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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...)

Selected article

Kai Tak Airport in 2009
Kai Tak Airport in 2009
Kai Tak Airport (Chinese: 啟德機場) was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport (Chinese: 香港國際機場) from 1954 to July 6, 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west. It is often known as Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport (Chinese: 香港啟德國際機場), or simply Kai Tak, to distinguish it from its successor which is often referred to as Chek Lap Kok Airport (Chinese: 赤鱲角機場).

With numerous skyscrapers and mountains located to the north and its only runway jutting out into Victoria Harbour, landings at the airport were dramatic to experience and technically demanding for pilots. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranked it as the 6th most dangerous airport in the world.

The airport was home to Hong Kong's international carrier Cathay Pacific, as well as regional carrier Dragonair, freight airline Air Hong Kong and Hong Kong Airways. The airport was also home to the former RAF Kai Tak. (Full article...)

Selected image

The Roulettes
Photo: Fir0002
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes aerobatics squadron at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix. The squad was formed in 1970 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the RAAF and perform about 150 flying displays a year throughout Australia and neighboring countries.
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Did you know

...that in 1929 the Graf Zeppelin completed a circumnavigation of the globe in 21 days, 5 hours and 31 minutes? ...that passengers aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 292 were able to watch their own malfunctioning aircraft circle Los Angeles International Airport on the satellite television screens at each seat until the flight crew disabled the system in preparation for the aircraft's successful emergency landing? ... 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"?

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

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

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 Beechcraft King Air is a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation (now the Beechcraft Division of Hawker Beechcraft). The King Air has been in continuous production since 1964, the longest production run of any civilian turboprop aircraft. It has outlasted all of its previous competitors and as of 2006 is one of only two twin-turboprop business airplanes in production (the other is the Piaggio Avanti).

Historically, the King Air family comprises a number of models that fall into four families, the Model 90 series, Model 100 series, Model 200 series, and Model 300 series. The last two types were originally marketed as the Super King Air, but the "Super" moniker was dropped in 1996. As of 2006, the only small King Air in production is the conventional-tail C90GT.

  • Span: 50 ft 3 in (15.33 m)
  • Length: 35 ft 6in (10.82 m)
  • Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.35 m)
  • Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 turboprops, 550 shp (410 kW) each
  • Cruising Speed: 284 mph (247 knots ,457 km/h)
  • First Flight: May 1963
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Today in Aviation

January 7

  • 2012 – In the Syrian Civil War, Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleima of the Syrian Army's aviation logistics division defects along with at least 50 of his men, ordering his men to protect protesters in the Syrian city of Hama from government forces.[1]
  • 2009 – A French Army Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar Helicopter crashes into the Atlantic Ocean of the coast of Gabon. The helicopter on a routine exercise was flying from the amphibious assault ship the FS Foudre and the accident occurred shortly after take-off resulting in 2 injured and 8 fatalities from the 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes and the Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre.
  • 2008 – Two F/A-18 fighter jets operation from USS Harry S. Truman crashed during an Iraq-related mission in the Gulf. All three pilots were rescued.[2][3]
  • 2006 – UH-60L Black Hawk 91-26346 from B Company, 1–207th Aviation Regiment crashes near Tal Afar in bad weather, killing 12 people on board. Reports suggest it was not shot down.[4]
  • 2004 – Boeing launches the 747 – 400 Special Freighter program with an agreement with Cathay Pacific Airways to convert at least six 747 – 400 passenger airplanes into freighters.
  • 2004 – Death of Oswald Garrison "Mike" Villard Jr., American engineer, pioneer in radio and radar, Father of the 'over-the-horizon radar'.
  • 1998 – Launch of The Lunar Prospector mission, part of the Discovery Program, designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon.
  • 1992 – Produte (Croazia) incident. 2 Yugoslavian Mig-21 (Pilots Danijel Borovic and Emir Šišic) shot down a Bell UH-1 Iroquois of the European Union Monitoring Mission. Killing Italian Enzo Venturini pilot, Marco Matta co-pilot, observers Fiorenzo Ramacci, Silvano Natale and French Lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Loup Eychenne. For this, Emir Šišic served prison time.
  • 1980 – In San Francisco, a single-engined Mooney 231 sets a nonstop coast-to coast record in 8 hours 4 minutes using only 105 gallons of fuel.
  • 1973 – Cameron Balloons Ltd. of Bristol, England, flies for the first time the world’s only hot-air airship (G-BAMK) from Wantage, Berkshire.
  • 1972 – Iberia Airlines Flight 602, a Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle, crashes into a mountain while on approach to Ibiza Airport in Spain killing all 104 passengers and crew on board.
  • 1971 – An unarmed USAF Boeing B-52C-45-BO Stratofortress, 54-2666, of the 99th Bombardment Wing (Heavy), Westover AFB, Massachusetts, crashed into Lake Michigan near Charlevoix, Michigan during a practice bomb run, exploding on impact. Only a small amount of wreckage, two life vests, and some spilled fuel was found in Little Traverse Bay. Bomber went down six nautical miles from the Bay Shore Air Force Radar Site. Nine crew KWF.
  • 1968 – Launch of Surveyor 7, seventh and last lunar lander of the American uncrewed Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.
  • 1967 – Entered Service: SR-71 Blackbird with the US Air Force.
  • 1967 – U.S. Navy Lockheed P-2 Neptune on training mission with nine Naval Reservists on board, on out-and-back flight from the Naval Air Facility, Andrews AFB, Maryland, crashes in light rainstorm near Upper Marlboro, Maryland, killing all crew. Neptune disappeared from radar at 1107 hrs., impacting in wooded area, digging crater 10 feet deep, 30 feet wide, 100 feet long. Airframe completely disintegrates, said Lt. Cmdr. Don Maunder.
  • 1964 – Birth of Marco Matta, Italian Air Force Pilot.
  • 1960 – Launch: Polaris missile, US two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
  • 1954 – Death of Emil Uzelac, Croatian soldier and military commander who was a leading figure in the air forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Independent State of Croatia.
  • 1951 – Birth of Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev, Kazakh test pilot and cosmonaut
  • 1949 – A USAF Douglas C-54G-5-DO Skymaster, 45-0543, c/n 35996, of the 14th Troop Carrier Squadron, 61st Troop Carrier Group, en route to RAF Burtonwood from Rhein-Main Air Base for a 200-hour inspection, crashes at ~1645 hrs. in bad weather at Stake House Fell, Lancashire, England, killing all six on board. KWF are pilot 1st Lt. Richard M. Wurgel, co-pilot 1st Lt. Lowell A. Wheaton Jr., engineer Sgt. Bernard J. Watkins, radio operator Cpl. Norbert H. Theis, and passengers Capt. W. A. Rathgeber and Pvt. Ronald E. Stone. Investigation showed that a commercial radio signal N of Burtonwood interfered with aircraft's radio compass, giving a false reading.
  • 1948 – The first flight of the RCAF’s Vampire III in Canada.
  • 1948 – Death of Captain Thomas Francis Mantell Jr., WWII pilot, in the crash of his P-51 Mustang while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.
  • 1947 – Death of Helen Richey, American pioneering female aviator and first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the USA.
  • 1946 – Birth of Giovanni Carta (John Carta), Italo-American aviator and Extreme Skydiver.
  • 1945 – Death of Thomas Buchanan McGuire Jr., second highest scoring American ace during WWII, Killed in the crash of his P-38 which stalled while chasing a Ki-43 Hayabusa 'Oscar'.
  • 1945 – In clearer weather, Task Force 38 aircraft employ the “Big Blue Blanket” tactic over Luzon, flying 757 sorties, shooting down all four Japanese aircraft that they meet in the air and claiming another 75 destroyed on the ground. Task Force 38 loses 10 planes in combat and 18 due to non-combat causes. Eleven U. S. escort aircraft carriers in Lingayen Gulf contribute another 143 sorties, and U. S. Army Air Forces planes also participate. In Lingayen Gulf, kamikazes sink a destroyer and a destroyer-minesweeper.
  • 1941 – Adolf Hitler orders Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft to begin supporting German U-boat operations in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1941 – Birth of Frederick Drew Gregory, USAF test pilot and NASA astronaut
  • 1941 – Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7262, of No. 209 Squadron RAF is lost when pilot Flt. Lt. Spotswood is unable to take off near Stranraer, Scotland. After a long take off run, the hull strikes a floating obstacle and rapidly takes on water, sinks. Two crew are trapped and drown.
  • 1935 – Birth of Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov, Soviet cosmonaut.
  • 1934 – First flight of the Curtiss XF13C (Model 70), a U.S. prototype carrier-based HighWing monoplane fighter aircraft with a manually retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. The aircraft was designed to facilitate conversions from biplane to monoplane and vice versa.
  • 1933 – Death of Herbert John Louis Hinkler AFC DSM, better known as Bert Hinkler, pioneer Australian aviator (dubbed "Australian Lone Eagle"), Inventor, WWI pilot and aircraft designer. His plane crashed in the Tuscan Mountains in Italy in an attempt to break the flying record from England to Australia.
  • 1929 – Carl Spaatz, Ira Eaker, and Elwood Quesada sets an endurance record of 151 hours aloft in the Question Mark, a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A airplane. While in the air, it Refueled 37 times and resupplied six others, with 12 of the 43 replenishments taking place at night.
  • 1925 – Death of Emil Schäpe, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1920 – The Boeing BB-1 seaplane, another new commercial aircraft, makes its first flight. It is bought by a Canadian and becomes the company’s second international sale. 1919 – Death of Lorenzo Gaslini, Goal keeper and WWI Italian Pilot.
  • 1917 – Thomas Mottershead VC, DCM, British WWI pilot, is severely injured during a dogfight with two Albatros D.III, He managed to take his burning FE-2d back to the Allied lines and made a successful forced landing saving his observer's life.
  • 1917 – Death of Paul Joannes Sauvage, French WWI youngest flying ace, killed by anti-aircraft fire.
  • 1911 – Lieutenant Myron Sydney Crissy of the United States Army, drops the first live bomb from an aeroplane when he conducts a test drop on a target in San Francisco from a Wright biplane piloted by Philip O. Parmelee.
  • 1906 – Birth of Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout, American early aviator, first Woman to set the first non-refueling endurance record for women.
  • 1898 – Birth of Wallace Alexander Smart, Welsh WWI flying ace.
  • 1896 – Birth of Geoffrey Hornblower Cock, British WWI fighter ace, highest scoring ace to fly the Sopwith 1½ Strutter.
  • 1895 – Birth of Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh KBE, DFC, Australian aviator and businessman, founder of the Australian airline company Qantas.
  • 1891 – Birth of Fernand Eugene Guyou, French WWI flying ace, Airliner pilot and WWII Pilot.
  • 1785 – The English Channel is crossed for the first time by air as Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries fly their hydrogen balloon from Dover, England to a forest near Calais, France.

References

  1. ^ "Scores more soldiers defect from Syrian army". Al Jazeera. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  2. ^ Lolita C. Baldor (2008-01-08). "Navy Fighter Jets Crash in Persian Gulf". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  3. ^ "2 Navy Fighter Jets Crash In Persian Gulf". CBS/AP. 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  4. ^ "U.S. helicopter crash kills 12 in Iraq". CNN.com. 2006-01-09. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
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