Unbelievable Photos From The Days Of Early Flight

B​efore the Wright brothers got their Wright Flyer in the air on Dec. 17, 1903, there were many experiments with various different models of gliders and airplanes. Some of these models are so rudimentary, it's terrifying to think of them in the air, let alone if a storm or unexpected wind struck the area.

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L​eonardo da Vinci produced more than 500 sketches of flying machines in the 15th century, and the artist studied and wrote extensively about the nature of air and bird flight, according to the National Air and Space Museum website. Tito Livio Burattini developed a glider featuring four pairs of wings in 1647, however it was never able to support a human. During the 17th century, the discovery of hydrogen led to the first hot air balloon, and in 1783, brothers Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier Joseph-Michel Montgolfier flew the first unmanned hot air balloon over Annonay, France. The brothers later flew in a tethered hot air balloon and eventually an untethered balloon. However, hot air balloons are not easily maneuvered, and so new machines were tested over the next century and beyond.

S​amuel Pierpont Langley launched the first successful, sustained unmanned heavier-than-air (non-balloon) aircraft in 1869, and experimented with powered flight, though never succeeded. Prior to that, Sir George Cayley achieved brief airbourne hops on a series of gliders around 1849. Flight pioneers such as Jean Marie Le Bris, John J. Montgomery, Otto Lilienthal, Percy Pitcher, Octave Chanute and Augustus Moore Herring built and tested gliders over the next decades, with Lilienthal as the first to make repeated successful manned flights.

Many of the early aviation pioneers died as a result of injuries sustained during flights and attempted flights, including Lilienthal, who after more than 2,500 flights was killed in a crash when he lost control as a sudden strong wind took hold of his glider, according to NASA. Both Pitcher and Montgomery died in glider crashes as well.

The Wright Flyer, made of wood and fabric and powered by two wooden propellers, first remained in the air for just 12 seconds, covering 120 feet in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The two brothers continued to take turns flying that day, with the fourth and last flight staying in the air for nearly a minute and traveling more than 850 feet.

The brothers worked for two more years to perfect their airplane design, finally coming up with the Flyer III, which Wilbur piloted in 1905 for 39 minutes around Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio, for a total of about 24 miles until the craft ran out of gas.

W​e're lucky enough to have photographic documentation of some of these early flight experiments. From gliders that appear to be little more than a sheet of canvas over a steel or wooden frame to attempts at flying bicycles to the Wright brothers’ success, it's amazing to witness the creativity that got aviation where it is today.

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