> In early 1903, Samuel Langley attempted to launch his tandem monoplane from a catapult, but it crashed after its frail wooden structure failed catastrophically.
> By the end of 1907, the Wright brothers had successfully flown several other versions of their original Flyer, a biplane type more strongly built
After the introductory history, the rest of the article is a relatively straightforward overview/introduction to the engineering involved in making airplanes strong enough to fly.
> In early 1903, Samuel Langley attempted to launch his tandem monoplane from a catapult, but it crashed after its frail wooden structure failed catastrophically.
> By the end of 1907, the Wright brothers had successfully flown several other versions of their original Flyer, a biplane type more strongly built
After the introductory history, the rest of the article is a relatively straightforward overview/introduction to the engineering involved in making airplanes strong enough to fly.