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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

Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Wind shear can be broken down into vertical and horizontal components, with horizontal wind shear seen across weather fronts and near the coast, and vertical shear typically near the surface, though also at higher levels in the atmosphere near upper level jets and frontal zones aloft.

Wind shear itself is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such as squall lines and cold fronts. It is commonly observed near microbursts and downbursts caused by thunderstorms, weather fronts, areas of locally higher low level winds referred to as low level jets, near mountains, radiation inversions that occur due to clear skies and calm winds, buildings, wind turbines, and sailboats. Wind shear has a significant effect during take-off and landing of aircraft due to their effects on steering of the aircraft, and was a significant cause of aircraft accidents involving large loss of life within the United States.

Sound movement through the atmosphere is affected by wind shear, which can bend the wave front, causing sounds to be heard where they normally would not, or vice versa. Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also inhibits tropical cyclone development, but helps to organize individual thunderstorms into living longer life cycles which can then produce severe weather. The thermal wind concept explains with how differences in wind speed with height are dependent on horizontal temperature differences, and explains the existence of the jet stream. (Full article...)

Selected image

Ejector seat
Ejector seat
The first ejector seats were developed during the war by Heinkel. Early models were powered by compressed air and the first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter in 1941. One of the He 280 test pilots, Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Schenk, flying for Argus, became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejector seat on January 13, 1942. During a flight with the still engine-less V-1 towed by a Heinkel He 111 he had to leave his airplane because he could not release the towing cable due to icing of the coupling. By December 2003, Martin-Baker ejector seats had saved 7028 lives. The total figure for all types of seat is unknown but must be considerably higher.

Did you know

...that sailplane winglets were first successfully implemented by American inventor Peter Masak?

...that the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight contains the world's oldest airworthy survivor of the Battle of Britain, alongside ten other historic aircraft - two of which fought over Normandy on D-Day? ...that Yekaterina Zelenko was the only woman to perform an aerial ramming and the only female pilot in the Winter War?

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

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His plywood aircraft, the Winnie Mae[1] is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, and his pressure suit is being prepared for display at the same location. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post's plane crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow, Alaska.

Selected Aircraft

The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley-Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within RAF Bomber Command. The "Lanc" or "Lankie," as it became affectionately known, became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties." Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the "Dam Buster" used in the 1943 Operation Chastise raids on Germany's Ruhr Valley dams.

  • Span: 102 ft (31.09 m)
  • Length: 69 ft 5 in (21.18 m)
  • Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)
  • Engines: 4× Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V12 engines, 1,280 hp (954 kW) each
  • Maximum Speed: 240 knots (280 mph, 450 km/h) at 15,000 ft (5,600 m)
  • First Flight: 8 January 1941
  • Number built: 7,377
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

October 25

  • 2012 – Independent United Nations human rights researcher Ben Emmerson announces plans to launch an investigation into unmanned aerial vehicle strikes and other targeted assassinations by governments that kill or injure civilians.[2]
  • 2009 – CSA Czech Airlines discontinues all long-haul routes from Prague, including New York and Toronto
  • 2007 – The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.
  • 2006 – The first production CH-47 F Chinook helicopter successfully completes its first flight.
  • 2006 – (25-26) Oasis Hong Kong Airlines originally began service with initial service to London-Gatwick on the 25th but due to problems with rights flying over Russia, the initial flight OHK 700/O8 700 was delayed to the 26th.
  • 2003 – UH-60L Black Hawk 96-26653 From B co. 3-158 Avn. Regt. of the 12th Avn. BDE crashes and burns out after being hit by an SA-7 missile near Tikrit, 1 soldier injured. This reference story is incorrect. From the Plt. Sgt. that maintained the aircraft. P.O.C. commander the aircraft belonged to, CPT Scott Halter.[3]
  • 2000 – A Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-18 crashes near Batumi, Georgia killing all 86 people on board.
  • 1999 – A Learjet 35 flying between Orlando, Florida and Dallas crashed after flying for almost four hours and 1,500 miles (2,400 km), until it ran out of fuel. Among the six people on board were golf star Payne Stewart and Bruce Borland.
  • 1994 – First flight of the Bell 430
  • 1994 – U. S. Navy Lieutenant Kara Hultgreen, the first female aircraft carrier-based fighter pilot, is killed off San Diego, California, in the crash of an F-14 Tomcat fighter she is piloting on final approach to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
  • 1991 – First flight of the Airbus A340
  • 1986 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 467, a Boeing 737, overruns the runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport; there are no fatalities on board, but the aircraft is written off
  • 1985 – Emirates operates its first revenue flight, from Dubai to Karachi using an Airbus A300 leased from Pakistan International Airlines.
  • 1982 – Canadian Armed Forces accepted the first two CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft at CFB Uplands.
  • 1979 – The Air Force takes delivery of the last U. S.-built McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It is the 5,057 Phantom to roll out from the plant at St. Louis, Mo., since May 1958.
  • 1976 – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7965, Article 2016, lost near Lovelock, Nevada during night training sortie following INS platform failure. Pilot St. Martin and RSO Carnochan eject safely.
  • 1969 – Two United States Air Force Academy faculty[clarification needed] are killed when their Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star crashed and burned in a meadow near the main runway while landing at Peterson Field, Colorado. Pilot was Maj. Donald J. Usry, 32, of the academy faculty, and back-seater was Capt. Martin Bezyack, of the academy's athletic department.
  • 1968 – Northeast Airlines Flight 946, a Fairchild 227, crashes near Etna, New Hampshire, killing 32 passengers and crew.
  • 1961 – Sikorsky HSS-1N Seabat, BuNo 149132, c/n 58-1374, coded '139', of the Koninklijke Marine, ditches at Moray Firth, near Scotland.
  • 1960 – National Aviation Museum was opened at Uplands Airport by Hon J. Angus MacLean, acting on behalf of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
  • 1960 – First flight of the Boeing Vertol Model 107, a predecessor to the CH-46 Sea Knight.
  • 1956 – First (of two) Bell XV-3s, 54-147, first flown 11 August 1955, crashes this date when pilot Dick Stansbury blacks out due to extremely high cockpit vibrations when the rotor shafts are moved 17 degrees forward from vertical. Pilot is seriously injured and airframe is damaged beyond repair. Design was initially designated XH-33.
  • 1955 – First flight of the Saab 35 Draken
  • 1955 – Boeing WB-29A-35-BN Superfortress, 44-61600, c/n 11077, of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, out of RAF Burtonwood, experiences multiple problems including failed fuel feed pump, head winds, while returning from "Falcon" mission to polar region; pilot orders bail out of crew shortly before midnight as fuel exhaustion becomes critical, all eleven survive, with only one minor injury. Aircraft comes down near Kirby Lonsdale, Lancashire, England, burns, only rear fuselage and tail remaining intact.
  • 1951 – Japan Airlines flies its first flights, using three Northwest Airlines Martin 2-0-2 aircraft, flown by Northwest crews. [1]
  • 1944 – The first kamikaze mission is carried out, with aircraft of the 201st Kokutai sinking the carrier USS St Lo.
  • 1943 – 61 Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators raid Rabaul, escorted by 50 P-38 Lightnings. The Fifth Air Force’s commander, Major General George Kenney, claims 175 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the raids of October 23-25; the Japanese admit a loss of nine of their planes shot down and 25 destroyed on the ground.
  • 1940 – F/L GR McGregor and F/O BD Russel, No. 1 Squadron, were awarded the DFC for services in the Battle of Britain.
  • 1938 – 1938 Kyeema crash, an Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 crashes in heavy fog into Mount Dandenong in Victoria, Australia, killing all 18 people on board.
  • 1930 – TWA (originally "Transcontinental and Western Air") begins the first regular passenger flights between New York and Los Angeles.
  • 1922 – The Douglas Co. begins its association with the Army Air Service when it receives a memo requesting information on a modified version of the DT-2.

References

  1. ^ Winnie Mae
  2. ^ Lynch, Colum, "U.N. to Probe Drone Strikes Resulting in Civilian Deaths," The Washington Post, October 26, 2012, Page A7.
  3. ^ "Helicopters shot down or crashed in Iraq". USA Today. 2004-01-13. Retrieved 2010-05-08. A rocket-propelled grenade forces down a Black Hawk north of Baghdad, and five soldiers are injured.
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