1938: Boeing presents the first pressurized commercial plane, the Boeing 307.

1940: Igor Sikorsky demonstrates his mastery of free helicopter flight by keeping his VS-300 in the air for over 15 minutes, on May 13, 1940

1942: Breitling launches the Chronomat, the first chronograph to be fitted with a circular slide rule. In parallel, the company broadens its professional clientele to include the American armed forces. July 18, 1942, sees the test flight of the world's first jet aircraft, the Messerschmitt 262. Equipped with arrow-shaped wings, an aerodynamic fuselage and an ejection seat, it is considered to be the forerunner of modern aircraft

1947: At 10.30 am on October 14, 1947, the Bell X-1 flown by Chuck Yeager breaks through the hitherto inviolate sound barrier. The era of supersonic flight dawns

1952: Breitling creates the Navitimer, a wrist instrument equipped with the famous "navigation computer" capable of handling all calculations called for by a flight plan. This super chronograph quickly becomes a firm favourite among pilots around the globe. By this stage, BREITLING is already supplying the major international airlines with cockpit counters. The De Havilland Comet, the first ever-civilian jet aircraft, inaugurates the era of jets on May 2, 1952, with a regular London-Johannesburg flight.

1957: On December 20, 1957, the first series produced Boeing 707 takes off from Seattle. Twice as fast as other commercial aircraft, it offers hitherto unrivalled levels of comfort.

1962: Astronaut Scott Carpenter wears the Cosmonaute chronograph on his wrist during his orbital flight aboard the Aurora 7 space capsule

1965: Entry into service in the US Air Force of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird; this high-altitude strategic reconnaissance plane, able to reach three times the speed of sound, quickly pulverizes all speed and altitude records

1969: Breitling invents the self-winding chronograph movement, in cooperation with Büren and Heuer-Leonidas. This technical feat represents a major breakthrough for the entire Swiss watch industry.
The year of superlatives.
On February 9, 1969, the Boeing 747 or Jumbo Jet makes a successful test flight. Weighing 315 tons, able to carry 400 passengers or 50 tons of freight and 178 tons of fuel, it is the largest civilian aircraft ever built
Barely a month later, on March 2 in Toulouse, the Franco-British Concorde supersonic plane takes off for the very first time