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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 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

British Airways Boeing 747-400 taking off at Heathrow Airport in October 2007
British Airways Boeing 747-400 taking off at Heathrow Airport in October 2007
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom and its largest airline based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations. When measured by passengers carried it is second-largest, behind easyJet. The airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. A British Airways Board was established by the United Kingdom government in 1972 to manage the two nationalised airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and two smaller, regional airlines, Cambrian Airways, from Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines, from Newcastle upon Tyne. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. After almost 13 years as a state company, British Airways was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, Dan-Air in 1992 and British Midland International in 2012. British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance. British Airways merged with Iberia on 21 January 2011, formally creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe. (Full article...)

Selected image

JF-17 at the IDEAS 2008 defence exhibition in Karachi, Pakistan
JF-17 at the IDEAS 2008 defence exhibition in Karachi, Pakistan
Credit: Paki90
JF-17 at the IDEAS 2008 defence exhibition in Karachi, Pakistan

Did you know

...that the pioneer American airman Lowell Smith participated in the first mid-air refueling, the first aerial circumnavigation and held 16 records for military aircraft in speed, endurance and distance? ...that the airfields captured in the battle of Tinian were used for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? ...that the Silver Centenary biplane, built in Beverley, Western Australia in 1930, received its airworthiness certificate 77 years after its first flight?

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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Selected biography

Billy Mitchell (1879–1936) was an early aviation pioneer who rose to become a chief of the U.S. Army Air Service. Mitchell was born in Nice, France and raised on his family estate near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended George Washington University before enlisting in the Army at age 18 during the Spanish–American War. Due to his family connection he quickly received a commission Signal Corps where he had the opportunity to witness a flight demonstration by the Wright brothers in 1908. In 1916 he took private flight lessons and was transferred to the Aeronautical Division.

Mitchell deployed to France in 1917 when the United States entered World War I. While there he was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command American combat air units in France. After the war Mitchell was appointed the deputy director of the Air Service became a passionate advocate of air power. In 1921 he set up a demonstration to show the capability of airpower against naval vessels. During the course of the demonstrations aircraft successfully sank a captured German destroyer, the light crusier Frankfurt, and the battleship Ostfriesland.

Mitchell regularly sparred with his superiors over the role of airpower in the military. In 1925 he was reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and was transferred to San Antonio, Texas. Later that year, after a series of aviation accidents he accused Army and Navy leadership of incompetence and "almost treasonable administration of the national defense." In response he was court-martialed for insubordination, found guilty, and sentenced to a five-year suspension from active duty. Mitchell resigned on 1 February 1926 in lieu of serving the sentence. He continued to advocate airpower as a civilian until his death in 1936. In 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt posthumously promoted Mitchell to major general in recognition of his contributions to air power.

Selected Aircraft

The Pregnant Guppy was a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft built in the USA and used for ferrying outsized cargo items, most notably NASA's components of the Apollo moon program. The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines, Inc. The design also inspired similar designs such as the jet-powered Airbus Beluga, and the Boeing 747 LCF designed to deliver Boeing 787 parts.

  • Span:141 feet, 3 inches.
  • Length: 127 feet.
  • Height: 31 feet, 3 inches.
  • Engines: 4 3500hp P&W R-4360.
  • Cruising Speed: 250 mph
  • First Flight:September 19, 1962
  • Number built: 1
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

October 25

  • 2012 – Independent United Nations human rights researcher Ben Emmerson announces plans to launch an investigation into unmanned aerial vehicle strikes and other targeted assassinations by governments that kill or injure civilians.[1]
  • 2009 – CSA Czech Airlines discontinues all long-haul routes from Prague, including New York and Toronto
  • 2007 – The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.
  • 2006 – The first production CH-47 F Chinook helicopter successfully completes its first flight.
  • 2006 – (25-26) Oasis Hong Kong Airlines originally began service with initial service to London-Gatwick on the 25th but due to problems with rights flying over Russia, the initial flight OHK 700/O8 700 was delayed to the 26th.
  • 2003 – UH-60L Black Hawk 96-26653 From B co. 3-158 Avn. Regt. of the 12th Avn. BDE crashes and burns out after being hit by an SA-7 missile near Tikrit, 1 soldier injured. This reference story is incorrect. From the Plt. Sgt. that maintained the aircraft. P.O.C. commander the aircraft belonged to, CPT Scott Halter.[2]
  • 2000 – A Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-18 crashes near Batumi, Georgia killing all 86 people on board.
  • 1999 – A Learjet 35 flying between Orlando, Florida and Dallas crashed after flying for almost four hours and 1,500 miles (2,400 km), until it ran out of fuel. Among the six people on board were golf star Payne Stewart and Bruce Borland.
  • 1994 – First flight of the Bell 430
  • 1994 – U. S. Navy Lieutenant Kara Hultgreen, the first female aircraft carrier-based fighter pilot, is killed off San Diego, California, in the crash of an F-14 Tomcat fighter she is piloting on final approach to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
  • 1991 – First flight of the Airbus A340
  • 1986 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 467, a Boeing 737, overruns the runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport; there are no fatalities on board, but the aircraft is written off
  • 1985 – Emirates operates its first revenue flight, from Dubai to Karachi using an Airbus A300 leased from Pakistan International Airlines.
  • 1982 – Canadian Armed Forces accepted the first two CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft at CFB Uplands.
  • 1979 – The Air Force takes delivery of the last U. S.-built McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It is the 5,057 Phantom to roll out from the plant at St. Louis, Mo., since May 1958.
  • 1976 – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7965, Article 2016, lost near Lovelock, Nevada during night training sortie following INS platform failure. Pilot St. Martin and RSO Carnochan eject safely.
  • 1969 – Two United States Air Force Academy faculty[clarification needed] are killed when their Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star crashed and burned in a meadow near the main runway while landing at Peterson Field, Colorado. Pilot was Maj. Donald J. Usry, 32, of the academy faculty, and back-seater was Capt. Martin Bezyack, of the academy's athletic department.
  • 1968 – Northeast Airlines Flight 946, a Fairchild 227, crashes near Etna, New Hampshire, killing 32 passengers and crew.
  • 1961 – Sikorsky HSS-1N Seabat, BuNo 149132, c/n 58-1374, coded '139', of the Koninklijke Marine, ditches at Moray Firth, near Scotland.
  • 1960 – National Aviation Museum was opened at Uplands Airport by Hon J. Angus MacLean, acting on behalf of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
  • 1960 – First flight of the Boeing Vertol Model 107, a predecessor to the CH-46 Sea Knight.
  • 1956 – First (of two) Bell XV-3s, 54-147, first flown 11 August 1955, crashes this date when pilot Dick Stansbury blacks out due to extremely high cockpit vibrations when the rotor shafts are moved 17 degrees forward from vertical. Pilot is seriously injured and airframe is damaged beyond repair. Design was initially designated XH-33.
  • 1955 – First flight of the Saab 35 Draken
  • 1955 – Boeing WB-29A-35-BN Superfortress, 44-61600, c/n 11077, of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, out of RAF Burtonwood, experiences multiple problems including failed fuel feed pump, head winds, while returning from "Falcon" mission to polar region; pilot orders bail out of crew shortly before midnight as fuel exhaustion becomes critical, all eleven survive, with only one minor injury. Aircraft comes down near Kirby Lonsdale, Lancashire, England, burns, only rear fuselage and tail remaining intact.
  • 1951 – Japan Airlines flies its first flights, using three Northwest Airlines Martin 2-0-2 aircraft, flown by Northwest crews. [1]
  • 1944 – The first kamikaze mission is carried out, with aircraft of the 201st Kokutai sinking the carrier USS St Lo.
  • 1943 – 61 Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators raid Rabaul, escorted by 50 P-38 Lightnings. The Fifth Air Force’s commander, Major General George Kenney, claims 175 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the raids of October 23-25; the Japanese admit a loss of nine of their planes shot down and 25 destroyed on the ground.
  • 1940 – F/L GR McGregor and F/O BD Russel, No. 1 Squadron, were awarded the DFC for services in the Battle of Britain.
  • 1938 – 1938 Kyeema crash, an Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 crashes in heavy fog into Mount Dandenong in Victoria, Australia, killing all 18 people on board.
  • 1930 – TWA (originally "Transcontinental and Western Air") begins the first regular passenger flights between New York and Los Angeles.
  • 1922 – The Douglas Co. begins its association with the Army Air Service when it receives a memo requesting information on a modified version of the DT-2.

References

  1. ^ Lynch, Colum, "U.N. to Probe Drone Strikes Resulting in Civilian Deaths," The Washington Post, October 26, 2012, Page A7.
  2. ^ "Helicopters shot down or crashed in Iraq". USA Today. 2004-01-13. Retrieved 2010-05-08. A rocket-propelled grenade forces down a Black Hawk north of Baghdad, and five soldiers are injured.
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