Handout
Other

Charles Kingsford Smith: First Across the Pacific

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents a biographical profile of Charles Kingsford Smith, the aviator who made the first trans-Pacific flight in 1928.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Wright Brothers Facts

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn numerous fun facts about the first powered airplane flight by the Wright Brothers and the Birth of Aviation.
Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Kitty Hawk (1903)

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1998 to commemorate the Wright Brothers first flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Includes a detailed paragraph about the famous flight.
Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1418: The Influence of War

For Students 9th - 10th
Does war inevitably advance the invention of new technology? Read this explanation of why this commonly held belief may not be true, at least in the example of military aircraft. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1342: Wright and Langley

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the controversy that emerged over the authenticity of Samuel Pierpoint Langley's flying machine, and the response of the Wright Brothers to attempts to usurp their place in history. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Website
Other

Arkansas Air Museum at Drake Field: Arkansas Air Museum

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Visit this resource to browse the museum's collection of early and historic planes and engines. Includes special exhibits of people from Arkansas who have made aviation history.
Handout
Other

Wright House: Wilbur and Orville Wright

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is a biography of the Wright brothers and includes several pictures of airplanes.
Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Harriet Quimby

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1991 to commemorate Harriet Quimby, the first woman ever to earn a pilot's license in the U.S. With a short passage on her accomplishments in both aviation and journalism.
Interactive
South Carolina Educational Television

Know It All: Weight | Nasa Online

For Students 3rd - 8th
How does weight affect an airplane? Watch the simulation to find out.
Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 283: Aeronautics: 1869

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the first efforts to build a flying machine in this discussion of a Harper's magazine article from 1869 in this transcript of a radio broadcast.
Handout
Other

Eastern Illinois University: The Eustachian Tube

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the role that the eustachian tube plays in maintaining pressure in the middle ear, during flight in an airplane or other changes in altitude and pressure. Tells why your ears pop more on the descent than on the ascent of a flight.
Handout
Other

Symposium Papers: Following the Footstpes of the Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th
A compilation of symposium papers that have been presented on the Wright Brothers which includes details about their lives, invention, and historic flight.
Website
PBS

Pbs: Nova: Top Gun Over Moscow

For Students 9th - 10th
An online exhibit investigating the sensations experienced by a cockpit pilot in a Russian aircraft. Focuses on G-forces and apparent weightlessness.
Website
National Academy of Engineering

Greatest Achievements: Airplane

For Students 9th - 10th
This page provides an overview of the history behind one of the greatest engineering innovations of all time:the airplane. There is also a timeline showing its development.
Website
The Henry Ford

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village: Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief history of the lives and accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Includes a chronology of major events from Wilbur's birth in 1867 to Orville's death in 1948.
Website
Ohio State University

Ohio State University: Admiral Richard E. Byrd

For Students 9th - 10th
This concise site contains a brief history of Byrd's life along with an easy to read chronology of major events in his life.
Activity
Michigan Reach Out

Reach Out!: Making Paper Airplane Gliders

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn the fundamentals of aerodynamics in this hands-on exercise.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Adaptations for Aeronautical Engineering

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity first asks the students to study the patterns of bird flight and understand that four main forces affect the flight abilities of a bird. They will study the shape, feather structure, and resulting differences in the pattern...
Graphic
Curated OER

Library of Congress: Full of Hot Air

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you know that the hot-air balloon is the oldest form of successful human flight? Briefly described is the history and construction of hot-air balloons. Follow the link to "images of hot-air balloons and balloon racing" to view...
Primary
Purdue University

George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
The world's largest collection of Amelia Earhart papers, memorabilia and artifacts.
Website
Other

Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co.: Aviation's Attic

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore this virtual museum and learn the history of the Wright brothers and their determination to fly.
Website
Other

Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co.: The Wright Story

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed look at the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright, offering an overview of their childhood and career choices, their invention of the airplane, and the development and challenges of the airplane business. Provides embedded links...
Website
NASA

Nasa: Aerodynamics Index

For Students 9th - 10th
Are you studying or teaching Aerodynamics? This page acts as an index to all the terminology related to this topic. Clicking on any title will open a page with a colored slide and a scientific explanation of the contents. Animated,...
Website
Other

Warbirds Resource Group: Luftwaffe Resource Center

For Students 9th - 10th
This comprehensive site catalogs the planes of the Luftwaffe from 1935 on, and provides detailed specifications on armaments, missiles, bombs and other accessories to air warfare. It does not present a history of their use, but rather a...

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