The Very First Practical AircraftThe first useful plane took shape in May 1905, when the Wright Brothers started developing the new Flyer III.
Semi-circular "blinkers" were inserted between elevator surface areas to prevent the Flyer III from sideway shifts whilst turning.The first primitive Flyer III was flown on June 23, 1905 by Orville Wright.
More noteworthy results came from Wilbur's 18 minute flight on September 26 and another flight of 26 minutes on October 3, manned by Orville.
Wilbur then made history with the longest flight ever tape-recorded up till then on October 5 when, in front of a small crowd and the existence of Torrence Huffman and Dave Beard, he stayed airborne in the Flyer III for 39.5 minutes over 30 circuits and a distance of 24 miles.The Flyer III was thus the first useful aircraft ever invented.
It was stable, had terrific control, smooth circling around and could accomplish flights of more than 24 miles.
This was to show a crucial cause for their stopped working efforts at selling their creation to the Europeans in 1905.When the U.S. Secretary of War was disinterested in buying the Flyer III, the Wright Brothers resolved to hide their invention from the public as much as possible to secure their patent quotes and commercial possibilities.