††††The first successful prolonged powered flight was by American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903.
On 17th December 1903 they tested the plane, which they had made by attaching a 12 horse-power internal combustion engine to a biplane glider.
During the course of the day, Wilbur Wright managed a 59 second flight, beating Orville's time of 12 seconds. Named Flyer I (now often referred to as the Kitty Hawk), the machine introduced the principle of flying according to pilot control.
