List of aviation pioneers

Aviation pioneers are people directly and indirectly responsible for the creation and advancement of human flight capability, including people who worked to achieve manned flight before the invention of aircraft, as well as others who achieved significant "firsts" in aviation after heavier-than-air flight became routine. Pioneers of aviation have contributed to the development of aeronautics in one or more ways: through science and theory, theoretical or applied design, by constructing models or experimental prototypes, the mass production of aircraft for commercial and government request, achievements in flight, and providing financial resources and publicity to expand the field of aviation.

Table key

Pioneer type

Science: Contributions to aerodynamic theory, aviation principles, discoveries advancing aircraft development, etc.Design: Original or derivative ideas or drawings for conceptual/experimental/practical methods of air travelConstruction: Building prototypes/experimental/practical aircraftManufacture: Building aircraft to fill commercial or government requestsAviator: International firsts, major records, major awards receivedSupport: Significant industrial endorsements, philanthropic, founding of relevant organizations, etc.

: A dagger following the pioneer's name indicates they died in or as a result of an aircraft accident. When available, the aircraft type/model and the place of the accident are included in the text.

Sorting

The table is organized by pioneer name in alphabetical order. Columns for Name, Date of birth/Date of death, Country and Achievement can be sorted in either ascending or descending order. If two pioneers are paired together, sorting by DOB or Country uses the information for the first of the pair. The Achievement column will sort according to the date of the pioneer's earliest significant contribution to aviation.

Inclusion criteria

The list is of outright records, irrespective of race, nationality or gender, and in which at least one of the following criteria is met:

Scientific contribution to theory and principles that were used as contemporary resources, building blocks, or influenced period thought, significant scientific or theoretical achievements with model aircraft;
Designing any aircraft, or a distinct/innovative new design;
Constructing a prototype aircraft ;
Manufacturing aircraft for commercial and/or military contracts ;
Flying solo in an aircraft and receiving a relevant flying certificate ; or any significant national or international achievement, or flight award ;
Supporting aviation.

Table

† indicates died in an air accident

Name	Date of birth Date of death	Country birth	Pioneer	Type	Achievements
	4 Feb 1841 5 Mar 1925	France	Science Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	First brief uncontrolled powered flight for 50 m, 20 cm from the ground in steam-powered Éole, designed, constructed and tested Ader Avion II and Ader Avion III.
	1757 1799	Spain	Science Design Construction	Glider	Reportedly glided c. 400 m distance at c. 5 m height using his own invention.
† and Arthur Brown	5 Nov 1892 18 Dec 1919 and 23 Jul 1886 4 Oct 1948	England Scotland	Aviator	Propeller	First non-stop transatlantic flight in a modified Vickers Vimy ; Vickers Viking, Rouen, France, en route to Paris.
Juan Pablo and Eduardo	14 Sep 1893 4 Oct 1962 and 27 Oct 1894 10 Nov 1968	Mexico	Science Design Construction	Glider Propeller	First Mexican aviators to graduate from the Moissant School; Juan Pablo was the first to fly over the Statue of Liberty. They also helped contribute to improve aerodynamics by designing a "thick wing" long before other inventors.
†	unk c. 1005	Kazakhstan	Design Construction Aviator	Pre-history Glider	attempted flight from the roof of the Nishapur Mosque in Khorosan.
†	12 Oct 1883 25 Aug 1912	China	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Often called the "Father of Chinese Aviation", Feng Ru designed, built, and flew the first Chinese-made airplane in Oakland, California in 1909. He returned to China in 1911 to support the Xinhai Revolution, where he continued aircraft development. Died in an air accident during a demonstration flight in Guangzhou, China, in 1912.
	2 Jan 1882 7 Aug 1948	Canada	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Chief Engineer, Aerial Experiment Association ; first powered flight by a Canadian in the Red Wing ; co-designer Red Wing, White Wing, and Silver Dart ; with J.A.D. McCurdy formed the Canadian Aerodrome Company, Canada's first aircraft manufacturing company.
	1895 1927	Spain	Aviator	Breguet XIX	First raid between Spain and Philippines.
	21 Sep 1895 9 Dec 1936	Spain	Aviator and aeronautical engineer	Autogyro or gyrocopter	Invented the autogyro, the predecessor of the modern helicopter. De la Cierva's flapping hinge overcame the problems of early rotor-winged flight, and is the basis of the modern helicopter rotor.
	3 Mar 1847 2 Aug 1922	Scotland	Science Design Construction Support	Glider Propeller	Founder and chair, Canadian-American aeronautical research group Aerial Experiment Association ; in 1908 and 1909, the AEA designed, constructed, and flew four powered aircraft: the Red Wing, White Wing, June Bug, and Silver Dart; technical innovations include the tricycle landing gear and the wingtip aileron.
	25 Nov 1857 3 Jan 1923	United States	Support	n/a	Financial sponsorship, Aerial Experiment Association.
	19 Mar 1886 26 Dec 1960	Italy	Design Construction Manufacture	Propeller	Bellanca Flying School ; designed first enclosed monoplane cabin ; founded Bellanca Aircraft Company.
†	12 Jul 1891 7 Jul 1919	Switzerland	Aviator Support	Propeller	First crossing of the Pyrenees ; Swiss airmail flight ; first crossing of the Alps ; Nieuport 21, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Bladud	9th Century BC	unknown	Design Construction Aviator	Pre-history Glider	According to Historia Regum Britanniae, Bladud, a legendary King of Britain, made wings from feathers and attempted a flight.
	1 Jul 1872 1 Aug 1936	France	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	First airplane with a modern layout : monoplane, conventional tail, fully covered fuselage, front propeller / enclosed engine. First to use a combination of hand/arm-operated joystick and foot-operated rudder control. First heavier-than-air crossing of the English Channel in a Blériot XI. First actual industrial aircraft manufacturer - By the end of September 1909, orders had been received for 103 Blériot type XI. Just two years later 500 Blériots has been sold.
	29 Mar 1888 9 Jan 1963	Italy	Science Design Construction Manufacture	Propeller Rotor	Founder, American Aeronautical Corporation ; designer, Budd BB-1 Pioneer, the first stainless-steel airplane; co-designer of the Pedaliante ("Pedal Glider"), the first human-powered aircraft; subsequent improvements led to a 1 km flight 9 m from the ground.
	4 Oct 1894 15 Nov 1948	England United States Japan	Aviator	Propeller	First flight from Newfoundland to New York ; organised the Japanese Naval Air Arm ; first Air Superintendent of Imperial Airways ;
	9 Apr 1887 3 Jun 1951	Argentina	Design Construction Aviator	Balloon	First crossing of the Andes in a balloon ; set numerous ballooning records: duration ; distance 900 km.
†	18 Feb 1892 18 Aug 1916	France	Aviator	Propeller	Finished first the Geisler Challenge Trophy ; long distance champion ;, Vadelaincourt, France.
†	23 May 1881 15 Nov 1924	Portugal	Aviator	Propeller	Director, Naval Aviation Services ; first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic with Gago Coutinho using a Fairey III-D ;, English Channel crossing.
	27 Dec 1773 15 Dec 1857	England	Science Design Construction	Glider Propeller Rotor	Experimented in aeronautics at age 13 with a Chinese top ; first design of a fixed-wing aircraft ; used a whirling arm to test aerofoils at varying angles ; presented a paper outlining specific design parameters for building a glider ; designed, constructed, and had flown a tri-plane. Cayley was one of the most significant pioneers in aviation history.
†	25 Jan 1889 28 Mar 1911	Italy	Aviator	Propeller	Flew around the Eiffel tower ;, near Puteaux, France.
	1609 1640	Turkey	Design Construction Aviator	Glider	Reportedly achieved sustained unpowered flight for 3.36 km .
	17th century	Turkey	Design Construction Aviator	Rocket	Reported to have achieved flight using a winged rocket powered by gunpowder.
	7 Jun 1886 25 Nov 1972	Romania	Science Design Construction	Glider Propeller Jet	Designed Coandă-1910 with a propeller-less aero-reactive engine, exhibited Paris Air Show, followed by a claimed but generally discounted first flight ; before WWI designed the Bristol-Coanda Monoplanes in Great Britain; discovered Coandă effect.
†	6 Mar 1867 7 Aug 1913	United States	Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	Developed and flew human-lifting kites; kite instructor for the Royal Engineers ; contributed to the development of the British Army Dirigible No 1 Nulli Secundus ; first flight of a piloted airplane in Great Britain ; issued Royal Aero Club certificate No.10 ; Cody Floatplane, with passenger William Evans, Aldershot, England.
	4 Jun 1895 1 Nov 1965	Switzerland	Design Manufacture	Propeller	Swiss pilot's license ; partner and chief pilot Ad Astra Aero ; designed and built aircraft ; established an aviation school.
	17 Feb 1869 18 Feb 1959	Portugal	Aviator	Propeller	First aerial crossing of the South Atlantic using a Fairey III-D with Artur de Sacadura Cabral ; developed a sextant-type instrument to create an artificial horizon.
	21 May 1878 23 Jul 1930	United States	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller Rotor	Director of Experiments, Aerial Experiment Association ; designed the June Bug and won the Scientific American Trophy by making the first official one-kilometer flight in North America; co-designer Red Wing, White Wing, and Silver Dart ; founded his own company which became the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company ; designed, built, and flew the first successful flying-boat ; established Canada's first aviation training school in Toronto ; awarded the Langley Gold Medal.
	1844	France	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	First reported flight in Asia in a self-constructed biplane.
	18 Jul 1823 4 Nov 1890	France	Science Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	With his brother, built a monoplane which “staggered briefly into the air”, considered by some to be the powered take-off or hop of a powered fixed-wing aircraft.
Bertram Dickson	21 Dec 1873 28 Sep 1913	United Kingdom	Aviator	Propeller	First British serviceman to fly ; gained Aero-Club de France license no. 81 on 12 April. Dickson took part in the Lanark flying meet in August 1910, where he won the £400 prize for the greatest aggregate distance flown.; died 1913 of injuries from 1910 midair collision
and Henri Dufaux	13 Jan 1883 17 Jul 1941 and 18 Sep 1879 25 Dec 1980	Switzerland	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller Rotor	Working together patented a design for a helicopter, constructed and demonstrated a working model ; designed and built the first Swiss airplanes, including the biplane Dufaux 4 and Dufaux 5; Armand set a new over-water distance record of 66 km crossing Lake Geneva.
	1875 24 Aug 1949	Ireland	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	Discussed aeronautics and aviation with H.G. Wells ; member Royal Engineers, working on design and construction of the first British military airplane ; in secret military trials, and with a career goal of improving stability during flight, Dunne's aircraft flew approximately 40 meters ; development of his V-shaped swept wing design significantly advanced flight stability.
†	24 Jul 1897 7 Jul 1937	United States	Aviator Support	Propeller	First female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and set many other records; she was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Disappeared during a flight on a Lockheed Electra 10E from Lae Airfield to Howland Island.
Eilmer of Malmesbury	c. 984	unknown	Design Construction Aviator	Pre-history Glider	Reportedly flew 200 meters from a tower using rigid wings.
†	21 Oct 1886 19 Oct 1911	United States	Aviator	Propeller	First airplane take-off from a ship ; first landing on a ship using a tailhook ;, Macon, Georgia, flight exhibition.
	20 Nov 1868 1 Jul 1957	Germany	Design Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Built Voisin Freres aircraft ; first German pilot's license ; German flight duration record .
	27 Jul 1892 14 May 1919	Switzerland	Construction Aviator Support	Propeller	Constructed and piloted the first aircraft in Switzerland ; first Swiss pilot's license.
	26 May 1874 17 Jul 1958	France	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Winner of the Deutsch-Archdeacon Prize ; with brothers Richard and Maurice founded Farman Aviation Works.
†	8 Feb 1862 22 Sep 1909	France	Design Construction Aviator Support	Glider Propeller	Attempted to replicate the Wright 1901 Glider from photographs; designed a series of aircraft for the Antoinette Company; designed, constructed, and flew the first tractor configuration biplane ; Voisin biplane, Boulogne, France.
	6 Apr 1890 23 Dec 1939	Dutch East Indies	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Designed, built, and flew the "Spin" ; involved with the Luftstreitkräfte during WWI; constructed a machine gun synchronizer, leading to an aviation period known as the Fokker Scourge; founded the US-based Atlantic Aircraft Corporation to manufacture his product in the United States.
†	1 April 1892 26 Jan 1947	Netherlands	Aviator	Propeller	First Dutch licensed airline transport pilot ; awarded the 1926 Harmon National Trophy for the Netherlands; captain of the first intercontinental charter flight. Died in the 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster.
	11 Jun 1874 18 Feb 1951	United States	Design Construction	Propeller	Tethered glider flight ; free glider flight ; controlled steam-powered aircraft flight ; all records, papers, and aircraft were destroyed in a fire; opened first commercial airfield.
	20 Jan 1888 8 Jan 1980	Norway	Aviator	Propeller	First flight across the North Sea, four hours ten minutes from Cruden Bay, Scotland to Klep, Norway in a Blériot monoplane.
	12 Nov 1884 14 Apr 1963	Switzerland	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Designed and built aircraft for Ernest Failloubaz and his record-setting flight ; first snow takeoff and landing using skis ; first water takeoff in a Swiss seaplane.
	c. 1701	Italy	Design Construction	Glider	Italian monk reported to have flown from Calais to London in a bird-shaped airship with a 22-foot wingspan.
Lawrence Hargrave	29 Jan 1850 6 July 1915	United Kingdom	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider	Invented the Box Kite, greatly improving lift to drag ratio. Reached lift of 16 feet under a train of four of his box kites. Invented a rotary engine, which was much used in early aviation.
	3 Aug 1867 17 Jul 1926	United States	Design Construction	Glider Propeller	Assisted S.P. Langley ; test pilot for Octave Chanute; designed the Herring regulator; designed and constructed a compressed-air motorized biplane and reported a 15-meter hop and a 22-meter hop ; business partners with Glenn Curtiss.
	24 Dec 1905 5 Apr 1976	United States	Design Manufacture Aviator Support	Propeller	Founded Hughes Aircraft ; set record for flying around the world in a Lockheed Super Electra ; received the Congressional Gold Medal for achievements in aviation; majority stockholder in TWA.
	6 Jan 1895 16 Jul 1969	Turkey	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Constructed and flew the first airplane in Turkey ; founded Turkey's first flying school.
	810 887	Spain	Design Construction Aviator	Pre-history Glider	A 9th-century polymath covered himself with feathers and wings, and “flew faster than the phoenix in his flight when he dressed his body in the feathers of a vulture”.
	3 Feb 1873 8 Dec 1933	Germany	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Made an “aerial leap” in a powered airplane ;
	3 Feb 1859 3 Feb 1935	Germany	Science Design Construction Manufacture	Propeller	Engineer, thermodynamicist, pioneer developer of practical all-metal airframe structures, first used in the 1915-16 Junkers J 1, using all-cantilever structural concepts meant to place all strength-bearing components within an airframe's outer envelope and established all-metal aircraft manufacturing techniques later used by American designer William Bushnell Stout and Soviet designer Andrei Tupolev after World War I.
	29 Jul 1836 24 Feb 1913	Russia	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	Developed a successful rubber-band powered model of a hang glider ; designed aircraft control stick ; executed short hops over water in his Drachenflieger.
	1631 1687	Italy	Science Design	Pre-history Balloon	Designed an airship based on the theory of using evacuated metal spheres to create a lighter-than-air vehicle.
	22 Aug 1834 27 Feb 1906	United States	Science Design Construction	Propeller	Designed and developed the Aerodrome No. 5 as a successful steam engine powered model which flew for 90 seconds covering roughly 3,300 ft ; conversion into a larger piloted aircraft was unsuccessful.
	4 Feb 1883 1 Oct 1974	United States	Science Support	n/a	United States diplomat, head of State Department's early aviation committees; aviation specialist during Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman administrations. Also Chairman of United States Section at the International Technical Committee of Aerial Legal Experts.
†	23 May 1848 10 Aug 1896	Germany	Science Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Glider	Designed and constructed a monoplane Derwitzer Glider ; after nearly 2,000 flights he constructed a two-surfaced glider ; Glider crash, Gollenberg, Germany.
	4 Feb 1902 26 Aug 1974	United States	Aviator Support	Propeller	First solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis.
	26 Jul 1904 7 Sep 1981	United States	Science Design Support	n/a	Inventor of the Link Trainer flight simulator ; received Royal Aeronautical Society Wakefield Gold Medal.
	19 Nov 1711 15 Apr 1765	Russian Empire	Science Design Construction	Rotor	Designed and constructed a model of a coaxial propeller helicopter to lift meteorological instruments.
	18 Jan 1882 19 Nov 1950	United States	Aviator Design Manufacture	Propeller	Early pilot and barnstormer. Designed and manufactured numerous airplane models including the Longren AK with the first semi-monocoque body.
†	15 Feb 1875 20 Dec 1915	United States	Aviator	Propeller	Began flying at age 52 ; Curtiss Exhibition Flyers ; winner, Round-Manhattan Race ; critically injured in Sturgeon Falls, ON, Canada.
†	1879 18 July 1906	United States	Aviator	Glider	American pioneering aviator and test pilot who made the first high-altitude flights by man using Montgomery gliders in 1905. Glider, Santa Clara, California.
	5 Feb 1840 24 Nov 1916	United States	Science Design Construction	Rotor Propeller	Patented a design for a steam-powered “flying machine” ; successful track-tethered test of a steam-engine powered biplane ; designed and constructed a biplane that never flew
	2 Aug 1886 25 Jun 1961	Canada	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Glider Propeller	Treasurer & Assistant Engineer, Aerial Experiment Association ; first controlled powered flight in Canada "Silver Dart" ; with "Casey" Baldwin formed the Canadian Aerodrome Company, Canada's first aircraft manufacturing company.
	2 Apr 1894 9 May 1937	Switzerland	Science Aviator Support	Propeller	Director and head pilot of Ad Astra Aero, later becoming Swissair; first north-south crossing of Africa ; pioneer of aerial photography ; personally flew/delivered a Fokker to Emperor Haile Selassie I.
†	15 Feb 1858 31 Oct 1911	United States	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider	Designed and constructed a series of early gliders, first to achieve unpowered controlled flight in the United States. Designed tandem-wing gliders flown from high-altitude balloon launches, including first public flight exhibition in United States. Developed pitcheron systems for control ; Glider, Evergreen, California.
†	8 Jun 1886 29 Apr 1920	England	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Designed, constructed, and flew a monoplane ; the meadows of North Stoneham Farm which he used to take-off and land would later become Southampton Airport; Flying boat, Felixstowe, England.
	8 Feb 1884 17 May 1964	England	Aviator	Propeller	Holder of Royal Aero Club certificate No. 1. First United Kingdom citizen to make a flight in Britain.
	21 Mar 1825 1 Apr 1890	Finland	Science Design Construction	Glider Propeller	Designed and constructed a steam-engine powered airplane that reportedly flew with the assistance of a ramp.
	28 Oct 1895 29 Mar 1958	United States	Aviator	Propeller	First non-stop trans-Pacific flight.
	14 May 1891 1969	Great Britain	Flight trainer Aviator	Glider Propeller	Founded the South Coast Flying club. Trained British pilots during world War I and World War II.
	3 Dec 1877 29 Jul 1953	New Zealand	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Reportedly achieved powered flight.
	1845 1924	England	Science Design Construction	Glider Propeller	Aeronautic theory: advancement of wind-tunnel design, development of aerofoil design, patented as “blades for deflecting air” ; designed multiplanes with multiple sets of lifting surfaces, patented, constructed ; first powered “hop-flight” in Great Britain.
†	16 Jan 1866 1 Oct 1899	England	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider	Designed and constructed hang-glider, first to achieve unpowered controlled flight in Great Britain ; crash-related injuries suffered on 30 Sep 1899, glider, near Stanford Hall, England.
	26 Feb 1884 22 Oct 1919	Ireland	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Aero Club de France aviator certificate ; test pilot ; began to design and construct an aircraft capable of transatlantic flight ; testing was successful, but the flight was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. Royal Naval Air Service, Squadron Commander, RAF Hendon ; secret U.S. visit as an official envoy testing aircraft for the British Government. Commander, Royal Naval Airstation Felixstowe, conducted flying-boat research; designed and constructed the Porte Baby.
	25 Dec 1873 4 Oct 1952	United States	Flying Supporting	Propeller	Original founder of Aero Club of America which later became the National Aeronautic Association. Thirteenth man to fly solo, in 1908. Served as aid to Glenn Curtiss and co-authored The Curtiss Aviation Book published in 1912. Participated in Aerial Experiment Association. Served as official timer for Orville Wright’s record setting 57 minute flight at Ft. Myer, Virginia on September 9, 1908.
†	6 Jun 1886 9 Jan 1911	Austria-Hungary	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Designed, constructed, and flew the first airplane in Slovenia ;, Belgrade, Serbia; first Serbian air exposition.
	8 July 1883 5 Feb 1931	United Kingdom	Aviator	Propeller	One of the first four British naval officers to train as a pilot; first to fly an airplane off a moving ship.
	20 Jul 1873 23 Jul 1932	Brazil	Science Design Construction Manufacture Aviator Support	Balloon Airship Propeller	Winner, Deutsch Prize ; first powered winged aircraft flight in Europe ; winner, Archdeacon Cup and Aéro-Club de France Prize ; designed a light-weight monoplane Demoiselle and released the second variant from copyright or license.
	27 Jun 1876 23 Aug 1966	Austria-Hungary (Serbia)	Design Construction	Propeller Rotor	First public flight in Serbia .
†	8 Feb 1882 17 Sep 1908	United States	Design Construction Aviator	Airship Propeller	Secretary, Aerial Experiment Association ; U.S. Army Lieutenant who assisted the AEA in engineering, designing and piloting the Red Wing; first U.S. Military officer to pilot a powered aircraft White Wing ; first fatality of powered flight.
	25 May 1889 26 Oct 1972	Russian Empire	Science Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller Rotor	Designed and constructed the first four-engine aircraft, the Russky Vityaz cabin biplane, flew ; and the Ilya Muromets, prototype for a commercial airplane ; first brief flight in a practical helicopter.
Sir †	9 Feb 1897 8 Nov 1935	Australia	Aviator	Propeller	First transpacific flight from the United States to Australia in the Southern Cross ; first non-stop Australian transcontinental flight ; first trans-Tasman flight ; Lady Southern Cross, over the Bay of Bengal.
	18 Jan 1888 27 Jan 1989	England	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Propeller	Royal Aero Club license No. 31 ; won £4000 Baron de Forest prize for the longest flight from England to the Continent in a British-built aeroplane, in a Howard Wright 1910 Biplane ; established the Sopwith Aviation Company with Fred Sigrist. The company produced more than 18,000 aircraft during World War I, including the Sopwith Camel fighter. Post war co-founded Hawker Aircraft.
	2 Jun 1852 16 Jun 1931	Switzerland	Science Aviator	Balloon	Licensed by the Académie d'Aérostation météorologique de France as a balloon pilot ; Swiss pioneer of ballooning and aerial photography; multiple crossings of the Alps; assisted in medical research.
†	8 Mar 1879 24 May 1920	Switzerland	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	Swiss flight certificate No.2 ; pioneer of flying boats ; chief seaplane pilot for Ad Astra Aero; first seaplane crossing of the Alps ; demonstration flight, Romanshorn, Switzerland.
	1864 1916	India	Design Construction	?	Reportedly launched an unmanned airplane
	17 Jul 1862 24 Feb 1942	Poland	Science Design Construction Aviator	Glider Rotor Propeller	First successful model glider in Poland ; first glider flight in Poland ; biplane flight.
	1828 1895	Russia	Science Design Construction	Propeller	Received patent for a steam-engine powered “flying machine” capable of carrying 120 people, and for a navigable balloon.
	1865 26 Sep 1937	United States	Designer Construction	Propeller	First female aircraft designer.
	27 Jun 1899 3 Apr 1981	United States	Manufacture Support	n/a	Founded several airlines including Colonial Air Transport and the Aviation Corporation of the Americas which would become Pan American Airways; created economy class to encourage travel; proponent of jet aircraft ordering Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 aircraft; requested a larger airplane resulting in the Boeing 747; recipient, Tony Jannus Award.
	21 Dec 1881 21 Apr 1919	France	Aviator	Propeller	First pilot to fly at more than on 2 Feb 1912, won Gordon Bennett Trophy race in 1912 flying a Deperdussin Monocoque. †St Rambert d'Albon near Lyon en route for Rome flying a Caudron C-23.
	16 Nov 1890 10 Mar 1970	United States	Design Manufacture Support	Propeller	Designed the Verville-Packard R-1, which won the first Pulitzer Speed Trophy ; the M-1 Massenger ; the Verville-Sperry R-3, the second aircraft with retractable landing gear ; member, U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics.
†	19 Nov 1882 13 Sep 1913	Romania	Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	Designed, built, and flew a glider ; a powered airplane Vlaicu Nr. I ; Vlaicu Nr. II, near Câmpina, attempting to cross the Carpathian Mountains in flight for the first time. Vlaicu Nr. III, the world's first metal-built aircraft, was under construction at the time of his death, but was completed in early 1914 by his collaborators.
	5 Feb 1880 25 Dec 1973	France	Design Construction Manufacture Aviator	Glider Propeller	With brother Charles, built gliders for Ernest Archdeacon ; designed and constructed the first French powered aircraft to achieve sustained controlled flight ; founded Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin, the first aircraft manufacturing company.
	17 Aug 1872 3 Sep 1950	Romania	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller Rotor	Flight in tractor monoplane .
†	17 May 1880 30 Jun 1915	Scotland	Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ historic flight and thirty-eight years after Watson's death, his brother James claimed that Preston had achieved powered flight before the Wrights. He recanted in 1955 stating he had never claimed it was powered flight.
	1824 1908	United Kingdom	Science Constructor	Glider	The first scientist to deduce the main properties of cambered aerofoil. Built gliders and with John Browning the world's first wind tunnel in 1871.
	17 Jun 1872 24 Jul 1950	South Africa	Design Construction Flying Support	n/a	Regarded as "the grandfather of South African aviation” and “South Africa's first aviator”; 1907 to 1909, designed and constructed first aircraft built in South Africa; founder of Aeronautical Society of South Africa ; 1911 to 1912, gave numerous flying demonstrations throughout southern Africa to popularise flight.
	1 Jan 1874 10 Oct 1927	Germany	Design Construction Aviator	Glider Propeller	Designed and constructed a powered airplane ; claims to have made the first, second, and third controlled powered airplane flights. This claim has long since been in dispute.
	1828 10 Jul 1869	Poland	Design Construction	Glider	Allegedly designed, constructed, flew a controllable glider.
Orville and Wilbur	19 Aug 1871 30 Jan 1948 and 16 Apr 1867 30 May 1912	United States	Science Design Construction Manufacture Aviator Support	Glider Propeller	Together, designed and constructed biplane kite ; invented wing warping for flight control and the aeronautical concept of three-axis control. designed and constructed the 1900, 1901, and 1902 Gliders; and the powered 1903 Flyer; used data from systematic wind tunnel testing to design efficient air foils and propellers; first powered, controlled, sustained flight for 12 seconds covering 37 meters and documented; first complete circle in a powered manned airplane ; Wright Flyer III circular flight of 38.9 km .
	6 Dec 1885 31 May 1982	Poland	Design Construction Aviator	Propeller	With Stanislaw Cywiński designed and constructed Poland's first airplane, flown.