In 1783 a large crowd assembled to watch the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon. Among the ______ were members of the French royal family.

The Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon reached a height of 1,500 feet. Its flight _______ after it had been in the air for eight minutes.

Unlike a kite, the Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon was not attached to the ground. People watched in amazement as the balloon ________ to a great height.

A sheep, a duck, and a rooster were the first airborne creatures. Two months later, the first human flight in a balloon took place, a truly _________ act.

By 1900, there was great competition to build a successful heavier-than-air machine. The first to _______ this goal would be famous.

The Wright brothers made and repaired bicycles for a living. They ________ their work on bicycles to concentrate on building a heavier-than-air machine.

Some early aircraft had as many as six wings, stacked above each other. Such airplanes were too _______ to ever get off the ground.

Modern aircraft have rigid wings. Early attempts to ________ the flapping of birds' wings ended in failure.

The first aircraft designers had a problem in trying to reduce the plane's weight. The lighter the aircraft, the more _______ it was.

Steam engines are very heavy. It was _______ to ever think they could be used to power aircraft.

The Wright brothers rejected the concept of steam-powered flight. After ________ with different designs, they developed a lightweight gasoline engine.

The first flying machine took to the air in 1903. Only a few people were present to see the plane ________ to a height of a few feet and stay in the air for 12 seconds.

The future_________ of aircraft may not have been obvious to everyone. They might have been surprised to hear that one day aircraft would be flown around the world and even in space.

A visit to the National Air and Space Museum IS a must in Washington, D.C. There you can see the actual plane that ___________ across the field at Kitty Hawk, N.C. over one hundred years ago.