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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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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...)

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Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
A Supermarine Spitfire Mark XVI. The Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in the Second World War. The Spitfire saw service during the whole of WWII in all theatres of war, and in many different variants. It is often credited with winning the Battle of Britain.

Did you know

...that Alejandro Maclean, Spanish television producer and Red Bull Air Race World Series pilot, is nicknamed "The Flying Matador"?

Bede BD-4

...that a Cambridge University society has launched high altitude balloons that have taken a picture of the earth's curvature from a height of 32 km?

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

Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (Franciszek Gabryszewski) (28 January 1919 - January 31, 2002) was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War II, a jet fighter ace in Korea, and commanded numerous fighter squadrons, groups, and wings during his Air Force career.

Assigned as a P-40 pilot with the 45th Fighter Squadron of the 15th Fighter Group at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, 2nd Lt. Gabreski witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but did not become airborne in time to engage the attackers.

In March 1943 Gabreski became part of the 56th Fighter Group, flying the P-47 Thunderbolt, and in May was promoted to Major and named commander of the 61st Fighter Squadron, which included six Polish nationals as pilots in 1944. He made his 28th kill on July 5, 1944, passing Eddie Rickenbacker's record from World War I to become America's top ace (although several pilots passed him by the end of the war).

Col. Gabreski flew combat again during the Korean War, as commander of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, piloting an F-86 Sabre. He was credited with 6.5 MiG-15 kills, making him one of seven U.S. pilots to be aces in more than one war (the others are Col. Harrison Thyng, Col. James P. Hagerstrom, Major William T. Whisner, Col. Vermont Garrison, Major George A. Davis, Jr., and Lt.Col. John F. Bolt, USMC).

He ended his career as a commander of several tactical and air defense wings, his last assignment being commander of the 52d Fighter Wing at Suffolk County Air Force Base in Westhampton Beach, New York.

Selected Aircraft

Space Shuttle Discovery
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)
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Today in Aviation

April 11

  • 2012 – An MV-22B from USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) crashed near Agadir, Morocco, during a joint training exercise. Two Marines were killed and two others were seriously injured, and the aircraft was lost.
  • 2011 – NATO announces that its Operation Unified Protector airstrikes have destroyed 49 Libyan government tanks since 9 April, including 13 on 9 April, 25 on 10 April, and 11 on 11 April.[1]
  • 2008 – In the 2008 Chişinău Antonov An-32 crash, a Sudanese airline Antonov An-32 crashes when returning shortly after taking off from Chişinău International Airport, Moldova for Turkey. All eight on board are killed.
  • 2004 – An AH-64D Apache 02-5301 from C Company, 1–227 Aviation Regiment, 4th BCT, 1st Cavalry Division shot down west of Baghdad, killing both pilots.
  • 1969 – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7954, Article 2005, crashes on runway during take off from Edwards Air Force Base, California. Pilot Lt. Col. Bill Skliar and RSO Maj. Noel Warner escape without injury.
  • 1961 – A USAF McDonnell F-101 Voodoo of the 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, returning from an Air Defense Command patrol over the Atlantic Ocean, dropped too low in poor visibility on approach to Dow AFB, Maine, and struck Bald Mountain, near Ellsworth, Maine, killing pilot Capt. Vernal Johnson and Lt. Edward Masaltis. Wreckage remains in place and the Maine Aviation Historical Society has erected a plaque commemorating the crew and asking that the wreck remain undisturbed.
  • 1955 – An Air India Lockheed L-749 Constellation named Kashmir Princess explodes under suspicious circumstances; 16 people are killed and three survive.
  • 1954 – S/L RG Christie flew from Vancouver to Ottawa in 3 hrs, 46 mins flying time with stops at Calgary and Winnipeg. He was flying a Canadair-built North American Sabre.
  • 1952 – The Piasecki H/CH-21 Shawnee tandem-rotor helicopter makes its first flight.
  • 1952 – Pan Am Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4, suffers engine failure and is forced to ditch in the Atlantic 11 mi (18 km) north of San Juan, Puerto Rico; 52 of 69 on board die.
  • 1950 – A USAF Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress, 45-21854, of the 830th Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Group (M), on a ferry mission crashes into mountain on Manzano Base Nuclear Weapons Storage Area (WSA), three minutes after take-off from Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, killing 13 crew. One fully assembled bomb casing (a Mark IV atomic bomb) on board is completely shattered when detonators explode. A fuel capsule, carried separately, is recovered.[2]
  • 1945 – Second of two Northrop XP-61E Black Widows, 42-39557, modified from P-61B with cut-down fuselage and bubble canopy, is written off when over-eager pilot tries P-38 Lightning trick of retracting landing gear on take-off while still on runway, but heavier Widow settles onto runway, hollow steel props shatter, airframe strikes tool shack on side of runway, airframe written-off, pilot survives. First XP-61E, 42-39549, is modified into sole XF-15 photo-reconnaissance prototype, 36 of which will be built as Northrop F-15A Reporter.
  • 1944 – Short Stirling B.Mk.III, EH947, of 75 Squadron, suffers engine failure during non-operational flight, force-landed at Icklingham, Suffolk.
  • 1940 – The first aerial torpedo attack of World War II and the first coordinated torpedo attack launched from an aircraft carrier in history takes place, as Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier HMS Furious attack two German destroyers in Trondheimsfjord, Norway. The torpedoes all ground in the shallows and no hits are achieved; three aircraft are lost.
  • 1934 – Renato Donati sets a new altitude record of 14,433 m (47,352 ft) in a Caproni Ca 113.
  • 1933 – (11-20) Departing England on April 11 in the Avro Mark VIA Avian Southern Cross, William N. “Bill” Lancaster begins an attempt to set a speed record for a flight to South Africa. He crashes in the Sahara Desert on April 12 and dies on April 20 while awaiting rescue. His mummified body and wrecked aircraft will not be discovered until February 1962.
  • 1929 – The Boeing P-12 fighter makes its first flight. The Navy version, the F4 B-1, will make its first flight on May 6. The military will order 586 airplanes in the series.
  • 1929 – Edmond Thieffry (28 September 1892] – 11 April 1929) was a Belgian First World War air ace and aviation pioneer. He made, with Léopold Roger and Jef de Bruycker, the first successful flight between Belgium and Congo (then the Belgian Congo).
  • 1921 – The first Canadian Air Force flying fatality occurred at Camp Borden, Ontario when S/L K. Tailyour crashed in an Avro 504 K while performing aerobatics. 1917 – First flight of the Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M. F.3
  • 1911 – Imperial Japanese Army officer Yoshitoshi Tokugawa makes the first flight from Japan’s first permanent airfield at Tokorozawa, piloting a Farman III biplane.
  • 1911 – The U. S. Army sets up its first permanent flying school at College Park, Maryland.
  • 1908 – Delagrange flies 12,878 feet in six minutes, 30 seconds in his Voisin-Delagrange Nº 2 in Paris.

References

  1. ^ Press release (11 April 2011). "NATO Strikes Further Reduce Pro-Gaddafi Forces Capacity". NATO. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  2. ^ Press release (11 April 2019). "Kirtland Dedicates Marker to Fallen B-29 Aircrew". Retrieved 19 April 2019.
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