Portal:Aviation
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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
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
Did you know
...that in 1929 the Graf Zeppelin completed a circumnavigation of the globe in 21 days, 5 hours and 31 minutes?
- ...that the Aichi D1A (pictured) was a carrier-borne dive bomber primarily used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second Sino-Japanese War?
... that Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson, a British flying ace of World War I, scored 30 kills in five months of service and won both the DFC and MC?
General images - load new batch
- Image 3Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
- Image 5Santos-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)
- Image 7The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
- Image 9Nieuport 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)
- Image 10Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
- Image 11Concorde, 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)
- Image 13D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation)
- Image 14Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
- Image 15Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
- Image 16The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
- Image 17La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation)
- Image 19Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
- Image 21"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)
- Image 221928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation)
- Image 23Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation)
- Image 24"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
- Image 26Experimental 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)
- Image 28One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
- Image 34First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation)
- Image 351843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation)
- Image 36Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
- Image 39French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation)
- Image 43Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
In the news
- 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
Foulois conducted the acceptance test for the Army's first aircraft, a Wright Model A, in 1909. He participated in the Mexican Expedition from 1916–17 and was part of the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I where he was responsible for the logistics and maintenance of the U.S. air fleet. During World War I he and Billy Mitchell began a long and hostile relationship over the direction of military aviation and the best method to get there. After the war he served as a military attaché to Germany where he gathered a great deal of intelligence on German aviation. He later went on to command the 1st Aero Squadron and ultimately commanded the Air Corps.
He retired in 1935 as part of the fallout from the Air Mail scandal. Foulois continued to advocate for a strong air service in retirement. In 1959, at the invitation of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Foulois began touring Air Force bases advocating national security. He died of a heart attack on 25 April 1967 and is buried in his home town of Washington, Connecticut.
Selected Aircraft
The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a line of tri-jet aircraft produced by the aircraft company Yakolev. The Yak 42 was produced from 1980-2003.
Historically, the yak-42 was competition for older Russian aircraft companies. The Yak-42 was only made in one passenger variant, but it was used in many tests of equipment.
- Crew: 3
- Span: 114 ft 5 in (34.88 m)
- Length: 119 ft 4 in (36.38 m)
- Height: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
- Engines: 3× Lotarev D-36 turbofan
- Cruise Speed: 740 km/h (399 knots, 460 mph) (economy cruise)
- Range: 4,000 km (2,158 nmi, 2,458 mi) (with maximum fuel)
More selected aircraft | Read more... |
Today in Aviation
- 2013 – After an Israeli Air Force Heron-1 unmanned aerial vehicle flying over the Mediterranean Sea malfunctions, the Israeli Army shoots it down to prevent it from crashing in a populated area.[1] The following day Israel grounds its fleet of Heron-1 unmanned aerial vehicles.[1]
- 2011 – Libyan rebel forces capture Misrata Airport, which also serves as a Libyan Air Force base.[2]
- 2010 – Death of Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin, American WWII and Korean war fighter ace, (only USAF pilot to score in both the European and Pacific Theaters and the Korean War).
- 2010 – A Dassault Mirage 2000 of the French Air Force crashed in a forest of Bougue close to Villeneuve-de-Marsan (Landes, Aquitaine), 6 km east of Mont de Marsan AB (LFBM), after technical problems. The pilot ejected safely and only received minor injuries.
- 2009 – Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-125 at 18:01:56 UTC. Mission highlights: Last Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission (HST SM-04). Final Non-ISS flight.
- 2007 – After 50 years of service, the English Electric Canberra was finally retired.
- 2007 – A Republic of China Air Force Northrop F-5 crashes onto a building at an army base in Hukou, Taiwan. The two crew members are killed, as well as two soldiers of the Singapore Army undergoing training at the base. Another nine Singapore Army soldiers are injured, one dies of his injuries 17 days later.
- 1997 – Continental Airlines Flight 1760, a Boeing 737-524 with 54 people on board attempting to land through low clouds at Corpus Christi International Airport in Nueces County, Texas, mistakenly lands safely at Cabaniss Field, a part of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) away.
- 1996 – ValuJet Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashes in the Everglades near Miami, because of a fire in its cargo hold. All 110 people on board are killed.
- 1995 – Death of John Geoffrey Sadler Candy, British WWI flying ace who served during WWII.
- 1990 – Philippine Airlines Flight 143, a Boeing 737, explodes and burns on the ground at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, killing 8 of 120 on board, marking the first loss of a Boeing 737-300.
- 1987 – First flight of the Learjet 31, American ten seat (two crew and eight passengers) twin-engined, high speed business jet. Manufactured by Learjet (a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc.).
- 1973 – First flight of the Dassault Falcon 30 F-WAMD.
- 1970 – Death of William Howard "Hank" Stovall, American WWI flying ace, Businessman and High Ranking officer in WWII.
- 1970 – A category F5 tornado strikes Lubbock, Texas destroying about one quarter of the city. Nineteen of 23 U.S. Air Force trainers (probably Cessna T-41 Mescaleros) at Lubbock International Airport are destroyed, amongst 100 aircraft damaged.
- 1969 – A Royal Navy F-4 Phantom of 892 Naval Air Squadron set a new world air speed record between New York and London in 4 hours and 46 min, winning the Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race. It flew from the Floyd Bennet Naval Air Station to Wisley Aerodrome and was refuelled by a Handley Page Victor aerial tanker over the Atlantic.
- 1964 – A Bell 533 modified with 2 small sweptback fixed wings to convert the aircraft into a compound helicopter, flew at 357 km/h.
- 1964 – Jackie Cochran sets a new women's airspeed record of 1,429 mph (2,300 km/h) in a F-104 Starfighter.
- 1964 – A USAF Boeing C-135B-BN Stratolifter, 61-0332, c/n 18239, crashed on landing at Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, hitting a taxi. 84 on board, 5 survivors, passengers in taxi also killed. Date of 11 August 1964 cited by Joe Baugher. The crash occurred while attempting to land during a rainstorm at approximately 1920 hrs.
- 1960 – A United States Army Signals Corps balloon ascends to an altitude of 43,890 m (144,000 feet) before bursting setting a record breaking night time altitude ascent.
- 1957 – Death of Victor Herbert Strahm, American WWI flying ace, who served in WWII and was chief test pilot for the USAAF.
- 1957 – Nimble Bat 3 – CF-100s of 440 Squadron flown from Bagotville to Zweibrucken.
- 1953 – INS Garuda becomes the first Indian Navy aircraft carrier, serving as the base for the Indian Naval Air Arm.
- 1953 – First prototype of the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, Tu-95/1, first flown 12 November 1952, crashes this date NE of Noginsk, Russia, during its 17th flight and burns due to an engine fire in the starboard inner turboprop. Engine falls off of wing, nine of twelve crew parachute to safety but three are killed, including test pilot Alexey Perelet.
- 1949 – No. 28 Squadron RAF flies from Malaya to Hong Kong to help reinforce the island against Communist forces on mainland China.
- 1948 – Maj. Simon H. Johnson, deputy commanding officer of the Eglin AFB, Florida, fighter section, is killed when his Republic F-84 Thunderjet disintegrates during an air demonstration on the Eglin reservation, in front of some 600 witnesses. The public information officer at Eglin stated that the pilot was "engaged in operational tests on the plane" when the accident occurred. Maj. Johnson, a resident of Shalimar, Florida, was originally from Houston, Texas. He had served a year in Italy flying 50 missions in North American P-51 Mustangs with the 31st Fighter Group, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the air medal with five clusters. He had attended the University of Texas and graduated from the U.S. Army flying school in 1940.
- 1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Okinawa, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 of her crew. Although badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U. S. under her own power.
- 1944 – Death of Walter "Gulle" Oesau, German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1934 until his death in 1944. He rose to command Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War II), which was named in his honor after his death.
- 1943 – In Operation Landcrab, American forces invade Attu. With an all-F4 F Wildcat airwing consisting of 26 F4 F-4 fighters and three F4 F-3P photographic reconnaissance aircraft, the escort aircraft carrier USS Nassau (CVE-16) supports operations on Attu until May 20; it is the first time that the U. S. Navy employs carrier-based photographic reconnaissance aircraft and the first time in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II of Operations that an escort carrier engages in combat. The U.S. Navy concludes that bombers should be included in future escort carrier air wings to make them more effective in supporting amphibious operations.
- 1940 – (Overnight) British bombers interdict German Army troop movement near the Belgium and Netherlands border, as 37 Handley Page Hampdens and Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys bomb road and rail junctions near Mönchengladbach. Three British bombers are lost.
- 1936 – First flight of The Bristol Type 138 High Altitude Monoplane, British high-altitude research aircraft, single-engine, low-wing monoplane with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage.
- 1934 – Sole prototype of U.S. Navy Douglas XO2D-1, BuNo 9412, noses over on water landing near NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C., after starboard landing gear would not retract, nor support runway landing. Pilot survives. Aircraft salvaged, rebuilt, but no production contract let.
- 1934 – First flight of the Douglas DC-2.
- 1932 – The USS Akron, arriving at Camp Kearny, San Diego, California, after a cross-continent transit attempts to moor, but proves too buoyant. The mooring cable is cut to avert a catastrophic nose-stand by the airship and the Akron heads up. Most men of the mooring crew, predominantly "boot" seamen from the Naval Training Station San Diego, let go of their lines but three do not. One man was carried 15 feet (4.6 m) into the air before he let go and suffered a broken arm in the process while three others were carried up even farther. Two of these men — Aviation Carpenter's Mate 3d Class Robert H. Edsall and Apprentice Seaman Nigel M. Henton — lost their grips and fell to their deaths. The third, Apprentice Seaman C. M. "Bud" Cowart, clung desperately to his line and made himself fast to it before he was hoisted aboard the Akron one hour later. Akron managed to moor at Camp Kearny later that day. The stranded crewman provides the template for the very first rescue by George Reeves' portrayal of Superman in the first television episode of "Adventures of Superman", "Superman on Earth", first aired 19 September 1952.
- 1928 – Death of Ulrich Neckel, German WWI fighter ace
- 1927 – Charles Lindbergh lands his new Ryan airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, in St. Louis after a record non-stop overnight flight from San Diego of 14 hours, 25 min.
- 1926 – 11-14 – Roald Amundsen makes the first airship flight over the North Pole. The Norge leaves Spitsbergen and arrives in Teller, Alaska three days later.
- 1919 – French Aviator Joseph Sadi Lacointe sets a new altitude record with a Spad Herbemont (8 155 m).[citation needed]
- 1918 – Death of Kurt Nachod, Austro Hungarian WWI flying ace, from injuries after the crash of his Hansa-Brandenburg C. I 2 days before
- 1917 – Death of Edmund Nathanael, German WWI fighter ace, killed in action in his Albatros D.III by a SPAD VII.
- 1911 – Édouard Nieuport, a racing cyclist before he went into aircraft construction (co-founder with his brother Charles of the eponymous Nieuport aircraft manufacturing company), sets a new speed record of 74.4 mph (119.7 km/h) flying his "Nieuport 11-N, " monoplane powered by a 28-hp engine.
- 1906 – Birth of Jacqueline Cochran, pioneer American aviator, considered to be one of the most gifted racing pilots of her generation. She was an important contributor to the formation of the wartime Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)
- 1903 – Richard Pearse is claimed to have made a flight of around 1,000 yards (900 m), landing in the semi-dry bed of the Opihi River.
- 1897 – Birth of Robert Ellsworth Gross, American businessman involved in the field of aviation.
- 1896 – Birth of Heinrich Henkel, German WWI flying ace
- 1896 – Birth of Paul Wilhelm Bäumer, German WWI fighter ace.
- 1892] – Birth of Walter Ewers, German WWI flying ace
- 1881 – Birth of Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American aerospace engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization.
- 1875 – Birth of Harriet Quimby, early American aviator and movie screenwriter, first woman to gain a pilot's license in the US and first woman to fly across the English Channel.
References
- "Libya Rebels 'Capture Misrata Airport'". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
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