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Isle
of Man
Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight
Since Orville Wright climbed
aboard the ‘Wright Flyer’ on 17th December 1903 and piloted the
aircraft for 120 feet which made history as the first powered flying
machine to have taken off from level ground, travel through the air and
land under the control of its pilot, aviation has made remarkable progress
and now airplanes carry millions of passengers all over the world and we
can even fly to the moon and back.
To celebrate this Centenary
of Powered Flight, the Isle of Man Government has approved the release of
two superb crowns which portray the evolution of flight from 1903, through
the intervening years to the present day.
The first coin features four
aircraft which played a major part in aviation history from 1903 to 1919.
The aircraft shown are:
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The Wright Flyer
which was the first successful heavier-than-air machine to achieve
flight on 17th December 1903.
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The Bleriot XI which
completed the first cross-Channel flight on 25th July 1909
with Louis Blériot as the monoplane’s pilot.
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A Curtiss pusher
plane which was the aircraft used to complete the first take-off from
aboard ship on 18th January 1910.
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A Vickers-Vimy Bomber
which was the first aircraft to complete a non-stop transatlantic flight
on 15th-16th June 1919 and was piloted by Captain
John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Witten Brown.
The second coin features a
further four aircraft which show the evolution of aviation from 1927 to
the present day. The aircraft shown on this coin are:
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The Spirit of Louis,
the Ryan monoplane in which Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo
non-stop transatlantic flight from 20th-21st May
1927.
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The Graf Zeppelin,
which completed the first round-the-world airship flight in 1929.
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A Comet of B.O.A.C.,
which completed the first transatlantic jet passenger service from New
York to London on 4th October 1958.
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Concorde,
which is the world’s only supersonic passenger aircraft and started the
first regular scheduled supersonic flights in 1976.
Available in cupro nickel,
proof sterling silver and proof fine 1/5oz gold, the precious metal
versions are struck four times and feature frosted high relief sculpting
against a mirror brilliant background. The obverse of each coin bears a
fine effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS
FSNAD.
Aircraft from 1903-1919
Aircraft from 1927
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