Chicago engineer Octave Chanute was a little-known pioneer whose glider designs and experiments at the Indiana Dunes, between 1896 and 1898, served as inspiration to the Wright Brothers. Chanute, shown in this undated photo at Miller Beach, died in 1910.
Unidentified plane, 1910.
The foot-powered sky bicycle, 1907.
In March 1929, the Chicago Tribune purchased this Sikorsky Amphibious plane to attempt a flight from Chicago to Berlin and back with a crew of three. The plane was named Untin Bowler, partly because a hunting bowler hat was said to protect a wearer if he falls.
Two planes race at a Chicago event during the 1930s.
Long before the Wright brothers made that first flight back in 1903, we have been imagining huge flying machines in the sky. Here are the biggest planes flying today, and the largest of all time.
Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. Largest Aircraft ever built. Made it's one and only flight on 1947.
Russian Antonov An-225. Strategic airlift transport aircraft. Largest plane flying today.
New Airbus A-380, largest passenger airliner ever built. See it compared to average sized passenger jets.
Size comparison chart for the world's largest airplanes.
Known as the superjumbo and costing US$ 330 million each, the Airbus A380 is the largest passenger airliner in the world seating up to 800 people.
For pilots the A380 has a similar cockpit to previous aircraft, with improvements such as eight 15-by-20 cm liquid crystal displays including QWERTY keyboards and trackballs.
Would you like a 360 degree panoramic view from inside the A380 cockpit? If so click here, and imagine what it would be like to fly one of these.
Venice is considered by many people to be the most beautiful city in the world. It is also known as the "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light".
We've seen many gorgeous pictures of Venice from the ground, but how does it measure up in the aerial stakes? Click on the image below to open a larger version and judge for yourself.
Radio-controlled aircraft (abbreviated RC aircraft or RC plane) is a model aircraft that is controlled remotely via radio control. It is typically controlled with a hand-held transmitter and a receiver within the craft. The receiver controls the corresponding servomechanisms that move the control surfaces based on the position of joysticks on the transmitter, which in turn maneuver the plane.
RC planes as a hobby have been internationally growing due to the availability of smaller, relatively inexpensive parts and advancing technologies. A variety of models and styles are available to suit any preference or budget. Due to the availability and advances in high performance electric batteries and motors, a growing number of hobbyists are flying electric powered craft instead of fuel (most often methanol or gasoline based but also diesel) powered craft, because of their ease of construction and the absence of fuel mess and fuss
Aerial photography was first practiced by the French photographer and balloonist Nadar in 1858. Today aerial photography is used in cartography, land-use planning, archaeology, movie production, environmental studies, espionage, commercial advertising, conveyancing, and other fields.
Below are some excellent examples of aerial photography, see some more examples here
Model aeroplanes have been constructed since the days of the Wright brothers. They range from simple planes from a kit that fly unassisted, to complicated scale replicas of real planes with equally complicated controls.
The model below is one of the largest jet models in the world today. It is a 1/9th scale radio-controlled model C-17 Globemaster III that was built in the United Kingdom. It was built as part of a 15 program television series produced in the U.K. for the Home and Leisure satellite TV channel
Skydiving or parachuting has complex skills that can take thousands of jumps to master.
Parachutists can participate both in competitive and in purely recreational skydiving events. World championships are held regularly in locations offering flat terrain and clear skies.
One type of parachuting is formation skydiving which is making formations during freefall, or canopy formation which is making formations with other parachutists while under canopies - also known as canopy relative work
The cloud you can see below is a result of a series of flares released by an air force jet over the Atlantic Ocean in May 2006. The jet that released the flares, a C-17 Globemaster III, is seen on the right.
The flares release smoke and the resulting pattern is known as a smoke angel. The circular eyes of the smoke angel are caused by air spiralling off the plane's wings and are known as wingtip vortices.
A C-141 Starlifter leaves a contrail over Antarctica. (from Wikipedia)
A C-141B Starlifter aircraft leaves four plumes of exhaust behind it as it prepares for an airdrop during Operation Deep Freeze. Can airlift combat forces, equipment and supplies, and deliver them on the ground or by airdrop, using paratroop doors on each side and a rear loading ramp. It can be used for low-altitude delivery of paratroops and equipment, and high-altitude delivery of paratroops. It can also airdrop equipment and supplies using the container delivery system. It is the first aircraft designed to be compatible with the 463L Material Handling System, which permits off-loading 68,000 pounds (30,600 kilograms) of cargo, refueling and reloading a full load, all in less than an hour. The C-141 has an all-weather landing system, pressurized cabin and crew station. Its cargo compartment can easily be modified to perform around 30 different missions. About 200 troops or 155 fully equipped paratroops can sit in canvas side-facing seats, or 166 troops in rear-facing airline seats. Rollers in the aircraft floor allow quick and easy cargo pallet loading. A palletized lavatory and galley can be installed quickly to accommodate passengers, and when palletized cargo is not being carried, the rollers can be turned over to leave a smooth, flat surface for loading vehicles. In its aeromedical evacuation role, the Starlifter can carry about 103 litter patients, 113 ambulatory patients or a combination of the two. It provides rapid transfer of the sick and wounded from remote areas overseas to hospitals in the United States.