On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first planned airplane flight. They had been trying for many years before. They had suffered weeks of delays due to broken equipment and such.
The first flight attempt three days earlier lasted 3 seconds but caused major damage to the propeller. Following repairs, the very first flight happened on December 14, lasting 12 seconds and going over 100 feet.
In 1904 they invited many news reporters to watch another scheduled flight with the assurance that no photographs be taken. The flight more or less failed, and the reporters ignored them for the next year and a half. No one knows if the brothers intentionally failed to get rid of the reporters for awhile, or if it was an accident.
There were many lawsuits and patent wars involved with the "Flying Machine." After many legal issues, the Wright company was established in 1909 and the Wrights began air transport. The Wright Brothers eventually set up flying schools and test flight fields at a place called Huffman Prairie. Many US Air Force pilots got their training at these facilities including Henry Arnold, who became commander of the Air Force in World War II and rose to the rank of five star general.
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