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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 craft 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. 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

Traditional general aviation fixed-wing light aircraft, the most numerous class of aircraft in the sector
Traditional general aviation fixed-wing light aircraft, the most numerous class of aircraft in the sector
General aviation in the United Kingdom has been defined as a civil aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport flight operating to a schedule. Although the International Civil Aviation Organization excludes any form of remunerated aviation from its definition, some commercial operations are often included within the scope of general aviation in the UK. The sector operates business jets, rotorcraft, piston and jet-engined fixed-wing aircraft, gliders of all descriptions, and lighter than air craft. Public transport operations include business (or corporate) aviation and air taxi services, and account for nearly half of the economic contribution made by the sector. There are 28,000 Private Pilot Licence holders, and 10,000 certified glider pilots. Although GA operates from more than 1,800 aerodromes and landing sites, ranging in size from large regional airports to farm strips, over 80 per cent of GA activity is conducted at 134 of the larger aerodromes. GA is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority, although regulatory powers are being increasingly transferred to the European Aviation Safety Agency. The main focus is on standards of airworthiness and pilot licensing, and the objective is to promote high standards of safety. (Full article...)

Selected image

U.S. F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier
U.S. F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier
Credit: John Gay, U.S. Navy
U.S. F/A-18 Hornet flying at transonic speeds. In aerodynamics, the sound barrier is a physical boundary that was once thought to be stopping large objects becoming supersonic. When an aircraft is near to the speed of sound, an unusual cloud sometimes forms. A drop in pressure, in this case due to shock wave formation, causes water droplets to condense and form the cloud.

Did you know

...that Guy Menzies flew the first solo trans-Tasman flight (from Sydney to New Zealand) in 1931, but landed upside-down in a swamp? ...that No. 112 Squadron RAF was the first unit from any air force to use the "Shark Mouth" logo on P-40 fighter planes? Two pilots of No. 7 EFTS RAAF discuss the day's flying next to their Tiger Moth training biplanes. ... that No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF (aircraft of unit pictured) was the only Royal Australian Air Force training unit to be based in Tasmania during World War II?

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

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Selected biography

Portrait of Flynn taken in 1929.

The Reverend John Flynn (25 November 1880 – 5 May 1951) was an Australian Presbyterian minister and aviator who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance.

Throughout his ministerial training, Flynn had worked in various then-remote areas through Victoria and South Australia. As well as tending to matters spiritual, Flynn quickly established the need for medical care for residents of the vast Australian outback, and established a number of bush hospitals. By 1917, Flynn was already considering the possibility of new technology, such as radio and the aeroplane, to assist in providing a more useful acute medical service, and then received a letter from an Australian pilot serving in World War I, Clifford Peel, who had heard of Flynn's speculations and outlined the capabilities and costs of then-available planes. Flynn turned his considerable fund-raising talents to the task of establishing a flying medical service.

The first flight of the Aerial Medical Service was in 1928 from Cloncurry. In 1934 the Australian Aerial Medical Service was formed, and gradually established a network of bases nationwide. Flynn remained the public face of the organisation (through name changes to its present form) and helped raise the funds that kept the service operating.

Selected Aircraft

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. The Bf 109 was produced in greater quantities than any other fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Fighter production totalled 47% of all German aircraft production, and the Bf 109 accounted for 57% of all German fighter types produced.

The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941. The Bf 109 was the most successful fighter of World War II, shooting down more aircraft than any of its contemporaries. Originally conceived as an interceptor, it was later developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter pilot of all time with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall with 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front. Hartmann chose to fly the Bf 109 in combat throughout the war, despite being offered the use of the Me 262. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign, also scored all of his 158 victories flying the Bf 109, against Western Allied pilots.

  • Span: 9.925 m (32 ft 6 in)
  • Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 7 in)
  • Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 2 in)
  • Engine: 1× Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 liquid-cooled inverted V12, 1,475 PS (1,455 hp, 1,085 kW)
  • Cruising Speed: 590 km/h (365 mph) at 6,000 m (19,680 ft)
  • First Flight: 28 May 1935
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Today in Aviation

October 16

  • 2013 – Lao Airlines Flight 301 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vientiane to Pakse, Laos. On 16 October 2013, the twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 aircraft on the flight crashed into the Mekong River at Pakse, killing all 49 people on board. This the greatest loss of life in an aviation accident in 2013.[1]
  • 2004 – Two OH-58D Kiowas 94-0172 and 97-0130 from 1–25th Aviation Regiment collide near Baghdad, killing two pilots aboard the first craft, and wounding two aboard the other.[3]
  • 1997 – First flight of the Boeing 777-300
  • 1992 – Flt Lt Nicky Smith, graduated from 89 Course at Shawbury to become the RAF's first female helicopter pilot
  • 1992 – One of three U.S. Army McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apaches of Company B, 1/151st Aviation Battalion, on training mission out of McEntire Air National Guard Base, near Eastover, South Carolina, crashes in wooded area near Dacusville in Pickens County, South Carolina, at ~1700 hrs., injuring two crew. Airframe comes to rest on its starboard side on hilltop near Blue Ridge View Baptist Church off Anthony Road, leaving Army National Guard CWOs Poyas Haynes and Gilbert Terry with minor injuries. They were transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital for treatment. One witness said that one of the helicopter's engines appeared to stall, while another stated that the Apache rolled upside down and then back onto its side as it went down. The Apache was lifted from crashsite on 22 October by a CH-47 Chinook to an open field for transloading onto a truck for transport back to McEntire ANGB.
  • 1984 – An unarmed USAF Boeing B-52G Stratofortress, 57‑6479, of the 92nd Bomb Wing out of Fairchild AFB, Washington, crashed about 2100 hrs. into a mesa on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona 13 miles NE of Kayenta, during a low-level training flight. Eight crew eject and recovered in a day; one ejects, missing; gunner KWF.
  • 1980 – A Fairchild UC-123K Provider, 57-6291, c/n 20301, of the 302d Tactical Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve, crashed at 0830 hrs. shortly after take off from Henry Post Army Airfield, en route home from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to Columbus-Rickenbacker ANGB, Ohio. Four crew members died on impact, the fifth died later. KWF are Capt. George Freeland, Jr.; Maj. Thomas Brady; Lt. Col. Donald Griffith; T/Sgt. Michael Snodgrass; and Sr. Amn. Robert Haas. A commemorative marker is displayed in Denver Williams Memorial Park, Wilmington, Ohio.
  • 1972 – A USAF Convair F-106B-50-CO Delta Dart, 57-2528, of the 4756th Air Defense Wing, Tyndall AFB, Florida, is lost in a crash. This aircraft had survived a mid-air collision on 4 May 1965 with F-106A-80-CO, 57-4721, both assigned to the 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, the second fighter being lost and 2528 recovering to NAFEC Atlantic City, New Jersey.
  • 1972 – A twin-engine Cessna 310 carrying Alaskan House Representative Nick Begich and House majority leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana disappears during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska. The plane was flying to a campaign fundraiser for Begich. The aircraft's wreckage was never found, and a 39 day search is called off on November 24.
  • 1964 – The People’s Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon.
  • 1961 – Cork Airport opened in Ireland.
  • 1955 – The Boeing 367-80 (707 prototype) crosses the United States in just 3 hours 58 minutes
  • 1953 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, Robert Rahm sets a world airpseed record over a 100 km (62 mi) closed-circuit course of 728.11 mph (1,171.53 km/hr) at Muroc Dry Lake, California.
  • 1944 – 50 fighters of the U. S. Army Air Forces‘ 14th Air Force based at Liuchow Airfield, China, attack the waterfront of Hong Kong.
  • 1944 – Task Force 38 completes its operations against Formosa. Since October 11, it has defended itself against approximately 1,000 Japanese aircraft, the heaviest series of Japanese air attacks against U. S. naval forces of World War II with the possible exception of those during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, losing 76 aircraft of its own in combat, 13 aircraft due to non-combat causes, and 64 pilots and aircrewmen.
  • 1944 – (16–17) B-29 s again attack Formosa, dropping 640 more tons (580,762 kg) of bombs during the two days combined.
  • 1942 – B-25C-1 Mitchell, 41-13206, operated by the USAAF 5th Ferrying Group, Air Transport Command, piloted by James M. Treweek, is on a routine flight from Rosecrans Field, St. Joseph, Missouri to Dallas Love Field when bad weather closes airfield and controllers advise crew to divert. Pilot heads west, presumably bound for Meacham Field, flying below 500 ft (152 m) altitude to stay in visual conditions under low cloud deck. As bomber nears Grapevine, Texas, a wingtip and aileron are sliced off by a guy-wire of WFAA radio tower, causing pilot to lose control; all 6 crewmembers die in subsequent crash.
  • 1939 – World War II – After being attacked by Spitfires of Nos. 602 and 603 Squadrons over Lothian in Scotland, an He 111 bomber became the first German aircraft to be shot down over the UK. (First attack on British territory by German Luftwaffe.)
  • 1924 – Emergency use of parachute — Following a mid-air collision over Coronado, California, Gunner William M. Coles, USN, of VF-1, made a successful emergency parachute jump from his Curtiss JN.
  • 1917 – Final testing is made for the US Army-designed air-to-air radio communication system with a wireless set.
  • 1912 – The first aerial bomb is used by Bulgarian Air Force pilots Radul Milkov and Prodan Toprakchiev on the Turkish railway station of Karaagac (near Edirne), during the Balkan War. This is the first use of an airplane (Albatros F.II) as bomber.
  • 1910 – The first airship crossing of the English Channel is made by the French-built dirgible Cle´ment-Bayard II. The 244-mile route is completed in 6 hours.
  • 1905 – The Wright brothers complete their 1905 test flight program, making their last flight until May 1908.

References

  1. ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Lao AT72 at Pakse on Oct 16th 2013, went into Mekong River on approach". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  2. ^ Pflanz, Mike, "Al-Shabaab Warns Kenya of Reprisals if Somalia Deployment Continues," The Telegraph, October 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "1997 USAF Serial Numbers". Retrieved 2010-02-17.
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