Plane Pictures

Plane Pictures and the History of Flight

History of Flight

Before 1480 when Leonardo da Vinci first designed differenct kinds of aircraft, humans have dreamed of flying. Although Sir George Caley had made history with his model and full-sized gliders which made a man-carrying flight in 1853, the Wright brothers made the first powered, sustained and controlled manned flight in 1903. In 1905, Captain F. Ferber of the French Army brought the first stable, powered biplane. That same year the Wright brothers fly "Flyer," the first practical airplane. In 1907 came the first flight of a manned helicopter by Paul Cornu of France, who in 1910 flew the first successful seaplane. This was only the beginning of a continuing race for endurance, distance and speed records in commercial, private and military aircraft.


Aviation: The First 100 Years	Cessna Citation Jets (Enthusiast Color Series)	The Big Six US Airlines	Looping the Loop: Posters of Flight


At the Controls: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Cockpits	The First Flight Around-The-World: April 6, September 28, 1924 a Pictorial History (Pictorial History)

These plane pictures were taken at Albert Whitted Municipal Airport in Saint Petersburg, Florida, a city that has had a long love affair with flying. The first commercial airline flight took off from Tampa Bay on January 1, 1914. The Benoist Flying Boat, a 2 seat bi-wing seaplane, was flown by Tony Jannus. He flew to Tampa in 27 minutes and returned that afternoon. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Company was the first scheduled airline company. Tony Jannus was killed in a crash while demonstrating an airplane to representatives of the Czar in Russia in 1916. Jannus Landing is named in his honor. The airport is named after Albert Whitted who flew in the U.S. Navy aviation corps in 1918. After the war he gave sightseeing trips in his airplane, the Bluebird. He was killed in the crash of an experimental plane in 1923. The airport, built with WPA funds in 1926, was named for him. National Airlines started at this airport as a mail carrier between St. Petersburg and Daytona Beach in 1934. Today the airport serves General Aviation aircraft, single and multi-engine piston-type engines or small turbine engines, plus small jet airplanes used by corporations for business in the downtown area. The airport is home to approximately 250 aircraft and handles over 100,000 operations a year. Biplane rides are available in a 1933 Waco UIC originally owned by William Randolph Hearst.