately, the aircraft was unable to compete due to engine problems. Instead of halting the development program, Macchi continued work on the M.C. 72. The Macchi M.C. 72 suffered many mechanical defects, as well as the loss of two test pilots who died trying to coax world class speed out of the aircraft. Macchi M.C. 72's design was unique with a fuselage partly metal to the cockpit and wood monocoque bolted to the front tubular portion by four bolts. The final design of M.C. 72 used a double, counter-rotating fixed-pitch propeller powered by a modified Fiat AS-6 engine generating 2,500 to 3,100 horse power. The engines were overhauled in preparation for a record attempt after the M.C. 72's 35th flight. It set a new world speed record on April 1933 of 682 km/h and was piloted by Warrant Officer Francesco Agello. Further development continued as the M.C. 72's designers thought they could break the 700 km/h record and this feat was achieved on October 23, 1934, when Warrant Officer Francesco Agello piloted the plane for an average speed of 709 km/h over three passes. As of 2006, the record remains the fastest speed ever attained by a piston engine seaplane. Though after the aircraft's success, it was never flown again. There's one M.C. 72 currently on display at the Vignia de Valle Aircraft Museum, which is near Rome. "

"The Martin M-130 is a rare but influential plane that was designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The M-130's maiden flight was on December 30, 1934. On November 22, 1935, the China Clipper, piloted by Captain Edwin C. Musick and First Officer R.O.D. Sullivan flew the first trans-Pacific airmail route. Their range and capacity made them prime candidates to fulfill the over ocean hauling needs of the military during World War. In 1942, the two remaining planes were impressed into transport roles for the U Navy. In 1943, a crash occurred when the Phlippine Clipper hit the side of a mountain as it descended to land in San Francisco and the final M-130 casualty was the China Clipper NC14716, after it was wrecked at Port of Spain. The M-30 is an all-metal flying boat employing streamlined aerodynamics and powerful engines to achieve Pan Am's specifications for range and payload "

"The Learjet 60 is a business jet manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace. The Learjet 60 is an improved version of the Learjet 55, having a longer fuselage and incorporates more powerful engines. Its maiden flight was on June 1991 and received FAA certification in January 1993. The modification that converted the Learjet Model 55 into a model 60 were the results of an aerodynamics improvement program and a need and for increased capacity of the Learjet product line and the modifications include an all new inboard wing cuff added to the inboard sections of the ""Longhorn"" wing and an all new wing-to-body fairing. By increasing the wing cord and the leading edge droop, the wing cuff improved the low speed handling during approach and landing while the wing-to-body fairing reduced the interference drag between the wing and the fuselage. Since the engines were new for this aircraft, a new engine pylon had to be designed. The cockpit's lines were not changed but the fuselage was lengthened. In addition, the blend between the fuselage and the empennage was all new. An all new E/B (Emergency/Baggage) door was added to the right-hand side of the fuselage just at the leading edge of the wing. The final aeroimprovement to the Model 60 was the creation of the distinctive ""Ogive"" winglet trailing edge. This lengthening of the cord near the interface of the winglet and the winglet greatly improved the interaction of the wing's pressure spike with the winglet's pressure spike. The result was a significant lowering of the drag in this area and a significant improvement of the wings efficiency. The Learjet Model 45 winglet blend design took into account the lessons learned from the model 60 and the ogive was not necessary. Finally, the ventral fin was replaced with the hallmark split ventral fins that Learjet called ""Delta Fins."""