"I can’t understand that by viewing these photos thoroughly one would not be filled with the excitement that is born of a limitless hope for the future." These words were written by one of Otto Lilienthal‘s contemp-oraries about pictures like this. |
When Lilienthal has been titled the father of aviation, it is because he understood what the others experimenting in the field did not, that man must learn how to fly and that could only be done once you were airborn.
This is a picture that should be in every history book on earth. It reminds us that december 17. 1903 is a magic moment in time. It was the first time man flew in full control of a motor powered machine heavier than air. The man was Orville Wright and the place was Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. |
For their first flight across the Atlantic from New Foundland to Ireland in 1919, Alcock and Brown used a customised bomber plane from WW 1. The ring for the machine gun is still visible at the front. |
The once so famous "Graf Zeppelin" that flew around the world in 1933, using a little over 20 days, seen here over the bay in Rio de Janeiro. In spite of all the effort put down by so many people, the zeppelin’s history was a short one. |
In the "romantic" area between the world wars, when the earth was scanned for unflown distances, Amy Johnson, later Amy Mollison was the darling heroine of the air. A beautiful and smart woman, with the British’s ability never to give up no matter how difficult the situation. She got used to welcome scenes like this when she landed her small plane after a long flight. |
The American B-29 "Lucky Lady" flew around the world non-stop in February 1947 using slightly over 94 hours. The stars on the map shows where the refillings of fuel took place. |
Picture of the refilling of the fuel tanks on "Lucky Lady". The small wings on the pipe is for the pilot on the tank plane to make small adjustments when filling. |
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