Early Days

The prospect of flying has always been a part of human psyche. Even in the days before we could fly in planes legends like Icarus existed, which propelled people's imaginations. There were also other short distance flights reported, more credible than that of Icarus. These include Yuan Huangtou's kite flight in China and parachute flight and glider of Abbas Ibn Firnas inSpain.

The earliest examples of actual flight carried out by man, however, come from periods such as Ancient Greece with inventions such as Archytas's mechanical pigeon. This was a bird-shaped device, said to have flown some 200 meters using steam power. Simple artefacts such as the Boomerang or even spears come under the classification of aviation, however, as they are often specifically manufactured for flight.

When we think of flight and aviation though, we think of aeroplanes, helicopters and other large craft that can take passengers across vast stretches of the globe. When we fast forward in time to the 1700s we get closer to this image. Before motorised inventions were conceived, hot air balloons were the standard model upon which to fly. The first untethered human flight took place on November 21st 1783 by the Montgolfier brothers and is regarded as the beginning of the modern age of aviation.

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