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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

Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One (the ATC callsign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President) has, since 1990, consisted of two specifically-configured, highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, known as the VC-25. The planes' three floors (4,000 square feet – 372 m²) include multiple modifications including the president's executive suite which includes a private dressing room, workout room, lavatory, shower, and private office. (Full article...)

Selected image

Refueling a fire fighting helicopter Southern River, Western Australia.
Refueling a fire fighting helicopter Southern River, Western Australia.
Refueling a fire fighting helicopter Southern River, Western Australia.

Did you know

...that Suriname's worst air disaster was Surinam Airways Flight 764, which crashed after the pilots ignored repeated warnings that they were flying too low? ... that the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan houses the only SR-71B Blackbird in existence? ... that in the middle of building Fagernes Airport, Leirin, the authorities changed their minds and gave the airport more than twice the runway length?

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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Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Selected biography

Sophie Blanchard
Sophie Blanchard (25 March 1778 – 6 July 1819) was a French aeronaut and the wife of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Blanchard was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, and after her husband's death she continued ballooning, making more than 60 ascents. Known throughout Europe for her ballooning exploits, Blanchard entertained Napoleon Bonaparte, who promoted her to the role of "Aeronaut of the Official Festivals", replacing André-Jacques Garnerin. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1814 she performed for Louis XVIII, who named her "Official Aeronaut of the Restoration".

Ballooning was a risky business for the pioneers. Blanchard lost consciousness on a few occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819, she became the first woman to be killed in an aviation accident when, during an exhibition in the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon. Her craft crashed on the roof of a house and she fell to her death. She is commonly referred to as Madame Blanchard and is also known by many combinations of her maiden and married names, including Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Sophie Armant and Madeleine-Sophie Armant Blanchard.

Selected Aircraft

A spitfire in flight
A spitfire in flight

The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II.

Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death from cancer in 1937. The elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a faster top speed than the Hurricane and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.

More than 20,300 examples of all variants were built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. It was the only fighter aircraft to be in continual production before, during and after the war.

The aircraft was dubbed Spitfire by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers (the parent company of Supermarine) at the time, and on hearing this, Mitchell is reported to have said, "...sort of bloody silly name they would give it." The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person, usually a woman. The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design.

The prototype (K5054) first flew on March 5, 1936, from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). Testing continued until May 26, 1936, when Mutt Summers (Chief Test Pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.) flew K5054 to Martlesham and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE).

  • Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
  • Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
  • Number Built: 20,351 (excluding Seafires)
  • Maximum speed: 330 knots (378 mph, 605 km/h)
  • Maiden flight: March 5, 1936
  • Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 supercharged V12 engine, 1470 hp at 9250 ft (1096 kW at 2820 m)

Today in Aviation

March 31

  • 2010 – A Grumman E-2 Hawkeye aircraft of the United States Navy from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121 crashed at approximately 1400 hrs. local time in Arabian Sea. It was returning to its ship, the USS Eisenhower, after conducting operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom when it experienced mechanical malfunctions and the crew performed a controlled bailout. The pilot was killed. Navy 5th Fleet officials declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, but the Naval Safety Center’s Web site listed it as “an engine oil leak.”
  • 2009 – A Polish Air Force PZL M28 (Antonov An-28TD Bryza 1TD) crashes into trees on final approach to an airfield near Gdynia, Poland. The aircraft was a routine training flight simulating landing on one engine resulting to 4 crew fatalities.
  • 2005 – An Lockheed MC-130H Combat Talon II, USAF 87-0127, c/n 5118, Wrath 11, of the 7th Special Operations Squadron, 352d Special Operations Group, RAF Mildenhall, departs Tirana-Rinas Airport, Albania, for a night training mission to work on terrain-following and avoidance skills, airdrops and landing using night-vision goggles. The aircraft was flying 300 feet (91 m) above the mountainous terrain when it was approaching a ridge. The airplane was not able to clear the ridge and stalled as the crew attempted to climb away. The aircraft struck the ridge, destroying the aircraft and killing all nine crew members on board.
  • 2003 – AH-64D Apache 84-24201 of C Company, 1–3rd Aviation Regiment crashes on landing in Iraq, injuring the two pilots. Helicopter was written off.[5]
  • 1996 – The CH 136 Kiowa helicopter was retired from the CAF.
  • 1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310, crashes near Baloteşti, Romania, killing all 60 on board.
  • 1986 – Mexicana Flight 940, a Boeing 727, crashes into high ground near Santiago Maravatío, Mexico. All 167 passengers and crew are killed in the worst ever air disaster involving the Boeing 727.
  • 1979 – The British government announces development and production costs for the Concorde supersonic airliner since November 29, 1962, when agreement was reached with France to design and built the aircraft. Through December 31, 1978, the French government spent a total of £920 million whereas the British spent £898 million. The total cost of £1.818 billion would increase by a further £163 million, before government funding ceased.
  • 1975 – Western Airlines Flight 470, a Boeing 737, overruns the runway at Casper/Natrona County International Airport and crashes into a ditch; all 99 on board survive.
  • 1975 – A specially modified Royal Canadian Air Force de Havilland CC-115 (DMC-5 Buffalo) makes its first flight carrying an inflatable air-cushion landing system beneath the fuselage.
  • 1972 – In response to the North Vietnamese “Easter Offensive” against South Vietnam which began on March 30, the United States begins a series of deployments code-named “Constant Guard, ” in which a large number of U. S. Air Force and U. S. Marine Corps squadrons return to bases in South Vietnam and Thailand and the U. S. Navy aircraft carrier presence at Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin increases from two on March 30 to six by late spring.
  • 1972 – Twenty minutes after take-off from McCoy AFB, Florida, a USAF Boeing B-52D-80-BO Stratofortress, 56-0625, of the 306th Bomb Wing, suffers an in-flight fire in engine number seven which spreads to starboard wing; attempts emergency landing at McCoy, crashes one quarter mile short of runway, killing six on board and one civilian on the ground, injuring eight civilians on the ground, destroys four houses.
  • 1970 – Japan Airlines Flight 351, a Boeing 727, is hijacked to North Korea by a Japanese Red Army faction.hop and cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao; Japanese pop singer Mita Akira; and Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, who would become one of the world’s longest-serving physicians and educators.
  • 1965 – Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashed into the sea on approach to Tangier killing 47 of 51 occupants.
  • 1965 – U. S. Marine Corps UH-34 transport helicopters escorted by U. S. Army UH-1 B helicopter gunships come under heavy Viet Cong ground fire while attempting to drop off 435 South Vietnamese troops in a landing zone 25 miles (40 km) south of Da Nang, South Vietnam. Thirty-five helicopters become involved; three are shot down and 19 damaged.
  • 1959 – BOAC commences its first scheduled around-the-world service
  • 1956 – Entered Service: A3D Skywarrior with VAH-1.
  • 1948 – One of two Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldivers, BuNo 83414, en route from Naval Air Station Tillamook, Oregon, to San Diego, California, crashes in woods near Rockaway Beach, Oregon, killing pilot Robert W. Smedley. Wreckage rediscovered by loggers on 10 March 2010.
  • 1946 – 435 Squadron disbanded at Down Ampney, UK.
  • 1945 – BCATP terminated.
  • 1945 – Twentieth Air Force B-29 s again raid Japanese airfields on Kyushu.
  • 1945 – A kamikaze damages the U. S. heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) off Okinawa, killing 9 and wounding 20.
  • 1944 – Task Force 58 aircraft strike Yap.
  • 1944 – A flying boat carrying Admiral Mineichi Koga, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy‘s Combined Fleet, disappears after taking off from Babelthuap; no wreckage or bodies are ever found. A second flying boat carrying Rear Admiral Shigeru Fukudome of Koga’s staff making the same trip crashes in a storm; Fukudome spends two weeks in the hands of natives on Cebu before being rescued.
  • 1943 – Since January 1, Royal Air Force Bomber Command has flown 12,760 sorties and lost 348 bombers, a 2.7 percent loss rate. German night fighters have shot down 201 of the bombers.
  • 1942 – An Imperial Japanese Navy task force centered around the aircraft carriers Akagi, Ryūjō, Hiryū, Sōryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku begins a very destructive raid against British forces in the Indian Ocean.
  • 1942 – Since March 1, the Luftwaffe’s Fliegerkorps II has flown 4,927 sorties against Malta. In addition to attacks on airfields and other facilities, they have sunk two British destroyers and a British submarine, damaged two other submarines, and badly damaged the light cruiser HMS Penelope.
  • 1942 – (Overnight) The Royal Air Force places the new 4,000-lb (1,814-kg) high-capacity “Cookie” bomb – Its largest bomb to date and its first “blockbuster” bomb – Into service in a raid on Emden, Germany. The RAF will drop 68,000 “Cookie” bombs during World War II.
  • 1940 – Total hours flown by the RCAF 69,472.50 hrs.
  • 1937 – (March 31-April 4) Supporting Nationalist forces, 40 to 50 aircraft per day bomb Ochandiano, Spain.
  • 1937 – A Spanish Nationalist ground offensive begins against the Basques, supported by 80 German aircraft based at Vitoria-Gasteiz and 70 Spanish Nationalist and Italian aircraft based elsewhere in northern Spain. Opposing them are 20 to 30 Basque aircraft. On the first day, German Junkers Ju 52 s conduct the first terror bombing and strafing of an undefended town in Europe, killing 248 people in Durango.
  • 1936 – During the Battle of Maychew, Italian aircraft bomb Ethiopian troops heavily, helping to blunt a major Ethiopian attack.
  • 1912 – The world’s first hydroplane competitions, held in Monaco, were a runaway success for Farman biplanes. Belgian Jules Fisher is the overall winner. He is one of only two non-French pilots of the eight starters and flies a Henry Farman machine.
  • 1903 – Richard Pearse is reputed to have made a powered flight in a heavier-than-air craft, a monoplane of his own construction, that crash lands on a hedge. This date is computed from circumstantial evidence of eyewitnesses as the flight was not well documented at the time. The machine made a flight claimed to be around 150 feet (45 m) on his farm at Upper Waitohi, near Timaru in south Canterbury, New Zealand.

References

  1. ^ Brunnstrom, David (22 May 2011). "Factbox: Latest Military Activity in Libya for 22 May 2011". Reuters. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  2. ^ Staff (30 March 2011). "Libya Live Blog – 31 March". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  3. ^ Staff (31 March 2011). "Rebels Return to Brega Amid Reported Defections by Special Forces". Deutsche Presse-Agentur (via Monsters and Critics). Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  4. ^ McGreal, Chris (31 March 2011). "Libyan Rebels Deny Crisis After Assault on Brega Fail". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  5. ^ "1999 USAF Serial Numbers". Retrieved 2010-05-26.
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