The first plane to break the sound barrier in level flight was a rocket plane – the Bell X-1 in 1948. The North American X-15 broke many speed and altitude records in the 1960s and pioneered engineering concepts for later aircraft and spacecraft.
The essential components of an airplane are a wing system to sustain it in flight, tail surfaces to stabilize the wings, movable surfaces to control the attitude of the plane in flight, and a power plant to provide the thrust necessary to push the vehicle through the air.
The history of flight is the story, stretching over several centuries, of the development of heavier-than-air flying machines. Important landmarks along the way to the invention of the airplane include an understanding of the dynamic reaction of lifting surfaces (or wings), building reliable engines, and solving the problem of flight control.