A collection of some of the most influential and important aircraft designs in history. These aircraft aren't necessarily the most famous, but each have played vital roles in the evolution of aviation.

1. TRANSFORMATIONAL
AIRCRAFT DESIGNS
Airplanes that Changed Aviation Forever

2. WRIGHT 1905 FLYER
The World’s First Practical Plane

3. It wasn’t the world’s first, but it was the first practical plane. Built two years after their
1903 Flyer, this version had independent three-axis control. It wasn’t terribly stable, but it
was the first aircraft to be able to fly for thirty minutes. This design was the basis for
aircraft design for years to come.

4. BLÉRIOT XI
The First Flight Across the English Channel

5. Louis Blériot’s Model XI was the first aircraft to cross the English Channel, in 1909. The
design innovations included moving the engine to the front and tail landing gear. This
plane also marked the beginning of modern European aircraft design.

6. DEPERDUSSIN
MONOCOQUE
Stressed-Skin Shell & Streamlined Body

7. The Deperdussin Monocoque introduced the stressed-skin shell structure to the aviation
world. This technology quickly became a global design standard, originally in wood, then
metal. This was also the first example of a more streamlined body - a later version of this
design would become the first plane to exceed 100mph.

8. SIKORSKY
IL’YA MUROMETS
Dual Controls for Pilot & Copilot

9. Named for a legendary Russian warrior, the Il’ya Muromets featured the first dual controls
for a pilot and copilot. It also featured a level of luxury heretofore unknown to aircraft,
including a lavatory, bed, cabin heating, and cabin lighting. It also proved to be the direct
predecessor to bombers.

10. JUNKERS J-13 (F-13)
All-Metal Enclosed Cabin

11. The J-13 was a complete reinvention of the airplane. With low, thick, internally braced
'cantilever' wings for greater lift, full metal construction, an enclosed cabin, and more
streamlining than ever before, this design is the missing link between earlier aircraft and
what we fly today. This line of aircraft would later make up 40% of the world's aircraft.

12. ZEPPELIN-STAAKEN
(ROHRBACH) E.4/20
Size, Power, and Dural Stressed Skin

13. The Zeppelin-Staaken E.4/20 was years ahead of it's time. During it's first flight, it cruised
over 130mph at less than full power, and could fly over 800 miles. The design included
dural stressed skin with a single torsion-box spar across the entire wingspan, and was
exceedingly streamlined. With four engines, the cabin could seat up to 18 passengers.

14. BÄUMER SAUSEWIND
Launched the Light, Streamlined Aircraft Movement

15. Designed to compete in a 1925 light-aircraft race, this design launched the definitive
streamlined propeller-driven airplane. The design featured a beautiful wooden elliptical
wing and a smooth plywood fuselage. Aircraft designers would praise the brilliance of style
for years and years to come.

16. DORNIER WAL
Broke Speed Records and Spawned Sea Planes

17. The Wal (whale) used Duralumin, a new aluminum alloy, and blended construction
techniques of Zeppelin and ship-building. Design innovation includes high, semi-cantilever
monoplane wing and broad stabilizing sponsons to reduce drag. It spawned generations of
passenger sea planes, and broke world records for speed and payload.

18. DOUGLAS DC-1
First Scientifically Built American Airplane

19. Considered the first scientifically designed American airplane, the DC-1 was built using
research and knowledge from federal research laboratories. The shape was refined
extensively for wind tunnels, used high-strench aluminum alloy multi-cell structure, and
retractable landing gear.

20. LOCKHEED XC-35
First Pressurized Cabin

21. With the XC-35, Lockheed created the first pressurized passenger cabin. The plane also
featured a redesigned fuselage and two 'turbosupercharged' engines, which meant it could
travel to high altitudes while maintaining reasonable cabin pressure.

22. GLOSTER E.28/39
The Dawn of the Jet Engine

23. The jet engine revolutionized aeronautics. The E.28/39 wasn't the first jet engine to fly, but
it was by far the most influential of the early jets. The design featured centrifugal
compressors, which would become the global standard and pave the way for supersonic
speeds. It influenced early jet design in all major aircraft-producing countries.

24. NORTH AMERICAN
XP-86 SABRE
The First Swept-Wing Jet Fighter

25. The Sabre was the first swept-wing jet fighter, a big step for dogfighting pilots during the
Korean War. The design helped the plane achieve high speeds by delaying transonic drag
rise and shock wave formation. It could remain within the subsonic air flow contained
within the shock cone.

26. BELL XS-1
The World’s First Supersonic Plane

27. The Bell XS-1 was the world's first supersonic airplane, which was not only a
technological feat, but also the beginning of seeing the sky as a laboratory. Wind tunnels,
for the first time, weren't able to accurately test aircraft moving at transonic speeds.

28. BOEING 367-80 (‘DASH 80’)
The Modern Jetliner Standard

29. The Dash 80 has become the standard for long-range jetliners, with podded engines and a
low swept wing. The US aviation industry was dominant thanks largely to this design for
the following 25+ years. Originally designed for military transport and to refuel bombers,
but was more importantly the inspiration to the civil 707.

30. GENERAL DYNAMICS YF-16
Computer ‘Fly By Wire’ Flight Control

31. The program that spawned this fighter craft was criticized as too expensive, and it was -
the YF-16 program is one of the largest aircraft production efforts in US history. The
computer controlled flight control system was just one of the significant design elements
introduced by this fast & maneuverable plane.

32. BOEING 777
21st Century Advances in Industrial Design,
Propulsion, & Computer Technology

33. A departure from the tube and swept-wing design they'd popularized with the Dash 80,
Boeing's 777 was a considerable risk when construction was completed in 1994.
Competing with larger craft like the Airbus A330, its twin engines produced 90,000 lbs of
thrust. But what really makes it a landmark design is the design process, which was
executed exclusively on computers.

34. TRANSFORMATIONAL
AIRCRAFT DESIGNS
Airplanes that Changed Aviation Forever