September 20, 1904
Wilbur Wright made the first circular flight of a powered aircraft while piloting the Wright Flyer II plane off the ground of Huffman Prairie, a patch of rough pasture in southwestern Ohio. This flight took place 10 months after Wilbur and his brother Orville had made aviation history near the North Carolina town of Kill Devil Hills with the world’s first controlled, powered, and sustained heavier-than-air human flights. (The aircraft used for those pioneering flights was the original Wright Flyer.)
Wilbur Wright covered a distance of 4,080 feet (1,244 meters) altogether while maneuvering the Flyer II around in a full circle above Huffman Prairie on September 20, 1904. This record-setting flight lasted a minute and 36 seconds.
The above photo, which was taken at Huffman Prairie in November of that year, shows Wilbur Wright using the Flyer II for another one of his circular flights.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the Wright Flyer II, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer_II
Transportation History 