Passenger Airplane Coloring Page: Free PDF Sheet for Kids

Passenger Airplane: History & Fun Facts

From the Wright Flyer to Commercial Jets

Just 66 years separate the Wright brothers' first 12-second flight in 1903 from the first commercial flight of the Boeing 747 in 1969, a jump from a wooden glider to a wide-body jet that could carry over 400 passengers across an ocean. Early airliners in the 1930s carried a dozen passengers at most and cruised well below 200 miles per hour.

Swept Wings and Why Jets Fly So High

Modern jets like the one in this scene use wings swept backward at an angle, which delays the buildup of drag as the aircraft approaches the speed of sound, letting it cruise efficiently at 500-plus miles per hour. Cruising altitude usually sits between 30,000 and 40,000 feet, where thinner air creates less drag and burns less fuel per mile flown.

A Cabin Built for Hundreds of Travelers

The pressurized cabin is what makes that high-altitude cruise survivable for passengers, since the air outside at 35,000 feet is far too thin to breathe safely. Rows of oval windows, a shape chosen after square windows on early jets were found to concentrate structural stress at the corners, let hundreds of travelers look out at the clouds below on every flight.