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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747

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 air flow from the wing of this agricultural plane is made visible by a technique that uses colored smoke rising from the ground. The swirl at the wingtip traces the aircraft's wake vortex, which exerts a powerful influence on the flow field behind the plane.
The air flow from the wing of this agricultural plane is made visible by a technique that uses colored smoke rising from the ground. The swirl at the wingtip traces the aircraft's wake vortex, which exerts a powerful influence on the flow field behind the plane.
Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Understanding the motion of air (often called a flow field) around an object enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object. Typical properties calculated for a flow field include velocity, pressure, density and temperature as a function of position and time. By defining a control volume around the flow field, equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy can be defined and used to solve for the properties. The use of aerodynamics through mathematical analysis, empirical approximation and wind tunnel experimentation form the scientific basis for heavier-than-air flight.

External aerodynamics is the study of flow around solid objects of various shapes. Evaluating the lift and drag on an airplane, the shock waves that form in front of the nose of a rocket is an example of external aerodynamics. Internal aerodynamics is the study of flow through passages in solid objects. For instance, internal aerodynamics encompasses the study of the airflow through a jet engine.

The ratio of the problem's characteristic flow speed to the speed of sound comprises a second classification of aerodynamic problems. A problem is called subsonic if all the speeds in the problem are less than the speed of sound, transonic if speeds both below and above the speed of sound are present (normally when the characteristic speed is approximately the speed of sound), supersonic when the characteristic flow speed is greater than the speed of sound, and hypersonic when the flow speed is much greater than the speed of sound. Aerodynamicists disagree over the precise definition of hypersonic flow; minimum Mach numbers for hypersonic flow range from 3 to 12. Most aerodynamicists use numbers between 5 and 8. (Full article...)

Selected image

The inverted Jenny (or Jenny Invert) is a United States postage stamp of 1918 in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design was accidentally printed upside-down; it is probably the most famous error in American philately. Only 100 of the inverts were ever found, making this error one of the most prized in all philately; an inverted Jenny was sold at a Robert A. Siegel auction in June 2005 for US$525,000.

Did you know

...that during the Winter War, a Swedish fundraising drive paid for the purchase of a Fokker F.VIII airliner for the Finnish Air Force? ...that Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris accomplished the world's first powered flight in 1856, with a glider that was pulled behind a running horse? ... that teenage aviatrix Elinor Smith, the "Flying Flapper of Freeport", had her pilot's license suspended for 15 days for flying under New York City's four East River bridges in 1928?

More Did you know facts

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The following are images from various aviation-related articles on Wikipedia.

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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

A spitfire in flight
A spitfire in flight

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

June 9

  • 2009 – A Vietnamese People's Air Force Sukhoi Su-22M3/4 Fitter J/K crashes into a cornfield near Chieng Bay Hill, Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam killing the pilot. The aircraft from the 923rd Fighter Regiment was on a routine training flight and suffered mechanical failure.
  • 2009 – An Indian Air Force Antonov An-32 Cline transport aircraft crashes near a village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh killing 13 defence personnel. The aircraft crashed over the Rinchi Hill above Heyo village, about 30 km from Mechuka advance landing ground in the district located about 60 km from the Indo-Chinese Line of Actual Control. Among the seven IAF men and six Army personnel on board the ill-fated aircraft were two wing commanders, two squadron leaders and a flight lieutenant.
  • 2005 – Logan Airport runway incursion: After air traffic controllers at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, give them clearance to take off simultaneously on intersecting runways, US Airways Flight 1170, a Boeing 737-3B7 with 109 people on board, and Aer Lingus Flight 132, an Airbus A330-301 with 272 people onboard, nearly collide on takeoff. Disaster is averted when the US Airways first officer sees the approaching A330, realizes the aircraft could collide if they both become airborne, and pushes the control column forward to keep the 737 on the ground until the A330 passes 170 feet (52 m) overhead. The 381 people on the two planes suffer no injuries.
  • 1997 – Air Malta Flight KM 830, a Boeing 737-200, registration 9 H-ABF, named Zurrieq, was a flight bound for Istanbul with 80 passengers and crew on board when it was hijacked 20 min after take off and diverted to Cologne. The Air Malta aircraft was hijacked by two men, one of the men went into the cockpit and showed the pilot what looked like sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. Once in Cologne they asked for a doctor, a Turkish interpreter and a television crew to release a statement. The hijackers demanded the release of Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca, who at the time was serving a life sentence in Italy after trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. However three hours after landing, the men left the plane with their hands in the air. German police found no explosives on the aircraft and all passengers were released unharmed.
  • 1996 – Eastwind Airlines Flight 517, a Boeing 737-200, loses rudder control while on approach to Richmond International Airport and makes an emergency landing; no fatalities.
  • 1995 – Ansett New Zealand Flight 703, a de Havilland DHC-8, crashes during a landing approach near the Tararua Range s, New Zealand, killing four of the 21 people on board and a dog.
  • 1994 – An Antonov An-124 carries a 109-tonne diesel locomotive from London, ON (YXU), to Dublin (DUB), Ireland.
  • 1989 – Jane Foster and Deanna Brasseur passed a course to become Canada’s first two female fighter pilots available for combat roles; possibly the world’s first.
  • 1974 – The first flight of Northrop YF-17 experimental lightweight fighter is made. It is built to test what might be called the aerodynamics of agility, with all of the factors of weight, materials, and design geared to making it as agile as possible.
  • 1964 – United Airlines Flight 823 was a scheduled flight from Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Huntsville International Airport, Huntsville, Alabama with 39 on board. At approximately 18:15 EST it crashed 2 miles northeast of Parrottsville, Tennessee after experiencing an uncontrollable fire on board, killing all 39. The fire of unknown origin initiated below the passenger floor and eventually involved the passenger cabin. One passenger attempted to abandon the aircraft through the No.4 escape window prior to impact but did not survive the free-fall. The ignition source was never determined, but it is thought the plane’s battery overheated or something in a passenger’s luggage caused the fire. According to NTSB investigators, lethal amounts of CO2 were present in the cockpit, explaining witnesses’ reports of the aircraft seen flying erratically. The fire eventually burned through the cockpit and it is likely the crew was unconscious by that time.
  • 1958 – London Gatwick Airport opens after two years of extensive reconstruction. It is the first multimodal airport in the world, with direct rail connections from the main terminal to London and Brighton.
  • 1956 – A Grumman F9F-4 Panther fighter jet of VMF-213, flown by a USMC Reserve pilot crashes into a row of houses near Wold-Chamberlain Field, striking the home at 5820 46th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In addition to killing the pilot, Maj. George E. Armstrong, the crash kills five and injures twelve on the ground, most of whom are young children. This is the second time in five days that a military jet operating from this airport crashes and kills multiple civilians on the ground.
  • 1953 – An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-6 crashed at Praderes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 1944 – Mid-air collision between two Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston-based Vought F4U Corsair fighters over Lewiston, Maine; both are able to land and crews are uninjured.
  • 1944 – Allied land-based aircraft strike Japanese airfields on Peleliu, Woleai, and Yap.
  • 1939 – The Heinkel He 100C V6, first flown in February 1939, after some test flights at the factory is flown to Erprobungstelle Rechlin on 25 April, where it spends most of its time as an engine testbed. On this date, the gear fails in flight, but the pilot manages to land the aircraft with little damage, and it is returned to flying condition in six days.
  • 1938 – Nationalist aircraft bomb Granollers, Spain, a town without military significance, killing about 100 people. Most of the dead are women and children.
  • 1931 – First rocket-powered aircraft design patented (R Goddard).
  • 1916 – With an envelope capacity of 170,000 cu. ft. and an endurance of 11 hours, the first of 45 Coastal (C)-type, nonrigid British airships ordered for the Royal Naval Air Service makes its first flight from the airship station at Pembroke.
  • 1914 – Using a ramp constructed over the foredeck of the seaplane carrier Foudre, French Navy Lieutenant de Vaisseau Jean de Laborde attempts France’s second airplane takeoff from a ship and the first by a French naval aviator, but crashes.
  • 1908 – The Aeronautical Society of the United States is established in New York.
  • 1861 – Two members of the First Rhode Island Regiment, James Allen and Dr. William H. Helme, make the first U. S. Army trial captive balloon ascent.

References

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