Now, supersonic aircraft and high-capacity bombers are accompanied by ballistic missiles and a host of military supporting aircraft. The rise of strategic bombing as a strategy of war brought not only a revolution in military strategy, but death from the air for thousands. One Brazilian aviation pioneer actually committed suicide when he saw how airplanes were now used for war rather than for peace.

Like every technological innovation, the airplane can be put to uses both good and evil. On September 11, 2001, the world saw passenger planes flown into skyscrapers--a parable of modern marvels turned into murder weapons. At the same time, the airplane has also made the nationwide system of organ transplantation possible, with donor organs flown from one part of the country to another at requisite speed. Aircraft are crucial to search and rescue efforts, to national defense, and to emergency medicine.

Christians should also ponder the impact of the airplane for the cause of the Great Commission. Prior to the development of the airplane, missionaries traveled to distant lands by boat and overland transportation, often taking months and longer to arrive at their destination. The airplane opened the modern missionary age, an era in which missionaries can leave their homes one day and arrive at their field of service the next.

Furthermore, small aircraft opened vast regions of interior territory for the cause of the gospel. Among the great missionary martyrs of the twentieth century were Nate Saint, Jim Elliott, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian. These missionaries became martyrs for the faith as they sought to take the gospel to a tribe in remote Ecuador. Nate Saint, the group's pilot, served with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Today, MAF works with a fleet of 70 aircraft working from over 40 bases worldwide. Other mission agencies also depend on the airplane for deployment and routine support. The airplane has been put to use as an airborne chariot for the Gospel.

The airplanes of the future may bear little resemblance to the aircraft of the present. Revolutionary developments in composite materials and computerization are already transforming both aircraft and the role of the pilot. Automated systems can now fly airplanes from takeoff to landing, whatever the weather and visibility. As Arlen Rens, a test pilot for Lockheed Martin told National Geographic: "Airplanes are now built to carry a pilot and a dog in the cockpit. The pilot's job is to feed the dog, and the dog's job is to bite the pilot if he touches anything."

The world of 1903 seems more than a century away. Looking back, the achievement of the Wright brothers has lost none of its luster, even as human flight has lost none of its wonder. Speaking 45 years after his uncles made their historic flight, nephew Milton Wright observed: "The aeroplane means many things to many people. To some it may be a vehicle for romantic adventure or simply quick transportation. To others it may be a military weapon or a means of relieving suffering. To me it represents the fabric, the glue, the spruce, the sheet metal and the wire which, put together under commonplace circumstances but with knowledge and skill, gave substance to dreams and fulfillment to hopes." The bishop's boys deserve their place in history.