Aircraft
Aircraft profiles, filterable by era, country, role and manufacturer.
29 results
9 October 1890: reported lift-off at Armainvilliers, significance disputed
Ader Éole
Éole is the steam-powered aeroplane in which Clément Ader reported a brief lift-off in 1890, without demonstrating sustained, controlled flight.
Photo : Rama · CC BY-SA 3.0 FR · Source : Wikimedia Commons 17 December 1903, Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk
Wright Flyer
The 1903 Flyer brought the Wrights’ research into sustained, controlled powered flight into practice.
Photo : John T. Daniels · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons January 1909
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI linked France and England in 1909 before serving in training and reconnaissance.
Photo : Pierre Poschadel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 28 April 1927
Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis
The Ryan NYP enabled Charles Lindbergh to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris on 20–21 May 1927.
Photo : Agence de presse Meurisse · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 1929
Latécoère 28
The Latécoère 28 served Aéropostale routes and made an airmail crossing between Senegal and Brazil in 1930.
Photo : Archives municipales de Toulouse · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 13 October 1930, single-engine version
Junkers Ju 52
Initially a single-engine aircraft, the Junkers Ju 52 became a three-engine civil and military transport, also built in France and Spain.
Photo : MLWatts · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 17 December 1935
Douglas DC-3
Developed for American airlines, the DC-3 became a family of civil and military transports used worldwide.
Photo : USAAF · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 5 March 1936
Supermarine Spitfire
Entering service in 1938, the Spitfire developed from a Merlin-powered fighter into numerous combat and reconnaissance versions.
Photo : Airwolfhound · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 18 July 1942 under jet power; piston-powered prototype on 18 April 1941
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Me 262 entered combat in 1944, combining jet performance with the constraints of wartime development and production.
Photo : Articseahorse · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 9 January 1943
Lockheed Constellation
A pressurised four-engine aircraft that supported the growth of long-distance routes after the Second World War.
Photo : tataquax · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 25 January 1946, glide flight
Bell X-1
In 1947 the Bell X-1 makes the first instrumentally established piloted supersonic flight in level flight.
Photo : NASA · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 27 July 1949
de Havilland Comet
The first jet airliner in commercial service, the Comet combined an operational advance with a consequential history of structural fatigue.
Photo : Steve Lynes · CC BY 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 27 May 1955, Toulouse
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The French twinjet that popularised engines mounted at the rear of the fuselage.
Photo : Alf van Beem · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 17 November 1956
Dassault Mirage III
The Mirage III combines a delta wing and Atar engine in a widely exported family of supersonic fighters.
Photo : Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 20 December 1957
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 helps establish commercial jet services across major international networks.
Photo : Auteur inconnu · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 22 December 1964
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71 is a reconnaissance aircraft designed for sustained missions above Mach 3 at high altitude.
Photo : USAF / Judson Brohmer · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 9 April 1967
Boeing 737
A family of single-aisle twinjets developed through successive generations since the 1960s.
Photo : NASA/LRC · Public domain · Source : Wikimedia Commons 9 February 1969
Boeing 747
The first twin-aisle airliner, recognisable by its forward upper deck.
Photo : Paul Seymour · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 2 March 1969, Toulouse
Concorde
The Franco-British airliner that flew commercial services at about Mach 2 for twenty-seven years.
Photo : Eric Salard · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 28 October 1972, Toulouse
Airbus A300
Airbus's first aircraft and the first twin-engine widebody.
Photo : André Cros · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons ATR 42: 16 August 1984; ATR 72: 27 October 1988
ATR 42 / ATR 72
A Franco-Italian turboprop family designed for regional services.
Photo : ATR Aircraft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons Rafale A demonstrator: 4 July 1986; combat prototypes: from 1991
Dassault Rafale
A French combat aircraft family comprising land-based and carrier-based versions.
Photo : Ibex73 · CC BY 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 22 February 1987
Airbus A320
A European single-aisle aircraft combining digital fly-by-wire controls with a family approach.
Photo : Ken Fielding, œuvre dérivée Lämpel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 27 April 2005, Toulouse
Airbus A380
The first airliner with two passenger decks along the full length of the fuselage.
Photo : Joe Ravi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 15 December 2009
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 is a long-haul twinjet combining an extensively composite structure with a highly electrified onboard architecture.
Photo : Jubair Bin Iqbal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 14 June 2013
Airbus A350 XWB
The Airbus A350 is a family of extensively composite long-haul twinjets that entered service in 2015.
Photo : Duch.seb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 2 June 2014
Solar Impulse 2
Solar Impulse 2 is a single-seat demonstrator that completed a staged solar-powered circumnavigation in 2015–2016.
Photo : Anthony Quintano · CC BY 2.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 5 May 2017
COMAC C919
The COMAC C919 is a Chinese single-aisle airliner powered by LEAP-1C engines that entered commercial service in 2023.
Photo : 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons 15 June 2022
Airbus A321XLR
The Airbus A321XLR is an A321neo version equipped with an integrated tank for extended-range missions.
Photo : Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source : Wikimedia Commons