Since the late 1800s, the prospect of powered flight infatuated the country's top scientists and engineers. And then a couple of bike shop owners beat them to the punch. Three days after Wilbur Wright failed to get the Flyer off the ground, brother Orville took controls and flew for 12 seconds at a makeshift hangar at Kill Devil Hills in Kitty Hawk, N.C. The brothers made three more flights that day — the longest by Wilbur was 59 seconds for a distance of 852 feet — before a gust of wind rolled the Flyer over as they were taking it back to camp. The plane was a wreck, but history was already made.
A year after the Daily Mail put up a £500 prize (later upped to £1,000) for the first Channel flight, Frenchman Louis Bleriot claimed the bounty with an arrival that was as unspectacular as it was historical. Six days after rival Hubert Lathan was forced to land at sea during his attempt, Bleriot took to the sky equipped with neither a compass nor a map. After a period of flight in which he could see no land at all, the English coast came into view and he battled wind to get his plane on the right course. Bleriot stopped the motor shortly before reaching ground level, and the plane crashed down the final 20 meters, breaking the propeller and smashing the undercarriage. And then he celebrated.
E X C E R P T LINDBERGH ARRIVES IN PARIS, May 21, 1927
"The Atlantic in its immense indifference was not aware that man-made cables on its slimy bottom contained news, that the silent heavens above pulsed with news — news that would set thousands of printing presses in motion, news that would make sirens scream in every U.S. city, news that would cause housewives to run out into backyards and shout to their children: 'Lindbergh is in Paris!'" — TIME, May 30, 1927
E X C E R P T EARHART FLIES SOLO ACROSS ATLANTIC, May 21, 1932
"By her courageous flight, counseled by wise Bernt Balchen, Miss Earhart became not only the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic but also she set a speed record from Harbor Grace of 14 hr. 56 min. Advance reports of good weather she found '100% wrong.' Ice on the wings forced her down into rain, fog and gusty squalls, perilously close to the water. Her altimeter failed. A broken exhaust ring spurted flame. Gasoline from a leaky gauge dripped down her neck. But still she flew low because 'I'd rather drown than burn up.'" — TIME, May 30, 1932
"Few seconds later Announcer Morrison recovered his voice, went on with his transcription. But by that time the worst and most completely witnessed disaster in the history of commercial aviation was over, the 803-ft. Hindenburg was gone, destroyed in precisely 32 sec. before 1,000 appalled spectators. It was almost as if it had been done as a labratory experiment like a discarded battleship blown up for target practice before experts." — TIME, May 17, 1937
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