The Wright Brothers famous first powered flight at Kitty Hawk happened on December 17, 1903. Lasting for only 12 seconds and covering a distance of only 120 feet, that historic flight was brief — and anything but covert.
In order to take aerial photographs previous to powered flight, photographers would use hot-air balloons, kites, and even rockets. It wasn’t until 1909 before the Wright Brothers produced the world’s first military airplane, but one method had already proven stealthy enough that it could be used for early military spy photos.
How then could shots like these be taken virtually undetected?
That same year as the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Julius Neubranner had designed a tiny breast-mounted camera for carrier pigeons. “The camera could be set to take automatic exposures at 30-second intervals as the pigeon flew along.”
How cool is that?
Via Odd Stuff Magazine and PAPA International