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Portal:Aviation

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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...)

Selected article

Air Force One
Air Force One
An airport is a facility where aircraft can take off and land. At the very minimum, an airport consists of one runway (or helipad), but other common components are hangars and terminal buildings. Apart from these, an airport may have a variety of facilities and infrastructure, including fixed base operator services, air traffic control, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. (Full article...)

Selected image

Nevada test Site, August 7, 1957. The tail, or “After” section of a U.S. Navy Blimp is shown with the Stokes cloud in background. Blimp was in temporary free flight in excess of five miles from ground zero when collapsed by the shock wave from the blast. The airship was unmanned and was used in military effects experiments on blast and heat. Navy personnel on the ground in the vicinity of the experimental area were unhurt. On ground to the left are remains of the forward section.

Did you know

...that sailplane winglets were first successfully implemented by American inventor Peter Masak? ...that the Ryan X-13 Vertijet aircraft landed by using a hook on its nose to hang itself on a wire? ...that the asymmetrical monoplane BV 141 is one of many military aircraft designed by Richard Vogt?

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

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
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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

Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006
Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond. Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate. The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered... The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Arrow."

  • Span: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
  • Length: 77 ft 9 in (23.71 m)
  • Height: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
  • Engines: 2×Pratt & Whitney J75-P-3
  • Cruising Speed: Mach 0.91 (607 mph, 977 km/h) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
  • First Flight: 25 March 1958
  • Number built: 5
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

January 16

  • 2006 – AH-64D Apache 03-5385 from B Company, 1–4th Aviation Regiment shot down north of Baghdad, killing the two pilots.[5]
  • 2003 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 at 15:39:00 UTC. Mission highlights: SPACEHAB; Loss of vehicle and crew before landing at KSC.
  • 2002Garuda Indonesia Flight 421, a Boeing 737-300, experiences a dual flameout after entering a thunderstorm, and ditches in the Bengawan Solo River. A flight attendant is the only casualty; 59 passengers and crew survive.
  • 2001 – Death of Constantin Balta, Romanian WWII flying ace, Post War high-ranking officer before entering the Civil Aviation General Authority.
  • 2001 – Shenzhou 2, 2nd Chinese uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft, is back on earth
  • 1984 – Death of Kenneth A. Arnold, American aviator and businessman. He is best known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported unidentified flying object sighting in the United States, after claiming to have seen nine unusual objects flying in a chain near Mount Rainier, Washington
  • 1983Turkish Airlines Flight 158, a Boeing 727-2F2, lands about 50 m (160 ft) short of the runway at Ankara Esenboğa Airport, Turkey in driving snow, breaks up and catches fire; 47 passengers are killed, all seven crew and 13 passengers survive the accident with injuries.
  • 1981 – Death of Leo C. Young, American radio engineer who had many accomplishments during a long career at the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory. Although self-educated, he was a member of a small, creative team that is generally credited with developing the world's first true radar system.
  • 1979 – Death of Squadron Commander Christopher Draper, DSC Croix de guerre, English flying ace of WWI. His penchant for flying under bridges earned him the nickname "the Mad Major. "
  • 1975 – USAF sets new climb-time records with a stripped and unpainted McDonnell Douglas F-15 A Streak Eagle aircraft, operating from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. The Streak Eagle reaches a height of 3,000 m (9,843 ft.) in 27.57 s., 6,000 m (19,685 ft.) in 39.33 s., 9,000 m (929,528 ft.) in 48.86 s., 12,000 m (39,370 ft.) in 59.38 s. and 15,000 m (42,2132 ft.) in 1 min. 17.02 s
  • 1972 – Death of Reed McKinley Chambers, American WWI flying ace who founded Florida Airways, which received the first private air mail contract awarded by the U. S. Government. He also gounded the US Aircraft Insurance Group, US first aviation insurance company.
  • 1969 – Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 docked, first-ever docking of two crewed spacecraft of any nation, and the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another of any nation.
  • 1965 – U.S. Navy LCDR. Dick Oliver crashes Grumman F-11A Tiger, Blue Angel Number 5, BuNo 141869, doing a dirty roll during practice, but receives minor injuries. The new aircraft 5 became BuNo 141859, which he flies on the European tour. Oliver will be killed in a crash during a performance at Toronto, Canada on 2 September 1966.
  • 1965 – A USAF Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 57-1442, c/n 17513, crashed after an engine failure shortly after take off from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, USA. The fuel laden plane crashed at the intersection of 20th and Piatt in Wichita, Kansas causing a huge fire. 30 were killed, 23 on the ground and the 7 member crew.
  • 1963 – Yvonne Pope becomes the first UK woman airline pilot to fly international routes, flying from Gatwick to Düsseldorf for Morton Air Service
  • 1962 – A South Vietamese Air Force C-47 Skytrain crashes at Pleiku, South Vietnam, killing 33.
  • 1962 – A Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B-47E Stratojet of the 380th Bomb Wing, Plattsburgh AFB, New York, on low-altitude bombing run training mission, is reported overdue at 0700 hrs. Last radio call was at ~0200 hrs. After four day search, wreckage is spotted in the Adirondack High Peaks. Bomber clipped the top of Wright Peak (16th tallest mountain in the Adirondacks, at 4580 feet) after veering 30 miles off course in inclement weather, high winds. Aircraft Commander 1st Lt. Rodney D. Bloomgren, of Jamestown, New York, copilot 1st Lt. Melvin Spencer, navigator 1st Lt. Albert W. Kandetski and observer A1C Kenneth R. Jensen KWF. Pilot, copilot remains found after ~a week, navigator found later. Observer's remains never recovered. A memorial plaque was erected on a rock near the summit by the 380th Bomb Wing.
  • 1957 – Operation Power Flite, USAF mission, five B-52 B aircraft of the 93rd Bombardment Wing of the 15th Air Force took off from Castle Air Force Base in California with two of the planes flying as spares to demonstrate that the USA had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world.
  • 1955 – Birth of Jerry Michael Linenger, M. D., M. S. S. M., M. P. H., Ph. D., USN Officer and NASA astronaut.
  • 1952 – Birth of Lloyd Blaine Hammond, Jr., Gulfstream test pilot, USAF officer, and NASA astronaut
  • 1950 – A new record is set by a 412 Squadron North Star for a flight from Vancouver to Halifax: 8 hours 25 min.
  • 1948 – Birth of Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev, Soviet pilot and cosmonaut.
  • 1946 – Birth of Michael Lloyd Coats, USN Pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut,
  • 1945 – Task Force 38 aircraft strike Hong Kong, Hainan, and Canton and sweep the coast of China from the Liuchow Peninsula to Swatow. Hampered by bad weather, they sink two merchant ships and damage four others and destroy 13 Japanese planes in exchange for the loss of 22 U. S. aircraft in combat and five to non-combat causes.
  • 1945 – The new British Pacific Fleet departs Ceylon for Australia.
  • 1945 – (16-20) The U. S. Army Air Forces Fourteenth Air Force destroys over 100 Japanese planes on the ground in and around Shanghai, China.
  • 1945 – U. S. Navy escort carrier support to the Lingayen Gulf landings ends. During 12 days of support, their aircraft have flown 6,152 sorties and claimed 92 Japanese aircraft destroyed in exchange for the loss of two aircraft, both FM Wildcat fighters.
  • 1943 – (Overnight) British bombing accuracy is poor in a raid on Berlin, which is beyond the range of the Gee and Oboe navigation aids. British bomber losses are small.
  • 1942TWA Flight 3, a Douglas DC-3 returning to California, crashes into Potosi Mountain 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Las Vegas; all 22 aboard die, including actress Carole Lombard and her mother.
  • 1941 – 60 German dive bombers make a massed attack on the dockyard at Malta in an attempt to destroy the damaged British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, but she receives only one bomb hit. Incessant German and Italian bombing raids will target Malta through March, opposed by only a handful of British fighters.
  • 1936 – Death of James "Jimmy" Armand Meissner, American WWI flying ace who organized the Birmingham Flying Club, nicknamed the "Birmingham Escadrille", which became Alabama's first Air National Guard unit and the 7th in the USA.
  • 1929 – Lady Mary Bailey complete her return flight from Cape Town to London in her de Havilland DH60 Moth.
  • 1926 – Death of Jean Georges Bouyer, French WWI flying ace, in the crash of his Hanriot.
  • 1922 – Death of Alan John Lance Scott, New Zealand WWI flying ace. He has been Winston Churchill's flying instructor.
  • 1920 – The Western Canadian Air Service Association was formed at Calgary, Alberta.
  • 1916 – Byron Q. Jones sest a new duration record of 8 hr 53 min in San Diego with a Martin Tractor Biplane.
  • 1913 – Death of Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe, also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, American Civil War aeronaut.
  • 1911 – Birth of Major Floyd Bruce Parks, WWII USMC Pilot.
  • 1910 – Birth of David McCampbell, American WWII fighter pilot, US Navy all-time leading ace.
  • 1900 – Birth of Giovanni Monti, Italian soccer player and aviator.
  • 1894 – Birth of Konrad Mettlich, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1888 – Birth of Alfred William Saunders, Irish WWI fighter ace
  • 1886 – Birth of Reinhold Platz, German aircraft designer and manufacturer in service of the Dutch company Fokker.
  • 1866 – Birth of Percy Sinclair Pilcher, British inventor and pioneer aviator, foremost experimenter in unpowered flight.

References

  1. ^ Negishi, Mayumi, and Tim Kelly, "Japanese Airlines Ground Dreamliners After Emergency Landing," Reuters, January 16, 2013, 11:04 a.m. EST.
  2. ^ Halsey, Ashley III, "," The Washington Post, January 17, 2013, p. A14.
  3. ^ London helicopter crash: Two die in Vauxhall crane accident, BBC News, 16 January, 2013
  4. ^ "Recent accidents / incidents worldwide – January 2010". JACDEC. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  5. ^ "U.S. helicopter crashes in Iraq; status of crew unknown". USATODAY.com. 2006-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-28.