Next time you take a flight on a multiseat commercial airliner, consider it was only 100 years ago the first flight was made on a little 12-horsepower biplane — with only one man aboard.

The U.S. Postal Service pays tribute to the centennial of that first controlled, powered, sustained flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine by the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., with a 37-cent stamp for issuance May 22.

The central design features the first plane in flight. Beneath the illustration is the inscription “First Flight — Wright Brothers — 1903.”

From 1900 to 1902, Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and his brother Orville (1871-1948) tested a series of gliders at Kill Devil Hills, a location near Kitty Hawk, N.C., chosen primarily for its steady winds. On December 17, 1903, they successfully tested a flier that made history.

During the first flight, their craft was only airborne for an estimated 12 seconds and traveled only 120 feet, but three more successful flights followed later that day, the remarkable prelude to a century that would see the world forever changed by air travel and aviation achievement.

A 2003 souvenir sheet also will be issued. The sheet includes 10 stamps. Nine appear on a block at the bottom.

The First Flight stamp and souvenir sheet will be available at your post office after May 22. The Stamp Fulfillment Services of the USPS offers first-day covers with the official first-day-of-issue postmarks.