Completed in the winter of 1904–05 and first flown in 1905, the Wright Flyer III grew from Wilbur and Orville Wright’s earlier experiments at Huffman Prairie near Dayton. After a crash and major rebuilding, it became the aircraft in which they solved the control and stability problems that had limited their earlier machines, most importantly by separating rudder control from wing-warping. By October 1905 it could make sustained, controlled flights and return safely to its starting point, marking it as the Wrights’ first practical airplane. Later modified in 1908, it carried Charles Furnas as the first airplane passenger before being damaged and retired. Restored after returning to Dayton, it is now preserved as a National Historic Landmark.