Jatho Flies: Germany Claims First Powered Flight
Karl Jatho, a German civil servant and aviation enthusiast, made a powered flight of approximately 60 meters in his motor-driven airplane on August 18, 1903, four months before the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk. Jatho's aircraft had no reliable control system and made only brief, semi-controlled hops rather than sustained, controlled flights. The Wrights' achievement on December 17 was fundamentally different: their Flyer had a three-axis control system that allowed the pilot to bank, pitch, and yaw, making it the first practical, controllable airplane. Jatho's flights demonstrate that the history of powered aviation involved multiple inventors working simultaneously across different countries, each solving different pieces of the same puzzle.
August 18, 1903
123 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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