ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
November 9, 1904
The First Airplane Flight to Last More Than Five Minutes
On this day in 1904, the Wright Brothers had their most successful days so far when they managed to get the
Flyer II to stay in the air for over five minutes. The airplane circled Huffman Prairie almost four times which was
about three miles. Less than a year later, the Wright Brothers were making flights lasting over 38 minutes which
covered over 24 miles.
Later in 1904 the Wright's wrote the U.S. government offering their services to the U.S. War Department. The
Secretary of War, William H. Taft who had been "...skeptical as to the practicability and value of any so called
'flying machine'..." was beginning to show an interest but the Board of Ordinance and Fortification was not willing
to offer any financial assistance.
Barely a hundred years later on March 7, 2005, Steve Fosset would complete the first solo nonstop flight around
the world without refueling.
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