Historic Context: Aviation Timeline
First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina]
Photo: Library of Congress
In 1903 the Wright brothers took the first powered flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Within 30 years of this flight, technology had progressed to building commercial airliners.
The 1920s and 1930s were rich with aviation milestones. Two important figures in aviation history in the 1920s were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Lindberg was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic on May 20, 1927. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and later mysteriously disappeared during her 1937 flight around the world.
Exactly 32 years after the Wright Brothers' first flight, the DC-3 took its first flight in Santa Monica, California.
"In the aftermath of World War I aircraft manufacturers struggled to survive as air forces were wound down. But, defying the post-war recession and the Great Depression that followed, the 1920s and 1930s blossomed into a "Golden Age" of Aviation. Pilots were among the most celebrated heroes of the day, and the public thrilled to the excitement of air races and the feats of Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart."
— R.G Grant "Flight" book
The Spirit of St. Louis carried Charles Lindbergh from New York to Paris in 33 and a half hours, the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Photo: Library of Congress
"Charles Lindbergh's historic 1927 transatlantic flight and a stock market boom spurred investor interest in aviation. An intense period of industry-wide mergers and consolidation followed.
Four large aviation holding companies soon arose. William Boeing and Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney formed the first and the largest, United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. Clement Keys formed North American Aviation and the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Aerial photography pioneer Sherman Fairchild, Averill Harriman, and Robert Lehman created The Aviation Corporation (AVCO).
While these consolidations promised greater efficiency, airlines remained unprofitable without government help."
— Smithsonain National Air and Space Museum "America By Air"
Amelia Earhart 1937. Photo: Getty Images
