Portal:Aviation

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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747

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

Mirabel Satellite photo
Mirabel Satellite photo
Montréal-Mirabel International Airport is a large airport located in Mirabel, Quebec, near Montreal and was opened 4 October 1975. The airport serves mainly cargo flights, and is a manufacturing base of Bombardier Aerospace, where final assembly of regional jets (CRJ700 and CRJ900) aircraft is conducted. It is part of the National Airports System. It is the second largest airport in the world in terms of area, covering more land area than the five New York City boroughs.

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...)

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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 four planes were simultaneously hijacked in the 1970 Dawson's Field hijackings?

Bede BD-4

...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

Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993), also nicknamed "The Blond Knight of Germany" by friends and "The Black Devil" by his enemies, was a German fighter pilot and still is the highest scoring fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. He scored 352 aerial victories (of which 345 were won against the Soviet Air Force, and 260 of which were fighters) in 1,404 combat missions and engaging in aerial combat 825 times while serving with the Luftwaffe in World War II. During the course of his career Hartmann was forced to crash land his damaged fighter 14 times. This was due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down, or mechanical failure. Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire.[1]

Hartmann, a pre-war glider pilot, joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942. He was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe's most experienced fighter pilots. Under their guidance Hartmann steadily developed his tactics which would earn him the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories.

He scored his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945. He and the remainder of JG 52 surrendered to United States Army forces and were turned over to the Red Army. Convicted of false "War Crimes" and sentenced to 25 years of hard labour, Hartmann would spend 10 years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe and became the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". Hartmann resigned early from the Bundeswehr in 1970, largely due to his opposition of the F-104 Starfighter deployment in the Bundesluftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue. Erich Hartmann died in 1993.

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
More selected aircraft Read more...

Today in Aviation

May 3

  • 2010 – Death of Günter F. Wendt, German-American engineer noted for his work in the U. S. manned spaceflight program. "There is no reason to say I am narrow-minded. Just do it my way and you will have no problem at all."
  • 2009 – XM715, a Handley Page Victor, briefly becomes airborne during a fast taxi run at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, United Kingdom. The aircraft is not airworthy and was not intended to have flown.
  • 2009 – Táchira helicopter crash: A Fuerzas Terrestres Venezuela Mil Mi-17 Hip helicopter crashes on a border patrol with Colombia with 18 fatalities including the Venezuelan General Domingo Faneite. The accident occurred near the town of El Alto de Rubio, in Táchira state, Venezuela.
  • 2007 – Death of Walter Marty Schirra, Jr., American test pilot, US Navy officer, and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts chosen for the Project Mercury. He is the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo), fifth American and the ninth human to ride a rocket into space. He was the first person to go into space three times.
  • 2007 – A Chicago businessman who owned a ranch near Twin Bridges and his passenger were killed Thursday morning when the small jet they were flying crashed while trying to land at the Beaverhead County Airport at Dillon. At about 1040 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Cessna Citation S550, N22HP, collided with terrain during a circling instrument approach at Dillon, Montana.
  • 2006 – Armavia Flight 967, an Airbus A320, crashes into the Black Sea near the Russian city of Sochi, killing all 113 on board.
  • 2005 – Airwork Flight 23, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner crashes in Taranaki, New Zealand killing both crew members.
  • 2002 – 2002 Jalandhar India MiG-21 crash: An Indian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 pilot ejects after takeoff, with the aircraft crashing into a Jalandhar bank building, killing eight on the ground.
  • 1998 – STS-90, Space Shuttle Columbia mission is back on earth
  • 1986 – Air Lanka Flight 512, a Lockheed L-1011, is bombed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, killing 21 of 148 on board.
  • 1985 – Aeroflot Flight 8381, a Tupolev Tu-134, collides with a Soviet Air Force Antonov An-26; both aircraft crash near Zolochev, Ukraine, killing all 94 on board both aircraft.
  • 1983 – The first CC 134 Challenger Jet was delivered to 412 Squadron.
  • 1982 – A Gulfstream II from Algerian government is shot down above the border between Iran and Turkey. Both Iran and Iraq rejected responsibility.
  • 1982 – Iraq shoots down an aircraft bound for Tehran, Iran, carrying Algerian Foreign Minister Mohammed Ben Yahia and 12 of his colleagues. The incident ends an Algerian attempt to mediate between Iran and Iraq and bring an end to the Iran-Iraq War.
  • 1977 – Shortly after 1100 hrs. English Electric Canberra PR.9 aircraft, XH137, of No. 39 Squadron was returning to its base at RAF Wyton, near Huntingdon, after a routine training flight. About two miles from the end of the runway, it crashed by some houses in the estate of Oxmoor in the village of Hartford, north-east of Huntingdon. Three young children were killed and five people were injured, of whom two are detained in hospital. The two RAF members of the crew were also killed, said Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Frederick Mulley.
  • 1976 – A Pan Am Boeing 747SP makes a record around-the-world flight, taking 1 day 22 hours.
  • 1973 – Death of Louis Prosper Gros, French WWI flying ace who served also in WWII.
  • 1968 – Death of Bernard Artigau, French WWI flying ace, pioneering commercial pilot who also served in WWII
  • 1968 – Braniff Flight 352, a Lockheed L-188A Super Electra en route from Houston, Texas to Dallas, breaks up in mid-air in a thunderstorm and crashes near Dawson, Texas; killing its five crew and 80 passengers. Nine years earlier Braniff Flight 542 crashed 49 miles (79 km) away in Buffalo.
  • 1965 – The U. S. Marine Corps's first attack helicopters, modified UH-1 Es of Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2), arrive at Da Nang, South Vietnam, to begin operations in the Vietnam War.
  • 1961 – The Boeing Airplane Company changes its name to Boeing Company.
  • 1955 – The first pre-series Sud-Ouest SO 9050 Trident II was flown.
  • 1952 – The first landing at the North Pole is made by Americans Lt. Col. William P. Benedict and Lt. Col. J. O. Fletcher on a ski-and-wheel equipped Air Force Douglas C-47.
  • 1950 – HMS Ark Royal (R09) is Launched at Birkenhead. Audacious-class aircraft carrier, Royal navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier and world's first aircraft carrier to be commissioned with an angled flight deck.
  • 1950 – The 2nd prototype Blackburn B-54 Y. A.8. with a crew of three makes his first flight.
  • 1949 – Birth of Albert Sacco, Jr.,American chemical engineer who flew as a Payload Specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia on shuttle mission STS-73 in 1995.
  • 1949 – First launch, of Viking 1.( Viking Rocket) It attained an altitude of 50 miles (80 km). The altitude was limited by a premature engine cut-off, eventually traced to steam leakage from the turbine casing.
  • 1948 – Second Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, BuNo 37971, NACA 141, crashes on takeoff on 20th flight for NACA (46th total take-off) at Edwards AFB, California, due to compressor disintegration that cut control runs in fuselage, killing NACA pilot Howard C. Lilly. Lilly is the first NACA pilot to die while on duty, and the first pilot who had flown at supersonic speed to be killed.
  • 1945 – Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers sink the German passenger ships SS Cap Arcona and SS Deutschland and the German cargo ship SS Thielbek in the Bay of Lübeck, unaware that the ships are carrying more than 10,000 concentration camp prisoners. About 5,000 people die aboard Cap Arcona (the second-greatest loss of life in a ship sinking in history) and about another 2,750 aboard Thielbek, and there also is a heavy loss of life aboard Deutschland.
  • 1945 – (3-4) The fifth Japanese Kikusui attack on ships off Okinawa includes 125 kamikazes. They sink three destroyers and two smaller ships and damage the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, the light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62), four destroyers, a destroyer-minelayer, and three smaller ships.
  • 1943 – During an inspection tour, Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell Andrews (1884–1943) is killed in crash of Consolidated B-24D-1-CO Liberator, 41-23728, of the 330th Bomb Squadron, 93d Bomb Group, 8th Air Force,[193] out of RAF Bovingdon, England, on Mt. Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula after an aborted attempt to land at the RAF Kaldadarnes, Iceland. Andrews and thirteen others died in the crash; only the tail gunner, S/Sgt. George A. Eisel, survived. Others KWF included pilot Capt. Robert H. Shannon, of the 330th BS, 93rd BG; six members of Andrews' staff, including Maj. Ted Trotman, B/Gen. Charlie Barth, Col. Marlow Krum, and the general's aide, Maj. Fred A. Chapman; and Capt. J. H. Gott, navigator. Andrews was the highest-ranking Allied officer to die in the line of duty to that point in the war.[194] At the time of his death, he was Commanding General, United States Forces, European Theatre of Operations. Camp Springs Army Air Field, Maryland, is renamed Andrews Field (later Andrews Air Force Base), for him on 7 February 1945.
  • 1942 – Tragedy at Kufra - Three Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVs, Z7513, Z7610, and T2252, of No. 15 Squadron, South African Air Force, detached to support Allied ground forces garrisoning the oasis at Kufra in Libya, become lost whilst on a familiarization flight and land in the Libyan Desert. They are not found until 11 May by which time only one of twelve crew survive. Z7610 and T2252 are flown out in May but damaged Z7513 is abandoned in place.
  • 1942 – In a raid on the Arctic convoy PQ 15, six Heinkel He 111 s of the Luftwaffe’s I. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 26, make Germany’s first torpedo bomber attack of World War II. They sink two merchant ships outright and damage a third, which a German submarine later sinks. Three of the He 111 s are lost.
  • 1937 – Death of Cosimo Rennella, Italian born Ecuadorian WWI flying ace, and pioneering aviator in South America Pre and post WWI war.
  • 1941 – (3-6) RAF aircraft continue to attack Iraqi positions surrounding RAF Habbinya and Iraqi airfields, eventually forcing Iraq forces to withdraw on May 6.
  • 1928 – Imperial Japanese Army Air Corps aircraft see action in China during the Tsinan Incident.
  • 1928 – USN LT’s Arthur Gavin and Zeus Soucek, takes off in a PN-12 seaplane for a world duration record for Class C seaplanes.
  • 1926 – Birth of Georgi Konstantinowitsch Mossolow, Soviet test Pilot.
  • 1924 – Birth of Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell, British WWII flying mechanic, Formula 2 racing driver and founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor
  • 1923 – U. S. Air Service Fokker T-2 pilots Lts. Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready complete the first non-stop flight across the United States in 26 hours, 50 min, 38.4 seconds from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Wickenburg, Arizona.
  • 1918 – Atlantic City, New Jersey became the first US municipal airport (Bader Field).
  • 1918 – Death of Samuel Parry, Welsh WWI flying ace, killed in a flying accident in a Bristol F.2b.
  • 1918 – Death of Omer Paul Demeuldre, French WWI flying ace, Killed in action in his Spad.
  • 1907 – The Wright brothers are elected honorary members of the Vienna Aviation Club, Austria.
  • 1896 – Birth of Louis Marcel Germain 'Marcel' Doret, French Aerobatic, Record breaker and test pilot.
  • 1896 – Birth of Karl Allmenröder, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1891 – Birth of William Graham Westwood, South African WWI flying ace
  • 1866 – Birth of Richard von Kehler, German Balloon pioneer.
  • 1812 – Birth of William Samuel Henson, pre-Wright brothers aviation engineer and inventor.
  • 1695 – Birth of Henri Pitot, French hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the Pitot tube.

References

  1. ^ Toliver & Constable 1986, p. 12.
  2. ^ http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/04/18050052-two-bodies-found-at-us-plane-crash-site-in-kyrgyzstan-third-crew-member-still-missing?lite
  3. ^ Associated Press, "Kyrgyzstan: 2 Americans' Bodies Found at Crash Site," The Washington Post, May 5, 2013, p. A8.
  4. ^ Sly, Liz, and Suzan Haidamous, "Syrian Report: Israel Bombs Outskirts of Damascus For Second Time in Recent Days," washingtonpost.com, May 5, 2013, 10:00 a.m. EDT.
  5. ^ "'IAF strike in Syria targeted arms from Iran'". Jerusalem Post. May 4, 2013.
  6. ^ Cohen, Gili (May 5, 2013). "'Israel overnight strike targeted Iranian missile shipment meant for Hezbollah'". Ha'aretz. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
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