AERO 201: Airplanes

First successfully controlled flight

Wright Flyer

1st aircraft to fly transatlantic route nonstop

Vickers FB27 Vimy

First jet commercial air transport

de Havilland 106 Comet

First non-stop, non-fueled flight around the world

Rutan Voyager 76

First solo, non-stop, transatlantic flight

Spirit of St. Louis (Ryan NYP)

First to incorporate “fly-by-wire”

Boeing B-47 Stratojet

High incidence angle, powered by 8 turbofan engines, wingspan equivalent to Leaning Tower of Pisa

Boeing B-52G Stratofortress

World’s first turbojet powered aircraft

Heinkel He 178

Explosive fuselage decompression caused by multi-site metal fatigue cracks.

Boeing 737-200

first close-air-support jet

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt 2

Prototype competitor in the USAF A-X

Northrop YA-9A

World’s most difficult airplane to fly, high aspect ratio

Lockheed U-2 ‘Dragon Lady’

First wide body aircraft ever made, nicknamed queen of the skies, involved in worst accident in aviation history

Boeing 747

elliptical wing, most efficient wing plan-form

Super Marine Spitfire

First major aircraft to use composites as the primary material

Boeing 787 Dreamliner