Skip to main content
Home
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Header Menu

  • Activities & Multimedia
  • Ask An Explainer
  • About the Exhibit

Section Menu

  • Forces of Flight
    • The Four Forces
    • We Aren't Built to Fly
  • Gravity & Air
    • Gravity
    • Air
    • Buoyancy
  • Aerodynamics
    • Air in Motion
    • Subsonic Wings
    • Factors Affecting Lift
    • Alternative Theories of Lift
    • Pressure Drag
    • Friction Drag
    • Vortex Drag
    • Waves in the Air
    • Shock Waves
  • Propulsion
    • Propellers
    • Engines
    • Rocket Propulsion
    • Vertical Flight
  • Structures & Materials
    • Weight and Strength
    • Materials
    • Hypersonic Vehicles
    • Shaped for Space
  • Flight Dynamics
    • Control Surfaces
    • Roll, Pitch, and Yaw
    • Instruments
    • Gravity in Orbit
    • Newton’s Laws of Motion
    • Kepler’s Laws of Orbital Motion
    • Moving in Space
    • Thrusters and Spinning Wheels
  • Activities
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Ask an Explainer

Q:

Who invented the first airplane that could fly a long way?

A:

The Wright brothers did: The 1905 Wright Flyer. After the first flight in 1903, the Wright brothers kept working on making their plane more performant. Their final version managed to fly over 20 miles in 30 minutes! 

 

Ask an Explainer
Posted on May 22, 2013 at 8:48 am
Categories:
Structures & Materials
Check out other Questions and Answers

Footer Menu

  • Terms Of Use
  • Privacy
  • Kids Online Privacy Statement
  • Contact
  • About the Exhibition
  • Sponsors
  • Donate