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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 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

Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Wind shear can be broken down into vertical and horizontal components, with horizontal wind shear seen across weather fronts and near the coast, and vertical shear typically near the surface, though also at higher levels in the atmosphere near upper level jets and frontal zones aloft.

Wind shear itself is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such as squall lines and cold fronts. It is commonly observed near microbursts and downbursts caused by thunderstorms, weather fronts, areas of locally higher low level winds referred to as low level jets, near mountains, radiation inversions that occur due to clear skies and calm winds, buildings, wind turbines, and sailboats. Wind shear has a significant effect during take-off and landing of aircraft due to their effects on steering of the aircraft, and was a significant cause of aircraft accidents involving large loss of life within the United States.

Sound movement through the atmosphere is affected by wind shear, which can bend the wave front, causing sounds to be heard where they normally would not, or vice versa. Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also inhibits tropical cyclone development, but helps to organize individual thunderstorms into living longer life cycles which can then produce severe weather. The thermal wind concept explains with how differences in wind speed with height are dependent on horizontal temperature differences, and explains the existence of the jet stream. (Full article...)

Selected image

A Polish Yakovlev Yak-18; Góraszka Air Picnic 2008

Did you know

...that Communist Romania's Foreign Minister, Grigore Preoteasa, was killed in an aircraft accident after refusing to wear a seat belt during landing? ... that the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan houses the only SR-71B Blackbird in existence? ... that before he flew the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh's first choice of aircraft was the Ryan M-2?

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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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 (‹See Tfd›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

[[File:|right|250px|]] The Tupolev TB-3 (Russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazholy Bombardirovschik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a heavy bomber aircraft which was deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and during World War II. It was the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, TB-3 performed bomber and transport duties through much of WWII. The TB-3 also saw combat as a Zveno project fighter mothership and as a light tank transport.

  • Span: 41.80 m (137 ft 2 in)
  • Length: 24.4 m (80 ft 1 in)
  • Height: 8.50 m (27 ft 11 in)
  • Engines: 4× Mikulin M-17F V12 engines, 525 kW (705 hp) each
  • Maximum Speed: 196 km/h (106 knots, 122 mph) at 3000 m (9,840 ft)
  • First Flight: 22 December 1930
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Today in Aviation

October 2

  • 2009 – Swedish airline Feel Air is established.
  • 2009 – Boeing 737-4H6, registered 9M-MMR operated by Malaysia Airlines, is substantially damaged when the port main undercarriage collapses while the aircraft is parked at the gate at Kuching International Airport.
  • 2009 – Serbian airline Jat Airways resumes flights following the resolution of the dispute with their maintenance company.
  • 2009 – A Fuerza Aérea Mexicana Cessna 182S Skylane (FAM-5498) crashes near San José Querendaro, Michoacán, Mexico. The aircraft on a reconnaissance flight from Morelia Airport crashed in the mountains of Michoacán with 3 crew fatalities.
  • 2009 – A Yemeni Air Force Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed crashes during a low-flying exercise due to mechanical failure.
  • 2001 – Once known as the “Flying Bank” thanks to its exemplary financial stability, Swissair grounds its fleet after running out of cash. The failure is the culmination of a series of bad investments combined with the sales downturn following the September 11th attacks. Most of its routes and planes would eventually be taken over by Swiss.
  • 1997 – An Grumman F-14A-120-GR Tomcat, BuNo 161425, converted to F-14A+, later redesignated F-14B, of VF-101, based at NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the North Carolina coast Thursday afternoon, moments after the two crew eject. "A Coast Guard helicopter later plucked the Tomcat's radar intercept officer from 4- to 5-foot seas, but rescuers were still searching for the jet's pilot after nightfall. The Navy declined to identify either of the crewmen...until their families were notified. The radar intercept officer was undergoing a medical examination at Oceana Thursday night, and was reportedly in good condition."The U.S. Navy suspends search for the missing aviator on 5 October. The cause of the crash was not known, the Navy said in a statement. A failure of left horizontal stab linkage—while the trailing edge was down—threw the plane into violent right-hand rolls. When the pilot put in corrective stick, the plane would pitch down violently due to a stuck left-hand horizontal stab. This flight condition was unrecoverable. The RIO pulled the ejection handle at 7000 feet. The mishap pilot died when his ejection seat failed.
  • 1996 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the ocean off Pasamayo, Peru, because of a maintenance error. All 70 people on board are killed.
  • 1990 – (2-6) The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) operates in the Persian Gulf, demonstrating the feasibility of such operations as the Coalition build-up in the confrontation with Iraq over Kuwait continues.
  • 1990 – In the Guangzhou Baiyun aircraft collision, the hijacked Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301, a Boeing 737, clips China Southwest Airlines Flight 2402, a Boeing 707, during landing at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, and collides with China Southern Airlines Flight 2812, a Boeing 757, killing a total of 128.
  • 1972 – An Aeroflot Il-18 crashes on takeoff in Adler, Russia, killing 109 people.
  • 1970 – In what is known as the Wichita State Crash, a Martin 4-0-4 aircraft crashes near Silver Plume, Colorado; it is one of two planes carrying the Wichita State University football team to Logan, Utah for a game; twenty-eight passengers, the plane's captain and a flight attendant die out of forty passengers on board.
  • 1963 – Second of two Short SC.1 VTOL experimental testbeds, XG905, c/n SH. 1815, a compact tailless delta monoplane with five Rolls-Royce RB108 engines, one for propulsion and four for lift, crashes while attempting landing at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Gyros failed, producing false references which caused the auto-stabiliser system to fly the aircraft into the ground. The failure occurred at less than 30 feet, giving pilot J.R. Green no time to revert to manual control. Airframe impacted inverted, killing pilot.
  • 1957 – A Royal Canadian Navy McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee, BuNo 126403 of VF-870, suffers flight control problems during carrier qualifications on HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22) off southeast coast of Nova Scotia. Commanders order pilot Lt. Howard Cooper to return to naval air station HMCS Shearwater, Nova Scotia 30 mi (48 km) north for repairs, but Cooper flies out to sea and runs out of fuel; a second Banshee pilot had determined the errant aircraft's approximate heading by tracking Cooper's radio signals, but the missing aircraft and pilot are not found after 4 days of intensive searching. On 2 June: 1964, Canadian fishing trawler Barbara Dawn snags a wrecked jet in her nets 70 mi (113 km) southwest of Sable Island; fishermen briefly observe entire aircraft before forward half breaks off and sinks, tail section is recovered, and RCN investigators are able to identify wreckage as 126403 based on serial-numbered parts.
  • 1948 – In the Bukken Bruse disaster, a Det Norske Luftfartsselskap Short Sandringham flying boat, crashes upon landing in Trondheim, Norway; 19 are killed; Bertrand Russell is among the 24 survivors.
  • 1946 – The AFHQ selected Avro design for a new all-weather jet fighter to be named XC-100.
  • 1945 – A U.S. Navy Martin PBM Mariner flying boat carrying Rear Admiral William Sample and eight others disappears near Wakayama, Japan while on a familiarization flight. The wreckage and their bodies will not be discovered under 19 November 1948.
  • 1944 – No. 435 (Transport) and 436 (Transport) Squadrons were formed in England.
  • 1944 – A B-25D bomber #41-30114 crashes in the Mojave Desert while on a pilot training mission. The plane stalls, spins and crashes into the ground, killing pilot 1st Lt George D. Rosado, copilot WASP Marie Michell Robinson, and crew chief S/Sgt Gordon L. Walker.
  • 1943 – Second prototype Arado Ar 234 V2 crashes at Rheine near Munster after suffering fire in port wing, failure of both engines, and various instrumentation failure, the airframe diving into the ground from 4,000 feet (1,200 m), killing pilot Flugkapitän Selle.
  • 1941 – Heini Dittmar sets a new airspeed record of 1,004 km/h (624 mph) in a Messerschmitt Me 163A. The record is unofficial because the flight (and the Me 163 programme) is kept secret.
  • 1940 – The first ground-radar-controlled aerial victory at night takes place as the Luftwaffe’s dunkele Nachtjagd (“dark nightfighting, ” abbreviated as Dunaja) technique – In which ground-based radar is used to control night fighters until they come within visual range of a target – has its first success. A Freya radar is used to coach the Dorner Do 17Z-10 night fighter of Leutnant Ludwig Becker to within visual range of a British Vickers Wellington bomber over the Netherlands, allowing him to shoot it down.
  • 1920 – U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. William Merrill Corry, Jr. (5 October 1889 – 6 October 1920), of Quincy, Florida, designated Naval Aviator No. 23 in March 1916, while on a flight from Long Island, New York, with another pilot, the aircraft crashes, with Corry earning the Medal of Honor "for heroic service in attempting to rescue a brother officer from a flame-enveloped airplane near Hartford, Connecticut. On 2 October 1920, an airplane in which Lieutenant Commander Corry was a passenger crashed and burst into flames. He was thrown 30 feet clear of the plane and, though injured, rushed back to the burning machine and endeavored to release the pilot. In so doing he sustained serious burns, from which he died four days later." In 1923, Corry Field, a new satellite airfield for Naval Air Station Pensacola, is named in his honor. Three U.S. Navy destroyers have been named USS Corry, a Clemson-class in 1921, a Gleaves-class in 1941, and a Gearing-class, in 1945.
  • 1918 – The Kettering Bug pilotless airplane being developed by Charles F. Kettering makes its first successful unmanned flight test, albeit for only nine seconds.
  • 1910 – The first mid-air collision takes place near Milan. Both pilots survive, but one is badly injured.

References

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