Restored to their former glory, these five preserved airplanes document key moments in the history of manned flight.

The more you get to know someone, the more you realize they have a unique story to tell—especially if that person has been around the block a time or two and their wise eyes have seen amazing sights and their souls have experienced exceptional moments. It is their stories that tend to stick with us a little longer, and perhaps they even inspire us.

As aviation aficionados there are probably few conversations that top story-swapping with other aviators who have a tale to tell … we love our planes, we love our time in the air, and we love talking about it. But have you ever wished you could hear the aircrafts’ stories—even the warbirds’ stories?

In the next few pages we tell at least parts of the stories of five restored original airplanes (or aeroplane in respect to the Wrights) that have made a difference. Some of these historic aircraft had a huge impact on the world and in moving the process of innovation and invention forward. All of them prove the old saying “If it looks good, it’ll fly good.”

These stories, from our book series The Aviation Century, are based on the human experience of flight—the hardware provides the vehicle and the background to tell them. No one should ever forget though that men and women forged the industry of flight through personal courage and financial investment, and, in the case of the Spitfire, pilots died using the innovations they were given to fly.

Sit back, get comfortable, and listen to the stories these planes tell.

The 1905 Wright Flyer III Carillon Historical Park at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio One hundred and one years ago Orville and Wilbur Wright were ready to move on. They believed they had answered all the questions about powered flight with their 1905 Flyer III, the first aeroplane on the planet flown under complete control. In their opinion they had actually gone far beyond simply answering the questions—they had created a practical and continually reusable flying machine.

It had taken lots of hard work and persistence for Orville and Wilbur to reach that turning point though. In 1903, after conducting numerous experimental flights and continually refining their aeroplane’s design at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for four years, the Wright brothers looked for a “flying field” in the Dayton, Ohio, area. They found suitable pastureland east of town called Huffman Prairie. Owner Torrance Huffman gave them permission to use the pasture even though he was dubious about their project, and he asked that they not harm the cattle grazing there. So before each flight Orville and Wilbur took time to “encourage” the cows to move out of the way.

Dayton’s summer heat and an altitude almost 1,000 feet higher than Kitty Hawk gave the Wright brothers the opportunity to discover density altitude. At first they were puzzled about the poor performance of their 1904 Flyer II, but they soon worked out the realities of thicker air in cooler temperatures and at sea level by devising a launch system—a catapult that would give them flying speed at the end of a shorter track and was not totally depend-ent on the direction of the winds.

Now they could concentrate on the more serious issues of center of gravity and actual control of the aeroplane. At the same time they were developing more efficient propellers and better engine performance. The 1904 Flyer II began to show signs of improvement by the end of the flying season, with both Orville and Wilbur flying longer times and beginning to turn the aircraft. Wilbur flew the first full circle in the 1904 Flyer II, due in part to the cooler conditions and “thicker” air of late summer and early autumn in Ohio.

The brothers had sustained many crashes and experienced long times for repairs in between flights. They concluded the year in a sort of melancholy state, with some successes and many new problems. As they had done before, they took reusable parts from the 1904 Flyer II and folded them into a new flying machine, leaving no existing 1904 Flyer II.

Orville and Wilbur’s improvements in propeller design and engine performance allowed them to give their 1905 Flyer III a much more robust structure. This aeroplane was heavier than earlier versions and could take more knocking around, and the heavier landing skids had a much more gradual curve to allow for smoother landings. They also increased the size of the canard/elevator and positioned it farther out in front, and they moved the enlarged rudder farther to the rear. These extensions began to solve the issues of balance. The larger surface area of the controls also allowed for much better response at the Flyer III’s relatively slow flying speeds.

As Orville and Wilbur got into the 1905 flying trials, their new Flyer III was noticeably better and easier to control, but at times the plane would still become very unstable and dart to the ground, nearly killing Orville on July 14. That crash severely damaged the Flyer III, and the Wright brothers once again had to take stock of the situation—they were close to finding all the solutions for practical flight, and they knew it. This time when they analyzed the Flyer III, they decided to dramatically extend the control surfaces both front and back and also once again increase the surface areas. A series of summer storms and bad weather soaked the flying field, and they had to wait until the ground dried out to try their redesigned craft. At the end of August they began to fly it again, and the results of their modifications proved to be both stunning and immediate. They started slowly as they always did, but soon were flying with much more ease and reliability. They flew in circles and figure eights. They even kept on flying until the gasoline in the small tank was used up, and they were forced to land.

The flights of September and early Oct-ober 1905 have become landmarks in the history of manned flight. Orville and Wilbur had achieved the goal. Both of them flew the Flyer III and had perfected their skills as pilots and aeroplane designers, and they now began applying their expertise to the business of aviation, taking their invention beyond the experimental stage and turning it into a moneymaking enterprise.

Orville Wright directed the restoration of the Flyer III before his death in 1948, and he left it to the Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. He even designed the exhibit and how he wanted the public to view this historic aircraft. The Flyer III, which is perhaps the most original existing Wright aeroplane, and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field are now part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

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