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
The airport's location and lack of transport links, as well as Montreal's economic decline relative to Toronto, made it unpopular with airlines. Eventually relegated to the simple role of a cargo airport, Mirabel became an embarrassment widely regarded in Canada as being a boondoggle, or a "white elephant," and one of the best examples of a failed megaproject. (Full article...)
Selected image
Did you know
...that Luftwaffe ace Erich Rudorffer flew more than 1000 missions during World War II, and was shot down sixteen times by enemy flak and fighters?
- ...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 the price war started by Color Air in 1998 led to its bankruptcy after 14 months?
General images -
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The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation) -
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Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation) -
"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation) -
Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation) -
Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation) -
Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation) -
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French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation) -
Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation) -
Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation) -
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The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
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Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation) -
"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) -
Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation) -
La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation) -
1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation) -
The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation) -
The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation) -
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Santos-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) -
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation) -
The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
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First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation) -
D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation) -
Concorde, 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) -
Nieuport 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) -
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One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation) -
Some wide-body jets: a Boeing 777 of United in the foreground, two Boeing 787s of Air Canada, and two Airbus A380s; one of Singapore Airlines and the other of Thai Airways International. (from Wide-body aircraft) -
The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation) -
Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation) -
1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation) -
Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation) -
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Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation) -
Experimental 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) -
Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation) -
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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
His career began in World War II as a private in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of Flight Officer (WW 2 U.S. Army Air Forces rank equivalent to Warrant Officer) and became a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. After the war he became a test pilot of many kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter exceeded Mach 2.4.[1] He later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to Brigadier-General. Yeager's flying career spans more than sixty years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, even into the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.
Selected Aircraft
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. The Bf 109 was produced in greater quantities than any other fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Fighter production totalled 47% of all German aircraft production, and the Bf 109 accounted for 57% of all German fighter types produced.
The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941. The Bf 109 was the most successful fighter of World War II, shooting down more aircraft than any of its contemporaries. Originally conceived as an interceptor, it was later developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft.
The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter pilot of all time with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall with 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front. Hartmann chose to fly the Bf 109 in combat throughout the war, despite being offered the use of the Me 262. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign, also scored all of his 158 victories flying the Bf 109, against Western Allied pilots.
- Span: 9.925 m (32 ft 6 in)
- Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 7 in)
- Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 2 in)
- Engine: 1× Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 liquid-cooled inverted V12, 1,475 PS (1,455 hp, 1,085 kW)
- Cruising Speed: 590 km/h (365 mph) at 6,000 m (19,680 ft)
- First Flight: 28 May 1935
Today in Aviation
- 2008 –Two American UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters collide while trying to land in Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier was killed, while two Iraqis and three Americans were injured.[2][3][4] Incident was due to mechanical failure.[5]
- 2007 – Africa One Antonov An-26 crash: An Antonov An-26 (9Q-COS) from Africa One / El Sam Airlift and charted by Malift Air crashes shortly after taking off from the Kinshasa-N’Djili Airport, Congo. The airplane bound for Tshikapam crashed on the outskirt of Kinshasa killing 21 on board (1 crew survived) and at least 28 on the ground. This accident forced the Congolese minister of transportation to resign.
- 2004 – Retired: SpaceShipOne
- 2001 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812, a Tupolev Tu-154, is suspected to be shot down by a Ukrainian missile over the Black Sea. All 66 passengers and 12 crew members are killed.
- 1992 – El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747, freighter, crashes into high-rise apartment buildings in Amsterdam after two of its engines detach from the wing. Forty-three people, including the plane's crew of 3, are killed. The incident became known as the Bijlmerramp (Bijlmer disaster).
- 1984 – 61 year old Elaine Yadwin lands a Piper Cherokee Warrior II safely in Florida after her husband, the plane's pilot, dies during the flight.
- 1977 – First production prototype FMA IA 58 Pucará, AX-03, of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina, crashes during preparations for the 50th Anniversary of the Fabrica Militar de Aviones at Córdoba, due to pilot error.
- 1975 – A Cessna 310Q airplane crashes over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers affiliated with the NWA’s Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors is the legendary Ric Flair.
- 1968 – First flight of the Tupolev Tu-154
- 1960 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Super Electra, crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport into Winthrop Bay, after multiple bird strikes; 62 of 72 aboard die.
- 1958 – BOAC de Havilland Comet 4 G-APDB makes first the commercial transatlantic crossing by a jet airliner, from London Heathrow Airport to New York International Airport, Anderson Field via Gander.
- 1957 – The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow rolls out from the Malton plant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- 1946 – The B-29 Pacusan Dreamboat sets a world nonstop, unrefueled distance record of 9,500 miles on a flight from Honolulu to Cairo, Egypt.
- 1943 – During Operation Leader, aircraft from the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) raid German shipping along the coast of Norway, sinking six steamers and damaging four others, including a transport on which about 200 German troops are killed.
- 1933 – 4-11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith sets a new solo flight record between England and Australia of 7 days 4 hours. He flies a Percival Gull.
- 1924 – First flight of the Curtiss XPW-8 A, a predecessor of the XPW-8 B, prototype in turn of the Curtiss P-1 Hawk
- 1919 – A new altitude world record of 9,622 m (31,569 feet) is set by American pilot Rudolph Schroeder, flying a Packard-Le Peré LUSAC-11.
- 1909 – More than a million New Yorkers watch as Wilbur Wright makes a flight along the Hudson River.
- 1784 – James Sadler (balloonist) becomes the first British aeronaut when he makes a flight in a Montgolfier-type balloon of a 170-foot circumference.
References
- ^ Yeager, Chuck and Janos, Leo. Yeager: An Autobiography. p. 252 (paperback). New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0-553-25674-2.
- ^ "Egyptian Foreign Minister Visits Iraq". Voice of America. 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
- ^ Abbas, Mohammed (2008-10-04). "Two U.S. helicopters collide in Baghdad". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ "Helicopters collide in Iraq, killing 1, injuring 4". CNN.com. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
- ^ Ernesto Londoño (2008-08-05). "2 U.S. Copters Crash in Iraq; 1 Iraqi Is Killed". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
Seven U.S. soldiers were killed Sept. 18 when a CH-47 Chinook, a transport helicopter, crashed in southern Iraq. Officials have cited mechanical failure in that incident
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