The Age of Flight had begun! It would be 5 years before the Wright Brothers would get attention for their accomplishment. People just did not believe that the Wrights had succeeded. The Wrights considered uses for their invention in the future -- like carrying the mail, passengers, and cargo. The plane could be used in surveillance for the military, to see the movement of the enemy. The brothers also imagined the airplane being used for recreation and in sports. But first they decided to try to interest the military in their invention.

In 1908 the War Department signed a contract for a Wright Flyer if it could pass certain tests. With these tests in 1908 the world finally acknowledged what the Wright Brothers had done 5 years earlier.

Soon aerial exhibitions shows became popular. Doubters wanted to see for themselves. People were interested and excited about flying!

Airplanes were becoming accepted and new practical uses for them began to appear. Airplanes could carry goods faster from one city to another than a train could. In 1911, airplanes were used to transport mail. At about the same time, hydroplanes, or planes that take-off or land on water, were used to carry passengers between San Francisco and Oakland, California and St. Petersburg and Tampa in Florida. These were the first flights of their kind.

Aircraft manufacturing techniques were improving as well. Instruments to help pilots fly the airplane and seat belts were added.

In spite of the Wrights inventing the airplane, the United States soon lagged behind European countries in aviation progress. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson formed the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics also known as NACA. Later NACA would be renamed NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NACA's job was to study and make scientific advancements in civil and military aviation, particularly important in light of the fact World War I was about to begin.

Initially airplanes were used to spot artillery, the movement of enemy troops, and take aerial photographs. Pilots from opposite sides were known to wave at one another. But eventually war led to using the airplane for bombing and aerial combat.

By the end of the war, many advancements made the airplane faster, more powerful and more reliable. The U. S. Mail Service began using the airplane regularly. Airplanes were also being used in crop dusting and aerial photography in addition to transporting people. The airplane business couldn't be better!

During the 1920's and 40's technical advances were made and records were set for long distance flights, altitude and speed. Commercial passenger usage was now common.

The motto of flight had become "higher and faster". But how high and how fast? Could humans survive? A series of high altitude experiments were conducted and people thought of entering space.

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Last modified: Thu Jun 5 17:10:43 PDT 1997

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