1905

Master Index

1907

1906 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

• 2 January 1906 (Paris, France) — Alberto Santos-Dumont enters the race for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize. He has built a helicopter with an Antoinette motor for his attempt. ^[3,10]



• 13-20 January 1906 (Madison Square Gardens, New York City) — The first exhibition of the Aero Club of America opens in connection with the motor show. Among the exhibitors were Alexander Grahm Bell, and Miss E. Lillian Todd, the first woman in the world, so far as is known, to build a heavier-than-air machine, (1906). ^[2,3,16,18]



• 17 January 1906 (Germany) — The Zeppelin LZ2 makes its first flight, which ends in a forced landing. The next day, 18 January, the Zeppelin LZ2 is destroyed in high winds. ^[1,3,5,13]



• 21 January 1906 (London, England) — Alliott Verdon Roe, writes to The Times, Backing the Wright's claims to have flown. The paper's engineering editor maintains that aviation is dangerous and “doomed to failure”. ^[3,16]

• 27 February 1906 (Aiken, South Carolina) — Sammy Pierpont Langley, who has been overwhelmed by vigorous attacks in the press and in Congress following the failure of his experiments with the Aerodrome, dies after a long illness. ^[3,17]

• March 1906 (Dayton, Ohio) — French and British visit the Wright brothers at home. ^[2,16]



• 5 March 1906 (Montesson, France) — Traian Vuia begins testing his Vuia 1 at Montesson, France, by driving it as an automobile without its wings mounted. It is a high-wing monoplane powered by a carbonic acid gas engine, and is first aircraft with pneumatic tires. It has been described as the first man-carrying monoplane of basically modern configuration. ^[1]



• 15 March 1906 (London, England) — Rolls-Royce Ltd. is registered as a public company to produce motor cars and engines. ^[3]



• 18 March 1906 (Montesson, France) — At Montesson, Romanian experimenter Traian Vuia flies his Vuia 1 for the first time, traveling about 12 meters (39 feet) at an altitude of about 1 meter (3 feet). He flies four more times during the day; one flight travels some 20 meters (66 feet) at an altitude of 1 meter (3 feet), and the longest flight is 24 meters (79 feet). ^[1,3,6]

• 7 April 1906 (London, England) — Charles Rolls, in his new balloon, races Frank Hedges Butler and friends aboard the Aero Club III. Rolls outdistances his opponents, who come down at Wimbledon, while he lands at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. ^[3]

• 22 May 1906 — (Washington, DC) — The Wright Brothers are granted US patent N° 821,393 for their airplane control system. ^[3,7]

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• 11 August 1906 (Pennsylvania, USA) — Mrs. C.J. Miller becomes the first American woman to ride as a passenger in a dirigible. The 40-hp craft was owned by her husband, Major Miller. ^[1,3]

• 19 August 1906 (Paris, France) — At Issy-les-Moulineaux, Trajan Vuia flies a distance of almost 79 feet at a height of just over 8 feet before his tractor monoplane, which has no means of control, crashes. ^[3,6]

• 12 September 1906 (Lindholm, Denmark) — Jacob Ellehammer makes his first flight with his aeroplane Danemark I on the tiny island of Lindholm. The plane was attached to the ground by a rope and described a few circles. ^[1,8,9]



• 13 September 1906 (Château de Bagatelle, Paris, France) — Alberto Santos-Dumont successfully flies his Santos-Dumont 14-bis aircraft at Château de Bagatelle, for the first time. The aircraft ran along the ground for more than 489 feet before lifting off. The flight distance was almost 24 feet at a height of 2 feet. The flight ended in a crash.^[1,3]



• 30 September 1906 (Fylingdales, North Yorkshire, England) — The Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is awarded for the first time. It goes to Lieutenant Frank Lahm of the United States Army, who flies 647 km (402 miles) in the balloon United States from Paris to Fylingdales Moor in North Yorkshire, England. It is the first international balloon race. ^[1,2,12]

• 9 October 1906 (Lake Constance, Germany) — The Zeppelin LZ3 flies for the first time, making a 60-mile (97-km) round trip lasting 2 hours and 17 minutes and reaches a speed of 32-mph. The flight carried eleven people and 660 gallons of water as ballast. ^[3]



• 23 October 1906 (Paris, France) — Alberto Santos-Dumont wins the Archdeacon Prize as he flies his Santos-Dumont N° 14-bis aircraft at Château de Bagatelle in Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France, a distance of 60 m (197 ft). ^[1]

• 12 November 1906 (Paris, France) — Alberto Santos-Dumont flies the Santos-Dumont N°14-bis a distance of 722 feet (220 m) in 21 seconds near Château de Bagatelle. The flight took place after the Wright brothers had flown in the United States. This is recorded as the first officially observed aeroplane flight in Europe. The distance Alberto Santos-Dumont flies is the first officially recognized airplane distance record. ^[1,3]



• 16 November 1906 (Moisson, France) — First flight of the French semi-rigid airship Lebaudy Patrie. ^[1,14]

• 1-8 December (New York City, New York) — Second indoor air exhibition of Aero Club of America. ^[2]

1. Wikipedia, 1906 in aviation
2. Parrish, Wayne W. (Publisher). "United States Chronology". 1962 Aerospace Yearbook, Forty-Third Annual Edition. Washington, DC: American Aviation Publications, Inc., 1962, 446-469.
3. Gunston, Bill, et al. Chronicle of Aviation. Liberty, Missouri: JL Publishing Inc., 1992. 14-17
4. Shupek, John (photos and card images), The Skytamer Archive. Skytamer.com, Whittier, CA
5. Wikipedia, Zeppelin LZ2
6. Wikipedia, Traian Vuia
7. Wikipedia, Wright brothers
8. Wikipedia, Jacob Ellehammer
9. Wikipedia, Ellehammer semi-biplane
10. Wikipedia, Alberto Santos-Dumont
11. Wikipedia, Santos-Dumont 14-bis
12. Wikipedia, Frank P. Lahm
13. Wikipedia, Ferdinand von Zeppelin
14. Wikipedia, Lebaudy "Patrie"
15. Wikipedia, Zeppelin LZ1
16. Library of Congress, loc.gov
17. Wikipedia, Samuel Pierpont Langley
18. Wikipedia, E. Lilian Todd
19. Gunston, Bill, et al. Chronicle of Aviation. Liberty, Missouri: JL Publishing Inc., 1992. 14-17