Aviation History – August 18, 1903. On December 17, 1903, American air pioneer Orville Wright was performing a powered flight, having taken control of an airplane known as Flyer 1. A performance that will be remembered by many as the first motorized theft of history and yet, it is not so. Indeed, earlier, two Europeans had already made a similar flight and those are therefore the ones who were the precursors.
The German Gustav Weisskopf will sign a powered flight from Wednesday August 14, 1901, covering on this occasion a distance of 850 meters at an altitude of 15 meters. The aviator flying his No. 21 monoplane fitted with a 12-horsepower engine over Fairfield Field.
His counterpart Karl Jatho, also German, will do the same on August 18, 1903 above the Vahrenfelder moor, covering for his part 18 meters at an altitude of 1 meter with his biplane airplane called “Zweidecker I” with propulsive propeller having two blades, with for motorization a monocylinder signed Buchet, of 9 horses of power.
