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What was the first plane that allowed crew members and/or passengers to stand and walk during flight?

P.S. I mean walking inside the cabin, as part of normal operation intended for by the plane designers, not walking outside the plane, on wings and other acrobatic activity.

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    $\begingroup$ Not a 'plane' as such, but the Zeppelins and other airships had plenty of room for people to move about. The first flight attendant, Heinrich Kubis first served on one in 1912. $\endgroup$
    – user11933
    Oct 26, 2015 at 23:22
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    $\begingroup$ I assume that balloons are excluded for this question. If balloons were to be included, the first person to walk around while in flight would have been Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in 1783. $\endgroup$
    – Howard Miller
    Oct 27, 2015 at 4:13
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    $\begingroup$ @PeterKämpf you mean Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier? The date of Etienne Montgolfier's ascent is somewhat in question, but the date I had was October 15, 1785 while de Rozier's ascent was on November 21, 1783. The balloon that de Rozier used was made by the Montgolfier brothers. $\endgroup$
    – Howard Miller
    Oct 27, 2015 at 19:16

4 Answers 4

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The first airplane with a cabin big enough for walking around was indeed a Sikorsky. This was the Sikorsky Russky Vityas, also sometimes named "Le Grand", a name which was given to an earlier, two-engined version. Oh, and the cabin included a washroom, too!

Sikorsky Le Grand

Sikorsky Russky Vityas (picture source)

It was the first four-engined airplane in the world and the biggest airplane of its time. It flew first on May 10 (or 13, depending on the source), 1913.

Quote from Wikipedia:

After the Russky Vityaz's first test flights between 10 and 27 May 1913 (Old Style dates), it was established that a passenger could even walk around the cabins without causing any problems to stability.

Early Le Grand version

Early Le Grand version with two engines (source)

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Walking around was always allowed. Allowing passengers to play tennis took more technology:

enter image description here

Meals and table service arrived around the same time, 1924, for this Curtiss JN-4:

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ I was asking about walking inside cabin, not some sort of acrobacy. One can walk on wings of any plane, there is no need for the plane to provide for it. $\endgroup$
    – Anixx
    Oct 27, 2015 at 6:33
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In the early days (before we made people get up to keep the blood flowing) the only real reason to get up on a plane would have been to go to the bathroom. That being said the first plane with a bathroom was the Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo although it crashed on its second flight. The Handley Page H.P.42 is considered the earliest plane to have a toilet built in 1928.

The other way to look at this would be to consider the first plane that allowed people to walk around if just to stretch. Early airlines like the Short Empire 1936, or the Boeing 314 Clipper 1938, most likely saw regular walking around on their long flights but these still post date the HP42.

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    $\begingroup$ I doubt it was the first to allow walking inside cabin. $\endgroup$
    – Anixx
    Oct 27, 2015 at 6:37
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What was the first plane that allowed crew members and/or passengers to stand and walk during flight?

What I know is that by 1913 people were already standing during flights (see the picture).

Russian plane Sikorsky Ilya Muromets ca. 1913

Russian plane Sikorsky Ilya Muromets ca. 1913

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    $\begingroup$ I am asking about walking inside cabin, as a part of notmal operation, not acrobatics or shows. $\endgroup$
    – Anixx
    Oct 27, 2015 at 6:35

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