Portal:Aviation

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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747

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

Traditional general aviation fixed-wing light aircraft, the most numerous class of aircraft in the sector
Traditional general aviation fixed-wing light aircraft, the most numerous class of aircraft in the sector
General aviation in the United Kingdom has been defined as a civil aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport flight operating to a schedule. Although the International Civil Aviation Organization excludes any form of remunerated aviation from its definition, some commercial operations are often included within the scope of general aviation in the UK. The sector operates business jets, rotorcraft, piston and jet-engined fixed-wing aircraft, gliders of all descriptions, and lighter than air craft. Public transport operations include business (or corporate) aviation and air taxi services, and account for nearly half of the economic contribution made by the sector. There are 28,000 Private Pilot Licence holders, and 10,000 certified glider pilots. Although GA operates from more than 1,800 aerodromes and landing sites, ranging in size from large regional airports to farm strips, over 80 per cent of GA activity is conducted at 134 of the larger aerodromes. GA is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority, although regulatory powers are being increasingly transferred to the European Aviation Safety Agency. The main focus is on standards of airworthiness and pilot licensing, and the objective is to promote high standards of safety. (Full article...)

Selected image

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is evaluating the capability of an F/A-18A aircraft as an in-flight refueling tanker to develop analytical models for an automated aerial refueling system for UAVs
An F/A-18 Hornet performs an automated aerial refueling operation on another. This was part of a study by the Dryden Flight Research Center to evaluate the ability of the F/A-18 as an in-flight refueling tanker to develop analytical models for an automated aerial refueling system for unmanned aerial vehicles. The project is documenting how an operational tanker's drogue basket responds when in the presence of the receiver aircraft.

Did you know

...that four planes were simultaneously hijacked in the 1970 Dawson's Field hijackings? ...that the Zagreb mid-air collision over Croatia in 1976 was one of the deadliest mid-air collisions? ... that the PZL SM-4 Łątka never flew, because its engine was not approved for use in flight?

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

Orville Wright
Wilbur Wright

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 - January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 - May 30, 1912), are generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, they developed their flying machine into the world's first practical airplane, along with many other aviation milestones.

In 1878 Wilbur and Orville were given a toy "helicopter" by their father. The device was made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its twin blades, and about a foot long. The boys played with it until it broke, then built their own. In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the initial spark of their interest in flying.

Selected Aircraft

[[File:|right|250px|The two YC-130 prototypes; the blunt nose was replaced with radar on later production models.]] The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop cargo aircraft and the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over 40 models and variants of the Hercules serve with more than 50 nations. On December 2006 the C-130 was the third aircraft (after the English Electric Canberra in May 2001 and the B-52 Stratofortress in January 2005) to mark 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer (in this case the United States Air Force).

Capable of short takeoffs and landings from unprepared runways, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship, and for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refuelling and aerial firefighting. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 50 years of service the family has participated in military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations.

More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

May 19

  • 2011 – (Overnight) NATO aircraft raid Libyan Navy bases at Tripoli, Khoms, and Sirte in the largest attack against Libyan government naval forces thus far in the Libyan Civil War. During the Khoms raids, British aircraft hit two corvettes at Khoms with laser-guided bombs and damage an inflatable-boat manufacturing facility, and NATO aircraft set a warship at Tripoli afire. NATO aircraft also hit a police academy in Tripoli's Tajoura neighborhood.[1]
  • 2009 – A United States Navy Sikorsky HH-60H Seahawk crashes into the Pacific Ocean 16 miles (26 km) SW of San Diego, California. The aircraft was on a routine training flight and returning to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz when the accident occurred off of Point Loma, California, killing all 5 members of its crew. Only 3 bodies were recovered.
  • 2008 – First flight of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, Russian modern fly-by-wire regional jet in the 75- to 95-seat category.
  • 2003 – CH-46E Sea Knight 156424 of HMM-364 crashes in Al-Hilla, killing four Marines; another Marine drowns trying to rescue the crew.[2]
  • 2000 – Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-101 at 6:11 am EDT. Mission highlights: ISS supply.
  • 1996 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-77 at 6:30:00.066 am EDT. Mission highlights: SPACEHAB; SPARTAN, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau's second trip into space.
  • 1993 – Sikorsky VH-60A Sea Hawk, BuNo 163267,1] of HMX-1, MCAS Quantico, Virginia, crashes ~35 miles SW of Washington, D.C. during a routine inspection flight, killing Maj. William S. Barkley Jr., Capt. Scott J. Reynolds, Staff Sgt. Brian D. Haney, and Sgt. Timothy D. Sabel.
  • 1982 – A Royal Navy Westland Sea King HC.4 ZA294, transferring from HMS Hermes to HMS Intrepid during the Falklands/Malvinas conflict, crashes into the sea after a bird strike with a Black-browed Albatross. The crash results in 22 fatalities including 18 members of the 22 Squadron SAS, one fatality each from the Royal Signals and Royal Air Force.
  • 1978 – First prototype Sikorsky YUH-60A Black Hawk, 73-21650, crashes during testing at the Sikorsky plant, Stratford, Connecticut, killing three company personnel. Army investigation reveals that during routine maintenance the night before the fatal flight, the airspeed sensor for the tailplane actuating system was inadvertently left unconnected. As the aircraft transitioned from hover to forward flight, the tailplane did not automatically change its angle and as speed built up, it forced the helicopter's nose down until an attitude was reached from which recovery was impossible. A manual back-up system was available and functioning, and could have been used to correct the tailplane angle, but for unexplained reasons it was not used, possibly due to failure to analyze the nature of the problem in time. Minor modifications are introduced as a result of this accident.
  • 1971 – Boeing announces that it has canceled its Supersonic Transport (SST) project.
  • 1971 – Launch of Mars 2, Soviet unmanned lander and orbiter, first human artifacts to impact the surface of Mars.
  • 1967 – American aircraft strike military targets in downtown Hanoi.
  • 1961 – Venera 1, first planetary probe launched to Venus by the Soviet Union, passed within 100,000 km of Venus and entered a heliocentric orbit.
  • 1958 – Vickers Viscount N7410 of Capital Airlines collides in mid-air with a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star of the Air National Guard. All eleven on board the Viscount are killed when it crashes at Brunswick, Maryland, as is one of the two crew members of the T-33. (This is repeated on 20 May)
  • 1956 – First flight of the Aerfer Sagittario 2, Italian prototype all-metal single-seat lightweight fighter aircraft, first Italian aircraft to break the sound barrier in controlled flight.
  • 1952 – First flight of the Grumman XF10F Jaguar, American prototype swing-wing fighter aircraft.
  • 1951 – RCAF No. 410 Squadron began re-equipping with North American Sabre fighters. It was the first RCAF squadron to receive this new fighter.
  • 1949 – A JRM Mars sets a new record of 308 for the largest number of people to be carried on a single aircraft.
  • 1947 – The crash of a Beechcraft C-45F Expeditor, 44-87142, of the 4000th AAF Base Unit, two miles S of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, kills three officers and two enlisted men of the 4140th Base Unit, Wright Field, Ohio, who had departed that base at 1805 hrs. on a flight to Selfridge Field, Michigan, to make advance preparations for air shows throughout the country. The twin-prop, twin-tailed aircraft came down in an open area during a driving rainstorm at ~2105 hrs. and broke into six major pieces. One crew attempted to parachute but was unsuccessful. The plane impacted within 500 yards of St. Mary's academy girls' school on the outskirts of Windsor
  • 1945 – First flight of Tupolev TU-10, a Soviet twin-engine, high speed daylight bomber, an evolution of the TU-2.
  • 1943 – Northrop N-9M-1, one-third scale flying testbed for the Northrop XB-35 flying wing design, crashes approximately 12 mi (19 km) W of Muroc Army Air Base, California, killing pilot Max Constant. First flown 27 December 1942, airframe had only logged 22.5 hours, and little data was accumulated before the loss. Post-crash investigation suggested that: "...while Constant was conducting stalls and aft centre of gravity stability tests, aerodynamic forces developed full aft, which were too strong for Constant to overcome, trapping him in the cockpit. To prevent this happening on future flights, a one-shot hydraulic boost device was installed to push the controls forward in an emergency."
  • 1937 – Prototype Sud-Est LeO H-47 flying boat sustains fatigue failure damage to hull bottom on take-off and, upon landing at Antibes at 19,000 kg (42,000 lb), took in water that displaced the centre of gravity, sinking the aircraft.
  • 1934 – First flight of the Russian Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, Soviet eight-engine aircraft, at this time the largest aircraft in the world. Capable of carrying 80 passengers, it was used mainly as a mobile propaganda office.
  • 1918 – First prototype Sopwith Salamander, E5429, crashes during test program while with No. 65 Squadron when the pilot has to avoid a tender crossing the aerodrome responding to another crash.
  • 1918 – Raoul Lufbery, commander of the US 94th Aero Squadron|94th (Hat in the Ring) Aero Squadron and second highest scoring American ace with 17 victories, is killed in air combat.
  • 1917 – A Royal Naval Air Service Curtiss H-12 Large America flying boat bombs and sinks the German submarine U-36 in the North Sea near the North Hinder light ship while flying a “Spider Web” patrol. U-36 becomes the only German submarine sunk by an aircraft during World War I. (This is repeated on 20 May)
  • 1910 – Birth of Jean Niland (Aka James Williams), French early parachutist and record setter.
  • 1891 – Birth of Oswald Boelcke, WWI German flying ace and one of the most influential patrol leaders and tacticians of the early years of air combat.

References

  1. ^ "NATO Bombs Gadhafi Warships". MSNBC. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Marine Deaths in Iraq, Marines killed in Action, May 18–19, 2003". Retrieved 2007-07-31.
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