Written By: Ben Cosgrove
The original of these strange objects in the sky is not in question. They all came from Earth. They are not the stuff of science fictionza-well, except for one image of a craft built for sci-fi movie. Beyond that, the science here is all real, even if it appears a little strange at times.
This gallery celebrates aircraft—including jet packs; flying platforms, collapsible one-man helicopters and more– that show how badly people have wanted to fly, and the sorts of ingenuity we have unleashed in pursuit of that goal.
A slinky-like light pattern was produced by light-tipped rotor blades of a helicopter as it took off into the dark sky, 1949.
Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
An ascending gondola trailed a disk-shaped radio antenna during lift-off for high-altitude flight to observe the planet Venus, 1959.
Michael Rougier The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Amphibious U.S. Navy plane, 1940.
Carl Mydans The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A helicopter attempted a three-point landing atop the heads of three women holding plywood squares as landing “pads,” 1948.
Bernard Hoffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man dropped a briefcase into the basket on the nose of a helicopter, 1942.
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A parachute jumper who was testing equipment for the Irving Air Chute Co. received some help while struggling to reel in his billowing chute, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Children tried to catch toys that were released by a kite, 1949.
Bernard Hoffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Stunt man Jack Wylie soared over the Chicago River, 1958.
Al Fenn/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
A test flight of the “strap-on” helicopter, 1957.
Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Flying platforms were tested at an Air Force base, 1956.
Nat Farbman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Bell engineer Harold Graham demonstrated the “Rocket Belt” at Fort Bragg in 1961.
Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A balloon was inflated in preparation for a high-altitude ascent, 1959.
Michael Rougier The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American paratroopers landed in Korea, with one ripped chute still holding enough air to drop safely, 1950.
Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A blimp above New York, 1961.
Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A plane swerved toward LIFE photographer Allan Grant as one rocket motor failed to start, 1949.
Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The “Pulsa,” a collapsible one-man helicopter, 1952.
J. R. Eyerman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Men anchored a huge balloon, 1941.
John Phillips The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
An observation balloon spotting for a 155mm gun at Fort Bragg, 1940.
David E. Scherman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A blimp landed at a Naval air station in 1942.
William C. Shrout The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The model of the “Space Ark” rocket ship from the sci-fi classic, “When Worlds Collide” 1951
Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
