1901 in aviation in Encyclopedia

1901 in aviation

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1901 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1901:

Whiteheads plane.

Santos-Dumont at the Eiffel Tower.

Kress' triplane.

At the start of the 20th century, the French Navy is a major user of shipboard balloons and man-lifting kites.^[1]
The French Navy torpedo boat tender Foudre operates a spherical balloon experimentally during naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean sea.^[2]

11 July - The Wright brothers arrive for their second season at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, during which they will test their 1901 glider.^[3]
27 July - Wilbur Wright makes 17 flights in the Wright 1901 glider on the first day of the gliders flight trials at Kitty Hawk.^[4]
31 July – German meteorologists Berson and S ring climb to 10,800 m (35,433 ft) in a free balloon.

8 August – Wilbur Wright achieves a flight of 389 feet (118.5 m) at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in the Wright 1901 glider.^[5]
14 August – In Fairfield, Connecticut, Gustave Whitehead reportedly flies his engine-powered Whitehead No. 21 folding-wing, rudderless, flying machine 800 meters (2,625 feet) at an altitude of 15 meters (49 feet), according to an article in the Bridgeport Herald.

3 October – Wilhelm Kress trials his Drachenflieger twin-hulled tandem triplane seaplane, the first powered marine aircraft, in Austria-Hungary. It begins to become airborne when Kress slows and tries to turn to avoid an obstruction, capsizing the aircraft.^[6]
19 October – Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont collects the FF100,000 (USD $50,000) Deutsch de la Meurthe prize by flying his dirigible Number 6 from the Aero Club at Saint-Cloud, Paris, around the Eiffel Tower, and back in less than one hour. The flight in fact takes only 29 minutes 30 seconds despite a stiff headwind on the return leg.^[7]
29 October – The Aero Club of the United Kingdom, predecessor of the Royal Aero Club, is established.^[8]

22 November - The Wright brothers begin wind tunnel experiments at Dayton, Ohio, to optimise the wing design of what will become their 1902 glider. During their experiments, which last into December, they will in essence develop the modern understanding of aerodynamics.^[9]