When the Wright Brothers first took of from Kitty Hawk in 1903, they were ushering in a new age of transportation. From the moment Orville Wright left the ground, these bicycle-making brothers were destined for the history books. Although the idea of the propeller – and, indeed, the idea of flight itself – was nothing new, it took the Wright Brothers’ twisted airfoil propeller to finally get this concept off the ground.

There had been a variety of other airplane designs and concepts over the years, stretching back centuries. The Wright Brothers were far from the only innovators testing designs for flying machines. However, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that propeller planes made those ideas a reality. The propeller mounted on the Wright Brothers’ plane was driven by manpower, using a system based on the Wright Brothers’ bicycle designs. Later propeller planes, of course, incorporated engines of various sizes and strengths.

Not too long after the Wright Brothers made their first flight, the Bousson-Borgnis canard triplane was built. A 1908 design, it featured a Renault engine and was built by Aeroplanes Voisin, one of the first airplane companies in the world. Not too long afterwards, in 1909 and 1910, British aviator AV Roe built four experimental triplanes. The era of aviation had begun!

These early airplane designs were quickly adapted for warfare with the outbreak of World War One. Early aces and pilots saw a rapid development in styles of planes and piloting – as each country (and each pilot) sought to gain an advantage over his enemies. By 1917, biplanes and triplanes floated over the Western Front. They performed reconnaissance, and bombing missions throughout the war. It was a dangerous job, considering that at that time, the chance of surviving a crash was incredibly low.

One of many to pilot planes during the War, Manfred Albrecht Frieherr von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, was piloting his infamous bright red Fokker Dr I triplane at the time. The Red Baron was quickly added to the history books as one of aviation’s early celebrities. When he was killed in 1918, the Allies gave the infamous Red Baron a full military funeral.

Following the war, airplanes continued to develop, though now with an eye towards carrying passengers through the skies, rather than fighting an airborne war. By 1926 the Ford Trimotor airplane ferried passengers from Detroit to Grand Rapids, and the era of passenger service had begun. Not long after, in 1928, the Boeing Company introduced its Model 80, one of the first transport planes.

The propeller plane has never gone completely out of service, but as early as 1944, powerful jet powered planes were beginning to make an appearance. The Messerschmitt Me262 is often regarded as the first jet combat aircraft. By the 1950s, most passenger aircraft had been converted to jet power, with smaller prop planes still serving shorter routes. Though the era of the prop plane was relatively short, this style of plane remains an iconic design in aviation history.

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