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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

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine driven rotors. In contrast with fixed-wing aircraft, this allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft would not be able to take off or land. The capability to efficiently hover for extended periods of time allows a helicopter to accomplish tasks that fixed-wing aircraft and other forms of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft cannot perform.

The word 'helicopter' is adapted from the French hélicoptère, coined by Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix/helik- (ἕλικ-) = 'spiral' or 'turning' and pteron (πτερόν) = 'wing'.

Helicopters were developed and built during the first half-century of flight, with some reaching limited production, but it was not until 1942 that a helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production, with 131 aircraft built. Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it was the single main rotor with antitorque tail rotor configuration of this design that would come to be recognized worldwide as the helicopter. (Full article...)

Selected image

Credit: Lt. j.g. John A. Ivancic
A T-45A Goshawk executes a turning rejoin during a recent formation flight over South Texas. The T-45 is a twin-seat, single-engine jet trainer and is the only aircraft in the Navy's inventory used specifically for training pilots to land aboard aircraft carriers.

Did you know

... that Paul Haenlein was the first to create a dirigible airship powered by an internal combustion engine? ...that No. 112 Squadron RAF was the first unit from any air force to use the "Shark Mouth" logo on P-40 fighter planes? ...that during Operation Deep Freeze II in 1956, US Navy Rear Admiral George J. Dufek commanded the first aircraft to land at the South Pole, the C-47 Skytrain “Que Sera Sera”?

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

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

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

March 11

  • 2010 – A Mil Mi-8 helicopter Kazakhstan The Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed for unknown reasons during rescue flight in blizzard.
  • 2008 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-123 at 06:28:14 UTC. Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight 1J/A: JEM ELM PS & SPDM, crew rotation.
  • 2007 – Hukou F-5 F crash: A Republic of China Air Force F-5 F fighter jet crashed into a military base in Hukou, Taiwan on 11 May 2007. The accident killed the two Taiwanese crewmen and three Singaporean soldiers who were part of an unrelated unilateral training stint on the ground. Another eight Singaporeans were injured, with one sustaining serious burn injuries.
  • 2005 – Jetsgo ceases all operations and declares bankruptcy protection.
  • 2004 – CH-46E Sea Knight 153389 from HMM-161 makes hard landing in brownout conditions in Al Anbar province; took additional damage during transportation and later was written off.
  • 1998 – The first two of four Boeing E-767 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft are officially handed over to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. The Boeing E-767 AWACS developed as a natural progression from the E-3 Sentry following the closure of Boeing’s 707 production line. The E-767 combines a Boeing 767-200ER airframe with the APY-2 development of the Sentry’s APY-1 radar and mission system. The first flight of the completed E-767 occurred on August 9, 1996 at Everett, Washington. Other military variants of the 767 are now under consideration, including tanker and strategic transport aircraft to replace the aging fleet of KC-135 s and B707 s in worldwide military service.
  • 1990 – Philippine Airlines Flight 143 (PR143) was the route designator of a domestic flight from the Manila Ninoy Aquino Airport, Metro Manila, Philippines to Mandurriao Airport, Iloilo City. On May 11, 1990, the Boeing 737-300 (C/N 24466, MSN 1771) assigned to that route exploded and burned on the ground at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport. There were 8 fatalities among the 120 on-board passengers and crew from the violent explosion on the ground.
  • 1982 – Widerøe Flight 933, a de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, crashes into the Barents Sea near Mehamn, killing all 15 on board; this accident remains highly controversial in Norway.
  • 1974 – The YF-16 attained Mach 2 for the first time in test flights at Edwards AFB, Calif.
  • 1968 – No. 6 Strike Reconnaissance OTU redesignated 417 Squadron.
  • 1958 – A United States Air Force Boeing B-47E-60-LM Stratojet, 53-1876, c/n 290, from Hunter AFB, Georgia, jettisons nuclear weapons casing from 15,000 feet (4,600 m) over rural section of Florence, South Carolina, high-explosives detonate on impact causing property damage, several civilian injuries. No fuel capsule installed on bomb.
  • 1957 – The prototype Boeing 707 jet lands after a press demonstration flight from Seattle, Washington to Baltimore, Maryland during which it covers 2,350 miles in a record time of 3 hours 48 min.
  • 1955 – Third of 13 North American X-10s, GM-19309, c/n 3, on X-10 flight number 14, out of Edwards AFB, California, first flight of refitted c/n 3, the static test article. Vehicle exploded on gear retraction two seconds after lift-off - it was found that the destruct package was wired to the gear circuit instead of the engine circuit.
  • 1945 – A Japanese balloon bomb, shot at in British Columbia, was recovered in Edson, Alberta.
  • 1941 – The Congress of the United States passes the Lend-Lease bill, paving the way for the provision of (amongst other equipment) 16,000 warplanes to the UK. Later Lend-Lease arrangements will supply other Allied nations.
  • 1918 – Lt. Paul Baer becomes the first AEF Air Service member awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
  • 1916 – The Royal Navy charters the cargo ship SS Manica for conversion into the first British balloon ship, HMS Manica. The Royal Navt will be the only navy during World War I to operate balloon ships, specialized ships designed to handle observation balloons as their sole function.
  • 1912 – Lt. Frank P. Lahm opened an Army Air School at Fort William McKinley, Philippines, with two volunteer students, Lt. Moss L. Love and Cpl. Vernon L. Burge, who later became the first enlisted pilot.
  • 1910 – Lieutenant J. W. Dunne’s D5 tailless biplane is tested at Eastchurch, Kent, England. It has a 60-hp Green engine and was built by Short Brothers.

References

  1. ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Tsunami rolled through Pacific, Sendai Airport under water, Tokyo Narita and Hawaiian Airports temporarily closed, Pacific region airports endangered". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
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