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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 aircraft 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. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This is the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. 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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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...)

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Did you know

...the study of airmail is known as aerophilately? ...that the Alexander Aircraft Company, which produced Eaglerock biplanes in Colorado, was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world for a brief period between 1928 and 1929? ...that Yekaterina Zelenko was the only woman to perform an aerial ramming and the only female pilot in the Winter War?

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

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the Father of the Royal Air Force.

During his formative years Trenchard struggled academically, failing many examinations and only just succeeding in meeting the minimum standard for commissioned service in the British Army. As a young infantry officer, Trenchard served in India and in South Africa. During the Boer War, Trenchard was critically wounded and as a result of his injury, he lost a lung, was partially paralysed and returned to Great Britain. While convalescing in Switzerland he took up bobsleighing and after a heavy crash, Trenchard found that his paralysis was gone and that he could walk unaided. Some months later, Trenchard returned to South Africa before volunteering for service in Nigeria. During his time in Nigeria, Trenchard commanded the Southern Nigeria Regiment for several years and was involved in efforts to bring the interior under settled British rule and quell inter-tribal violence.

In 1912, Trenchard learned to fly and was subsequently appointed as second in command of the Central Flying School. He held several senior positions in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, serving as the commander of Royal Flying Corps in France from 1915 to 1917. In 1918, he briefly served as the first Chief of the Air Staff before taking up command of the Independent Air Force in France. Returning as Chief of the Air Staff under Winston Churchill in 1919, Trenchard spent the following decade securing the future of the Royal Air Force. He was Metropolitan Police Commissioner in the 1930s and a defender of the RAF in his later years.

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

February 12

  • 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, flying from Newark Liberty International in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York crashes into a house in Clarence, New York at 10:17 pm local time; all 49 aboard the plane are killed, with one fatality on the ground.
  • 2004 – Exactly four years and one day after the launch of JetBlue, United Airlines responds to its low cost competitors by creating another airline called Ted.
  • 2002 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 hits high ground in the Sefid Kouh mountains during adverse rain, snow and dense fog, while descending for Khorramabad, Iran.
  • 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
  • 1991 – Continental unveils their blue and gray paint scheme.
  • 1990 – A USMC pilot died and a reconnaissance observer was hurt when they ejected almost simultaneously from separate aircraft during training missions at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Twentynine Palms, California. Capt. Thomas Kolb, 28, of San Diego, California, was killed after ejecting from his McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B-10 Harrier II, BuNo 163187, c/n 512109/103, from VMA-223, based at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, which crashed in a remote area of range N of Twentynine Palms. Aerial observer Capt. Jeffrey P. Schade, of Southold, New York, ejected from North American OV-10 Bronco, suffering minor injuries. The Bronco landed safely.
  • 1986 – A USAF General Dynamics F-16A Block 5 Fighting Falcon, 78-0055, flown by a pilot of the 3247th Test Squadron, disappears from Eglin Air Force Base's radar tracking screens at 1230 hrs., crashing in the Gulf of Mexico ~30 miles S of Okaloosa Island, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The body of the pilot, Capt. Lawrence E. Lee, 31, of Kokomo, Indiana, is retrieved from the water by two rescue jumpers from a Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk at 1350 hrs., said Eglin public affairs officer Lt. Col. Bill Campbell. A parachute is found floating nearby. The pilot is thought to have drowned after ejecting from the fighter. "There were no radio transmissions ... nothing to indicate there were any problems", said Campbell. "We found no wreckage, so we can't be sure at this time what caused the crash. I don't know if we'll ever know for sure." Hypothermia may have been a factor in the pilot's death. The Gulf's water temperature averaged between 55 and 58 degrees Fahrenheit . Lee was performing what was to have been the aircraft's last test flight before it was returned to the Tactical Air Command. The F-16 had been modified for use in weapons tests by Eglin's Armament Division, then restored to its original condition. Campbell stated that he expects the Air Force will try to recover the wreckage to examine it for clues into the accident, although he acknowledged that such a crash "doesn't always leave much evidence." Lee is survived by his wife, Maj. Terri Lee, assigned to Eglin's 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing. A memorial service is held at 1 p.m. on 14 February in Eglin Base Chapel No. 2.The aircraft was later recovered from the Gulf of Mexico where it was inspected to determine the cause of the accident.It was found that While flying over the Gulf of Mexico at approximately 2500 ft and Mach 1.5, Capt Lee was performing 9G wind up turns to stress the aircraft and weapon system. The engine exploded and departed the aircraft through the backbone. Capt. Lee ejected at over Mach 1 breaking both arms causing him to drown.
  • 1985 – First flight of the Aermacchi M-290 RediGO, an Italian turboprop-powered military basic trainer aircraft, originally manufactured by Valmet of Finland as the L-90 TP Redigo.
  • 1981 – Max Anderson and Don Ida make a failed attempt to circumnavigate the world by balloon. Their craft, the Jules Verne only covers 2,900 miles (4,667 km) from Luxor to New Delhi
  • 1979 – Air Rhodesia Flight 827, a scheduled civilian flight between Kariba and Salisbury is shot down by Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army militants using a SA-7 (Strela 2) surface-to-air missile soon after take off in similar circumstances to Flight 825 five month earlier; all 55 passengers and 4 crew are killed.
  • 1969 – The Mil Mi12, the world’s largest helicopter, establishes a number of load-to-height records.
  • 1967 – Operation Pershing begins against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units in Bin Dinh and Quảng Ngãi provinces in South Vietnam; it will last until 968. The U. S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) takes part alongside other U. S. Army, South Vietnamese Army, and South Korean Army units.
  • 1965 – Death of John Hays Hammond, Jr., American inventor known as “The Father of Radio Control”.
  • 1963 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 was a scheduled passenger flight operated by a Boeing 720 aircraft which broke up in midair and crashed into The Everglades shortly after take-off from Miami International Airport in a severe thunderstorm. The plane was destined to Portland, Oregon, via Chicago, Spokane and Seattle. All 43 people on board perished.
  • 1962 – The wreckage of the Avro Avian 5 ‘Southern Cross Minor’ is discovered in the Algerian desert. The aircraft crashed while piloted by Captain William N. Lancaster, who flew the aircraft from Lympne airfield on 11 April 1933 in an attempt to set a new London to Cape Town record. Lancaster’s body had been mummified, and his diary and personal effects had survived intact.
  • 1961 – Death of Frank Ormond “Mongoose” Soden, Canadian WWI fighter ace who stayed and served in the RAF until the end of WWII.
  • 1961 – Launch of Venera 1, first planetary probe launched to Venus by the Soviet Union.
  • 1960 – A Delta Air Lines Convair 880 flies from San Diego to Miami and sets a transcontinental speed record of 3 hours 31 min.
  • 1959 – The last Convair B-36 bomber in operational USAF service is retired to Amon Carter Field, where it is put on display; Strategic Air Command is now equipped with an all-jet bomber force.
  • 1957 – 423 Squadron began flying their CF-100 Canucks from St. Hubert, QC to Grostenquin, France in order to join No. 1 Division.
  • 1947 – First flight of the Sikorsky S-52, an American 2 seater utility helicopter, first US helicopter with all-metal rotor blades.
  • 1945 – U. S. Army Air Forces Twentieth Air Force B-29 s bomb Iwo Jima. In this raid and their January 24 and 29 raids, they have dropped a combined total of 367 tons (332,940 kg) of bombs on the island.
  • 1942 – German dive bombers sink the British destroyer HMS Maori at Malta.
  • 1942 – The U. S. Army Air Forces activate the Tenth Air Force for service in China, Burma, and India.
  • 1942 – Nine Canadian squadrens (four bomber, four fighter and one coastal) took part in the chase of three German warships in the “Channel Dash”.
  • 1939 – Spanish Nationalist forces have 600 aircraft, compared to only 40 available on the Republican side.
  • 1935 – The US Navy's last rigid airship, the USS Macon, loses its upper fin off Point Sur, California, sinks to the surface of the Pacific Ocean in a controlled crash, and is lost, although the inclusion of lifevests on board allows the saving of 81 of 83 crew. It takes with it the four Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawks, BuNos. A-9058/9061 carried aboard for fleet scouting. The airship's remains lie unfound until 1990 when a fisherman brings up a girder. Wreck is subsequently found by manned Navy submersible Sea Cliff.
  • 1928 – Lady Mary Hearth leaves Cape Town in an Avro Avian in an attempt to make the first solo flight by a woman from South Africa to England. She will arrive in Croydon on May 17.
  • 1926 – Death of Arthur Roy ‘Art’ Smith, Early American aviator, aircraft designer who also perfected the art of night time sky writing, WWI Instructor, and Airmail pilot, Killed in a crash on his airmail route in Montpelier, Ohio.
  • 1921 – The U. S. Army Air Service establishes the first in an expending series of airways – routes safely surveyed by the army civilian and commercial users linking towns and cities by air – by leasing land between Washington and Dayton, Ohio to facilitate a stopover.
  • 1917 – German Leutnants Peter and Frohwein, in a DFW CV aircraft, record the first night fighting victories when they shoot down two enemy bombers at Malzeville.
  • 1914 – Igor Sikorsky’s giant four-engined biplane, the Ilya Muromets N°107 flies in Russia with 16 passengers aboard. It is an improved version of last year’s Bolshoi Baltiskii.
  • 1903 – The world’s first successful heavier-than-air aircraft engine, which will power the Wright brothers‘ first airplane in December 1903, runs for the first time in Dayton, Ohio.
  • 1900 – Birth of Risdon MacKenzie Bennett, British WWI flying ace.
  • 1900 – Birth of Ioan Sandu, Romanian WWII flying ace.
  • 1898 – Birth of Paul Marie Raphael Santelli, French WWI Balloon buster.
  • 1898 – Birth of Eberhard Mohnicke, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1879 – Birth of José Luis Sánchez Besa, Aviation Pioneer and seaplane designer from Chile.

References

  1. ^ Leiby, Richard, "Karzai Says He Intends to Ban Afghan Troops From Requesting Foreign Airstrikes," The Washington Post, February 16, 2013.
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