Portal:Aviation
| Main page | Categories & Main topics |
|
Tasks and Projects |
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 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
Selected image
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 one of the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic was the Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat, which went on to serve in the Luftwaffe in WWII? ... that Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the captain of US Airways Flight 1549, also runs an aviation safety consultant company and has worked as an accident investigator for the USAF, NTSB, and FAA?
General images -
-
The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation) -
Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation) -
The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (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) -
The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation) -
-
Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation) -
1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation) -
-
"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation) -
Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation) -
-
The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation) -
Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (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) -
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) -
-
-
One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation) -
Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (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) -
Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation) -
First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation) -
La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation) -
-
Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation) -
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner of United Airlines landing at Beijing Capital International Airport on 28 December 2018. (from Wide-body aircraft) -
French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (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) -
D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation) -
Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation) -
Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation) -
-
Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (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 business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation) -
Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg)
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
Related portals
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Selected biography
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He is most famous for his design of the record-breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the suborbital rocket plane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004.
Selected Aircraft
The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II.
Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death from cancer in 1937. The elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a faster top speed than the Hurricane and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.
More than 20,300 examples of all variants were built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. It was the only fighter aircraft to be in continual production before, during and after the war.
The aircraft was dubbed Spitfire by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers (the parent company of Supermarine) at the time, and on hearing this, Mitchell is reported to have said, "...sort of bloody silly name they would give it." The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person, usually a woman. The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design.
The prototype (K5054) first flew on March 5, 1936, from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). Testing continued until May 26, 1936, when Mutt Summers (Chief Test Pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.) flew K5054 to Martlesham and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE).
- Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
- Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
- Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
- Number Built: 20,351 (excluding Seafires)
- Maximum speed: 330 knots (378 mph, 605 km/h)
- Maiden flight: March 5, 1936
- Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 supercharged V12 engine, 1470 hp at 9250 ft (1096 kW at 2820 m)
Today in Aviation
- 2011 – NATO announces that its airstrikes in Libya under Operation Unified Protector have destroyed 11 Libyan government tanks near Ajdabiya and 14 near Misrata during the day.[1] Libyan rebels announce that NATO airstrikes have helped them hold Ajdabiya and drive Gaddafi's forces out during the weekend's attack.[2]
- 2010 – A Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M carrying the Polish President Lech Kaczyński and many other Polish officials crashes on approach to Smolensk, Russia.
- 2010 – Jamaican airline Air Jamaica ceased operations. All services taken over by Caribbean Airlines.
- 2009 – A Kenyan Airforce Harbin Y-12 crashes into a hillside on approaching an airstrip near Marsabit, Eastern Province, Kenya killing 14 personnel.
- 1986 – Johan Åhling of Sweden introduces the "Mosquito", a foot-launched powered hang glider harness.
- 1981 – First flight of the Aermacchi S-211
- 1981 – Japan Air Lines carries its 10 millionth passenger
- 1979 – First flight of the Westland 30
- 1973 – First flight of the Boeing T-43
- 1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435, a Vickers Vanguard 952 from Bristol Lulsgate to Basle, flies into a hillside near Hochwald, Switzerland, somersaults and breaks up, killing 108 with 40 survivors.
- 1972 – LCol Roy Windover awarded the Louis Bleriot medal by the FAI for reaching an altitude of 30,800 ft in a glider.
- 1970 – The first of four Boeing 707‘s designated the CC 137 arrived at Trenton.
- 1969 – The Royal Norwegian Air Force is the first European air service to take delivery of the Lockheed P-3 B Orion.
- 1967 – Gates Rubber Company acquires a controlling interest in Lear Jet Industries.
- 1965 – The U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff submit a plan for Operation Rolling Thunder which includes a list of major fixed targets in North Vietnam in its section Alpha. It begins the U. S. Navy use of the term "Alpha strike", meaning a large attack by an aircraft carrier air wing.
- 1963 – First flight of the EWR VJ 101, the world's first supersonic V/STOL aircraft
- 1960 – BOAC re-opens its air routes to Cairo. They had been suspended at the time of the Suez Crisis.
- 1958 – A USAF Boeing B-47E-90-BW Stratojet, 52-0470, c/n 450755, the first Block E-90-BW, of the 376th Bombardment Wing (Medium) out of Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, crashes near North Collins, New York, after disintegrating in flight at ~20,000 feet (6,100 m) altitude. It had been scheduled to rendezvous with a KC-97 Stratotanker of the 341st Air Refueling Squadron, out of Dow AFB, Maine, when it exploded. The tanker was about one mile ahead of the bomber when it went down. All four crew KWF. Dead are Maj. Harold L. Kelly, aircraft commander, 34, Eugene, Oregon; Lt. Col. John R. Glyer, pilot, 38, Wilmington, Delaware; 1st Lt. Richard Tellier, co-pilot, Pompano Beach, Florida; and 1st Lt. Albert Gene Moncla, navigator, 24, Shreveport, Louisiana.
- 1959 – First flight of the Northrop T-38 Talon
- 1958 – A Convair F-102 Delta Dagger crashes between two houses in Rio Linda, California. A witness said he thought the pilot dove the plane to miss houses in the area. Pilot was the only casualty.
- 1953 – No. 1 Air Division now located at new HQ at Metz, France.
- 1948 – Eglin AFB, Florida, suffers second accident in two days when Douglas A-26 Invader from Biggs AFB, El Paso, Texas, goes down in the Gulf of Mexico S of Destin, Florida. Two of three crew survive by parachuting from stricken bomber, TDY here for firing exercises over the Gulf. First Lieutenant John Kubo and T/Sgt. Joseph A. Riley (ages, hometowns not given) are rescued by Eglin crash boats. KWF is T/Sgt. John E. Brizendine, officially listed as missing.
- 1945 – The Luftwaffe flies its final sortie over England (with an Arado Ar 234 on a reconnaissance mission)
- 1942 – No. 132 (Fighter) Squadron was formed at Tofino, BC.
- 1942 – The Japanese carrier raiding force departs the Indian Ocean, having destroyed an aircraft carrier, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, three lesser warships, 23 merchant ships, and over 40 aircraft. No Japanese aircraft carrier will operate in the Indian Ocean again.
- 1942 – (Overnight) The Royal Air Force introduces its new 8,000-lb (3,629-kg) “Super Cookie” bomb – Its largest bomb to date and second of its “blockbuster” bombs – Into service in a raid on Essen, Germany. Too big for the bomb bay of the Stirling and Wellington, it can be carried only by the Halifax and Lancaster
- 1940 – German Dornier Do 17 s and Heinkel He 111 s attack British towns and shore facilities in the Scapa Flow area in the Orkney Islands. Defending Gloster Sea Gladiators of the Fleet Air Arm’s No. 804 Squadron shoot down one He 111.
- 1940 – Sixteen Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua dive bombers sink the German light cruiser Königsberg at Bergen, Norway. It is the first time in history that dive bombers sink a major warship. One Skua is lost.
- 1933 – First flight of the Airspeed Courier
- 1933 – Francesco Agello sets a new airspeed record of 682 km/h (424 mph) in the Italian Macchi M. C.72 seaplane.
- 1931 – C. W. A. Scott breaks the record for the fastest solo flight from England to Australia. Flighing from April 1–10 in a time of 9 days 4 hr. 11 min.
- 1930 – The English aviatrix and ornithologist Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, and her personal pilot C. D. Barnard make a record-breaking flight in the Fokker F.VII Spider (G-EBTS) of 9,000 miles (14,493 km) from Lympne Airport in Lympne, England, to Cape Town, South Africa, in 100 flying hours over 10 days.
- 1926 – Lindberg becomes chief pilot for Robertson Aircraft Corp, flying a Saint Louis to Chicago mail route.
- 1926 – Three United States Army aircraft take photographs of an eruption of Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii, providing valuable scientific information.
- 1923 – Daimler Airways begins the first scheduled service between London and Berlin (via Bremen and Hamburg).
- 1837 – The earliest known aeronautical experiment in Canada is conducted by Canadian schoolteacher John Rae. He successfully launches a paper balloon able to carry weight. Its lift is provided by the heating of its blackened surface by the sun.
References
- ^ Press release (10 April 2011). "NATO Strikes Hit Gaddafi Forces Around Adjabiya and Misratah". NATO. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ^ Staff (10 April 2011). "Libya Live Blog – 10 April". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 April 20911.
- Shortcuts to this page: Portal:Airplanes • P:AVIA