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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. 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

Rear view of CFM56-5

The CFM International CFM56 series is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International with a thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 pound-force (lbf) (80 to 150 kilonewtons (kN)). CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of SNECMA and GE Aviation. Both companies are responsible for producing components and each has its own final assembly line. The CFM56 first ran in 1974 and, despite initial political problems, is now one of the most prolific jet engine types in the world: more than 20,000 have been built in four major variants. It is most widely used on the Boeing 737 airliner and under military designation F108 replaced the Pratt & Whitney JT3D engines on many KC-135 Stratotankers in the 1980s, creating the KC-135R variant of this aircraft. It is also one of two engines used to power the Airbus A340, the other being the Rolls-Royce Trent. The engine is also fitted to Airbus A320 series aircraft. Several fan blade failure incidents were experienced during the CFM56's early service, including one failure that was noted as a cause of the Kegworth air disaster, and some variants of the engine experienced problems caused by flight through rain and hail. However, both these issues were resolved with engine modifications. (Full article...)

More selected articles

Selected image

Operation Plumbbob

Credit: http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/photos/default.htm

Nevada test Site, August 7, 1957. The tail, or “After” section of a U.S. Navy Blimp is shown with the Stokes cloud in background. Blimp was in temporary free flight in excess of five miles from ground zero when collapsed by the shock wave from the blast. The airship was unmanned and was used in military effects experiments on blast and heat. Navy personnel on the ground in the vicinity of the experimental area were unhurt. On ground to the left are remains of the forward section.

Did you know

...that Astro Flight, Incorporated of Marina del Rey, California created the world's first practical electric-powered radio controlled model airplane and the world's first full-scale solar-powered airplane? ...that Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was only twenty-eight years old when he helped found Pan American World Airways? ... 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"?

General images -

The following are images from various aviation-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
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  "Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing Hounslow, near London, as the hub (from History of aviation)
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  German Taube monoplane, illustration from 1917 (from History of aviation)
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  Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
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  Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
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  1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation)
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  Sailplane, a Rolladen-Schneider LS4 (from General aviation)
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  Daedalus working on Icarus' wings (from History of aviation)
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  Santos-Dumont's "Number 6" rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe Prize, October 1901 (from History of aviation)
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  "Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
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  Félix du Temple's 1874 Monoplane (from History of aviation)
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  One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
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  Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation)
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  The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation)
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  The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation)
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  Nieuport IV, operated by most of the world's air forces before WW1 for reconnaissance and bombing, including during the Italian-Turkish war (from History of aviation)
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  Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation)
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  Cessna CitationJet/M2, part of the Citation family of business jets (from General aviation)
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  Concorde, G-BOAB, in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first flight in 1976 and final flight in 2000 (from History of aviation)
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  First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation)
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  The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation)
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  Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
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  Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
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  D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation)
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  Some wide-body jets: a Boeing 777 of United in the foreground, one Boeing 787s and one Boeing 777 of Air Canada, and two Airbus A380s; one of Singapore Airlines and the other of Thai Airways International. (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation)
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  La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation)
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  French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation)
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  Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation)
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  The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
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  The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation)
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  Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation)
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  Cathay Pacific's first class cabin on board a Boeing 747-400 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
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  Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
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  Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter design (from History of aviation)
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  General aviation aircraft at Cheb Airfield in Czech Republic (from General aviation)
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  Experimental helicopter by Enrico Forlanini (1877), exposed at the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy (from History of aviation)
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  Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation)
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  First female combat pilot, Sabiha Gökçen, reviews her Breguet 19 (from History of aviation)
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  Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
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  Robinson R22, a light piston-engine helicopter (from General aviation)

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal

• May 29: Austrian Airlines cancels Moscow-bound flight after Russia refuses a reroute outside Belarusian airspace
• August 8: Passenger flight crashes upon landing at Calicut airport in India
• June 4: Power firm helicopter strikes cables, crashes near Fairfield, California
• January 29: Former basketball player Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash, aged 41
• January 13: Iran admits downing Ukrainian jet, cites 'human error'
• January 10: Fire erupts in parking structure at Sola Airport, Norway
• October 27: US announces restrictions on flying to Cuba
• October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
• September 10: Nevada prop plane crash near Las Vegas leaves two dead, three injured
• August 6: French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on jet-powered hoverboard

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Selected biography

Sophie Blanchard (25 March 1778 – 6 July 1819) was a French aeronaut and the wife of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Blanchard was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, and after her husband's death she continued ballooning, making more than 60 ascents. Known throughout Europe for her ballooning exploits, Blanchard entertained Napoleon Bonaparte, who promoted her to the role of "Aeronaut of the Official Festivals", replacing André-Jacques Garnerin. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1814 she performed for Louis XVIII, who named her "Official Aeronaut of the Restoration".

Ballooning was a risky business for the pioneers. Blanchard lost consciousness on a few occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819, she became the first woman to be killed in an aviation accident when, during an exhibition in the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon. Her craft crashed on the roof of a house and she fell to her death. She is commonly referred to as Madame Blanchard and is also known by many combinations of her maiden and married names, including Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Sophie Armant and Madeleine-Sophie Armant Blanchard.

Selected Aircraft

Space Shuttle Discovery

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), was the spacecraft which was used by the United States government for its human spaceflight missions. At launch, it consisted of a rust-colored external tank (ET), two white, slender Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), and the orbiter, a winged spaceplane which was the space shuttle in the narrow sense.

The orbiter carried astronauts and payload such as satellites or space station parts into low Earth orbit, into the Earth's upper atmosphere or thermosphere. Usually, five to seven crew members rode in the orbiter. The payload capacity was 22,700 kg (50,000 lb). When the orbiter's mission was complete, it fired its Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enter the lower atmosphere. During the descent and landing, the shuttle orbiter acted as a glider, and made a completely unpowered ("dead stick") landing.

• Span: 78.06 ft (23.79 m)
• Length: 122.17 ft (37.24 m)
• Height: 58.58 ft (17.25 m)
• Engines: 3 Rocketdyne Block 2 A SSMEs
• Cruising Speed: 25,404 ft/s (7,743 m/s, 27,875 km/h, 17,321 mi/h)
• First Flight: August 12, 1977 (glider), April 12, 1981 (powered).
• Operational Altitude: 100 to 520 nmi (185 to 1,000 km)
• Number built: 6 (+2 mockups)

Today in Aviation

November 23

• 2012 – The People's Republic of China conducts its first carrier flight operations with fixed-wing aircraft, when the People's Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning launches and recovers the Shenyang J-15 fighter for the first time.

• 2012 – Two military OV-10 Broncos collide in the air during a demonstration flight near military El Libertador Air Base in the state of Aragua, Venezuela. One of the pilots is killed, guiding the aircraft away from a populated area. Three soldiers are also injured in the crash.

• 2009 – An Aeronautica Militare Italiana Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, MM62176, c/n 5497, '46-41', engaged in a training mission crashes on nearby train tracks bordering the Pisa airport, while climbing and performing a left turn immediately after take-off from Galileo Galilei Airport. The aircraft immediately burst into flames, killing its five-member crew.

• 2002 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-113 at 19:38:25 UTC. Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight 11A: P1 truss, crew rotation, last successful mission before STS-107 (the Columbia Disaster).

• 1978 – Royal Navy McDonnell-Douglas Phantom FG.1 XT598, used for trials installations at HSA Holme and A&AEE, Boscombe Down, then passed to 111 Squadron, was written off on approach to RAF Leuchars.

• 1996 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767, is hijacked over Kenya. The aircraft runs out of fuel, and the pilot attempts to ditch the aircraft in the ocean off Moroni, Comoros. Of the 175 people on board, 125 were killed (including the 3 hijackers).

• 1989 – An Airbus A310-300 opens Air France’s new direct Lyon/New York service.

• 1985 – EgyptAir Flight 648, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by Palestinian militants. Egyptian special forces storm the plane on the island of Malta. The incident kills 58 out of 90 passengers and all but one of the hijackers.

• 1973 – First flight of the AIDC T-CH-1

• 1973 – Argo 16, an Italian Air Force C-47 used by the Italian Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency in covert operations, crashed in Marghera, Italy after an improvised explosive device detonated. The explosion and the subsequent crash killed the four operatives on board.

• 1964 – TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 707, suffers engine failure and crashes at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, killing 50 of 73 on board; the cause is an inoperative thrust reverser.

• 1962 – United Airlines Flight 297, a Vickers Viscount 745D, crashes near Ellicott City, Maryland, following a bird strike; all 17 people on board died.

• 1961 – Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322, a de Havilland Comet 4, crashes in Campinas, Brazil shortly after takeoff, killing all 12 crew and 40 passengers on board.

• 1959 – First flight of the Boeing 720

• 1953 – USAF pilot 1st Lt. Felix Moncla and radar operator 2nd Lt. Robert L. Wilson take of in a F-89C Scorpion from Kinross Air Force Base, Kincheloe, Michigan investigating an unusual target on radar operators. Wilson had problems tracking the object on the Scorpion's radar, so ground radar operators gave Moncla directions towards the object as he flew. Flying at some 500 miles per hour, Moncla eventually closed in on the object at about 8000 feet in altitude. Ground radar showed both the unidentified craft and the Scorpion suddenly disappearing from screen after intersecting. It is presumed the Scorpion crashed into Lake Superior, though no confirmed traces of the craft or Moncla and Wilson have been found.

• 1949 – Introduction: Convair XC-99

• 1947 – First flight of the Convair XC-99

• 1946 – An Avro Lancastrian powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines and two Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets returns from Paris to London in just 41 minutes. The flight from London to Paris was made on November 17. The "Nene Lancastrian" only uses its Merlins for takeoff and landing, becoming the first transport aircraft to fly solely on jet power.

• 1943 – The Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung (Berlin Air Museum), at Lehrter Bahnhof, is destroyed in an RAF bombing raid by 383 aircraft: 365 Avro Lancasters, 10 Handley Page Halifaxes, and 8 de Havilland Mosquito bombers. Many exhibited aircraft are destroyed, including the Dornier Do-X, and the Focke-Wulf Cierva C.19a demonstrator, Wrke Nr. 35, D-1960 / D-OBIR. Surviving types are moved E from Berlin where they are discovered post-war. Most of these survivors are now in the Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego w Krakowie, the Polish Aviation Museum, at Kraków, Poland.

• 1942 – First flight of the Vought XF5U

• 1942 – First flight of the Vought V-173

• 1937 – During the Great Purge, Soviet Air Force commander-in-chief Comandarm Yakov Alksnis is arrested.

• 1934 – First flight of the Bloch MB.210

• 1923 – First of only three Bristol Jupiter Fighters, essentially adaptations of the Bristol F.2B airframe converted with 425 hp (317 kW) Bristol Jupiter IV engines and oleo-type undercarriage, crashes due to an engine seizure at high altitude. Second conversion was sold to Sweden in May 1924, and third was converted to a dual-control trainer.

• 1916 – British ace Lanoe Hawker VC is shot down by Manfred von Richthofen.

References

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