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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...)

Selected article

United Airlines Flight 93 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Newark International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport. It was hijacked by four men as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Over 40 minutes into the flight the hijackers breached the cockpit, overpowered the pilots and took over control of the aircraft, diverting it toward Washington, D.C. Several passengers and crew members made telephone calls aboard the flight and learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As a result, the passengers decided to mount an assault against the hijackers and wrest control of the aircraft.

The plane crashed in a field just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C., killing all 44 people aboard, including the hijackers. Many witnessed the impact from the ground and news agencies began reporting on the event within an hour. The plane fragmented upon impact, leaving a crater, and some debris was blown miles from the crash site. The remains of everyone on board the aircraft were later identified. Subsequent analysis of the flight recorders revealed how the actions taken by the passengers prevented the aircraft from reaching either the White House or United States Capitol. A permanent memorial is planned for construction on the crash site. The chosen design has been the source of criticism and is scheduled to be dedicated in 2011. (Full article...)

Selected image

An F/A-18 makes an arrested landing aboard a US aircraft carrier.

Did you know

...that George H. W. Bush flew a TBF Avenger while he was in the U.S. Navy? ...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 when Lilian Bland built an aircraft in 1910, she used her aunt's ear-trumpet and a whisky bottle to feed petrol to the engine?

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
Read and edit Wikinews

Associated Wikimedia

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

Selected biography

Frank Whittle speaking to employees of the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory (now known as the NASA Glenn Research Center), USA, in 1946
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer and was one of the inventors of jet propulsion. By the end of the war, Whittle's efforts resulted in engines that would lead the world in performance through the end of the decade.

Born in Earlsdon, Coventry, England on June 1, 1907, Whittle left Leamington College in 1923 to join the Royal Air Force (RAF). Through his early days as an Aircraft apprentice he maintained his interest in the Model Aircraft Society where he built replicas, the quality of which attracted the eye of his commanding officer, who was so impressed that he recommended Whittle for the Officer Training College at Cranwell in Lincolnshire in 1926, a rarity for a "commoner" in what was still a very class-based military structure. A requirement of the course was that each student had to produce a thesis for graduation. Whittle decided to write his thesis on future developments in aircraft design, in which he described what is today referred to as a motorjet.

Whittle and Hans von Ohain met after the war and initially Whittle was angry with him as he felt Ohain had stolen his ideas. Ohain eventually convinced him that his work was independent and after that point the two became good friends.

Selected Aircraft

The Airbus A340 is a long-range four-engined widebody commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Airbus. The latest variants (-600 & A340E) competed with Boeing's 777 series of aircraft on long-haul and ultra long-haul routes, but it has since been succeeded by the Airbus A350.

The A340-600 flies 380 passengers in a three-class cabin layout (419 in 2 class) over 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km). It provides similar passenger capacity to a 747 but with twice the cargo volume, and at lower trip and seat costs.

The A340-600 is more than 10 m longer than a basic -300, making it the second longest airliner in the world, more than four meters longer than a Boeing 747-400.

  • Span: 63.45 m (208 ft 2 in)
  • Length: 75.30 m n(246 ft 11 in)
  • Height: 17.30 m (56 ft 9 in)
  • Engines: four 56,000 lbf (249 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans
  • Cruising Speed: Mach 0.83 (885 km/h, 550 mph)
  • First Flight: October 25, 1991
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

February 3

  • 2011 – Two Republic of China Air Force AT-3 trainers collide, one aircraft crashed near Fangliao and other landed safely. The two pilots of the crashed AT-3 ejected safely.
  • 2010 – A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter of the United States Army crashed in Germany about 1800 hrs. local time northeast of Mannheim, killing three people on board.
  • 2008 – Silver State Helicopters ceases operations and enteres bankruptcy. At the time of closing Silver State operating 194 helicopters from its 34 flight schools.
  • 2005 – Kam Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-200, crashes in a snowstorm in Afghanistan. All 96 passengers and eight crew members die.
  • 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States Marine Corps EA-6 B Prowler cut a cable supporting a gondola, causing the death of 20 people. The two pilots, Captain Richard J. Ashby and his navigator Captain Joseph Schweitzer, were put under trial in the United States, but were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, but later they were found guilty of obstruction of justice for having destroyed evidence. Both were discharged from the Marines.
  • 1995 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-63 at 05:22:04 am UTC. Mission highlights: Mir rendezvous, Spacehab, IMAX, Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle Discovery.
  • 1994 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-60 at 7:10:05 am EST. Mission highlights: SPACEHAB, Wake Shield Facility.
  • 1994 – First launch: H-II, Japanese satellite launch system.
  • 1988 – Death of Kenneth Lee Porter, American WWI flying ace, Engineer who worked for Boeing during WWII and was a member of the US fighting pilots Association.
  • 1991 – Returning from a strike against Iraqi forces, a U. S. Air Force B-52G Stratofortress attempting to land at Diego Garcia crashes on final approach.
  • 1985 – First flight of the Atlas XH-1 Alpha, a South African prototype attack helicopter, used as a concept demonstrator for the then-planned Rooivalk project.
  • 1984 – Launch: Space shuttle Challenger STS-41-B at 13:00:00 UTC. Mission highlights: Comsat deployments, first untethered spacewalk by Bruce McCandless II with Manned Maneuvering Unit; first landing at KSC; dry run of equipment for Solar Max rescue.
  • 1982 – The Mil Mi-26 helicopter lifts a load weighing 57 metric tons to 2,000 m (6,500 ft) to break a world record for a helicopter.
  • 1978 – Introduction: de Havilland Canada Dash 7, popularly known as the Dash 7, turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities, is introduced in service by Rocky Mountain Airways.
  • 1977 – Salyut 4 is back on earth.
  • 1966 – Launch of ESSA-1 (or OT-3) US spin-stabilized operational meteorological satellite.
  • 1966 – Luna 9, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, makes the first successful landing on the Moon.
  • 1964 – The 1964 Turkish Airlines Ankara crash occurred when a Turkish Airlines Douglas C-47 A-5-DK airliner, registration TC-ETI, on a cargo flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport (IST/LTBA) to Esenboğa Airport (ESB/LTAC) in Ankara, flew into terrain in Ankara Province whilst on an ILS approach. The aircraft had three crew on board and all were killed at the accident.
  • 1964 – The Federal Aviation Agency launches Operation Bongo Mark 2 to investigate the effects of supersonic flight; over the coming months, a Convair B-58 will fly through the sound barrier at low altitude over Oklahoma City.
  • 1964 – The North Vietnamese Air Force establishes its first jet fighter unit, Fighter Regiment No. 921, equipped with MiG-17 s. North Vietnamese jet fighter units will be based in the People’s Republic of China until August while their pilots undergo training.
  • 1959 – Boeing B-47E-50-LM Stratojet, 52-3371, of the 384th Bombardment Wing, crashes during landing near Little Rock, Arkansas. Pilot, co-pilot, and navigator killed.
  • 1959 – First flight of the Agusta-Bell AB.102, Italian helicopter based on the mechanical components of a Bell 48 that Agusta incorporated into an all-new, streamlined fuselage.
  • 1959 – American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L-188 Super Electra, crashes into the East River, New York City, as a result of pilot error; sixty-five passengers and crew are killed.
  • 1948 – All 145 pilots and co-pilots at National Airlines go on strike, grounding the carrier’s 22 aircraft. The dispute is mainly over air safety.
  • 1946 – Pan American inaugurates the first commercial use of Lockheed Model 049 Constellation with the aircraft’s first scheduled service between New York and Bermuda.
  • 1945 – The US Army’s Eighth Air Force launches Operation Thunderclap – 1,000 B-17 bombers raid Berlin, killing 3,000 and leaving 120,000 homeless.
  • 1945 – Bound for the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union, Convoy JW 64 becomes the first Arctic convoy to depart from the River Clyde. Its escort, designated Operation Hotbed, includes the British escort aircraft carriers HMS Campania and HMS Nairana. Campania carries the first night fighter involved in a convoy escort operation, a Fairey Fulmar equipped with airborne intercept radar.
  • 1944 – U. S. Navy Task Force 58 completes its support of ground operations on Kwajalein Island and Roi-Namur.
  • 1943 – (Overnight) 263 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany; 16 are shot down, mostly by Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighters of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1.
  • 1943 – While shooting down a British Halifax bomber, German night fighter ace Reinhold Knacke is himself shot down and killed by one of the Halifax’s gunners. The first of three out of Germany’s top four night fighter aces to die during the month, his score stands at 44, all at night, when he is killed.
  • 1942 – The Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force was renamed RCAF Women’s Division.
  • 1941 – Death of Enzo Omiccioli, Italian WWII pilot, killed during a dogfight Against 6 Gloster Gladiators in Ethiopia.
  • 1937 – In the Spanish Civil War, a Nationalist (rebel) attack on Málaga begins, supported by an Italian “legionary” air force of about 100 aircraft.
  • 1935 – Hugo Junkers died, German engineer and aircraft designer, who pioneered the first great changes in aviation materials and design technology.
  • 1931 – Canadian Airways flew the first international service between Winnipeg and Pembina, North Dakota.
  • 1928 – New York City decides to build its first municipal airport.
  • 1928 – First flight of the Boeing F3B (Model 77), an American biplane fighter and fighter bomber in a land version.
  • 1925 – A distance record of 3,166 km (1,967 miles) in a straight line, is established by a Breguet 19 flown by Captain Ludovic Arrachart and Captain Henri Lemaître from Paris to Villa Cisneros (Sahara).
  • 1920 – Death of Hermann Hasselmann, German Aviation Pioneer, and Hugo Schäfer, German WWI flying ace on board of their Junkers F 13.
  • 1918 – Death of Rupert Randolph Winter, British WWI flying ace, killed in action.
  • 1911 – The Blériot XIII, French experimental passenger-carrying aircraft, flown by Léon Lemartin broke a world record by flying with 8 passengers.
  • 1903 – Birth of [[|Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton|Douglas Douglas-Hamilton]], Scottish nobleman and pioneering aviator.
  • 1884 – Birth of Frank Maxwell Andrews, general officer in the United States Army and one of the founding fathers of the USAF.
  • 1873 – Birth of Hugh Montague Trenchard, British officer who was instrumental in establishing the RAF, described as the Father of the Royal Air Force.
  • 1859 – Birth of Hugo Junkers, innovative German engineer, as his many patents in varied areas (gas engines, aeroplanes) show, pioneering the first great changes in aviation materials and design technology.

References

Edit today's anniversaries – February Archive – All anniversaries...


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