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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747 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

A U.S. Air Force F-35A off the coast of Florida
A U.S. Air Force F-35A off the coast of Florida
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, the short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, and the carrier-based (CV/CATOBAR) F-35C. (Full article...)

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Flying a modified X-15A-2 in October, 1967, US Air Force Major William Joseph Knight reached Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph), which remains the highest speed ever attained in an airplane.

Did you know

...that the hyper engine was a hypothetical aircraft engine design meant to deliver 1 horsepower from 1 cubic inch of displacement? ...that the Alexander Aircraft Company, which produced Eaglerock biplanes in Colorado, was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world for a brief period between 1928 and 1929? ... 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

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Selected biography

Helmut Paul Emil Wick (5 August 1915 – 28 November 1940) was a German Luftwaffe ace and the fourth recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade, the Oak Leaves, was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme bravery in battle or successful military leadership. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Helmut Wick.

Born in Mannheim, Wick joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 and was trained as a fighter pilot. He was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing), and saw combat in the Battles of France and Britain. Promoted to Major in October 1940, he was given the position of Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 2—the youngest in the Luftwaffe to hold this rank and position. He was shot down in the vicinity of the Isle of Wight on 28 November 1940 and posted as missing in action, presumed dead. By then he had been credited with destroying 56 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, making him the leading German fighter pilot at the time. Flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109, he claimed all of his victories against the Western Allies.

Selected Aircraft

The Pregnant Guppy was a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft built in the USA and used for ferrying outsized cargo items, most notably NASA's components of the Apollo moon program. The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines, Inc. The design also inspired similar designs such as the jet-powered Airbus Beluga, and the Boeing 747 LCF designed to deliver Boeing 787 parts.

  • Span:141 feet, 3 inches.
  • Length: 127 feet.
  • Height: 31 feet, 3 inches.
  • Engines: 4 3500hp P&W R-4360.
  • Cruising Speed: 250 mph
  • First Flight:September 19, 1962
  • Number built: 1
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Today in Aviation

July 26

  • 2011 – Royal Moroccan Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crash: Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft operated by the Royal Moroccan Air Force crashed near Guelmim, Morocco. A statement by Moroccan authorities claimed that there were 78 fatalities and that the plane was carrying 60 members of the Moroccan Armed Forces, 12 civilians, and nine RMAF crew members. Three wounded survivors were rescued, but eventually died of their injuries. The number of fatalities was later revised to 80 when it was discovered that a passenger who had not boarded the plane had been mistakenly included in the total.
  • 2006 – (26-31) The 15th FAI World Rally Flying Championship takes place in Troyes, France. Individual winners are Wacław Wieczorek/Michał Wieczorek (Poland), Jiří Filip/Michal Filip (Czech Republic), and Petr Opat/Tomas Rajdl (Czech Republic). Team winners are 1. Czech Republic, 2. Poland, and 3. France.
  • 2005 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-114 at 14:39:00 UTC. Mission highlights: First post Columbia flight. Flight safety evaluation/testing, ISS supply/repair, MPLM Raffaello.
  • 2003 – (July 26 – August 3) The 13th FAI World Rally Flying Championship takes place in Rustenburg, South Africa. the individual winners are 1. Nigel Hopkins and Dale de Klerk (South Africa), 2. Janusz Darocha and Zbigniew Chrząszcz (Poland), 3. Nathalie Strube and P. Sicard (France); the team winners are 1. South Africa, 2. France, 3. Poland.
  • 1993 – Asiana Airlines Flight 733, a Boeing 737, crashes into a mountain in Haenam, South Korea after failed landing attempts, killing 68 of the 110 people on board; this crash is the first loss of a Boeing 737-500.
  • 1971 – Apollo 15 launched. It was the first of what were termed J missions—long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions.
  • 1996 – Arthur William Raynes McDonald, radar Pioneer / pilot, dies at 93.
  • 1962 – The world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom 2, is launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta B rocket.
  • 1959 – An Vought F8U-1 Crusader from VMF-122 was passing through 47,000 feet (14,000 m) when the engine seized. The ram air turbine did not deploy and the pilot lost control of the aircraft causing him to eject from that altitude. LtCol William H. Rankin, then commanding officer of the squadron earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records by surviving the longest recorded parachute descent in history. He had ejected into a violent thunderstorm over North Carolina which caused his descent to last 40 minutes vice the expected 11 minutes.
  • 1958 – United States Air Force test-pilot Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr. is killed in unsuccessful ejection attempt after the engine of his Lockheed F-104A-15-LO Starfighter, 56-0772, fails during takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States. While flying a Bell X-2, Kincheloe became the first man to exceed 100,000 ft (30,500 m) of altitude, and he is often credited as the first man to enter outer space. Kinross Air Force Base, Michigan renamed Kincheloe Air Force Base in September 1959.
  • 1946 – The crash of an Stinson L-5E Sentinel, 44-17844, during a routine flight out of Eglin Field, Florida, kills Capt. Russell H. Rothman, originally of Chicago, Illinois, when the liaison aircraft crashes 17 miles NW of Valparaiso, Florida. Rothman, who entered the service 16 September 1941 and had flown 800 hours in C-46 Commando and C-47 Skytrain transports in the European Theatre of Operations, had only recently been appointed to a regular commission in the Regular Army. He held the Unit Citation, the Air Medal with three clusters, the European and Middle East Theatre of Operations Ribbon, the American Defense Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Eleanor E. Rothman, of 26 Shalimar Court, Shalimar, Florida, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Rothman of Chicago.
  • 1946 – Trans-Pacific Airines (the future Aloha Airlines) begins non-scheduled interisland service in Hawaii using a World War II surplus Douglas C-47.
  • 1943 – 60 U. S. Eighth Air Force bombers strike Hamburg.
  • 1943 – Over 100 German aircraft attack an Allied convoy off Cape Bon, Tunisia, but defending British fighters prevent them from inflicting any serious damage.
  • 1939 – The first of over two thousand Havard aircraft were taken onto RCAF strength.
  • 1937 – Famous pilot, Jacqueline Cochran, sets a new speed record for women by flying over 203 mph.
  • 1929 – Johnny Burtin sets a new world altitude record of 26,531 feet for airplanes with a 1-ton load. Burtin’s flight also proves that at high altitudes, fuel consumption drops considerably and wind resistance is reduced, making high-altitude flying more economical and profitable.
  • 1918 – Maj Edward Mannock, Britain's highest scoring ace of the war, is shot down by German ground fire. He had scored 73 victories.
  • 1914 – Seventh aircraft erected at Tokorozawa Airfield, Japan, the Kaishiki Converted Type Mo (Maurice Farman Type), 7, crashed at this airfield while piloted by Capt. Tokugawa. When rebuilt, with completion on 19 January 1915, this 7th Type Mo 1913 became known as the Sawada Type No. 7, or more officially because of radical modifications, as the Kaishiki the 3rd Year Model.
  • 1910 – Capt. G. W. P. Dawes becomes the first British Army officer to be awarded an aviator’s certificate in England, when he qualifies for certificate no.17 on a Humber Monoplane at Wolverhampton, England.
  • 1909 – Louis Bleriot, a French inventor and engineer, made the first flight across the English Channel in the Bleriot XI, an aircraft of his own design.

References

  1. ^ Yacoub, Khaled (26 July 2012). "U.S. fears Syria preparing for massacre in Aleppo". Yahoo. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  2. ^ Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Service and News Agencies (26 July 2010). "Netanyahu: Romania helicopter crash is an immense tragedy". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  3. ^ "'Bodies found' as Israeli helicopter crashes in Romania". BBC News. 26 July 2010. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
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