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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...)
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A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is the gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule) which carries the passengers and a source of heat. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today's sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex.
Recently, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships. (Full article...)
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Did you know
...that the Brimstone missile, an anti-tank guided missile, is carried by three Royal Air Force aeroplane types? ...that the airfields captured in the battle of Tinian were used for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? ... that while flying accidents were commonplace at RAAF training establishments during World War II, No. 8 Service Flying Training School's first fatality was from drowning?
General images -
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1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation) -
Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation) -
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Early Voisin biplane (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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French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation) -
Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation) -
Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (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) -
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) -
La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation) -
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The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation) -
Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (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) -
Flagg biplane from 1933 (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) -
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One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation) -
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The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (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) -
The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation) -
The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation) -
Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation) -
"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation) -
First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation) -
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Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation) -
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (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) -
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Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation) -
1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation) -
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Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (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
Foulois conducted the acceptance test for the Army's first aircraft, a Wright Model A, in 1909. He participated in the Mexican Expedition from 1916–17 and was part of the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I where he was responsible for the logistics and maintenance of the U.S. air fleet. During World War I he and Billy Mitchell began a long and hostile relationship over the direction of military aviation and the best method to get there. After the war he served as a military attaché to Germany where he gathered a great deal of intelligence on German aviation. He later went on to command the 1st Aero Squadron and ultimately commanded the Air Corps.
He retired in 1935 as part of the fallout from the Air Mail scandal. Foulois continued to advocate for a strong air service in retirement. In 1959, at the invitation of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Foulois began touring Air Force bases advocating national security. He died of a heart attack on 25 April 1967 and is buried in his home town of Washington, Connecticut.
Selected Aircraft
The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet and is commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven". The aircraft has seating for over 300 passengers and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles (9,695 to 17,372 km) depending on model. Its distinguishing features include the largest diameter turbofan engines of any aircraft, six wheels on each main landing gear, a circular fuselage cross-section, and blade-shaped tail cone. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 was designed to replace older wide-body airliners and bridge the capacity difference between the 767 and 747. As Boeing's first fly-by-wire airliner, it has computer mediated controls; it is also the first entirely computer-designed commercial aircraft.
The 777 is produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 777-200 model first entered service in 1995, followed by the extended range 777-200ER in 1997; the stretched 777-300, which is 33.3 ft (10.1 m) longer, began service in 1998. The longer-range 777-300ER and 777-200LR variants entered service in 2004 and 2006, respectively, while a freighter version, the 777F, debuted in 2008. Both longer-range versions and the freighter feature General Electric GE90 engines, as well as extended and raked wingtips. Other models are equipped with either the GE90, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. The 777-200LR ranks as the world's longest-range airliner and holds the record for longest distance flown by an unrefuelled commercial aircraft, with the demonstrated capability to fly more than halfway around the world.
United Airlines first placed the 777 into commercial airline service in 1995. As of August 2023, 1,716 777s have been delivered. The most common variant used worldwide is the 777-300ER, with 832 aircraft delivered, and Emirates operates the largest 777 fleet, with 134 aircraft (as of May 2019). The airliner has had 8 hull-loss accidents, with 541 fatalities. The most deadly incident was Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in which a 777-200ER carrying 298 people was shot down by a missile over Ukraine on 17 July 2014.
Through the 21st century, the 777 has emerged as one of its manufacturer's best-selling models. Because of rising fuel costs, airlines have acquired the type as a comparatively fuel-efficient alternative to other wide-body jets and have increasingly used the aircraft on long-haul, transoceanic routes. Direct market competitors include the Airbus A330-300, the A340 and A350 XWB.
- Span: 212 ft 7 in (64.8 m)
- Length: 242 ft 4 in (73.9 m)
- Height: 61 ft 5 in (18.7 m)
- Engines: 2 X GE 90-115B
- Cruising speed: 0.84 Mach (555 mph, 892 km/h, 481 kn) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m) cruise altitude
- First flight: 12 June 1994
- Number built: 1,716 as of August 2023 (based on deliveries)
Today in Aviation
- 2012 – A Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner crashes on Mount Salak on Java in Indonesia during a demonstration flight for airline representatives and journalists, killing all 45 people on board. Its wreckage is discovered on 10 May.
- 2008 – Death of Ronald Anthony Parise, Italian American scientist who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a payload specialist.
- 2004 – Southwest Airlines begins service to Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 2004 – American Eagle Flight 5401 is damaged by high winds during landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, injuring 13 people.
- 2003 – Launch of Hayabusa, Japanese uncrewed spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis.
- 2003 – UH-60A Black Hawk 86-24507 of 571st Medical Company (AA) crashes into Tigris River, the vicinity of Samarrah, Iraq killing two pilots and crew chief. One more soldier was injured.[1]
- 1991 – Death of Aviard Gavrilovich Fastovets, Soviet test pilot.
- 1987 – LOT Flight 5055, an Ilyushin Il-62M, crashes near Warsaw during landing because of engine failure. All 183 passengers and crew members perish in the worst ever accident involving the Ilyushin Il-62.
- 1983 – The first all-woman flight crew to fly a round trip across the Atlantic is the Air Force C-141 crew from the 18th Military Airlift Squadron, McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.
- 1981 – Second prototype of Dornier 228 200 (E-2 extended version, twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft), makes its first flight.
- 1981 – After modifications, the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes reenters service with the Royal Navy as the world’s first carrier with a ski-jump ramp. Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander D. R. Taylor had developed the ramp.
- 1981 – Thunderbird 6 a United States Air Force Northrop T-38A Talon of the Thunderbirds demonstration team crashed during a display at Hill AFB, Utah, United States, pilot killed.
- 1978 – David Cook makes the first crossing of the English Channel in a powered hang-glider.
- 1977 – Death of Ian Patrick Robert "Old Naps" Napier, Scottish WWI flying ace.
- 1976 – Imperial Iranian Air Force, flight ULF48, a 747 freighter crashed near Madrid, due to the structural failure of its left wing in flight, killing the 17 people on board. The accident investigation determined that a lightning strike had caused an explosion in a fuel tank in the wing, leading to flutter and the separation of the wing.
- 1972 – In Operation Pocket Money, U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair II bombers from three aircraft carriers lay naval mines in the harbors at Haiphong and six other North Vietnamese ports.
- 1970 – U.S. Navy attack helicopters are the first American aircraft to reach Phnom Penh during the American and South Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia.
- 1967 – First flight of the Fokker F28 Fellowship, Dutch short range jet airliner.
- 1965 – Launch of Luna 5 (E-6 series), uncrewed space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 5.
- 1964 – A Republic F-105B-15-RE Thunderchief, 57-5801, Thunderbird 2, one of nine delivered to the Thunderbirds demonstration team in mid-April 1964, suffers structural failure and disintegrates during 6G tactical pitch up for landing at airshow at Hamilton AFB, California, killing pilot Capt. Eugene J. Devlin. The failure of the fuselage's upper spine causes the USAF to ground all F-105s and retrofit the fleet with a structural brace, but the air demonstration team reverts to the North American F-100 Super Sabre and never flies another show in F-105s.
- 1962 – First flight of the Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe, twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter designed by Sikorsky Aircraft for the US Army. It is named after Tarhe (whose nickname was "The Crane"), an eighteenth-century chief of the Wyandot Native American tribe.The civil version is the S-64 Skycrane.
- 1960 – First flight of the Auster D.6 G-25-10.
- 1958 – A USAF North American F-100F-10-NA Super Sabre, serial number 56-3810, crashed 8 miles (13 km) NNE of Kadena AB,Japan. Instructor/test Pilot:Capt Theodore Christos and rear seat pilot Capt James Looney ejected but were killed. Crash Investigation Board report indicated cause of crash was undetermined.
- 1957 – Boeing KC-97F-55-BO Stratotanker, 51-0258, c/n 16325, en route from Sidi Slimane Air Base, Morocco, to Terceira-Lajes AFB, Azores, ditches at 0616 hrs. in the Atlantic 550 km (343.8 mls) SE of the Azores Islands following a double engine failure, no fatalities amongst the seven crew. The airplane floated for ten days and was sunk by USS Wisconsin.
- 1957 – 1st Lt. David Steeves departs Hamilton AFB, California for Craig AFB, Alabama, in T-33A-1-LO Shooting Star, 52-9232, and disappears without a trace. Declared dead by the Air Force, he emerges from the Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains 54 days later, having ejected from the jet after an in-flight emergency. He stumbled on a ranger cabin during his ordeal where he found fish hooks, a canned ham and a can of beans. Unable to locate the downed trainer, officials eye him with suspicion and rumors that he traded to jet to the Russians, or flew it to Mexico, dog the pilot and ruin his military career. He returns to civilian life and eventually dies in an aircraft accident in 1965. Finally, in 1977, Boy Scouts hiking in the national park discover the canopy of his T-33, too late to vindicate the pilot's story and reputation.
- 1954 – First flight of the Goodyear GA-400R Gizmo, an American one man helicopter for liaison and observation.
- 1952 – Death of Elia Antonio Liut, Italian Aviation pioneer.
- 1952 – French Leduc 0.16 research ramjet again suffers landing gear collapse on touchdown and is damaged. After several more flights in 1954, it will be retired to the Musée de l'Air.
- 1952 – Maj. Neil H. Lathrop attempts low-level aileron roll in second prototype Martin XB-51-MA, 46-686, crashes at end of runway at Edwards AFB, California with fatal result.
- 1949 – Birth of Oleg Yur'yevich At'kov, Soviet Medical Doctor and Cosmonaut.
- 1949 – First flight of the Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor, an American mixed-propulsion interceptor using a jet engine for most flight, and a cluster of four small rocket engines for added thrust during climb and interception.
- 1948 – First flight of the Aeronova A. E. R.1, Italian road-able monoplane.
- 1947 – First flight of the Percival Merganser, British light civil transport twin-engine, high-wing monoplane of all-metal, stressed skin construction with retractable tricycle undercarriage.
- 1945 – British Pacific Fleet carrier aircraft strike the Sakishima Gunto. Kamikazes hit the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Victorious.
- 1943 – A German night fighter crew defects to the United Kingdom, flying a Junkers Ju 88R-1 there. The defection gives British scientists and tacticians access to a Lichtenstein airborne interception radar for the first time.
- 1942 – Operation Bowery, 64 Supermarine Spitfires are flown to Malta from the US aircraft carrier USS Wasp and the Royal Navy carrier HMS Eagle.
- 1942 – Chief of Staff of the United States Army General George C. Marshall proposes the creation of an organization within the U.S. Army Air Forces similar to the Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command. His proposal eventually will lead to the establishment of the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command.
- 1941 – Death of Sydney "Timbertoes" Carlin, British WWI flying ace and air gunner during WWII, dying from wounds after an enemy bombing raid at RAF Wittering.
- 1940 – First flight of the second prototype of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1, Soviet fighter aircraft.
- 1937 – First flight of the Lockheed XC-35, American twin-engine, experimental pressurized airplane, first American aircraft to feature cabin pressurization. It was initially described as a 'supercharged cabin' by the Army, development of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra.
- 1937 – Death of Walter Mittelholzer, Swiss aviation pioneer, pilot, photographer, travel writer, and also as one of the first aviation entrepreneurs.
- 1936 – The German airship Hindenburg lands at Lakehurst, New Jersey after its first scheduled transatlantic flight.
- 1934 – First flight of the de Havilland Hornet Moth, a single-engined cabin biplane designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company as a potential replacement for its highly successful de Havilland Tiger Moth trainer.
- 1934 – An Air France Wibault 282 T-12 airliner crashes into the English Channel off Dungeness, Kent, England, killing all six people on board.
- 1933 – First flight of the Vought XF3U-1, an American two-seat, all-metal biplane fighter prototype.
- 1932 – Captain Albert Hegenberger makes the first completely blind solo flight entirely on instruments, in a Consolidated NY-2.
- 1931 – Hawker Hart light bomber prototype, J9052, modified as a naval fleet spotter-cum-fighter Hawker Osprey to Specification O.22/26, returned to Hawker after trials, is wrecked this date in take off accident with crossed aileron controls. Orders for 133 are placed, in four Marks, serving in operational units until May 1939, as well as small orders for Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
- 1931 – Birth of Vance DeVoe Brand, American engineer and former test pilot and NASA astronaut.
- 1926 – Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett make the first flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F.VIIa-3 m. Their total distance from Spitzbergen, Norway is 1,600 miles (2,575 km).
- 1923 – First flight of the: Blériot 115, a French 4 engine 8 passengers biplane airliner.
- 1918 – U.S. Army Maj. Harold Melville Clark accomplishes first three-island flight in the Hawaiian Islands when he and mechanic Sgt. Robert Gray depart from Fort Kamehameha in a Curtiss N-9 of the 6th Aero Squadron, make a stop in Maui, and then continue to the island of Hawaii. Clark encounters fog and darkness over the island, causing him to crash in the jungle near Hilo. Two days after the crash, Clark and Gray emerge from the Hawaiian jungle unhurt. According to Harold Richards in "The History of Army Aviation in Hawaii", Clark accomplished another "first" on this flight as he had agreed to deliver two letters from Oahu residents to their relatives on Hawaii. After emerging from the jungle, Clark delivers the letters to their intended recipients. Thus, Clark carried the first letters by airmail in the Hawaiian Islands.
- 1918 – Death of Charles Roger Lupton, British WWI flying ace, killed in a midair collision with a French Aircraft.
- 1917 – William E. Boeing's Pacific Aero Products Company is renamed the "Boeing Airplane Company. "
- 1917 – Death of Victor Carlstrom, early Swedish-American aviation pioneer, killed with a student when the wing of the aircraft he was piloting failed in flight.
- 1917 – French WWI fighter ace René Fonck shoots down 6 German aircraft that day.
- 1917 – Death of Wilhelm Cymera, German WWI flying ace, killed in action.
- 1917 – French ace René Fonck shoots down six German aircraft in a day.
- 1916 – Using a bombsight developed by Bourdillon and Tizard, a British Short 184 seaplane hits a target in with a 500 pound bomb from a height of 4,000 feet.
- 1916 – Birth of Franco Cappa, WWII Italian pilot.
- 1914 – First parachute descent from an aircraft in Great Britain is made by William Newell from a Grahame-White Type X Charabanc (or Aerobus) at Hendon.
- 1912 – Lieutenant Commander Charles Samson becomes the first person to fly an aircraft off the deck of a moving ship. He takes off in a Short S.38 from the deck of HMS Hibernia in Weymouth Bay.
- 1904 – 9 – 11 – The Imperial Russian Navy armored cruiser Rossia carries a balloon on a raiding cruise against Japanese ships into the Sea of Japan in the first use by a warship of a balloon on the high seas in wartime. The balloon makes 13 successful ascents before it breaks its mooring lines and is damaged after landing on the sea.
- 1888 – Birth of Francesco Baracca, Italy's top fighter ace of WWI, credited with 34 aerial victories.
References
- ^ "Three soldiers killed, one injured in UH-60A crash". United States Central Command. 2003-05-09. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
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