Portal:Aviation
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The Aviation Portal
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 was 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 airport's location and lack of transport links, as well as Montreal's economic decline relative to Toronto, made it unpopular with airlines. Eventually relegated to the simple role of a cargo airport, Mirabel became an embarrassment widely regarded in Canada as being a boondoggle, or a "white elephant," and one of the best examples of a failed megaproject. (Full article...)
Selected image
Did you know
...that the Heinkel He 46, designed for the Luftwaffe in 1931, was still being used to fight the Soviets in 1943? ... that the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan houses the only SR-71B Blackbird in existence? ... that Wing Commander John Lerew, ordered to defend Rabaul against Japanese invasion in 1942, signaled headquarters the legendary gladiatorial phrase "We who are about to die salute you"?
General images -
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Nieuport IV, operated by most of the world's air forces before WW1 for reconnaissance and bombing, including during the Italian-Turkish war (from History of aviation) -
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Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation) -
Experimental helicopter by Enrico Forlanini (1877), exposed at the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy (from History of aviation) -
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Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation) -
1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation) -
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The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation) -
Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation) -
"Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing Hounslow, near London, as the hub (from History of aviation) -
The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation) -
Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation) -
French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation) -
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Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation) -
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The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation) -
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The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation) -
1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation) -
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation) -
La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation) -
Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation) -
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Concorde, G-BOAB, in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first flight in 1976 and final flight in 2000 (from History of aviation) -
Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation) -
Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation) -
The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation) -
Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation) -
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner of United Airlines landing at Beijing Capital International Airport on 28 December 2018. (from Wide-body aircraft) -
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The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft) -
Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation) -
Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation) -
Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation) -
One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation) -
The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation) -
First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation) -
D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation) -
Santos-Dumont's "Number 6" rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe Prize, October 1901 (from History of aviation) -
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In the news
- May 29: Austrian Airlines cancels Moscow-bound flight after Russia refuses a reroute outside Belarusian airspace
- August 8: Passenger flight crashes upon landing at Calicut airport in India
- June 4: Power firm helicopter strikes cables, crashes near Fairfield, California
- January 29: Former basketball player Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash, aged 41
- January 13: Iran admits downing Ukrainian jet, cites 'human error'
- January 10: Fire erupts in parking structure at Sola Airport, Norway
- October 27: US announces restrictions on flying to Cuba
- October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
- September 10: Nevada prop plane crash near Las Vegas leaves two dead, three injured
- August 6: French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on jet-powered hoverboard
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Selected biography
Amy Johnson (1 July 1903 – 5 January 1941) C.B.E. was a pioneering British aviatrix.
Born in Kingston upon Hull, Johnson graduated from University of Sheffield with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining a pilot's A Licence No. 1979 on 6 July 1929 at the London Aeroplane Club. In that same year, she became the first British woman to gain a ground engineer's C License.
Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when, in 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. She left Croydon on 5 May of that year and landed in Darwin, Australia on 24 May after flying 11,000 miles. Her aircraft for this flight, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth (registration G-AAAH) named Jason, can still be seen in the Science Museum in London. She received the Harmon Trophy as well as a CBE in homage to this achievement, and was also honoured with the No. 1 civil pilot's licence under Australia's 1921 Air Navigation Regulations.
In July 1931, Johnson and her co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first pilots to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the 1,760-mile journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for flying from England to Japan. The flight was completed in a De Havilland Puss Moth.
Selected Aircraft
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
- 2012 – Jubba Airways Flight 6 J-711, an An-24 blew both right main gear tires on landing, causing the aircraft to veer off the runway at Abdullahi Yusuf International Airport in Galkayo, Somalia. The wing separated from the body of the aircraft. No injuries were reported, although the aircraft was substantially damaged.
- 1991 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-39 at 11:33:14 UTC. Mission highlights: First unclassified DoD mission; military science experiments.
- 1988 – Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, suffers explosive decompression during flight but manages to land safely. Of 95 people on board, one flight attendant is blown out of the plane and killed, and several passengers are injured.
- 1986 – Pan Am returns to the Soviet Union, using a Boeing 747 from JFK International Airport in New York.
- 1983 – USAF LTV A-7D-11-CV Corsair II, 71-0361, of the 149th Tactical Fighter Squadron, of the Virginia Air National Guard, based at Richmond International Airport, crashed near Richmond, Virginia, shearing unoccupied house in half and setting second structure on fire. Pilot Capt. Robert Welch, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, ejected just before impact, suffering a slight back injury.
- 1977 – An Aviateca Convair 240 crashes near Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing all 28 people on board.
- 1970 – A USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II being ferried from Robins AFB, Georgia to Torrejon Air Base, Spain, was disabled by a severe thunderstorm, forcing the crew to eject at 36,000 feet 150 miles E of Charleston, South Carolina, suffering minor injuries from hail while descending. Pilot Capt. Daniel Heitz, 25, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and navigator Lt. MacArthur Weston, 28, of Jacksonville, North Carolina are spotted by rescue aircraft, and are recovered after two hours in the water by the oil tanker Texaco Illinois, diverted from 8 miles away.
- 1969 – LAN Chile Flight 160, a Boeing 727, crashes near Colina, Chile; all 60 on board survive.
- 1967 – Douglas Aircraft Company and McDonnell Aircraft Corporation are officially merged to form McDonnell Douglas.
- 1952 – Pan Am Flight 202, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, crashes after a propeller failure in a remote area of Brazil on its way from Buenos Aires, Argentina to New York City via Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; all 50 on board are killed in the worst ever accident involving the Boeing 377.
- 1948 – The U.S. Navy launches two P2 V-3 C Neptune aircraft – A version of the P2 V configured for carrier launch carrying a nuclear weapon – From the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVB-43) off the coast of Virginia. The first carrier launches of any type of P2 V, they establish the U.S. Navy’s first, interim carrier-based nuclear strike capability pending the acquisition of aircraft designed from the outset to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon from a carrier.
- 1948 – The first non-stop Paris/New York flight is made by an Air France sleeper Constellation; the journey from Orly airport, near Paris, takes 16 hours, 1 min.
- 1948 – (28-29) Leonardo Bonzi and Maner Lualdi set a light plane distance record of 4,170 km (2,590 mi) flying from Campoformido (Italy) to Massawa (Eritrea) in an Ambrosini S.1001.
- 1947 – A Trans-Canada Air Lines Lockheed 18-08A Lodestar [CF-TDF] disappeared in southwestern British Columbia with 15 people onboard with no survivors. The crash site was discovered 47 years later, on Mt. Cheam near Chilliwack, BC.
- 1945 – Douglas A-26C Invader, 43-22644, assigned to the 611 Base Unit at Wright Field, Ohio,[34] crashes into the Choctawhatchee Bay, 3 Miles NE of Fort Walton, Florida after being struck by a test Speedee (Highball) bouncing bomb which tears off tail unit, bomber instantly nosing over into the water. It had taken off from Eglin Field, Florida, on a low level bombing exercise at AAF water range Number 60.
- 1944 – (28–29) U.S. Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force bombers conduct large strikes against Japanese forces at Biak, Wakde, Sarmi, and Sawar.
- 1944 – (April 28-May 6) Arctic Convoy RA 59 steams from the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union to Loch Ewe, Scotland. Aircraft from the escorting British aircraft carriers HMS Activity and HMS Fencer sink three German submarines, attack eight more, and shoot down a German Bv 138 C flying boat during the voyage.
- 1940 – Aircraft from HMS Ark Royal raid the Trondheim area, causing considerable damage to the German-held airfield at Vaernes, Norway.
- 1939 – Vladimir Kokkinaki and Mikhail Godienko attempt a non-stop flight from the Soviet Union to New York but are forced down on Miscou Island in bad weather the next day.
- 1937 – The first commercial flight across the Pacific is made as a Pan-American Boeing 314 Clipper seaplane arrives in Hong Kong.
- 1932 – Louis T. Reichers flew from Montreal Quebec to Havana, Cuba; 1,786 miles in 9 hrs in Lockheed Altain “Golden Eagle”
- 1927 – The first airmail service north of the Arctic Circle begins between Fairbanks and Wiseman, Alaska.
- 1924 – Imperial Airways inaugurates its London/Paris service.
- 1911 – The first aeroplane flight in the Province of Alberta was made by Hugh Robinson of the Curtiss exhibition flying team of Edmonton, Alberta using a Curtiss pusher biplane.
- 1910 – Frenchman Louis Paulhan completes the Daily Mail’s London to Manchester challenge in less than 24 hours.
References
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