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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

The feathered propellers of an RAF Hercules C.4
The feathered propellers of an RAF Hercules C.4
A propeller is essentially a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust for propulsion of an aircraft through the air, by rotating two or more twisted blades about a central shaft, in a manner analogous to rotating a screw through a solid. The blades of a propeller act as rotating wings (the blades of a propeller are in fact wings or airfoils), and produce force through application of both Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law, generating a difference in pressure between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blades and by accelerating a mass of air rearward. (Full article...)

Selected image

A test firing of twin linear XRS-2200 Aerospike engines. The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its efficiency across a wide range of altitudes through the use of an aerospike nozzle. A standard rocket engine uses a bell shaped nozzle to contain and direct the exhaust gases. However the optimum shape of the bell depends on the air pressure which reduces as the rocket climbs. An aerospike uses the air flowing past the rocket to form half of a 'virtual bell' which automatically compensates for the reducing pressure.

Did you know

...that Suriname's worst air disaster was Surinam Airways Flight 764, which crashed after the pilots ignored repeated warnings that they were flying too low? ...that the Aerocar Coot was a two-seat amphibious aircraft designed for home-building by Moulton Taylor? ... that a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft crashed shortly after take-off at Bakers Creek, Queensland in 1943, killing 40 of the 41 service personnel on board and making it Australia's worst aviation disaster?

More Did you know facts

General images - load new batch

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

Elizabeth 'Bessie' Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926), popularly known as "Queen Bess", was the first African American (male or female) to become an airplane pilot, and the first American of any race or gender to hold an international pilot license. Growing up in Chicago, she heard tales of the world from pilots who were returning home from World War I. They told stories about flying in the war, and Coleman started to fantasize about being a pilot. She could not gain admission to American flight schools because she was black and a woman. No black U.S. aviator would train her either. Coleman took French language class at the Berlitz school in Chicago, and then traveled to Paris on November 20, 1920. Coleman learned to fly in a Nieuport Type 82 biplane.

Selected Aircraft

An ERJ-145 of BA CitiExpress (now BA Connect) takes off from Bristol Airport (UK)
An ERJ-145 of BA CitiExpress (now BA Connect) takes off from Bristol Airport (UK)

The Embraer ERJ-145 is a regional jet produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. The ERJ 145 is the largest of a family of airliners, which also includes the ERJ 135, ERJ 140, and Legacy. All aircraft in the series are powered by two turbofan engines. It is one of the most popular regional jet families in the world with primary competition coming from the Canadair Regional Jet.

The first flight of the ERJ 145 was on August 11, 1995, with the first delivery in December 1996 to ExpressJet Airlines (then the regional division of Continental Airlines). ExpressJet is the largest operator of the ERJ 145, with 270 of the nearly 1000 ERJ 145s in service. The second largest operator is American Eagle, with 206 ERJ 145 aircraft. Chautauqua Airlines also operates 95 ERJ 145s through its alliances with American Connection, Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express. By some accounts, the ERJ 145 has a cost of ownership of about $2,500,000 per year.

  • Span: 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in)
  • Length: 29.9 m (98 ft 0 in)
  • Height: 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in)
  • Engines: 2× Rolls-Royce AE 3007A turbofans, 33.0 kN (7,420 lbf) thrust each
  • Cruising Speed: 834 km/h (518 mph, Mach 0.78)
  • First Flight: August 11, 1995
  • Number built: ≈1000

Today in Aviation

September 1

  • 2007 – Radom Air Show crash: Two aerobatics aircraft collided during Radom Air Show, two pilots died in a crash.
  • 1983 – Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, is shot down by Soviet fighter planes near Sakhalin and Moneron Island after straying into Soviet airspace; all 269 people on board are killed.
  • 1983 – A Boeing-Vertol UH-46 Sea Knight loses power on lift-off from the deck of Spruance-class destroyer USS Fife during her first deployment, strikes the NATO Sea Sparrow missile mount, leaving the stricken helicopter hanging over the ship's starboard side. Fife's damage control teams quickly lash the UH-46 in place and all 16 personnel are rescued without serious injury. After pulling into Singapore to crane off the damaged helicopter, the warship sails west to Diego Garcia to receive a new Sea Sparrow mount.
  • 1975 – Egyptian Air Force Tupolev Tu-16K11-16 Badger, 4403, crashed over the Menya area of Egypt. It had a left engine fire and the bullets of the second navigator's gun were exploding. Pilot Wing Commander Mohamed Keraidy refused to bail out as he tried to rescue his crew. The intercom was disabled due to the fire. Co-pilot Fl. Lt. Adel El Fiky bailed out safely. Major Samir Abdel Fattah, 1st Navigator, died while trying to eject. Captain Salah El Menshawy, 2nd Navigator, died instantly from the explosion of the oxygen thermos behind him in the bomber. Keraidy finally bailed out several minutes after putting the bomber in a dive position into the river Nile in order to reduce the explosion. Gunner and radioman did not escape the aircraft and were KWF. The pilot was taken by a helicopter to the Maadi military hospital in Cairo and died in the ICU several hours later. This crash was the longest emergency case in the Egyptian Air Force. Wing Commander Keraidy was the first Egyptian officer to be given the Golden Military Bravery Medal, first Category, without dying in a battle.
  • 1974 – The U. S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird 61-17972, flown by Major James Sullivan (pilot) and Major Noel F, Widdifield (reconnaissance systems officer), crosses the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to London in a world record 1 h 54 min 56 seconds at an average speed of 1,806.96 mph (2,909.76 km/h).
  • 1974 – The Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk company demonstrator N671SA crashed while attempting to recover from a roll at too low an altitude during its display at the Farnborough Air Show, United Kingdom, killing its two crew.
  • 1970 – A Vought F-8J Crusader from VF-24 suffers ramp strike on the USS Hancock and explodes during night carrier qualifications, killing Lt. Darrell N. Eggert.
  • 1967 – The U. S. Navy's first dedicated search-and-rescue squadron, Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 7 (HC-7), is commissioned at Atsugi, Japan; it operates UH-2 Seasprite helicopters. Previously, all Navy search-and-rescue had been performed by helicopter antisubmarine squadrons. HC-7 will make its first rescue on October 3 in Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam.
  • 1966 – Britannia Airways Flight 105, a Bristol Brittania, crashes on approach to Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport in Ljubjljana, Slovenia. 98 of the 117 passengers and crew on board were killed.
  • 1961 – TWA Flight 529, a Lockheed Constellation L-049 propliner, abruptly pitches up and crashes shortly after takeoff from Chicago's Midway Airport, killing all 73 passengers and 5 crew on board; a 5/16 inch bolt which fell out of the elevator control linkage just before the crash is blamed.
  • 1953 – The first scheduled international helicopter service begins between Belgium and France. The service is operated by Belgian airline Sabena.
  • 1952 – Several tornados sweep across Carswell AFB, Texas destroying Convair B-36B Peacemaker, 44-92051, and damaging 82 others of the 11th Bomb Group, 7th Bomb Wing, including ten at the Convair plant on the other side of the Fort Worth base. Gen. Curtis LeMay is forced to remove the 19th Air Division from the war plan, and the base went on an 84-hour work week until repairs were made. 26 B-36s were returned to Convair for repairs, and the last aircraft deemed repairable was airborne again on 11 May 1953.
  • 1950 – The number three engine of the Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-749 A Constellation Star of Maryland, operating as Flight 903, catches fire, then falls off the wing, while the aircraft is flying near Cairo, Egypt. The crew attempts an emergency landing near Ityai el Barud, Egypt, but the aircraft crashes, killing all 55 people on board. Among the dead are architect Maciej Nowicki and an Egyptian film star.
  • 1943 – Due to the vast distances involved, land-based American aircraft have flown only 102 combat sorties in the Central Pacific Area since January 1.
  • 1943 – U. S. Army Air Force Fifth Air Force aircraft conduct a major raid against the Japanese airfield at Madang, New Guinea.
  • 1943 – The Civil Air Patrol is relieved of maritime patrol duties off the coast of the United States.
  • 1943 – (1-11) The aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVL-23) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and Canton Island-based U. S. Navy PV-1 Venturas cover the unopposed American landing on Baker Island. On three occasions, F6F Hellcats from the carriers shoot down an approaching Japanese Kawanishi H8 K (Allied reporting name “Emily”) flying boat. A U. S. Army Air Forces fighter squadron arrives on Baker Island on September 11.
  • 1942 – (overnight) Due to heavy German jamming of Gee, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Pathfinder aircraft go astray, marking the wrong city, and the force of 231 British bombers that sets out to attack Saarbrücken instead bombs Saarlouis 15 km (9.3 mi) to the northwest.
  • 1939 – During the predawn hours of the day, a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 “Stuka” dive bomber flown by Leutnant Frank Neubert of I Group, Sturzkampfgeshwader 2, scores the first aerial victory of World War II, shooting down a PZL P.11c fighter flown by Polish Captain Mieczysław Medwecki. Twenty minutes later, Medwecki's wingman, Second Lieutenant Wladyslaw Gnys, flying a PZL P.11c, scores probably the first Allied aerial victories of the war, shooting down two German Dornier Do.17E bombers of Kampfgeschwader 77 over Zurada, near Olkusz, Poland, although some authors have claimed that Polish antiaircraft artillery shot down the bombers.
  • 1937 – Douglas Aircraft Company acquires the remaining 49 percent of the shares of its Northrop Corp. subsidiary and begins operating the facility in August 1938 as the Douglas El Segundo (Calif.) Division.
  • 1937 – Supported by 250 aircraft, Spanish Nationalist forces begin an offensive against Republicans inn Asturias. The absence of the Condor Legion, which is deployed in Aragon, is felt; Nationalist progress is slow for the first six weeks.
  • 1934 – Formation of Nos. 15 (Fighter) and 18 (Bomber) Squadrons on Non-Permanent Active Air Force at Montreal, Quebec, was authorized.
  • 1931 – Trenton Air Station was opened by the RCAF.
  • 1925 – After modifications, the aircraft carrier HMS Furious returns to service with the Royal Navy as the first ship ever to be equipped with a round-down Located at the after end of her flight deck, the round-down, which improves air flow and gives pilots landing aboard Furious greater confidence, will become standard on aircraft carriers.
  • 1923 – The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Amagi is heavily damaged by the Great Kantō earthquake while still under conversion from a battle cruiser. She is scrapped, and the battleship Kaga is selected for conversion into an aircraft carrier instead.
  • 1914 – The Wakamiya arrives off Kiaochow Bay, China, to participate in operations during the Siege of Tsingtao. It is the first combat deployment of an aviation ship by any country.
  • 1914 – The first U. S. tactical air unit, the First Aero Squadron, is organized because of the August outbreak of war in Europe. Based in San Diego, California, the unit has 16 officers, 77 enlisted men, and 8 airplanes.

References

  1. ^ "Syrian Rebels 'Seize Air Defence Base", The Guardian, 1 September 2012
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