1902 in aviation

Events

The Wright brothers fly their No. 3 Glider on over 700 flights, results lead directly to the construction of the Flyer.

January
January 17 - Gustave Whitehead flies a motorized airplane with a boatshaped hull with wheels (so he could and did land on water as well as on the ground), rebuilt from his Whitehead Aeroplane No. 21 of the previous year on an 11 km (7 mile) flight and lands safely in the water close to the starting point so his helpers could pull it out of the water. Number 21 had a 20hp motor, Number 22 had a 40hp motor.

February
February 4 - First balloon flight in Antarctica when Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton ascend to 800 feet (240 m) in a tethered hydrogen balloon to take the first Antarctic aerial photographs.

February 4 - Future pilot Charles Lindbergh is born.

March
Professor Erich von Drygalski's 1901-1903 German Antarctic Expedition uses a balloon to survey the Antarctic coast of Wilhelm II Land.

April
April 30 - The St Louis Aeronautical Exposition opens in Missouri. A highlight is Octave Chanute launching a replica of his 1896 glider.