The dawn of cinema occurred just about the same time man first took flight, so it's no wonder airplanes and aviators have been a common theme throughout film history. Some of the best aviation films recount important historical events; some celebrate the achievements of innovators in aviation. Others we can always count on to give us a good laugh.

Early flying machines include all forms of aircraft studied or constructed before the development of the modern aeroplane by 1910. The story of modern flight begins more than a century before the first successful manned aeroplane, and the earliest aircraft thousands of years before...Above video is a series of vintage flying contraptions from the early 1900's. Many of these designs did not work out, but some of them went on to make aviation history.