On 17 December 1903 in an American town called Kitty Hawk, two bicycle mechanics changed the World forever- they flew an airplane! On that historic day, the two mechanics, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the World's first sustained, powered and controlled flights in an airplane. The two were brothers who with their first flight marked the birth of modern aviation.
The term 'aviation' relates to the activities involved in the design , development, production, operation and use of aircraft. An aircraft is a vehicle capable of flying by being supported by air. It include fixed wing and rotary wing types (eg; helicopter), parachutes, as well as lighter than aircraft such as hot air balloons and air ships.
The 'Flyer" flown by the wright brothers on 17 December 1903 was 6.4 meters in length and flew at nearly 11 kilometers per hour (kph). In just over hundred years, mankind has bettered the record. For example, a Boeing 747, one of the World's most recognizable aircraft, in 100 feet longer than the Flyer's first flight! Another example is the Euro fighter typhoon. It is one of the World's most advanced new generation aircraft. It can travel at the speed of 2125 kph and takes just 2.5 minutes to reach a height of 35,000 feet. Similarly, aeroplanes have developed from rickety biplanes to the Airbus A380, the largest jetliner ever built. This giant plane has 22 wheels and its wingspan is as wide as the length of a football pitch!
An aircraft is an amazing invention through which mankind has overcome the pull of gravity that keeps most of the creatures tied to the ground. It has made possible for us to girdle the globe like birds, fly high and low, at great speed and even perform aerobatics and air shows with extraordinary precision and control. This is why an aircraft is not just a machine capable of flight, but also a source of joy and inspiration.
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