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The Aviation Portal
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air balloons and airships.
Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying of Otto Lilienthal in 1896; then a large step in significance came with the construction of the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet which permitted a major form of transport throughout the world. (Full article...)
Selected article
Air Force One
Selected image
Credit: Library of Congress LOT 13403, no. 12 [P&P]. Author unknown.
1786 description of the historic Montgolfier Brothers' 1783 balloon flight. Illustration with engineering proportions and description.
Did you know
...that sailplane winglets were first successfully implemented by American inventor Peter Masak? ...that Pepsi offered a Harrier fighter jet in their Pepsi Billion Dollar Sweepstakes game and the Pepsi Stuff game for people accumulating a certain number of points? ... that a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft crashed shortly after take-off at Bakers Creek, Queensland in 1943, killing 40 of the 41 service personnel on board and making it Australia's worst aviation disaster?
General images -
The following are images from various aviation-related articles on Wikipedia.
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French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation) -
The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation) -
The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation) -
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"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation) -
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Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation) -
Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation) -
Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation) -
First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation) -
One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation) -
Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation) -
Nieuport IV, operated by most of the world's air forces before WW1 for reconnaissance and bombing, including during the Italian-Turkish war (from History of aviation) -
The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation) -
The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation) -
1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation) -
The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation) -
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Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation) -
Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation) -
Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation) -
D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation) -
Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation) -
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Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation) -
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1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation) -
Concorde, G-BOAB, in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first flight in 1976 and final flight in 2000 (from History of aviation) -
Experimental helicopter by Enrico Forlanini (1877), exposed at the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy (from History of aviation) -
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La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation) -
"Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing Hounslow, near London, as the hub (from History of aviation) -
Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation) -
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation) -
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Santos-Dumont's "Number 6" rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe Prize, October 1901 (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
In the news
Wikinews Aviation portal
- May 29: Austrian Airlines cancels Moscow-bound flight after Russia refuses a reroute outside Belarusian airspace
- August 8: Passenger flight crashes upon landing at Calicut airport in India
- June 4: Power firm helicopter strikes cables, crashes near Fairfield, California
- January 29: Former basketball player Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash, aged 41
- January 13: Iran admits downing Ukrainian jet, cites 'human error'
- January 10: Fire erupts in parking structure at Sola Airport, Norway
- October 27: US announces restrictions on flying to Cuba
- October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
- September 10: Nevada prop plane crash near Las Vegas leaves two dead, three injured
- August 6: French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on jet-powered hoverboard
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Selected biography
His career began in World War II as a private in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of Flight Officer (WW 2 U.S. Army Air Forces rank equivalent to Warrant Officer) and became a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. After the war he became a test pilot of many kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter exceeded Mach 2.4.[1] He later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to Brigadier-General. Yeager's flying career spans more than sixty years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, even into the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.
Selected Aircraft
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engined airliner manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. It first flew on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse–Blagnac Airport. Commercial flights began in late 2007 after months of testing, with the delivery of the first aircraft to launch customer Singapore Airlines. During much of its development phase, the aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX, and the nickname Superjumbo has also become associated with the A380.
The A380 is double decked, with the upper deck extending along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a spacious cabin, with the A380 in standard three-class configuration to seat 555 people, up to maximum of 853 in full economy class configuration. Only one model of the A380 was available: The A380-800, the passenger model. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world superseding the Boeing 747. The other launch model, the A380-800F freighter, was canceled and did not join the ranks of the largest freight aircraft such as the Antonov An-225, An-124, and the C-5 Galaxy.
- Span: 79.8 m (261 ft 10 in)
- Length: 73 m (239 ft 6 in)
- Height: 24.1 m (79 ft 1 in)
- Engines: 4 * Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or Engine Alliance GP7200 (311 kN or 69,916 lbf)
- Cruising Speed: 0.85 Mach (approx 1,050 km/h or 652 mph or 567 kn)
- First Flight: 27 April 2005
- Number built: 254 (including 3 prototypes)
Today in Aviation
- 2009 – An Airbus A330-203 operated Air France is substantially damaged at Maya-Maya Airport, Brazil when a wing strikes a building during ground manoeuvres.
- 2005 – The U. S. Army awards a contract for the purchase of 368 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to Bell Helicopter Textron.
- 2003 – The International Space Station’s 1,000th consecutive day of astronauts living on board.
- 2002 – Vanguard Airlines ceases operations. The next day it files for reorganization under Chapter 11 of US bankruptcy law.
- 1996 – First flight of the Mitsubishi MH2000
- 1988 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-51-F at 21:00:00 UTC. Mission highlights: Spacelab mission, Abort to Orbit.
- 1985 – The eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger, and 19th shuttle flight overall, lifts off from Cape Canaveral for mission STS-51-F. Five minutes and 45 seconds into its ascent, main engine number one shuts down due to a malfunctioning high temperature sensor, forcing the crew to abort its originally planned orbit and coast to a lower orbit. Receiving more attention than the Spacelab 2 module on board was the “Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation, ” a test financed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi to determine if carbonated soft drinks could be enjoyed in space using specially designed cans. The verdict: No.
- 1985 – First flight of the Kawasaki T-4
- 1971 – American and United airlines take delivery of the first two production Douglas DC-10 jetliners, and American puts its new DC-10 in regular service just eight days later.
- 1970 – Lt. (j.g.) William Belden, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin, ejects from an McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk on the deck of the USS Shangri-La in the western Pacific. Pilot recovered shaken but unhurt by helicopter; Skyhawk later recovered from carrier catwalk.
- 1967 – On Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam, a flight deck fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) kills 134 men, injures 161,
- 1967 – A deckfire on the USS Forrestal caused by an unintentional firing of a Zuni rocket by an electrical short-circuit from the underwing rack of an McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II at 1051 hrs. holes the fuel tank of an McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Spilled fuel ignites and ordnance on the ready jets is set off by the blaze. Twenty-six aircraft are destroyed or jettisoned, 31 others are damaged, 132 crewmen die, 62 are injured and two are missing. The last major fire is extinguished at 4 a.m. on 30 July. See: 1967 USS Forrestal fire. Among lost airframes are Douglas A-4E Skyhawk, BuNos 149996, 150064, 150068, 150084, 150115, 150118, 150129, 152018, 152024, 152036, 152040; McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, 153046, 153054, 153060, 153061, 153066, 150069, 150912; and North American RA-5C Vigilantes of RVAH-11, 148932, 149284, and 149305.
- 1963 – First flight of the Tupolev Tu-134
- 1959 – QANTAS introduces the Boeing 707 on its Sydney-San Francisco route, the first transpacific service flown by jet.
- 1959 – The first jetway in the U. S. is installed at the International Airport in San Francisco, California. Designed to protect passengers from the weather when they board or leave the jet plane, it is a powered telescopic or collapsible corridor that extends to the aircraft and connects the plane to the terminal. They are commonplace in all airports today.
- 1959 – Royal Navy Fairey Gannet AS.4, XA465, 'C 234', cannot lower undercarriage, makes power-on deck belly landing into crash barrier on HMS Centaur. Crew okay but airframe written off, salvaged in Singapore, ending up on fire dump at Sembawang.
- 1958 – President Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating a new federal agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA’s stated goal is to enable the U. S. to lead the exploration of space for peaceful purposes to benefit humanity.
- 1954 – First flight of the Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris
- 1952 – A USAF RB-45 Tornado makes the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific by jet
- 1952 – A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WW349, hit while parked at Wisley, Surrey by Vickers Valiant, WJ954, in taxi accident. No injuries. Airframe had been intended for transfer to RAAF as third of three.
- 1950 – A British European Airways Vickers Viscount makes the first turboprop-powered passenger flight.
- 1949 – Airlift in West-Germany to West-Berlin ends.
- 1947 – Nine crew are killed and two injured in a failed take-off attempt by a Boeing B-29 Superfortress from Eglin Field, Florida at 0813 hrs., the bomber coming down ~300 yards N of the main base near Valparaiso, Florida and burning. Killed were instructor pilot Capt. Gordon W. Barrett, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a West Point graduate who was awarded the DFC while flying Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in World War II; pilot 1st Lt. Huddie C. Bagley of Braufield, Texas; co-pilot Capt. Robert M. Seldomridge of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; navigator 1st Lt. Joseph A. Anderson, Shalimar, Florida; navigator 1st Lt. Milton Rose, Fort Walton, Florida; engineer Master Sgt. Michele Aulicino, Mary Esther, Florida; scanner Staff Sgt. Hugh T. Mulholland of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; scanner Cpl. Ashley W. Odom, McBee, South Carolina; and scanner Pfc. Donald D. Crawford from Fort Worth, Texas. Injured were scanner S/Sgt. Jeremiah W. Conlon of Worthington, Kentucky, admitted to the Eglin hospital with abrasions of the face and head, and ankle injuries; and radio operator S/Sgt. Lloyd D. Farris of Pensacola, Florida, with minor injuries but admitted for observation. The Superfortress apparently failed to gain much altitude before coming down, said Capt. Robert Gaughan, base public relations officer.
- 1946 – First Swedish pilot to use an ejection seat to escape a crippled aircraft, Lt. Bengt Johansson (who later changes it to Järkenstedt), saves himself this date when the Saab J 21A-1, of 2 Divisionen, F9 Wing, out of Säve, collides with FFVS J 22 of another F9 Divisionen while engaged in naval gunnery attack practice. While climbing out from a gunnery pass, the J 21 is struck by the pursuing J 22, shearing off one of the J 21's twin tails. With control lost, Johansson jettisons canopy and ejects, other pilot also bails out of crippled J 22, both parachute into the sea where they are rescued by a Swedish navy destroyer. At the time the Swedish press describes the incident as a "first", the 13 January 1942 ejection by German Helmut Schenk from a Heinkel He 280 being little known at this point.
- 1945 – U. S. Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and U. S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) further damage the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaiyo in Beppu Bay.
- 1945 – (29-30) Japanese kamikazes make their last attacks on ships off Okinawa, damaging two U. S. destroyers.
- 1945 – (29-30) Carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 strike the Maizuru Naval Arsenal and the north coast of Honshu, Japan.
- 1943 – (Overnight) Another raid on Hamburg by 777 British bombers targets undamaged areas in the northern part of the city, killing about 1,000 more people. The British lose 28 aircraft
- 1938 – (July 29-August 11) During the Lake Khasan Incident along the border between the Soviet Union and Manchukuo, 70 fighters and 180 bombers of the Soviet Air Force conduct heavy strikes against Imperial Japanese Army positions.
- 1938 – An Arado Ar 79 sets an international solo speed record over a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) course for an aircraft of its class, averaging 227.029 km/hr (141.07 mph).
- 1938 – Former Soviet Air Force commander-in-chief Yakov Alksnis is executed, a victim of the Great Purge.
- 1937 – First flight of the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
- 1936 – Germany and Italy become the first countries to provide aircraft for service in the Spanish Civil War, when 10 German Junkers Ju 52 transports land in Spanish Morocco for service with the Nationalist faction and nine Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers arrive in Spain for Nationalist service; three other SM.81 s crash during the flight to Spain.
- 1936 – (July 29-August 5) Ten, later increased to twenty, German Junkers Ju 52 s ferry 1,500 Spanish Nationalist troops from Spanish Morocco to Spain in the world’s first major military airlift.
- 1929 – A Ford Trimotor flown by Charles Lindbergh began the first coast-to-coast air passenger service through Transcontinental Air Transport (TWA).
- 1925 – First flight of the Blériot 155
- 1920 – U. S. Postal Office’s first transcontinental airmail flight takes off from New York to San Francisco.
- 1909 – Georges Legagneux makes the first airplane flight in Sweden in his Voisin biplane in Stockholm.
References
- ^ Yeager, Chuck and Janos, Leo. Yeager: An Autobiography. p. 252 (paperback). New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0-553-25674-2.
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