| | As aviation evolved and grew in importance, the Wrights' role as the inventors of the airplane was increasingly celebrated and commemorated. By the time of Orville's retirement as a pilot in 1918, the early days of flight were over. The first airplanes and pilots had become reminders of a bygone era. | | | | | | As the early days of flight receded into history, they were memorialized with increasingly sophisticated uses of film: documentary, newsreel, and up to television. | | | |