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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...)

Selected article

Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Wind shear can be broken down into vertical and horizontal components, with horizontal wind shear seen across weather fronts and near the coast, and vertical shear typically near the surface, though also at higher levels in the atmosphere near upper level jets and frontal zones aloft.

Wind shear itself is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such as squall lines and cold fronts. It is commonly observed near microbursts and downbursts caused by thunderstorms, weather fronts, areas of locally higher low level winds referred to as low level jets, near mountains, radiation inversions that occur due to clear skies and calm winds, buildings, wind turbines, and sailboats. Wind shear has a significant effect during take-off and landing of aircraft due to their effects on steering of the aircraft, and was a significant cause of aircraft accidents involving large loss of life within the United States.

Sound movement through the atmosphere is affected by wind shear, which can bend the wave front, causing sounds to be heard where they normally would not, or vice versa. Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also inhibits tropical cyclone development, but helps to organize individual thunderstorms into living longer life cycles which can then produce severe weather. The thermal wind concept explains with how differences in wind speed with height are dependent on horizontal temperature differences, and explains the existence of the jet stream. (Full article...)

Selected image

Air Force One over Mt. Rushmore
Air Force One over Mt. Rushmore
The planes that serve as Air Force One can be operated as a military command center in the event of an incident such as a nuclear attack. Operational modifications include aerial refueling capability, electronic countermeasures (ECMs) which jam enemy radar, and flares to avoid heat-seeking missiles. The heavily shieleded electronics onboard include around twice the amount of wiring found in a regular Boeing 747-200.

Did you know

...that Ansett Airlines Flight 232 from Adelaide to Alice Springs in 1972 was the first aircraft hijacking to take place in Australia? ...that PWS-10 designed in late 1920s was the first Polish fighter to enter serial production?

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Selected biography

Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993), also nicknamed "The Blond Knight of Germany" by friends and "The Black Devil" by his enemies, was a German fighter pilot and still is the highest scoring fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. He scored 352 aerial victories (of which 345 were won against the Soviet Air Force, and 260 of which were fighters) in 1,404 combat missions and engaging in aerial combat 825 times while serving with the Luftwaffe in World War II. During the course of his career Hartmann was forced to crash land his damaged fighter 14 times. This was due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down, or mechanical failure. Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire.[1]

Hartmann, a pre-war glider pilot, joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942. He was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe's most experienced fighter pilots. Under their guidance Hartmann steadily developed his tactics which would earn him the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories.

He scored his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945. He and the remainder of JG 52 surrendered to United States Army forces and were turned over to the Red Army. Convicted of false "War Crimes" and sentenced to 25 years of hard labour, Hartmann would spend 10 years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe and became the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". Hartmann resigned early from the Bundeswehr in 1970, largely due to his opposition of the F-104 Starfighter deployment in the Bundesluftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue. Erich Hartmann died in 1993.

Selected Aircraft

F-4E from 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron dropping 500 lb (230 kg) Mark 82 bombs
F-4E from 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron dropping 500 lb (230 kg) Mark 82 bombs

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force. It was used extensively by all three of these services during the Vietnam War, serving as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, as well as being important in the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles by the close of U.S. involvement in the war.

First entering service in 1960, the Phantom continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force; the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy; and the F/A-18 in the U.S. Marine Corps. It remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. The Phantom was also operated by the armed forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its large fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with seven countries, and in use as an unmanned target in the U.S. Air Force.

Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built. This extensive run makes it the second most-produced Western jet fighter, behind the F-86 Sabre at just under 10,000 examples.

  • Span: 38 ft 4.5 in (11.7 m)
  • Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
  • Engines: 2× General Electric J79-GE-17A axial compressor turbojets, 17,845 lbf (79.6 kN) each
  • Cruising Speed: 506 kn (585 mph, 940 km/h)
  • First Flight: 27 May 1958
  • Number built: 5,195
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Today in Aviation

January 6

  • 2009 – Ted, a brand of the American airline United Airlines for their economy flights, is discontinued. Economy flights are rebranded under the main United Airlines brand.
  • 2008 – A Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet has a mid air collision with a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet over the North Persian Gulf during routine ops from the USS Harry S Truman. One pilot ejects and is recovered.
  • 2007 – BA Connect, easyJet, XL Airways UK, Thomsonfly, Thomas Cook Airlines, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, First Choice Airways, Air Malta, KLM Cityhopper and SN Brussels Airlines cancel all their flights to and from Bristol International Airport in a row over runway safety.
  • 2006 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., decorated Vietnam War helicopter pilot, dies (b. 1943). He is chiefly known for his role in curtailing the My Lai massacre, during which he was flying a reconnaissance mission.
  • 1985 – Death of Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki, test pilot in the Soviet Union, who had twenty-two world records and served as president of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
  • 1984 – Hughes Helicopters merges with McDonnell Douglas Corp.
  • 1982 – First cargo flight with payload of the Myasishchev VM-T Atlant, variant of Myasishchev's M-4 'Molot' bomber (3 M) designed as a strategic airlift airplane. The VM-T was modified to carry rocket boosters and the Soviet space shuttles of the Buran program. It is also known as the 3 M-T.
  • 1979 – Death of Kenneth Russell Unger, American WWI flying ace, US Airmail pilot, and WWII transport pilot.
  • 1969 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 737, a Convair CV-580, crashes while on approach to Bradford Regional Airport. 11 of the 28 passengers and crew on board are killed.
  • 1968 – NASA'S Surveyor 7 lands on the moon, and is the last in its series.
  • 1968 – Patrick Henry Brady, US Army helicopter pilot, volunteered with H-1 H ambulance helicopters. Sites were in enemy held territory which were reported to be heavily defended and to be blanketed by fog. Using 3 helicopters in at least 6 missions he rescued a total of 51 seriously wounded men.
  • 1964 – A U.S. Navy pilot ejects from a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk shortly after departing NAS Oceana, Virginia when the fighter-bomber catches fire. Lt. J.G. J. R. Mossman, 24, of Springfield, Pennsylvania, is alerted by his wingman that the tail is on fire just after beginning a flight to NAS Pensacola, Florida, and ejects 10 miles SE of Virginia Beach, Virginia, parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean. Wingman Lt. Henri B. Chase orbits Mossman's position until a helicopter from NAS Norfolk arrives and picks him up. The pilot is unhurt. "By coincidence, Mossman is one of three pilots who last month practiced being rescued at sea by helicopter off Virginia Beach."
  • 1963 – Birth of Philippe Perrin, French Air Force pilot, test pilot and former CNES and European Space Agency astronaut.
  • 1959 – While on approach to Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Bristol, Tennessee, Southeast Airlines Flight 308, a Douglas DC-3 A, strays off course and crashes into Holston Mountain, killing all 10 people on board.
  • 1957 – Birth of Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD, British-American astrophysicist with dual citizenship and NASA astronaut, first Briton to perform a space walk.
  • 1954 – A Royal Air Force Vickers Valetta T3 carrying a rugby team crashes at Albury, Hertfordshire, England, in bad weather, killing 16 of the 17 people on board.
  • 1953 – German airline LuftAG (Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf / Air traffic on demand) is formed.
  • 1949 – First flight of the Nord Noroit, a French reconnaissance and air-sea rescue flying-boat, only one built.
  • 1948 – Birth of Guy Spence Gardner, USAF test pilot and NASA astronaut.
  • 1945 – Death of Tokushige Yoshizawa, Japanese WWII flying ace, killed in action.
  • 1945 – Task Force 38 carrier aircraft attack Japanese forces and facilities on Luzon, claiming 14 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and 18 on the ground in exchange for the loss of 17 U. S. aircraft, but bad weather prevents them from employing the "Big Blue Blanket" tactic of maintaining continuous coverage over Japanese airfields to prevent Japanese aircraft from attacking the U. S. invasion force in Lingayen Gulf. In Lingayen Gulf, kamikazes damage the battleship USS New Mexico, killing 30 – Including British Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden – The battleship USS California, the heavy cruiser USS Louisville – mortally wounding Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, the light cruiser USS Columbia, three destroyers, a destroyer-minesweeper, and a destroyer-transport and sink a destroyer-minesweeper.
  • 1944 – Death of Charles Learmonth, Australian WWII bomber pilot, killed in the crash of his Bristol Beaufort during an exercise off Rottnest Island. Before crashing, Learmonth was able to identify what was causing his aircraft to shake violently, solving a problem that had affected the entire Beaufort fleet.
  • 1943 – Firing at a Japanese Aichi D3A dive bomber (Allied reporting name “Val”) south of Guadalcanal, the U. S. Navy light cruiser USS Helena claims the first hit on an enemy aircraft by antiaircraft ammunition employing the Mark 32 VT proximity fuse.
  • 1943 – Consolidated B-24D-20-CO Liberator, 41-24202, c/n 997, of the 504th Bomb Squadron, 346th Bomb Group, out of Salina Army Airfield, Kansas, suffers fire in flight, crashes 15 miles SW of Madill, Oklahoma, destroyed by fire. Pilot was R. G. Bishop.
  • 1942 – Wirraways of No. 24 Squadron attempted to intercept Japanese seaplanes flying over New Britain; only one managed to engage an enemy aircraft, marking the first air-to-air combat between RAAF and Japanese forces
  • 1942 – Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft based at Truk begin attacks on the Australian air base at Rabaul.
  • 1940 – Finnish Air Force Lieutenant Jorma Sarvanto shoots down six Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 bombers out of a formation of seven in four minutes.
  • 1938 – Spanish Republican Minister of Defense Indalecio Prieto y Tuero proposes to the Nationalists that both sides in the Spanish Civil War ban air attacks on cities and towns in rear areas. The Nationalists reply that they will continue to bomb Barcelona unless its industries are evacuated.
  • 1933 – Birth of Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Soviet cosmonaut.
  • 1927 – Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.66 Hercules lands in Karachi on his way to New Delhi coming from Croydon on a survey flight to India.
  • 1921 – After modifications, HMS Argus returns to service with the Royal Navy as the world's first aircraft carrier equipped with palisades. Installed on the port and starboard edges of the flight deck and capable of being raised and lowered, the palisades when raised serve as a windbreak and prevent aircraft on the flight deck from blowing or rolling overboard in heavy weather.
  • 1916 – (6 or 15) The German submarine U-12 departs Zeebrugge with a Friedrichshafen FF.29 seaplane lashed to her deck in an attempt to use submarines to carry seaplanes within range of England. The seaplane is forced to take off early, reconnoiters the coast of Kent, and has to fly all the way back to Zeebrugge when bad weather makes returning to U-12 impossible. It is the only German attempt to operate an aircraft from a submarine.
  • 1911 – 750,000 Indians watch a flying display at Calcutta by French Henri Jullerot in his Military Biplane.
  • 1899 – Birth of John Lancashire Barlow, British WWI flying ace.
  • 1898 – Birth of James Fitzmaurice DFC, Irish aviation pioneer. He was a member of the crew of the Bremen, which made the first successful Trans-Atlantic aircraft flight from East to West
  • 1897 – Birth of Joseph Leonard Maries "John" White DFC, Canadian WWI flying ace.
  • 1897 – Birth of George Hatfield Dingley Gossip, Australian WWI flying ace.
  • 1895 – Birth of Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr, MC, American WWI flying ace.
  • 1894 – Birth of Cyril Marconi "Billy" Crowe, British WWI flying ace and WWII pilot.
  • 1890 – Birth of Franz Wognar, Austro Hungarian WWI flying ace.
  • 1745 – Birth of Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, brother of Joseph-Michel, inventors of the montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique.

References

  1. ^ Toliver & Constable 1986, p. 12.
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