The Wright brothers made their first successful powered flight in 1903.
On December 17 of that year, at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright completed four controlled flights with their Wright Flyer. The machine used a gasoline engine, propellers designed by the brothers, and a system for controlling roll, pitch, and yaw.
The first flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it demonstrated that a heavier-than-air aircraft could take off under its own power and remain controllable. The final flight of the day lasted 59 seconds and traveled 852 feet.
The brothers’ achievement followed years of experiments with kites and gliders. Their 1903 success is sometimes confused with their later breakthrough in 1905, when the Wright Flyer III became practical enough for sustained, controlled flying. The 1903 aircraft proved powered flight; the 1905 aircraft made it useful.