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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...)

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J-3 aircraft with CAP markings
J-3 aircraft with CAP markings
The Civil Air Patrol is the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. It was created just days before the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and is credited with sinking at least two German U-boats during the War. It was seen as a way to use America's civil aviation resources to aid the war effort, rather than grounding them, as was the case in the United Kingdom. Today, the Civil Air Patrol is a volunteer organization dedicated to education and national service, including people from all backgrounds and all walks of life. It performs three key missions: Emergency services (including search and rescue), aerospace education for youth and the general public, and cadet programs. The September 11, 2001 attacks demonstrated the importance of the Civil Air Patrol, as it was this organization's aircraft that flew blood to victims of the attack as well as providing the first aerial pictures of the World Trade Center site. (Full article...)

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Did you know

...that British Airways unveiled a new corporate identity in 1997 which involved repainting its fleet with around 20 daring tailfin designs by world artists? ...that the Aerocar Coot was a two-seat amphibious aircraft designed for home-building by Moulton Taylor? ...that the Lockheed NF-104A (pictured), equipped with a reaction control system as well as a rocket engine to supplement a jet engine, was a low-cost training vehicle for American astronauts in the 1960s?

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

Billy Mitchell (1879–1936) was an early aviation pioneer who rose to become a chief of the U.S. Army Air Service. Mitchell was born in Nice, France and raised on his family estate near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended George Washington University before enlisting in the Army at age 18 during the Spanish–American War. Due to his family connection he quickly received a commission Signal Corps where he had the opportunity to witness a flight demonstration by the Wright brothers in 1908. In 1916 he took private flight lessons and was transferred to the Aeronautical Division.

Mitchell deployed to France in 1917 when the United States entered World War I. While there he was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command American combat air units in France. After the war Mitchell was appointed the deputy director of the Air Service became a passionate advocate of air power. In 1921 he set up a demonstration to show the capability of airpower against naval vessels. During the course of the demonstrations aircraft successfully sank a captured German destroyer, the light crusier Frankfurt, and the battleship Ostfriesland.

Mitchell regularly sparred with his superiors over the role of airpower in the military. In 1925 he was reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and was transferred to San Antonio, Texas. Later that year, after a series of aviation accidents he accused Army and Navy leadership of incompetence and "almost treasonable administration of the national defense." In response he was court-martialed for insubordination, found guilty, and sentenced to a five-year suspension from active duty. Mitchell resigned on 1 February 1926 in lieu of serving the sentence. He continued to advocate airpower as a civilian until his death in 1936. In 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt posthumously promoted Mitchell to major general in recognition of his contributions to air power.

Selected Aircraft

Douglas Dakota DC-3 (G-ANAF) of the Air Atlantique Historic Flight.
Douglas Dakota DC-3 (G-ANAF) of the Air Atlantique Historic Flight.

The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made.

The DC-3 was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond and first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd. anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk). The plane was the result of a marathon phone call from American Airlines CEO C.R. Smith demanding improvements in the design of the DC-2. The amenities of the DC-3 (including sleeping berths on early models and an in-flight kitchen) popularized air travel in the United States. With just one refuelling stop, transcontinental flights across America became possible. Before the DC-3, such a trip would entail short hops in commuter aircraft during the day coupled with train travel overnight.

During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and thousands of military versions of the DC-3 were built under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. Over 10,000 aircraft were produced (some as licensed copies in Japan as Showa L2D, and in the USSR as the Lisunov Li-2).

  • Span: 95 ft (28.96 m)
  • Length: 64 ft 5 in (19.65 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 11 in (5.16 m)
  • Engines: 2× Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3G 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) or Wright Cyclone
  • Cruising Speed: 170 mph (274 km/h)
  • First Flight:December 17, 1935
  • Number built: 13,140 (including license built types)

Today in Aviation

April 1

  • 2011 – In the Libyan Civil War, a coalition airstrike attacking a Libyan government ground convoy in eastern Libya causes a truck carrying ammunition to explode, destroying two nearby houses. Seven civilians die and 25 are wounded.[2]
  • 2011 – A Libyan rebel convoy near Brega fires into the air with an anti-aircraft gun, perhaps in celebration. A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft believing it was under attack by Libyan government forces then returns fire, killing at least 13 people.[3]
  • 2009 – A Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma (G-REDL) flying from the BP Miller Oil Platform located 168 nautical miles (270 km) north-east from Aberdeen, Scotland to the heliport at Aberdeen Airport crashes into the North Sea 11 nautical miles (20 km) east of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. The Super Puma helicopter owned by Bond Offshore Helicopters made a brief mayday call at 12:54 pm BST and was then seen to crash 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) from a supply vessel resulting in the death of 2 crew and 14 passengers.[4] The cause of the accident was the catastrophic failure of the main rotor gearbox, which caused the main rotor to detach and severed the pylon and tail boom.[5]
  • 2006 – AH-64D Apache from 4–4th Aviation Regiment shot down southwest of Baghdad, killing the two crewmen.
  • 2001 – Hainan Island incident- An American Lockheed EP-3E Aries II surveillance plane, BuNo 156511, coded 'PR-32', of VQ-1, collided with a Chinese Shenyang J-8IID fighter jet, reported as 81192, and was forced to make an emergency landing at Lingshui air base on Hainan Island, China. The U.S. crew was detained for 10 days; the Chinese fighter pilot, Wang Wei, was reported missing and presumed dead. The Chinese refused to let the Orion be flown out, so it was dismantled and transported on chartered Antonov An-124-100 of Polyot.
  • 1976 – Lufthansa's first two Airbus A300Bs enter service. They will fly between Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and London.
  • 1965 – Tripartite Evaluation Squadron Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1, XS696, catches fire on take-off at RAF West Raynham and crashes.
  • 1964 – In an unusual accident, the Number Three deck elevator of the USS Randolph tears loose from the ship during night operations and plunges into the Atlantic off Cape Henry, Virginia, taking with it a Grumman S-2D Tracker, five crewman, and a tractor. Three crew are rescued by the USS Holder, but two are lost at sea.
  • 1961 – Venezuelan airline VIASA commences operations
  • 1954 – Last operational flight by an RAF Spitfire, a photo-reconnaissance sortie against bandits in Malaya
  • 1951 – U. S. Navy carrier-based jets are used as fighter-bombers for the first time as F9F Panthers of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191) aboard USS Princeton (CV-37) attack a railroad bridge near Songjin, Korea, with 100- and 250-pound (45- and 113-kg) bombs.
  • 1945 – The Nakajima Aircraft Company comes under the control of the Japanese government and is renamed the First Munitions Arsenal.
  • 1944 – U. S. Navy Task Force 58 carrier aircraft strike Woleai. During the March 30-April 1 raids on the Palau Islands, Yap, and Woleai, Task Force 58 aircraft have sunk or badly damaged 36 Japanese ships totaling 130,000 tons, trapped 32 more in harbors with naval mining, and destroyed many Japanese aircraft in exchange for the loss of 25 U. S. planes.
  • 1943 – The Imperial Japanese Navy begins the I Operation, a land-based air offensive over the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, with a fighter sweep by 58 Japanese Mitsubishi A6 M Zeroes from Rabaul down New Georgia Sound toward Guadalcanal. Over the Russell Islands, 41 U. S. F4 F Wildcats, F4U Corsairs, and P-38 Lightnings intercept them. The Japanese lose 18 Zeros in exchange for six American fighters.
  • 1943 – (1-2 ) U. S. Army Fifth Air Force bombers attack a Japanese convoy bound for Kavieng, sinking a merchant ship and damaging the heavy cruiser Aoba and a destroyer. Aoba is never again capable of steaming at maximum speed.
  • 1942 – At Malta's submarine base, German aircraft sink the British submarine HMS Pandora, damage the submarine HMS P36 beyond repair, and badly damage the submarine HMS Unbeaten.
  • 1939 – During a promotional sales tour of Europe, the Seversky 2PA-202 is wrecked after a demonstration in England.
  • 1938 – Nationalist leader Francisco Franco announces that the Spanish Civil War has ended in a complete Nationalist victory. During the 32½-month war, the Nationalists have used about 1,300 aircraft and the Republicans about 1,500; about 10,000 people have died in air attacks. Early Republican numerical air superiority had been challenged almost immediately by the technical superiority of Italian Fiat CR.32 fighters and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81, and German Junkers Ju 52 bomber-transports; Soviet Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters had given the Republicans air superiority in the winter of 1936-1937, but the Nationalists had achieved lasting air superiority after German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and Heinkel He 111 bombers and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers had arrived in 1937. Germany has sent about 600 aircraft to Spain, Italy about 660, the Soviet Union 1,000, and other countries (principally France) about 350. The German, Italian, and Soviet air forces have learned a great deal about the employment of modern aircraft in warfare through their involvement, and the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion in particular has used the conflict to test new aircraft and revolutionary new air warfare concepts.
  • 1937 – No. 3 Repair Depot authorized to form at Vancouver.
  • 1928 – The Imperial Japanese Navy forms its first seagoing aircraft carrier organization, the First Carrier Division.
  • 1924 – Most of the aviation work that had been done in British Columbia up to 1924 was done in conjunction with the Air Board, then the Canadian Air Force and finally the Royal Canadian Air Force which came into being. The RCAF withdrew from patrol duties despite its success in this role. A few of the people who had been flying for the military until this time decided to strike out on their own. They wanted to form independent companies, and still make a living doing what they enjoyed most – Flying. Don McLaren was one such person and he formed a company called Pacific Airways, in February 1925
  • 1923 – The Royal Air Force abandons the squadron as the basic organizational unit for those of its aircraft operating from Royal Navy ships, reorganizing them into six-plane flights.
  • 1921 – French pilot Adrienne Bollard takes off from Mendoza, Argentina in a Cauldron biplane to become the first woman to fly over the Andes. She completes the historic Andean crossing to the Chilean capital, Santiago in 10 hours.
  • 1916 – US Coast Guard Third Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone begins flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida. He is the first US Coast Guard aviator.
  • 1916 – French ace Jean Navarre, with an observer Lt. Robert, score the first kill.

References

  1. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David. "Southwest grounds 80 737s after jet holed in flight". Flight International. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  2. ^ Staff (1 April 2011). "Libya Air Raid 'Killed Civilians'". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Libya: Coalition Air Strike Near Brega Kills Rebels". BBC News. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  4. ^ BBC Scotland News Channel - helicopter with 16 people on board crashed into the North Sea
  5. ^ CAA Air Report AAIB Ref: EW/C2009/04/01 Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma, G-REDL
  6. ^ a b c "Documented Coalition Losses in the III Persian Gulf War". Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  7. ^ "Navy's F-14A Tomcat Crashes in Iraq". Associated Press. 2003-04-02. Archived from the original on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  8. ^ "2003". Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  9. ^ "Press release 2003-04-012". 2003-04-12. Archived from the original on 2005-10-28. Retrieved 2006-01-01.
  10. ^ "Nautical Air Accidents 2003". Retrieved 2010-07-16.
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