University of Chicago
Flights Before the Wrights: Octave Chanute, Chicago
A site that chronicles the life of Octave Chanute, an aeronautical engineer involved in flight before the Wright brothers.
Scholastic
Scholastic Instructor: 100 Years of Flight
Learn more about the first "100 Years of Flight" when you explore this article. It features resources, historical background knowledge and more.
Other
Eaa Aviation Center: The B 17 Flying Fortress
Meet the B-17 "Flying Fortress," a World War II airplane. Take the interactive tour. Discover the history, photographs, testimonials, videos to watch, and views of the interior of the plane.
Other
History View: Uss Yorktown Cv 10
Take a virtual trip to see the USS Yorktown, one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is named after the Battle of Yorktown of the American Revolutionary War and is the fourth U.S....
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: The Red Baron, Air Warfare
An excerpt by Captain Von Richthofen (the Red Baron) from the book "The Red Battle Flyer." Discusses warfare and bomb throwing from his point of view.
PBS
Freedom: A History of Us: A Plane Flight and a Great Crash
Read a brief description of the attempts to cross the Atlantic in a plane in the 1920s, ending with information about the successful trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh.
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Pioneers of Flight: Civilian Aviation
Even after Lindbergh's famous solo flight, he continued to explore flight and its possibilities. Look inside the Sirius cockpit and then pack up yourself to fly around the world. One problem, however, you only can take on a limited...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Pilotless Flight: Timeline of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Explore this NOVA: "Spies That Fly" interactive timeline and discover the many technological innovations in the history of unmanned flight, from hot-air balloons to miniature flying robots.
Other
2worldwar2 : Stuka Dive Bomber
An account of the history of the Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber aircraft used by the Germans during World War II.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Detroit News Newsreels
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Other
Warbirds Resource Group: Luftwaffe Resource Center
This comprehensive site catalogs the planes of the Luftwaffe from 1935 on, and provides detailed specifications on armaments, missiles, bombs and other accessories to air warfare. It does not present a history of their use, but rather a...
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: The Wright Stuff
Companion website to the PBS documentary on the Wright Brothers and their contributions to aviation.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1418: The Influence of War
Does war inevitably advance the invention of new technology? Read this explanation of why this commonly held belief may not be true, at least in the example of military aircraft. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: First Flight in Texas
Describes the earliest efforts of Texans to fly airplanes.
Other
Wright House: Wilbur and Orville Wright
This site is a biography of the Wright brothers and includes several pictures of airplanes.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Harriet Quimby
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1991 to commemorate Harriet Quimby, the first woman ever to earn a pilot's license in the U.S. With a short passage on her accomplishments in both aviation and journalism.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1342: Wright and Langley
Read about the controversy that emerged over the authenticity of Samuel Pierpoint Langley's flying machine, and the response of the Wright Brothers to attempts to usurp their place in history. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Amelia Earhart
Encyclopedia Britannica provides a short biography of Amelia Mary Earhart, the first person to fly from Hawaii to California, and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Purdue University
George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers
The world's largest collection of Amelia Earhart papers, memorabilia and artifacts.
Science Museum, London
Science Museum Online Stuff: The First Flight
An excellent article about how Orville and Wilbur Wright's interest in flight developed and led to the first airplane flight.
Other
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co.: The Wright Story
A detailed look at the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright, offering an overview of their childhood and career choices, their invention of the airplane, and the development and challenges of the airplane business. Provides embedded links...
NASA
Nasa: Re Living the Wright Way
Learn about the many inventions credited to Orville and Wilbur Wright! Lesson plans, activities, simulations, individual biographies, and links to related sites are all included in this expansive site from NASA.
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: The Invention of the Aerial Age
Beautiful, well-done site from the Smithsonian on the Wright Brothers: Who were they and what was the importance of the era they ushered in? Their roots are traced back to the Great Migration. Classroom activities and interactive...
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Embracing the Impossible [Pdf]
In this lesson, students explore primary resources to see what people who lived in the early age of flight felt about this innovation. They then compare that response to that towards an invention of today.