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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 aircraft 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. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This is the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. 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...)

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A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine driven rotors. In contrast with fixed-wing aircraft, this allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft would not be able to take off or land. The capability to efficiently hover for extended periods of time allows a helicopter to accomplish tasks that fixed-wing aircraft and other forms of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft cannot perform.

The word 'helicopter' is adapted from the French hélicoptère, coined by Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix/helik- (ἕλικ-) = 'spiral' or 'turning' and pteron (πτερόν) = 'wing'.

Helicopters were developed and built during the first half-century of flight, with some reaching limited production, but it was not until 1942 that a helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production, with 131 aircraft built. Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it was the single main rotor with antitorque tail rotor configuration of this design that would come to be recognized worldwide as the helicopter. (Full article...)

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Did you know

...that Ansett Airlines Flight 232 from Adelaide to Alice Springs in 1972 was the first aircraft hijacking to take place in Australia? ...that the crash of Crossair Flight LX498 was initially attributed to cell phone use, and led to bans of cell phones in airplanes in several countries? ...that during Operation Deep Freeze II in 1956, US Navy Rear Admiral George J. Dufek commanded the first aircraft to land at the South Pole, the C-47 Skytrain “Que Sera Sera”?

More Did you know facts

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

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
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Associated Wikimedia

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

Selected biography

Amy Johnson (1 July 1903 – 5 January 1941) C.B.E. was a pioneering British aviatrix.

Born in Kingston upon Hull, Johnson graduated from University of Sheffield with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining a pilot's A Licence No. 1979 on 6 July 1929 at the London Aeroplane Club. In that same year, she became the first British woman to gain a ground engineer's C License.

Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when, in 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. She left Croydon on 5 May of that year and landed in Darwin, Australia on 24 May after flying 11,000 miles. Her aircraft for this flight, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth (registration G-AAAH) named Jason, can still be seen in the Science Museum in London. She received the Harmon Trophy as well as a CBE in homage to this achievement, and was also honoured with the No. 1 civil pilot's licence under Australia's 1921 Air Navigation Regulations.

In July 1931, Johnson and her co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first pilots to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the 1,760-mile journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for flying from England to Japan. The flight was completed in a De Havilland Puss Moth.

Selected Aircraft

Airbus A380
Airbus A380

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)
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Today in Aviation

December 29

  • 2012 – An airstrike, suspected of being by an American unmanned aerial vehicle, destroys a Toyota Land Cruiser outside Rada'a in southern Yemen, killing three al-Qaeda members in the vehicle and prompting dozens of al-Qaeda members to protest.[4]
  • 2004 – An American Special Forces MC-130H Hercules (c/n 382-5054, 16th SOW, 15th SOS) is written off while landing on Q-West airfield near Mosul, Iraq, though no one was hurt. The pilot was unaware a large pit had been dug in the runway.[5]
  • 1994 – Turkish Airlines Flight 278, a Boeing 737-4Y0, crashes during its final approach to land at Van Ferit Melen Airport in eastern Turkey in driving snow. Five of the seven crew and 52 of the 69 passengers are killed.
  • 1991 – China Airlines Flight 358, a Boeing 747-200F, suffers double engine separation and crashes into a hill near Wanli, Taipei, Taiwan, killing all 5 crew on board.
  • 1982 – An Indian Air Force helicopter crashed near Gantok, five killed.
  • 1980 – A U.S. Navy pilot ejects from stricken Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk, BuNo. 154626, 'JH', of VC-10, on flight from NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after engine failure and fire, spends 30 hours in the water before rescue shortly after midnight on Wednesday, 31 December, from the Atlantic ~45 miles (72 km) S of Bahamian island of Mayaguana by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. Two Skyhawks departed Gitmo on routine training mission at 1500 hrs. on Monday, second pilot sees pilot Cmdr. Frank Riordan successfully eject from burning fighter with a good canopy ~240 miles NE of Guantanamo. Observer aboard U.S. Navy P-3 Orion out of NAS Jacksonville, Florida, spots strobelight on pilot's life jacket on Tuesday night, 28 December. Riordan recovered in good condition "except for a slight case of exposure", said a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami, Florida.
  • 1978 – Freddie To makes the first flight of a solar-powered aircraft, the Solar One (airplane)|Solar One
  • 1975 - At 6:33 p.m. EST, a bomb with the equivalent force of 25 sticks of dynamite exploded in the main terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York, killing 11 and injuring 75. The victims included travelers, limousine drivers, and airline employees.
  • 1974 – A Tarom Antonov AN-24 (registered YR-AMD) flying from Bucharest to Sibiu, crashes into the side of the Lotrului Mountains, killing all 28 passengers and 5 crew members. The crash is blamed on the crew incorrectly executing the approach, which led to the aircraft drifting off course by 20 km in turbulent conditions.
  • 1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed Tristar, crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 103 of 176 people on board; the crew is distracted by a faulty gear-down light, resulting in controlled flight into terrain; this is the first crash of a widebody aircraft and the first loss of a Lockheed Tristar.
  • 1951 – Continental Charters Flight 44-2, a Curtiss-Wright C-46, crashes into a ridge near Napoli, New York while en route to Buffalo, New York; 3 crew members and 23 passengers die
  • 1949 – Entered Service: Lockheed F-94 Starfire with the United States Air Force
  • 1944 – F/L RJ Audet, flying a Supermarine Spitfire of No. 411 (Fighter) Squadron near Rheine, Germany, destroyed five enemy fighters in his first combat.
  • 1943 – 1st Lt Robert L. Duke is killed in the crash of Curtiss A-25A-20-CS Shrike, 42-79823, near Spencer, Tennessee, this date. He was assigned as Assistant A-3 of Eglin Field. Eglin Auxiliary Field 3 is later named Duke Field in his honor.
  • 1940 – 29-30 – The Luftwaffe makes a devastating attack on London, making extensive use of incendiary weapons.
  • 1938 – (29-31) A German Arado Ar 79 training and touring aircraft sets an international long-distance record for an aircraft of its class, flying 6,303 kilometres (3,917 mi) from Benghazi, Libya, to Gaya, India, nonstop at an average speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph).
  • 1937 – A Spanish Nationalist counteroffensive against Republican forces during the Battle of Teruel begins with the support of German aircraft of the Condor Legion. The Condor Legion has had to redeploy in order to support the counteroffensive, and its personnel are becoming weary of the constant changes of front required by Nationalist military operations.
  • 1936 – Compañía Aeronáutica Uruguaya S. A. (CAUSA) founded by the Uruguayan banker Luis J. Supervielle and Coronel Tydeo Larre Borges. Its initial fleet is two Junkers Ju 52 floatplanes, which begin service between Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 1933 – The Imperial Airways Avro Ten Apollo (G-ABLU) strikes a radio mast and crashes at Ruysselede, Belgium, killing all 10 people on board. King Albert I of Belgium will award Camille van Hove, who is hospitalized with serious burns suffered while trying to rescue victims from the airliner’s wreckage, the Civic Cross (1st Class).
  • 1927 – Georg Wulf, co-founded of Focke-Wulf is killed in the crash of the Focke-Wulf Fw 19
  • 1921 – Edward Stinson and Lloyd Bertaud set a world endurance record of 26 hours, 18 min and 35 seconds flying a BMW-engined Junkers-Larsen over Roosevelt Field.

References

  1. ^ Anonymous, "4 Killed in Moscow Plane Crash," The Washington Post, December 30, 2012, Page A14.
  2. ^ Associated Press, "Four Dead in Moscow as Plane Rolls Off Runway," The Washington Examiner, December 30, 2012, Page 13.
  3. ^ Mroue, Bassem, "Clashes Near Syrian Capital, Aleppo Airport Closed," Associated Press, January 1, 2013.
  4. ^ Anonymous, "Suspected U.S. Drone Kills 3 in Yemen," The Washington Post, December 30, 2012, Page A14.
  5. ^ "2004 Nightmare C-130 Iraq". Retrieved 2010-07-16.
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