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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747 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 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

BAE Systems' offices in Farnborough, UK
BAE Systems' offices in Farnborough, UK
BAE Systems is a British defence and aerospace company headquartered in London, UK, which has worldwide interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is the world's seventh-largest defence contractor and the largest in Europe. BAE was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of two British companies: Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC) and aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer British Aerospace (BAe). It has increasingly disengaged from its businesses in continental Europe in favour of investing in the United States. Since its formation it has sold its shares of Airbus, EADS Astrium, AMS and Atlas Elektronik. BAE Systems is involved in several major defence projects, including the F-35 Lightning II, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The company has been the subject of criticism, both general opposition to the arms trade and also specific allegations of unethical and corrupt practices, including the Al-Yamama contracts with Saudi Arabia that have earned BAE and its predecessor £43 billion in twenty years. (Full article...)

Selected image

A Ventus 2a glider being winch launched
A Ventus 2a glider being winch launched
During a winch launch, a glider is pulled by a wire cable like a kite, raising it to an altitude of around 1000 ft (300 m). For the rest of its flight, being un-powered, the heavier-than-air aeroplane is always falling. However a pilot can gain height by circling within a strong thermal — a column of air that is rising at a faster rate than the plane is falling. On a good day, an experienced pilot can travel hundreds of miles before landing.

Did you know

...that four planes were simultaneously hijacked in the 1970 Dawson's Field hijackings?

Aichi D1A

Two pilots of No. 7 EFTS RAAF discuss the day's flying next to their Tiger Moth training biplanes. ... that No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF (aircraft of unit pictured) was the only Royal Australian Air Force training unit to be based in Tasmania during World War II?

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

Helmut Paul Emil Wick (5 August 1915 – 28 November 1940) was a German Luftwaffe ace and the fourth recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade, the Oak Leaves, was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme bravery in battle or successful military leadership. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Helmut Wick.

Born in Mannheim, Wick joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 and was trained as a fighter pilot. He was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing), and saw combat in the Battles of France and Britain. Promoted to Major in October 1940, he was given the position of Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 2—the youngest in the Luftwaffe to hold this rank and position. He was shot down in the vicinity of the Isle of Wight on 28 November 1940 and posted as missing in action, presumed dead. By then he had been credited with destroying 56 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, making him the leading German fighter pilot at the time. Flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109, he claimed all of his victories against the Western Allies.

Selected Aircraft

Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006
Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond. Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate. The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered... The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Arrow."

  • Span: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
  • Length: 77 ft 9 in (23.71 m)
  • Height: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
  • Engines: 2×Pratt & Whitney J75-P-3
  • Cruising Speed: Mach 0.91 (607 mph, 977 km/h) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
  • First Flight: 25 March 1958
  • Number built: 5
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

September 4

  • 2010 – Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise Flight 514, operated by Tupolev Tu-154 M RA-85684 suffered a complete electrical failure in flight. A successful emergency landing was made at Izhma Airport, Russia but the aircraft overran the runway. All 81 passengers and crew escaped uninjured. The aircraft involved was repaired in 2011.
  • 2010 – New Zealand Fletcher FU24 crash: This crash occurred on take-off from the Fox Glacier, killing all nine people on board. This was the worst aircraft accident in New Zealand for 21 years, and at the time the 7th worst in New Zealand.
  • 2009 – Air India Flight 829, a Boeing 747-437, registration VT-ESM, suffers a fire in No.1 engine while taxiing for take-off at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, India. All 229 people are successfully evacuated from the aircraft via the emergency chutes. The aircraft is substantially damaged.
  • 2004 – OH-58D Kiowa (3–17 CAV) shot down over Tal Afar, Iraq; both pilots safe. Incident highlighted in TV Documentary Kiowa Down.[1]
  • 2001 – First flight of the Sukhoi Su-80
  • 2000 – 2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air crash: A Beechcraft King Air on a flight from Perth, Western Australia to the Gwalia Gold Mine fails to land; instead flying on autopilot across Australia to Burketown, Queensland, where it eventually crashes after running out of fuel. The pilot and the seven passengers are killed.
  • 1999 – September 12 – The 11th FAI World Rally Flying Championship in Ravenna, Italy. Individual winners: first Krzysztof Wieczorek & Wacław Wieczorek (Poland), 2nd Janusz Darocha & Zbigniew Chrząszcz (Poland), 3rd Nigel Hopkins & Dale de Klerk (South Africa); team winners: first Poland, 2nd Czech Republic, 3rd France.
  • 1997 – First flight of The Zeppelin NT, German semi-rigid airship.
  • 1992 – A B-2 Spirit bomber drops a bomb for the first time.
  • 1971 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866, a Boeing 727, crashes into a mountain in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 on board.
  • 1964 – First flight of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran
  • 1963 – Swissair Flight 306, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland due to an in-flight fire, killing all 80 on board.
  • 1957 – First flight of the Lockheed JetStar
  • 1957 – Douglas C-124A Globemaster II, 51-5173, en route from Larson AFB, Washington, crashed while attempting a landing at Binghamton Airport, Binghamton, New York. On final approach, just before touchdown, the airplane struck an embankment and crashed on the runway. The plane was delivering 20 tons of equipment for Link Aviation. The crew of 9 survived.
  • 1953 – Nos. 414, 422 and 444 Squadrons, comprising No. 4 Fighter Wing, flew from Canada to their new base at Baden Soellingen, Germany.
  • 1950 – Cpt Robert Wayne becomes the first pilot to be rescued from behind enemy lines by a helicopter
  • 1950 – Four F4U Corsair fighter-bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge intercept a twin-engine Soviet aircraft approaching Task Force 77 off Korea and shoot it down after it opens fire on them.
  • 1949 – First flight of the Avro 707 VX784
  • 1949 – First flight of the Bristol Brabazon.
  • 1948 – A U.S. Navy Vought F4U Corsair fighter from Naval Air Station New York crashes into a four-family home at 39-29 212th Street, Queens, New York, killing the pilot, 1st Lt. Roger Olsen, USMCR, 25, of New Rochelle, New York, and three civilian women, Mrs. Helen Raynor, Mrs Alice Cressmer, and Miss Louise Paul. The pilot, a 1943 Pensacola graduate, was on the first day of a two-week reserve training course. The plane impacted one block from the Bayside station of the Long Island Railroad
  • 1946 – First prototype Bell XP-83, 44-84990, bailed back to Bell Aircraft Company by the USAAF as a ramjet testbed, and modified with an engineer's station in the fuselage in lieu of the rear fuel tank and pylon for test ramjet under starboard wing, suffers fire in ramjet on flight out of Niagara Falls Airport, New York. Flames spread to wing, forcing Bell test pilot "Slick" Goodlin and engineer Charles Fay to bail out, twin-jet fighter impacting at ~1020 hrs. on farm in Amhurst, New York, ~13 miles from Niagara Airport, creating ~25 foot crater.
  • 1944 – Douglas A-26B-15-DL Invader, 41-39158, first assigned to Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Station, Boscombe Down on 11 July 1944 for six weeks' testing (but no RAF serial assigned), then to 2 Group for further evaluation, crashes this date when the upper turret cover left airframe, striking the vertical tail.
  • 1944 – No. 437 (Transport) Squadron was formed in England.
  • 1943 – Finding the red in the national insignia adopted in June 1943 for its military aircraft could cause confusion with Japanese markings during combat, the United States adopts a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles, with the entire insignia outlined in blue. The new marking will remain in use until January 1947.
  • 1943 – Allied forces land at Lae, New Guinea. A small raid by nine Japanese planes destroys a tank landing ship off Lae. Later, the Japanese mount a strike of 80 aircraft; after U. S. Army Air Forces P-38 Lightnings shoot down 23, the rest attack Allied ships off Lae, damaging two tank landing ships.
  • 1942 – (Overnight) 251 British bombers attack Bremen, Germany. For the first time, Bomber Command uses three waves of Pathfinders – “illuminators” dropping flares followed by “visual markers” who drop colored target indicators followed by “backers-up” who drop incendiary bombs – To mark the target. Bremen suffers serious damage.
  • 1942 – On the night of 4-5th, Handley Page Hampden, AE436, of No. 144 Squadron RAF crashes on the remote Tsatsa Mountain in Sweden while en route from Sumburgh in Shetland to Afrikanda, Northern Russia, after being forced down to lower altitude by overheating engine. Pilot Officer D.I. Evans and passenger Cpl B.J. Sowerby survive with only slight injuries, three other members of crew die. Evans and Sowerby take three days to cross mountains and reach the village of Kvikkvokk, ~20 miles (32 km) to the south east. Wreckage of Hampden is re-discovered by three girl hikers at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) in August 1976, with remains of dead crew still in wreckage.
  • 1940 – Adolf Hitler orders German bombing attacks on London.
  • 1940 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious attack Italian airfields on Rhodes.
  • 1939 – Canadian Pilot Officer S. R. Henderson serving in No.206 Squadron, became the first Canadian to participate in an operational sortie during the Second World War when he served as the lead navigator in a bomber force attacking German targets.
  • 1939 – First British bombs of the war dropped on German targets, with a Bristol Blenheim attacking the German fleet.
  • 1939 – Supermarine Type 300, the prototype Spitfire to F.37/34, K5054, is wrecked when Flt. Lt. "Spinner" White misjudges his landing approach at Farnborough, bouncing several times before fighter noses over onto its back. Pilot dies in hospital four days later. Spitfire is not repaired.
  • 1936 – 4-5 – Beryl Markham makes the first east-to-west solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman in a Percival Vega Gull, from Abingdon, Berkshire to Cape Breton Island
  • 1936 – Louise Thaden becomes the first woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race.
  • 1933 – Florence Gunderson Klingensmith (3 September 1904 – 4 September 1933) was an American Aviator of the Golden Age of Air Racing. She was also a founding member of the Ninety-Nines, a women’s pilot group. She was one of the first women to participate in Air Races with men. Unfortunately, she paid the ultimate price when she was killed in the 1933 National Air Race in Cleveland, Ohio.
  • 1929 – First prototype, of three, Gloster Gorcocks, J7501, experimental single-seat, single-bay biplane interceptor, first delivered to the Royal Aircraft Establishment on 16 May 1928, breaks up in the air near Aldershot this date, the pilot bailing out successfully.
  • 1924 – First flight of the Naval Aircraft Factory TS as the all-metal Curtiss F4C-1
  • 1923 – Maiden Voyage of the first USA airship USS Shenandoah
  • 1922 – Lt Jimmy Doolittle flies across the United States in under a day in a de Havilland DH.4. He takes 21 hours 19 min to fly from Pablo Beach, Florida to Rockwell Field, California.
  • 1913 – U.S. Army 11th Cavalry 1st Lt. Moss Lee Love becomes the 10th fatality in U.S. army aviation history when his Wright Model C biplane crashes near San Diego during practice for his Military Aviator Test. On 19 October 1917, the newly opened Dallas Love Field in Dallas is named in his honor. Joe Baugher lists the fatal aircraft accident for this date as being Burgess Model J, Signal Corps 18, which dove into the ground killing its pilot.
  • 1888 – Edward Hogan in Quebec makes the first parachute descents in Canada from a hot-air balloon.

References

  1. ^ ""Kiowa Down" Documentary". 2005-09-25. Retrieved 2010-05-12. A "routine mission" in Iraq on Sept. 4, 2004, turned into a raging firefight for Stryker troops with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Scout Platoon, and B Company of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, as they fought off heavy fire (including 60-mm mortars and RPGs) in a rescue mission launched after Iraqi insurgents shot down a Kiowa helicopter and swarmed to capture it and the two pilots.
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