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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747 in 1978 operated by Pan Am

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

Hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers.

A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is the gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule) which carries the passengers and a source of heat. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today's sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex.

Recently, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships. (Full article...)

Selected image

Sophie Blanchard, French Balloonist. Ascent of August 15th 1811 at Milan. Full-length portrait of French balloonist Marie-Madeleine-Sophie Armand Blanchard, standing in the decorated basket of her balloon during her flight in Milan, Italy, in 1811, in the presence of the imperial and royal highness.

Did you know

...that Astro Flight, Incorporated of Marina del Rey, California created the world's first practical electric-powered radio controlled model airplane and the world's first full-scale solar-powered airplane? ...that passengers aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 292 were able to watch their own malfunctioning aircraft circle Los Angeles International Airport on the satellite television screens at each seat until the flight crew disabled the system in preparation for the aircraft's successful emergency landing? ... that before he flew the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh's first choice of aircraft was the Ryan M-2?

More Did you know facts

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various aviation-related articles on Wikipedia.

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
Read and edit Wikinews

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Selected biography

Jeana Yeager (born May 18, 1952 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an aviator, most famous for flying with Dick Rutan on a non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world in the Voyager aircraft from December 14 to December 23, 1986. The flight took 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds and covered 24,986 miles (40,211 km), more than doubling the old distance record. She received the US annual Harmon Trophy for outstanding international achievements in the aeronautics, and is the first woman recipient of the Collier Trophy for "the greatest achievement in aeronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety" of aircraft.

Despite her surname, Jeana Yeager is not related to Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier in level flight.

Selected Aircraft

British Airways Boeing 747-400
British Airways Boeing 747-400

The Boeing 747 is a widebody commercial airliner, often referred to by the nickname Jumbo Jet. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first widebody ever produced. Manufactured by Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States, the original version of the 747 was two and a half times the size of the Boeing 707, one of the common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years.

The four-engine 747 uses a double deck configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions. Boeing designed the 747's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first class lounge or (as is the general rule today) extra seating, and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door. Boeing did so because the company expected supersonic airliners (whose development was announced in the early 1960s) to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete; while believing that the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would be robust into the future. The 747 in particular was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold but it exceeded its critics' expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. As of September 2023, 1,574 aircraft have been built, with the final delivery in January 2023.

The 747-8, the latest version in service, is among the fastest airliners in service with a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.855 (564 mph or 908 km/h). It has an intercontinental range of 7,730 nautical miles (14,320 km; 8,900 mi). The 747-8I (passenger version) can accommodate 467 passengers in a typical three-class layout. The 747-8 completed production on 6 December 2022 and the final 747 was delivered to Atlas Air on 31 January 2023.

More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

November 3

  • 2012 – Syrian rebel units attack the Syrian Air Force base at Taftanaz.[1]
  • 2009 – UM-239, a Xian MA60 operated by Air Zimbabwe, hits five warthogs on take-off from Harare International Airport. The take-off is rejected but the undercarriage collapses causing substantial damage to the aircraft.
  • 2006 – Qantas announces an order for 8 more Airbus A380 along with an order for 4 Airbus A330-200.
  • 2003 – British Airways Concorde G-BOAG leaves London Heathrow at 1500Z as BA9093C for the final time. She would fly on to Seattle Boeing Field and retire to the Museum of Flight.
  • 2002 – An McDonnell-Douglas FA-18C Hornet from VFA-34 failed to return to USS George Washington from a night at sea bombing mission and crashed into Adriatic Sea. Pilot was killed.
  • 2000 – Last flight of an EC-135E Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft as a flight crew from the Air Force Flight Test Center delivers the last EC-135E, (serial number 60-374 – nicknamed “The Bird of Prey”), with full Prime Mission Electronic Equipment (PMEE), to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
  • 1994 – Haris Keč, a Bosnian, hijacks a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 347 en route from Bardufoss Airport to Bodø Airport in Norway with 128 people on board, and makes demands that the Norwegian government take action to stop huminatrian suffering in Bosnia-Herzegovina. No one is injured in the incident.
  • 1994 – Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-66 at 11:59:43.060 am EDT. Mission highlights: ATLAS-3 science platform.
  • 1986 – While attempting to land at Zahedan airport, an Iranian Hercules C-130 army transport plane crashes into a mountain; all 103 passengers are killed.
  • 1973 – The number three engine of National Airlines Flight 27, a Douglas DC-10-10, explodes while the aircraft is over New Mexico. Fragments penetrate the fuselage, causing one passenger to be sucked from the plane; his body is found two years later. The aircraft lands safely.
  • 1973 – NASA launches Mariner 10, a robotic space probe intended to fly past Venus and Mercury, reaching both planets the following February and March respectively. After a year and a half of service and over 2,000 photos sent back to Earth, its nitrogen supply dwindled and its transponder was shut off. It still orbits the sun today.
  • 1957 – The Ruskians launch Sputnik 2, an orbiter that delivered the first animal into a space; a female terrier named Laika. The 3-year-old dog was sent to determine if a living creature could withstand launch and weightlessness, but she ultimately died a few hours after launch due to overheating due to a thermal control issue. Regardless, she proved that oxygen-craving creatures could enter space, and Laika was considered a hero.
  • 1950 – Air India Flight 245, a Lockheed L-749 A Constellation, crashes into Mont Blanc in France; all 40 passengers and 8 crew are killed. Sixteen years later, Air India Flight 101 crashes in almost exactly the same spot.
  • 1949 – Charles Moore makes the first manned flight in a polyethylene balloon over Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • 1948 – Boeing RB-29A Superfortress, 44-61999, "Overexposed", of the 16th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 91st Reconnaissance Group, 311th Air Division, Strategic Air Command, USAF, crashes on Shelf Moor, Bleaklow, in between Manchester and Sheffield, Derbyshire, while descending through cloud. All 13 crew KWF. It is doubtful they ever saw the ground. The time was estimated from one of the crew members wrist watch. The plane, piloted by Captain L. P. Tanner, was on a short flight, carrying mail and the payroll for American service personnel based at USAF Burtonwood. The flight was from Scampton near Lincoln to Burtonwood near Warrington, a flight of less than an hour. Low cloud hung over much of England, which meant the flight had to be flown on instruments. The crew descended after having flown for the time the crew believed it should have taken them to cross the hill. Unfortunately the aircraft had not quite passed the hills and struck the ground near Higher Shelf Stones, being destroyed by fire.
  • 1947 – English Electric test pilot Johnny W.C. Squier takes off from Salmesbury, Lancs. in English Electric-built de Havilland Vampire F.3, VP732, intended for the RCAF as 17043, experiences engine failure, force lands on a farm, narrowly missing trees. Fighter is wrecked but pilot survives.
  • 1945 – The prototype Boeing 314, named the Honolulu Clipper, makes an emergency landing in the Pacific 650 miles east of Oahu due to double engine failure; the aircraft is intentionally sunk after salvage was deemed impractical; all 26 passengers on board survive.
  • 1944 – The first Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs are launched against the United States.
  • 1936 – New Soviet Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters fly their first missions of the Spanish Civil War, supporting Republican forces. Their superior performance will allow the Republican side to gain air superiority over Nationalist forces.
  • 1933 – First fatal accident involving a Fokker YO-27 occurs when pilot Lt. Lloyd E. Hunting with Sgt. John J. Cunningham aboard, departs Olmsted Field, Middletown Air Depot, Pennsylvania, in 31-589 of the 30th Bombardment Squadron at 1800 hrs. after darkness had fallen. Pilot had apparently not observed a mountain ridge, 400 feet (120 m) to 800 feet (240 m) high, one mile from the airfield, when he landed during the afternoon, and upon departure did not see it in the dark, crashing head-on into the ridge, aircraft burned, both crew KWF.
  • 1926 – Captain Charles Lindbergh jumped from his disabled airplane during a night airmail flight, making this the fourth time he has had to use his parachute to save his life.
  • 1915 – Royal Naval Air Service Flight Sub-Lieutenant Fowler makes the first British take-off of an aircraft with a conventional, wheeled undercarriage from a ship when he flies a Bristol Scout from HMS Vindex.
  • 1915 – Flt Sub-Lt Fowler makes the first take-off of an aircraft with a conventional, wheeled undercarriage from a ship when he flies a Bristol Scout C from HMS Vindex.
  • 1897 – The first flight in a rigid airship was made by Ernst Jägels, flying an all-aluminum craft designed by the Austro-Hungarian engineer David Schwarz and built by Carl Berg. The Schwarz machine was 134 feet long and roughly 45 feet in diameter, weighing-in at 5,720 pounds. The craft took to the air without the inventor and constructor (having died before the flight). His death led to his wife, Melanie, completing the project to honor his life's work. However, the result was the craft's completion with some key technologies left out to save weight. The airship, having reached its designed altitude, was uncontrollable at that altitude in the face of a strong wind, and the inexperienced pilot, Jägels, released too much gas too suddenly, losing control of the rate of descent, resulting in a crash which destroyed the craft. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin buys the wreck and its plans from Schwarz’s widow Melanie.[2]

References

  1. ^ Anonymous, "Syria conflict: Rebels 'attack key airbase at Taftanaz'", BBC News, 3 November 2012
  2. ^ Scientific American, 25 Dec 1897, p. 405
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