The Only Way is Up! Trivia Quiz

The Wright Flyer, created by Orville and Wilbur Wright, made history with the first powered and controlled flight on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It lasted 12 seconds and travelled a whopping 120 feet with a top speed of 6.8 mph. This event marked the dawn of modern aviation.

Orville Wright was at the controls for the first flight, while Wilbur Wright piloted subsequent flights on the same day.

The Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, is famous for dropping the first atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. This mission played a crucial role in ending World War II. Colonel Paul Tibbets was the pilot during this historic mission.

Another B-29 Superfortress carried the second atomic bomb "Fat Man" to Nagasaki on August 9. The name of this second bomber was Bockscar, and it was piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules, known as the Spruce Goose, was an enormous wooden aircraft designed by Howard Hughes. It flew only once on November 2, 1947, but remains a symbol of ambitious engineering. The eccentric Howard Hughes himself piloted the Spruce Goose during its sole flight. Despite its nickname, the Spruce Goose was primarily constructed of birchwood.

With a wingspan of 97.8 meters (320 feet), it set the record for the airplane with the largest wingspan. That record was broken in 2017 with the construction of the Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch, which flew for the first time in 2019 and has a wingspan of 117 meters (383 feet).

The Bell X-1, nicknamed Glamorous Glennis, was the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight on October 14, 1947, over the Mojave Desert in California. This achievement opened the door to supersonic flight, which is common today.

Chuck Yeager was the pilot during this ground-breaking flight, and he named his Bell X-1 after his wife.

The Spirit of St. Louis is the aircraft that Charles Lindbergh flew on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris on May 20-21, 1927. This flight earned Lindbergh international fame and the Orteig Prize, which was a $25,000 award offered by New York hotelier Raymond Orteig in 1919 for the first aviator to fly between New York City and Paris (in either direction).

At the time Lindbergh achieved this feat, he was a relative unknown in the world of aviation. Many other, more famous aviators (such as polar explorer Richard Byrd) had already attempted to cross the Atlantic and had failed.

The Memphis Belle was a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress that completed 25 combat missions during World War II. It became a symbol of the bravery and resilience of bomber crews, and after completing their tour, the crew were instrumental in the government's promotion of war bonds to support the war effort. Captain Robert K. Morgan was the pilot of the Memphis Belle.

Before the war was over, the Memphis Belle was featured in a documentary, "Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress." And in 1990, Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, and Harry Connick Jr. would feature in the Hollywood rendition of the airplane's history, appropriately titled, "Memphis Belle."

The Lockheed Vega 5B, nicknamed the Little Red Bus, was flown by Amelia Earhart on her solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1932. This flight made her the first woman (and only the second person) to fly solo across the Atlantic. Three months later Earhart used the same plane to cross the continental United States August 24-25 - the first solo, nonstop flight by a woman across the United States, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.

Five years later, Earhart (and her navigator Fred Noonan) disappeared during their effort to circumnavigate the globe in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra.

The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world nonstop without refuelling, completing the journey on December 23, 1986. Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager were the pilots. They took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California on December 14, taking 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds to complete their flight (and setting a flight endurance record).

The Blériot XI was a French monoplane that Louis Blériot flew across the English Channel on July 25, 1909.

In 1908, British newspaper the "Daily Mail" offered a £500 prize for anyone who could successfully fly across the English Channel (in an airplane... it had already been accomplished multiple times by balloon). No one made any real effort that year, so the following year they upped the prize to £1,000. On June 19th, Blériot informed the "Daily Mail" of his intention to try the crossing, but he had three rivals also planning to make the attempt.

One of the rivals, Hubert Latham, made his effort on July 19, and fell short of completing the crossing by 6 miles (9.7 km), forced into a water landing. Blériot arrived in Calais on July 21 for his own attempt, but had to wait for favourable weather. At last, the day came, and he departed early in the morning on July 25, taking off at 4:41 a.m. with the sunrise. In total, the flight lasted 36 minutes and 30 seconds, and Blériot made history.

The 'Vin Fiz' Flyer (named for the sponsor) was a Wright Model EX biplane, and was flown by Calbraith Perry Rodgers on the first transcontinental flight across the United States in 1911.

Publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst had offered a $50,000 prize the previous year for anyone who could fly across the country in 30 days or less. It ended up taking Rodgers 49 days, with a total of 82 hours and 4 minutes of flying at an average speed of 51.5 mph (82.4 kph). Multiple crashes, repairs and rebuilds occurred through the journey.

Although he did not complete the flight within the 30-day limit set by the Hearst Prize, he did become the first person to fly coast-to-coast.