Great 100 Years of Flight Article

Taken off LBIA.co.uk
100 Years of Flight – a historical look back
12 December 2003

100 Years of Flight – a historical look back

December 17, 1903 – The Day the World Began Flying

On December 17, 1903 the Wright brothers, Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948), achieved something which had never before been achieved or perhaps ever thought possible – man-powered flight.

Reports of the event state: “The Wright brothers achieved the world’s first manned, sustained, controlled, powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine with Orville Wright at the controls of the Wright Flyer.”

Their achievement was founded on years of wind tunnel experiments using wing surfaces of various configurations and their own glider designs. Their later demonstrations of control in flight with the Wright A caused a sensation when displayed in France in 1908. Since this inaugural flight, aviation has come a long way in the last 100 years.

Here are the significant milestones:

December 17, 1903 The Wright Brothers are the first to fly a powered aircraft

October 23, 1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont makes a first successful European airplane flight. He flew a distance of 120ft over Paris.

January 13, 1908 Henry Farman becomes the first to officially fly a one-kilometre circular course, the world’s longest distance at the time.

September 17, 1908 Army Lieutienant Thomas Selfridge becomes the first person ever killed from an aeroplane crash. He was a passenger of Orville Wright.

April 16, 1912 Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly across the English Channel

July 15, 1916 William Boeing sets up his own airline manufacturing business, Pacific Aero Products Company, later to be re-named as Boeing Airplane Company

May 21, 1927 Charles Lindbergh becomes the first aviator to cross the Atlantic solo, from Long Island to Paris.

May 5, 1930 Hull-born Amy Johnson, was the first woman to fly solo around the world. She set off from Croydon and landed in Darwin, Australia on May 24, a total of 11,000 miles.

May 15, 1930 Ellen Church became the world’s first stewardess, travelling from Oakland to Chicago.

August 24, 1939 The Heinkel He 178 becomes the first plane to fly with a jet engine. It allowed the plane to travel at well over 400 miles an hour.

July 27, 1949 The world’s first commercial jetliner, the Comet is launched.

May 2, 1952 The world’s first commercial jetliner service is launched, by BOAC (British Overseas Airway Corporation). The 36-seat passenger jet flies from London to Johannesburg.

March 2, 1969 The French prototype of the Concorde makes its maiden flight, in Toulouse, France. The flight lasted 42 minutes and flew at subsonic speeds. Concorde’s first supersonic flight was in October 1970.

July 17, 1989 The B-2 Stealth Bomber made its maiden flight. The Stealth, which is virtually invisible to radar, is the world’s most advanced aircraft.

December 4, 1991 Pan Am, the airline which Juan Trippe began in 1927, officially ceases operations.

December 17, 2000 Airbus officially begins production of its double-decker commercial jet, the A380. The new aircraft will be able to accommodate 840 people and is expected to begin commercial service in five years.

February 12, 2003 Jet2.com’s inaugural first flight leaves Leeds Bradford International Airport to Amsterdam.
October 2003 British Airways retires its fleet of Concorde, ending three decades of supersonic transatlantic travel. December 17, 2003 Jet2.com celebrates the centenary of flight by taking 100 people on a free trip to Amsterdam.

Yorkshire’s very own Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA), where Jet2.com is based, has an interesting and varied history of its own.

In 1931, 60 acres of grassland near Yeadon were turned into an airfield. On the 17 October 1931, The Leeds Bradford Municipal Aerodrome was officially opened by the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club, but it was for club flying only. Scheduled services began in 1935 with the establishment of North Eastern Airways, with routes to Newcastle and Blackpool.

All civil flying ceased in 1939 with the outbreak of the war but the airport was home to a production factory where 4,500 aircraft were produced, including the Anson, Lancaster, York and Lincoln – many made their first flights here. So that the new aircraft could be test flown, two runways, taxiways and flight test hangars were built.

In 1953 Yeadon Aviation Limited was formed to operate the airport and run the Yeadon Aero Club.

The Leeds Bradford Airport Joint Committee took over the airport in January 1959. One year later the first daily London services started with the airline BKS.

The year 1965 saw permission granted to construct a new runway. Work commenced in October 1963 and it became operational in April 1965. One month later, however, the terminal building was substantially destroyed by fire. Not deterred by this, construction of a new passenger terminal commenced later in the year and was opened for use in February 1968.

Holiday flights commenced in 1976 with services to the Iberian Peninsula by Britannia Airways on behalf of Thomson Holidays.

In December 1980 the Secretary of State approved an application for an extension to the runway but imposed a restriction on operating hours. Construction work started in 1982 of a £23 million scheme to extend the main runway by 2,250 metres, improve and divert the A658 Bradford to Harrogate road (including incorporating a twin tunnel), and substantial improvement to the terminal facilities.

In July 1985 the first phase of extensions to the terminal building was opened by HRH the Duchess of Kent.

Half a million passengers passed through the airport in 1986 and Concorde visited for the first time.

In 1987, Leeds Bradford was formed into a private limited company under the provisions of the Airports Act 1986.

The year of 1994 saw one of the biggest improvements to date, when permission was finally granted to allow 24-hour flying.

In 1996 LBA hit the one million passenger mark for the first time in a 12-month period. The following year construction commenced to double the size of the airport departure lounge and add a retail walkway to create improved shopping facilities for passengers.

This was followed by extensions to the airport arrivals area with the inclusion of a covered walkway linking the airport airbridges and departure/arrival gates to passport control and the baggage carousels plus extended “meeter and greeter areas” and conference and banqueting facilities. This opened in May 2000 and completed five years’ investment worth £20 million.

Leeds Bradford International Airport now employs over 1,600 people and is expected to hit the two million-passenger mark at the end of 2003. It is one of the UK’s fastest-growing regional airports.

On the 23 October 2002, Jet2.com launched from Leeds Bradford International Airport. It is the region’s first truly low cost airline and has helped the airport increase its total passenger numbers month on month since it began flying on 12 February 2003.

Jet2.com now flies to eleven European destinations, including the newly launched Venice and Murica. The inaugural flight of the new Geneva route will take off tomorrow, December 18, 2003.

The Yorkshire region is also home to a famous aircraft factory, British Aerospace, near Hull. The site at Brough dates back to 1916 when the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company built a new factory. The company flourished through the war years, helped by its proximity to the River Humber, enabling the launch of seaplanes.

In 1939, the company changed its name to Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. However, contracts declined after World War II and in order to survive the company took on all kinds of non-aviation orders such as making bread tins for a local bakery.

In 1949, the company amalgamated with General Aircraft Ltd and in 1955 won a contract to supply a new aircraft to the Fleet Air arm. The aircraft was the Buccaneer, a low-level fighter-bomber. It was the first aircraft of its kind in the world, which the Brough factory produced for 19 years. Other famous aircraft built on the site was the Hawk or T45, seen the world over as part of the RAF aerobatic display team, the Red Arrows.

Aviation has intrigued people throughout its history and some individuals have gone to great lengths to show their passion for aeroplanes and flight. Here are some Guinness World Record breakers:

 In September 2000, Police Inspector Phil Menary and his team pulled a 205-tonne Boeing 100-M 747 plane across the tarmac at London Heathrow Airport. It took them 53.33 seconds.
 Furthest plane pull by an individual was by David Huxely. He pulled a Boeing 747-400, weighing 187 tonnes a distance of 91 metres.
 Ilkka Nummisto, however, prevented the take-off of two Cessna airplanes pulling in opposite directions using ropes looped around his arms. He managed to restrain them for 54 seconds.
 The longest ever flight for a hand-launched paper airplane was recorded at 27.6 seconds. This feat was performed by Ken Blackburn of the USA, in October 1998.
 The oldest continually operating airport is The College Park Airport in Maryland, USA. It dates from 1909.
 The largest airsickness bag collection is owned by Niek Vermeulan, as recorded in April 2003. He owns 3,307 sickbags from 755 different airlines.