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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...)

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The Luftwaffe Balkenkreuz (balk cross) was carried on the upper and lower wings and the fuselages of practically all German military aircraft between 1935 and 1945. It was essentially the national marking used by the German Air Service in the last year of World War I.
The Luftwaffe Balkenkreuz (balk cross) was carried on the upper and lower wings and the fuselages of practically all German military aircraft between 1935 and 1945. It was essentially the national marking used by the German Air Service in the last year of World War I.
The German Luftwaffe was one of the strongest, doctrinally advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. Officially unveiled in 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, its purpose was to support Hitler's Blitzkrieg across Europe. The aircraft that were to serve in the Luftwaffe were of a new age and far superior to that of most other nations in the 1930s. Types like the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and Messerschmitt Bf 109 came to symbolize German aerial might.

The Luftwaffe became an essential component in the "Blitzkrieg" battle plan. Operating as a tactical close support air force, it helped the German armies to conquer the bulk of the European continent in a series of short and decisive campaigns in the first nine months of the war, experiencing its first defeat during the Battle of Britain in 1940 as it could not adapt into a strategic role, lacking heavy bombers with which to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against the British Isles.

Despite this setback the Luftwaffe remained formidable and in June 1941 embarked on Adolf Hitler's quest for an empire in eastern Europe by invading the USSR, with much initial success. However, the Luftwaffe's striking victories in the Soviet Union were brought to a halt in the Russian winter of 1942-1943. From then on, it was forced onto the strategic defensive contesting the ever increasing numbers of Soviet aircraft, whilst defending the German homeland and German occupied Europe from the growing Allied air forces pounding all aspects of German industry.

Having failed to achieve victory in the Soviet Union in 1941 or 1942, the Luftwaffe was drawn into a war of attrition which extended to North Africa and the Channel Front. The entry of the United States into the war and the resurgence of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) offensive power created the Home Front, known as Defense of the Reich operations. The Luftwaffe's strength was slowly eroded and by mid 1944 had virtually disappeared from the skies of Western Europe leaving the German Army to fight without air support. It continued to fight into the last days of the war with revolutionary new aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt Me 262, Messerschmitt Me 163 and the Heinkel He 162, even though the war was already hopelessly lost. (Full article...)

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Did you know

...that five USAAF airmen were awarded the Medal of Honor following Operation Tidal Wave, a low-level bombing of Romanian oil refineries on 1 August 1943? ...that during World War II, Marine Fighting Squadron 215 established four new U.S. Marine Corps records in the South Pacific including having the most ace pilots? ...that the Pterodactyl Ascender (pictured) has been one of the most influential designs in ultralight aviation?

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

Amelia Earhart, c. 1928
Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – missing as of July 2, 1937), daughter of Edwin and Amy Earhart, was an American aviator and noted early female pilot who mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a circumnavigational flight in 1937.

By 1919 Earhart had enrolled at Columbia University to study pre-med but quit a year later to be with her parents in California. Later in Long Beach she and her father went to a stunt-flying exhibition and the next day she went on a ten minute flight.

Earhart had her first flying lesson at Kinner Field near Long Beach. Her teacher was Anita Snook, a pioneer female aviator. Six months later Earhart purchased a yellow Kinner Airster biplane which she named "Canary". On October 22, 1922, she flew it to an altitude of 14,000 feet, setting a women's world record.

After Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, Amy Guest, a wealthy American living in London, England expressed interest in being the first woman to fly (or be flown) across the Atlantic Ocean, but after deciding the trip was too dangerous to make herself, she offered to sponsor the project, suggesting they find "another girl with the right image." While at work one afternoon in April 1928 Earhart got a phone call from a man who asked her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?"

Selected Aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a line of tri-jet aircraft produced by the aircraft company Yakolev. The Yak 42 was produced from 1980-2003.

Historically, the yak-42 was competition for older Russian aircraft companies. The Yak-42 was only made in one passenger variant, but it was used in many tests of equipment.

  • Crew: 3
  • Span: 114 ft 5 in (34.88 m)
  • Length: 119 ft 4 in (36.38 m)
  • Height: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
  • Engines: 3× Lotarev D-36 turbofan
  • Cruise Speed: 740 km/h (399 knots, 460 mph) (economy cruise)
  • Range: 4,000 km (2,158 nmi, 2,458 mi) (with maximum fuel)
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Today in Aviation

January 22

  • 2013 – An American unmanned aerial vehicle attacks a ground vehicle in Yemen's Al Jawf Governorate, killing three suspected al-Qaeda members.[1]
  • 2013 – The United States announces that the United States Air Force has begun airlifting French military personnel and materiel into Mali, having made five flights thus far.[2]
  • 2011 – Launch of Kounotori 2, or HTV-2, second Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).
  • 2010 – A Myanmar Air Force Chengdu F-7 fighter crashed while attempting to land at Yangon airport, killing its pilot.
  • 2008 – A Pakistan Air Force Cessna T-37 Tweet trainer faced mechanical failure while in first solo flight of Pilot Officer Raja Jahanzeb flying over Topi, Pakistan. Declining ejection orders to prevent loss of life on the ground he chose to crash land the plane on a campus road of GIK Institute merely avoiding faculty buildings and blew up into pieces on crashing. The crash killed the pilot and a gardener. Raja Jahanzeb was posthumously awarded Tamgha-e-Basalat (Medal of Good Conduct).
  • 1998 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-89 at 9:48:15 pm EST. Mission highlights: Shuttle-Mir docking.
  • 1992 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-42 at 14:52:33 UTC. Mission highlights: Spacelab mission, Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.
  • 1991 – In the Gulf War, Iraqi antiaircraft artillery downs a Royal Air Force Tornado ground-attack aircraft and the U. S. Army loses an attack helicopter to non-combat causes. Four U. S. Navy A-6E Intruders disable an Iraqi Navy T43 class minesweeper.
  • 1987 – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Michelob Light Eagle, piloted by Glenn Tremml, sets a world closed circuit distance record for human-powered aircraft of 58 km (36 miles).
  • 1973 – The Kano air disaster was a chartered Nigeria Airways Boeing 707-3D3 C passenger flight on 22 January 1973 which crashed and explodes into flames while attempting to land at Kano International Airport. 176 passengers and crew perished in the crash. It is the worst aviation disaster to ever take place in Nigeria.
  • 1971 – A US Navy P-3 Orion sets a distance record of 7,010 miles (11,282 km) for an aircraft in its class.
  • 1970 – The last CF Sabre flight 23102. It was ferried Canadair-Trenton by pilot Bob Ayers.
  • 1969 – The U. S. 9th Marine Regiment begins Operation Dewey Canyon – an operation dependent completely on helicopters – in South Vietnam's Da Krong Valley. It will conclude on March 19, rated as the 9th Marines' most successful operation of the Vietnam War.
  • 1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space with a Saturn IB rocket.
  • 1964 – In its first public violation of the 1959 requirement for all aircraft operating from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais to belong to the Brazilian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy steams Minas Gerais into Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro with four navy T-28 Trojan trainers on her flight deck.
  • 1964 – A USAF Lockheed F-104B-10-LO Starfighter, 57‑1306, c/n 283-5019, of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Air Defense Command, Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, crashes at ~1330 hrs. on Santa Rosa Island, ~one mile E of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, shortly after departure from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to return to Homestead. The pilot, Capt. Lucius O. Evans, ejects safely just before the fighter impacts in sand dunes just short of the Coronado Motor Hotel, parachuting into the Choctawhatchee Bay. He is then transported to the Eglin base hospital by Assistant Police Chief Jack McSwain, where he is reported to have sustained no injuries. Over sixty occupants at the hotel are not injured although flaming wreckage sprays an area close to the business. Eyewitness Andrew Christiansen, of Chester, Connecticut, reported that the aircraft was on fire as it descended and observed Capt. Evans' ejection from the Starfighter. A secondary explosion after the impact further scatters the burning wreckage.
  • 1955 – Birth of Thomas David Jones, USAF pilot and NASA astronaut.
  • 1952 – The de Havilland Comet 1 became the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness. Entered Service with BOAC.
  • 1952 – American Airlines Flight 6780, a Convair CV-240 crashes on approach to Newark, New Jersey into dwellings in Elizabeth, New Jersey, killing 30 and leading to the Doolittle Commission recommendation for laws coordinating urban zoning to keep airport approach paths clear.
  • 1949 – Death of Frederick Robert Gordon McCal, Canadian WWI fighter ace, Post war stunt flyer who founded McCall Aero Corp. Ltd and Great Western Airway, and who returned in RCAF service for WWII.
  • 1948 – First flight of the Short Sealand, a British light, twin engined commercial amphibian aircraft for 5–7 passengers, designed for the general overseas market in territories with suitable water access and/or runways.
  • 1945 – U. S. Army Air Forces aircraft begin a heavy bombing campaign against Japanese forces on Corregidor. By the time U. S. ground forces land on Corregidor on February 15–16, they will drop over 3,200 tons (2,903,021 kg) of bombs on the island.
  • 1945 – Task Force 38 aircraft conduct an early morning night strike against Formosa, sinking a large tanker in exchange for the loss of three U. S. aircraft, then fly 682 sorties during daylight hours to strike and conduct photographic reconnaissance missions against Okinawa, the Sakishima Gunto, Ie Shima, and Amami O Shima, destroying 28 Japanese aircraft, all on the ground. Task Force 38 then retires to its base at Ulithi Atoll. During January 1945, its aircraft have destroyed 300,000 tons of Japanese shipping and claimed 615 Japanese planes destroyed in exchange for the loss of 201 U. S. carrier aircraft.
  • 1944 – In Operation Shingle, Allied forces land at Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. Allied air forces fly 1,200 sorties in support of the landings.
  • 1943 – Death of Edmond Eugene Henri Caillaux, French WWI flying ace.
  • 1936 – Italian aircraft play a decisive role in the first Battle of Tembien, dropping mustard gas to defeat a promising offensive by Ethiopian forces.
  • 1931 – First flight of the Bristol Type 118, a British general-purpose military aircraft, a two-seat biplane prototype for overseas markets.
  • 1926 – Spanish Dornier Do J Wal flying boat 'Plus Ultra' takes off from Palos de la Frontera, in Huelva, Spain, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the first Trans-Atlantic flight between Spain and South America.
  • 1922 – Elsa Andersson (1897–1922) was Sweden's first female aviator and stunt parachutist. She was born a farmer's daughter in the Scanian countryside, at Strovelstrop. Andersson's mother died at her birth and her elder brother moved to America for a new life. A determined and inspirational woman, Andersson had ambitions beyond becoming a farmer's wife and so, aged 21, she learned to fly, getting her diploma "no.203" in 1920. Not content with being the first Swedish woman to become a pilot, she went to Germany to learn parachute jumping. In 1922, Andersson was tragically killed on her third jump in Askersund, Sweden. Thousands of spectators were gathering below on the ice of the frozen lake Alsen. She had trouble releasing her parachute, which finally unfolded only at a small distance from the treetops and she crashed violently against the ground. In 1926, the Swedish Aero Club erected a three-metre-high obelisk memorial in the place where she was found dead.
  • 1919 – Death of Carrick Stewart Paul, New Zealand WWI flying ace, drowned at sea while on the voyage home to New Zealand.
  • 1919 – The sole Blériot Bl-73, French 3 seat, 4 engine biplane bomber prototype, broke in the air.
  • 1914 – Death of Charles Keeney Hamilton, early American aviator.
  • 1907 – Douglas Corrigan, American pilot, is born (d. 1995). Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan was an American aviator born in Galveston, Texas. 1938, after a transcontinental flight from Long Beach, California, to New York, he flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland, even though he was supposed to be returning to Long Beach. He claimed that his unauthorized flight was due to a navigational error, caused by heavy cloud cover that obscured landmarks and low-light conditions, causing him to misread his compass.
  • 1891 – Birth of Bruno Loerzer, German WWI flying ace and high-ranking officer in WWII.
  • 1889 – Birth of Harry George Hawker MBE, AFC, Australian aviation pioneer and co-founder of Hawker Aircraft.
  • 1887 – Birth of Elmer "Archie" Fowler Stone, US naval aviator and a Commander in the US Coast Guard. He was a pilot on the first successful transatlantic flight on a Curtiss NC-4.

References

  1. ^ Al-Haj, Ahmed, "U.S. Drone Strike Kills 3 Militants in Yemen", Associated Press, January 22, 2013, 14:53:15 EST,
  2. ^ Londoño, Ernesto, and Anne Gearan, "Mali: U.S. Begins Airlifts to Aid French Mission", The Washington Post, January 23, 2013, p. A6.
  3. ^ Anonymous, "Planes Sent to Evacuate Russians From Syria", Aljazeera, 22 January 2013, 10:07
  4. ^ Anonymous, "Russia's Lavrov Says Beirut Flights Not Syria Evacuation", BBC News, January 23, 2013, 07:55 ET.
  5. ^ Anonymous, "Russians Evacuated From Syria Arrive Home", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, January 24, 2013.
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