Men have been trying to fly like birds since the beginnings of time – the Chinese invented the kite and planned ways in which it could lift heavy loads, such as man. Leonardo da Vinci made several studies and even developed a helicopter, though it never got off the ground – literally. But although by the end of the 19th century there were several flying machines taking to the skies, none of them was really successful. They were either non-powered (in effect, gliders that needed to be launched from a high site, allowing them to float down), or uncontrollable. It is generally accepted that it was the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, from Dayton, Ohio, who were responsible for producing the first fixed-wing, powered, controllable airplane. In 1892 they established a bicycle shop in Dayton (cycling was then all the rage) and their studies of the inherently unstable bicycle led them into aviation.

Through studies of what had gone before the Wright brothers designed a glider that could be controlled by a rudder, something that overcame many of the earlier problems of control. They tested it on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina in 1902. The nearby town was called Kitty Hawk. Whilst a modest success the trials did not give them the results they wanted, so they returned to Dayton and actually built a wind tunnel in the back of the bicycle shop to test aerofoils, wing shapes and controls. They made over 200 such tests, putting them firmly in the forefront of scientific aviation engineering research at the time. By 1902 they had perfected wing design and controls and in September returned to Kitty Hawk where they ran over a thousand test flights.

At this point they decided they could add an engine and filed a patent in early 1903. They called their first machine the Flyer (it was only later that it was named the "Kitty Hawk"). By late September they were back in N Carolina, ready to "fly". Winter was closing in and they made several attempts, a small home-made engine being used to drive propellors (made of spruce and 8 feet long). The aircraft was placed on a small flat car with wheels that would run along a 60 foot long track, which is what they estimated they would need to achieve lift-off. On December 17th 1903 Wilbur fired the engine that would drive the plane along on the launch car (which was unpowered).

At 10.35 am the Flyer started rolling forward into a 21 mph headwind. The plane took off and flew for 12 seconds before landing on the beach 120 feet away. Man had flown ! The photo shows the first flight of the Wright Flyer, 17th December 1903: Orville piloting, Wilbur running alongside. Photo was taken by John T. Daniels of the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, using Orville's tripod-mounted camera.

That same day they made three more flights, the last covering a distance of 852 feet. Sadly on the fifth flight the Flyer was damaged beyond repair. From then on they made several more Flyer aircraft, gradually improving the aircraft in many ways and gaining valuable flying experience. Yet it was not all an easy ride for many forces, political and financial as well as technical, were against them. Yet they persevered, they travelled to France to try to sell the plane to the French army and continued trying to sell it to the US Army back home. Their flying displays in France were a huge success and thousands flocked to watch them fly in circles or make sharp turns above their heads. Yet crashes (including a fatal one involving a passenger), patent problems and piracy of their designs consumed much of their time, though they were feted by President Taft at the White House.

They did, however, prove that their flying machines were a success and made a considerable amount of money from it.

Wilbur died (from typhoid) in 1912; Orville lived until 1948, by which time he had seen aviation taken to (literally and no pun intended) new heights. In April 1944 the second Lockheed Constellation, piloted by Howard Hughes, stopped in Dayton to pick up Orville on what was to be his last flight. It is assumed he took control of the airliner briefly in flight.

Civil aviation up to the First World War was in its infancy, with hardly any scheduled services. Aircraft at the time were rudimentary and could not carry more than a couple of passengers, rarely fare-paying. The impetus supplied by the War increase the amount of technical knowledge about aircraft design and once peace returned to Europe a few basic airlines began operations, KLM being the first in 1919 and in that same year a British company (Aircraft Transport & Travel – which ultimately became British Airways via a circuitous route) began a London-Paris daily service. The following year it began a London-Amsterdam service on behalf of KLM. Finnair began life in 1923, Lufthansa in 1926.

Imperial Airways began life in 1924 taking over the daily London-Paris flight, the London base being at Croydon, south of the capital – the airfield is today an industrial estate. The flight was luxurious and had, for the very first time on an aircraft, a screen showing a film ! Imperial went on to develop routes throughout the British Empire starting in 1929, with a London-Karachi service, operated using flying boats which began from the southern coast of France – passengers from London were flown to Paris and then taken by train to Marseille. It was not until 1937 that direct flights from England to Empire destinations began, leaving from Southampton using flying boats, via Marseille, Rome, Brindisi, Athens, Alexandria, Khartoum and onto Capetown (with connections to Nairobi).

The planes used on these long-haul routes were the Shorts Empire flying boats, capable of carrying 17 passengers – all of them in some luxury. Overnight stops were spent in the best hotels and fares were not really expensive by the standards of the day – London to Capetown (including all meals, tips and overnight stops on the way) was £120.

The Second World War saw massive development of aircraft technology, sadly in the pursuit of military gain – though there was a knock-on effect that would revolutionise civilian air traffic after 1945. In the years after the end of World War II the use of passenger aircraft increased amazingly. Before and, particularly, during the War the Douglas DC-3 (also known as the Dakota) became the most popular means of transporting troops and civilians around, with over 13,000 built (2000 of those in the USSR on licence). It was first introduced in 1935 but Douglas continued building the plane until well after the end of the War.

It changed the airline industry, being the first plane with a galley in which to prepare hot meals; it had sleeping bunks for overnight flights; and it could cross the USA in just 15 hours with a couple of refuelling stops. The DC-4 was introduced in 1938 and was another success, though only 79 were manufactured. It was designed as a long-range plane, just over 4,000 miles carrying up to 86 passengers.

Also, towards the end of the war Lockheed, in cooperation with TWA, developed and built the Constellation with its distinctive three tail-fin profile, a superb aircraft capable of cruising at 300 mph, enabling it to fly from New York to London in 13 hours – and in far more comfort than in most economy class seats of today !

The DC-5 was a different aircraft, being designed for short hops and having a high wing. It had limited success but was followed, in 1947 by the DC-6, another four-engined passenger plane capable of hauling up to 100 passengers 3000 miles. About 700 were built up to 1959 and in 1952 Pan Am used the DC-6 to inaugurate its transatlantic flights from New York to London and Paris. In 1953 Douglas continued the line with the DC-7, the aircraft that was to become the first to fly non-stop across the United Sates (in eight hours) with 100 passengers. It was the last major large prop airliner built in the USA.

Meanwhile, back in the UK in 1947 the British company Airspeed introduced its Ambassador twin-engined short-haul airliner, holding up to 43 passengers though with a very short range of just over 700 miles. The aircraft had a distinctive three-fin tail. The Ambassador, renamed "Elizabethan" in honour of the new Queen, entered service with BEA in 1952 and was also the launch aircraft for the holiday charter airline Dan-Air. Sadly the aircraft made headlines for all the wrong reasons. On a wet, cold afternoon in Munich (6th February 1958), BEA flight 609 had made a refuelling stop on its way from Belgrade to London.

The runway was covered in slush and snow and the pilot made two take-off attempts, both times aborting due to the slow speed of the aircraft. His third attempt saw the aircraft reach take-off speed but as he began lifting off the main undercarriage wheels hit more slush, speed reduced and the aircraft failed to gain adequate height before hitting an unoccupied house close to the end of the runway. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board died. Another died later in hospital. Eight of those fatalities were players from the Manchester United football team returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade. The "Busby Babes" were almost wiped out on that cold winter afternoon.

In 1948 the British company Vickers-Armstrong developed a luxury airliner which came to be known as the Whispering Giant – though tiny by comparison to today's big jets. A four-engined prop it was built for medium haul routes (up to 1,735 miles) with 75 passengers and became hugely successful with 445 built after its introduction in 1950 (with BEA – British European Airways). It had the largest windows of any passenger aircraft, before or since. Its main drawback was its relatively low speed (about 350 mph over the ground) at a time when airlines were beginning to seek faster planes.

The Bristol-built Britannia (pictured left) came into service in 1957 (five years after its maiden flight) and was extensively used in the burgeoning inclusive-tour holiday flights from the UK to Spain, although BOAC was its first major customer and used it on London-New York services. A four-engined prop it carried 90 passengers with a crew of 10. It was a quiet, efficient and luxurious airliner though its timing was unfortunate as it came into service at the same time as faster, more efficient jet aircraft like the Boeing 707. As a result only 85 were built.

In 1961 Vickers-Armstrong also introduced the Vanguard, another four-engine prop holding up to 140 passengers. It was designed for BEA's European routes and as such was a success, even though only 43 were built. Its development was overtaken by the jet age and most of the fleet were converted to freighters before being retired in the mid 1990s.

Another British plane from Vickers was the Viscount, a four-prop plane that was very quiet, efficient and comfortable and was used on many short-haul routes from the UK, though many airlines worldwide bought this plane.