Publish Date: Dec. 3, 1928
Cover Story: Aeronautics: 25 Years
How TIME Covered the News: Just 25 years after the Wright Brothers’ historic flight on a North Carolina beach, much had changed in the civil aviation industry. Wilbur Wright passed away less than a decade after he made history, but brother Orville was still living to see Lindbergh cross the Atlantic in 1927, and the rise of more than 30 regular U.S. air operators in 1928.
“That first flight was over only 120 feet of ground and lasted only 12 seconds. During the 25 years since then various planes have crossed the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. They have risen to 38,418 ft., stayed in the air 65 hrs. 25 min., traveled 4,466 miles without alighting, sped 319 m. p. h. They have crossed North America from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 18 hr. 58 min., from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 24 hr. 51 min.”