science · 20 September 1904 · 120 years ago
In 1904, the first circular flight in an airplane was made by Orville Wright at Huffman Prairie, near Dayton, Ohio. He travelled about 4,080-ft (1244-m) in about 1½ minutes in the Flyer II. The Wright brothers' first Flyer which made the historic flight and three more on 17 Dec 1903 in North Carolina, had been overturned by the wind and damaged after those flights. The Wrights chose not to repair it but to start with a new, heavier and stronger machine with a more powerful motor, constructed where it would be used, at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field. On 15 Sep 1904, Wilbur was able to fly a half-circle. As the brothers improved the control of their airplane's flight, a few days later, a complete circuit was accomplished.
OnThisDay.net