The plane

The Wright brothers The Wright brothers originally worked in a bicycle repair shop. This is where they learnt and practised most of their engineering skills. They became interested in flying in around ‘The Flyer’ flew 120 feet under its own power on its first attempt in By the fourth attempt the Wright brothers had achieved over 800 feet. Key dates 1900Brothers building and flying kites and gliders. 1903First powered flight at Kitty Hawk 1908First passenger carried by brothers

Early developments Planes were developed as bombers for the First World War, and after the war some were converted to carry passengers and goods. The war had destroyed many railroads across Europe, meaning that flying became a viable alternative to rail travel. By 1921 the costs of operating services with so few wealthy passengers willing to pay high fares had caused British commercial air services to stop flying. Key dates 1909Louise Bleriot flew over the English Channel 1919First regular daily international scheduled flight – London to Paris in 2 hours 1921All commercial services in Britain had been stopped due to high costs 1927Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic

British Airways British Airways was originally called ‘Imperial Airways’ and was made up of 4 smaller British airlines. It received money from the government in 1924 to help it develop routes to places such as India and Egypt. Routes such as this were long and complex, relying on stops in several places along the way. It also offered shorter and safer routes to places such as Germany and Denmark. Numbers of passengers grew dramatically in the late 1920s with 1000 people travelling across the English Channel in 1 week in British Imperial Airways begin experimental flight to America using ‘flying boats’. Flights took nearly a day.

1950s In the 1950s there were still very few people who had the opportunity to fly. Travellers tended to be the very wealthy and those on business who used aeroplanes regularly. Less than a million people in the UK had flown. This may sound like a lot but in 2000 this had risen to over 200 million people a year. Barnstorming… This was when a person who owned a plane came to the village and performed stunts and acrobatics for people to watch. (They also offered cheap pleasure flights?)

Modern flight 1976: Concorde introduced into service Concorde travels at twice the speed of sound (roughly 1350mph). It can travel to America in 3 ½ hours. 2005: Airbus 380 unveiled First full length double decker passenger jet. Carries 800 passengers.