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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

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

Composite image showing multiple stages of a Monarch Jet aircraft taking off from the Gibraltar Airport.
Composite image showing multiple stages of a Monarch Jet aircraft taking off from the Gibraltar Airport.
Composite image showing multiple stages of a Monarch Jet aircraft taking off from the Gibraltar Airport.

Did you know

...that the Soviet spotter aircraft Sukhoi Su-12, though approved, was never produced due to lack of manufacturing capacity in the USSR? ...that the Ryan X-13 Vertijet aircraft landed by using a hook on its nose to hang itself on a wire? ... 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?

More Did you know facts

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

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
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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

The Beechcraft King Air is a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation (now the Beechcraft Division of Hawker Beechcraft). The King Air has been in continuous production since 1964, the longest production run of any civilian turboprop aircraft. It has outlasted all of its previous competitors and as of 2006 is one of only two twin-turboprop business airplanes in production (the other is the Piaggio Avanti).

Historically, the King Air family comprises a number of models that fall into four families, the Model 90 series, Model 100 series, Model 200 series, and Model 300 series. The last two types were originally marketed as the Super King Air, but the "Super" moniker was dropped in 1996. As of 2006, the only small King Air in production is the conventional-tail C90GT.

  • Span: 50 ft 3 in (15.33 m)
  • Length: 35 ft 6in (10.82 m)
  • Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.35 m)
  • Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 turboprops, 550 shp (410 kW) each
  • Cruising Speed: 284 mph (247 knots ,457 km/h)
  • First Flight: May 1963
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

January 8

  • 2020 - Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, Boeing 737 800 shot down by Iran missiles near Imam Khomejni International Airport, Tehran.
  • 2016 - West Air Sweden Flight 294, a Bombardier CRJ200 was operating a cargo flight from Oslo to Tromsø. Soon after reaching cruise altitude (33.000 feet) the CRJ200 suddenly started nosediving towards the ground at an immensely high speed and rate of descent. A few seconds after the event began the plane impacted with the ground, instantly killing the two pilots on board. The main cause of the crash was the failure of the IRU on the captain's side which provided false pitch information, as well as the absence of effective communication between the two pilots during a situation of an emergency.
  • 2004 – A UH-60 Black Hawk (86-24488) from 571st Medical Company (Air Ambulance) shot down near Fallujah, killing 9 crew and passengers.[1][2][3]
  • 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634, an Avro RJ100, crashes during its final approach to land at Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey in extensive fog. All of the 5 crew and 70 of the 75 passengers are killed, 5 passengers survive with heavy injuries.
  • 2003 – Air Midwest Flight 5481, a Beechcraft 1900, crashes on takeoff from Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States; all 19 passengers and 2 pilots are killed.
  • 2002 – A Belgian Air Force F-16A crashes during approach at Kleine Brogel Air Base. Pilot ejects safely.
  • 1998 – Boeing changes the name of the MD-95 jetliner to the 717 – 200.
  • 1996 – 1996 Air Africa crash, an overloaded Antonov An-32 aborts takeoff and overruns into a market in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 297.
  • 1994 – The Russian Soyuz TM-18 is launched, bringing cosmonaut Valery Polyakov to Mir for a record time of 437 days in space
  • 1989 – British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737, crashes near Kegworth, Leicestershire, United Kingdom after one of its engines loses a fan blade and fails. Of the 118 passengers and 8 crew, 79 survive. The incident became known as the Kegworth air disaster and is the first loss of a Boeing 737-400.
  • 1987 – Death of Christian Frank Schilt, one of the first Marine Corps aviators who served in WWI, WWII and Korean War.
  • 1983 – Death of Lieutenant-General Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn, 2nd most successful fighter ace of all time after fellow Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann
  • 1982 – A Gulfstream III, owned by the United States National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, takes off from Teterboro for new round-the-world records.
  • 1982 – The Airbus A300 FFCC is certified, becoming the first wide body airliner with cockpit accommodations for only two to be certified.
  • 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
  • 1980 – Death of Jens Tryggve Herman Gran DSC, MC, Norwegian aviator, explorer and author, first pilot to cross the North Sea.
  • 1980 – A Mooney 231 lands in San Francisco, after flying coast to coast non-stop, setting a record by completing the flight in 8 hours and 4 minutes.
  • 1973 – Launch of Luna 21 (Ye-8 series, also called Lunik 21), Soviet uncrewed space mission to explore the moon.
  • 1968 – Death of Jacques Victor Sabattier de Vignolle, French WWI flying ace.
  • 1966 – Death of Alessandro Resch, Italian WWI flying ace and airliner pilot.
  • 1966 – A USAF Fairchild C-119C-25-FA Flying Boxcar, 51-2611, c/n 10600, en route from Windsor Locks-Bradley International Airport, Connecticut to Binghamton Airport, New York, suffers an uncontained engine failure. The crew decides to bail out. The first crew member gets out at an altitude of ~2000 feet. The captain and co-pilot were not able to exit in time. The airplane descends and crashes into a lakefront house near Scranton, Pennsylvania, also killing a boy on the ground.
  • 1966 – (8-14) In Operation Crimp, a U. S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade helicopter and ground assault destroys a Viet Cong headquarters in the Ho Bo Woods in South Vietnam.
  • 1959 – Southeast Airlines Flight 308, a Douglas DC-3, crashes into the Holston Mountain in the United States on approach to the Tri-Cities Regional Airport killing all ten people on board.
  • 1953 – A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF502, of 90 Squadron, RAF Marham, crashes at Llanarmon, North Wales whilst on a simulated night radar bombing exercise. Dives into ground at high speed, all ten crew killed.
  • 1950 – Last flight of the Sud-Ouest SO 8000 Narval, French prototype Carried born Fighter, twin-boom configuration with sweptback wing, pusher engine driving contra-rotating propellers.
  • 1945 – The China Clipper, a Martin M-130 flying boat operating as Pan American World Airways Flight 161, crashes in Port of Spain, Trinidad, killing all 25 on board.
  • 1945 – A kamikaze again damages the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia in Lingayen Gulf. Out in the South China Sea, kamikazes damage the escort carriers USS Kadashan Bay (CVE-76) and USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) and an attack transport.
  • 1944 – 1st Lt. Andrew Biancur, a test pilot of the Medium Bombardment Section of the 1st Proving Ground Group, is killed in crash of Northrop YP-61-NO Black Widow, 41-18883, c/n 711, at Eglin Field this date. Eglin Auxiliary Field 6 is later named in his honor.
  • 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author, dies (b. 1919). Flight Lieutenant Richard H. Hillary was a Battle of Britain pilot who died during World War II. He is best known for his book The Last Enemy, based upon his experiences during the Battle of Britain.
  • 1942 – Birth of Vyacheslav Dmitriyevich Zudov, USSR cosmonaut.
  • 1933 – Kawanishi H3K1 flying boat, the largest design in the Pacific at the time, crashes while alighting at night at Tateyama on a training flight, cause given as a slow-reading altimeter. Noted naval aviator Lt. Cmdr. Shinzo Shin killed, as are two more of nine crew.
  • 1927 – A de Havilland DH.66 Hercules, British seven-passenger, three-engined airliner, complete an inaugural (62 hrs 27 min) flight from Croydon UK to Delhi, India.
  • 1927 – Thomas Neville Stack and Bernard More Troughton Shute Leete reach Karachi, India with their de Havilland DH.60 coming from UK.
  • 1919 – Death of Max Näther, German WWI fighter ace, probably the youngest German Ace in WWI, Killed by ground fire when flying over Kolmar during the border war with Poland that followed Germany's defeat.
  • 1898 – Birth of Thomas Sinclair Harrison, South African WWI flying ace.
  • 1897 – Birth of William Frederick James "Jim" Harvey, British WWI fighter ace.
  • 1896 – Birth of Steponas Darius (known as Stephen Darius in the USA; born Steponas Darašius), Lithuanian-American raid pilot.
  • 1894 – Birth of Friedrich Theodor Noltenius, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1893 – Birth of Ernst Hess, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1892 – Birth of Otto Creutzmann, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1886 – Birth of Robert Heibert, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1881 – Birth of William Thomas Piper Sr., American airplane manufacturer, and founder, eponym, and first president of Piper Aircraft Corporation. Piper served in the Spanish-American War and WWI.
  • 1863 – Birth of Léon Levavasseur, French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and evaporation engine cooling.

References

  1. ^ Michaels, Jim (2007-01-08). "Helicopters shot down or crashed in Iraq". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  2. ^ Hawkins, Ed (2004-01-08). "Black Hawk crash in Iraq kills nine US soldiers". London: Times OnLine. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  3. ^ "Nine killed in Black Hawk crash in Iraq". London: Telegraph. 2004-01-08. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
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