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The Aviation Portal

A Boeing 747 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

Rear view of CFM56-5
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...)

Selected image

Flying a modified X-15A-2 in October, 1967, US Air Force Major William Joseph Knight reached Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph), which remains the highest speed ever attained in an airplane.

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 Theo Osterkamp was the first German reconnaissance pilot to fly a land-based aircraft to England during World War I? ... that Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the captain of US Airways Flight 1549, also runs an aviation safety consultant company and has worked as an accident investigator for the USAF, NTSB, and FAA?

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

Frank Whittle speaking to employees of the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory (now known as the NASA Glenn Research Center), USA, in 1946
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer and was one of the inventors of jet propulsion. By the end of the war, Whittle's efforts resulted in engines that would lead the world in performance through the end of the decade.

Born in Earlsdon, Coventry, England on June 1, 1907, Whittle left Leamington College in 1923 to join the Royal Air Force (RAF). Through his early days as an Aircraft apprentice he maintained his interest in the Model Aircraft Society where he built replicas, the quality of which attracted the eye of his commanding officer, who was so impressed that he recommended Whittle for the Officer Training College at Cranwell in Lincolnshire in 1926, a rarity for a "commoner" in what was still a very class-based military structure. A requirement of the course was that each student had to produce a thesis for graduation. Whittle decided to write his thesis on future developments in aircraft design, in which he described what is today referred to as a motorjet.

Whittle and Hans von Ohain met after the war and initially Whittle was angry with him as he felt Ohain had stolen his ideas. Ohain eventually convinced him that his work was independent and after that point the two became good friends.

Selected Aircraft

Dash 8 300 landing at Bristol (UK)
Dash 8 300 landing at Bristol (UK)

The de Havilland Canada DHC-8, popularly the Dash 8, is a series of twin-turboprop airliners designed by de Havilland Canada in the early 1980s. They are now made by Bombardier Aerospace which purchased DHC from Boeing in 1992. Since 1996 the aircraft have been known as the Q Series, for "quiet", due to installation of the Active Noise and Vibration Suppression (ANVS) system designed to reduce cabin noise and vibration levels to near those of jet airliners.

Notable features of the Dash 8 design are the large T-tail intended to keep the tail free of propwash during takeoff, a very high aspect ratio wing, the elongated engine nacelles also holding the rearward-folding landing gear, and the pointed nose profile. First flight was in 1983, and the plane entered service in 1984 with NorOntair. Piedmont Airlines (formerly Henson Airlines) was the US launch customer for the Dash 8 in 1984.

The Dash 8 design had better cruise performance than the earlier Dash 7, was less expensive to operate, and more notably, much less expensive to maintain. The Dash 8 had the lowest costs per passenger mile of any feederliner of the era. The only disadvantage compared to the earlier Dash 7 was somewhat higher noise levels, but only in comparison as the Dash 7 was notable in the industry for extremely low noise due to its four very large and slow-turning propellers.

  • Length: 107 ft 9 in (32.84 m)
  • Wingspan: 93 ft 3 in (32.84 m)
  • Height: 27 ft 5 in (8.34 m)
  • Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprops, 5,071 shp (3,781 kW) each
  • Cruise speed: 360 knots (414 mph, 667 km/h)
  • Maiden Flight: June 20, 1983

Today in Aviation

July 23

  • 2010 – A Canadian Forces McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet, 188738, of 419 Moose Squadron, based at Cold Lake, crashed at Lethbridge County Airport during a low-speed, low-altitude practice run for the Alberta International Airshow, the pilot Capt. Brian Bews, 36, ejected in a Martin-Baker seat seconds before the fighter fell off on its starboard wing and impacted on the airfield. He suffered a compression fracture in three vertebrae but is expected to fully recover.
  • 2009 – An Uzbekistan Air Force Mil Mi-24 Hind Helicopter on a routine training exercise crashes near the airport of Chirchiq, Tashkent Province, Uzbekistan killing the 2 crew.
  • 2009 – A Turkish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II crashes on take-off after from the Erhaç Air Base in Malatya, Turkey due to a technical fault caused by drop-tank falling from the aircraft. The two crew members successfully eject from the aircraft and were hospitalized after the incident.
  • 2008 – Deceased: Dick Johnson (glider pilot), 85, American glider pilot, aeronautical engineer, plane crash.
  • 1999 – All Nippon Airways Flight 61: Wielding a knife, passenger Yuji Nishizawa hijacks All Nippon Airways Flight 61, a Boeing 747. After he fatally stabs the captain, he is overpowered by the crew and the co-pilot lands the plane safely at Haneda, Japan.
  • 1999 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-93 at 12:31 am EDT. Mission highlights: Chandra X-ray Observatory deployed.
  • 1994 – A U.S. Navy North American T-2C Buckeye, BuNo 157051, '0601', of VT-19, based at NAS Meridian, Mississippi, crashed at 1355 hrs. shortly after take-off from NAS Oceana, Virginia, impacting in a wooded area several hundred yards past the runway, with both crew ejecting before the crash. Instructor pilot Lt. Mark Sharp, 32, of Portland, Oregon, died at 1814 hrs. in Virginia Beach General Hospital, said a Navy spokesman, but Marine Lt. Carl Hogsett, 26, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was reported in good condition at Portsmouth Naval Hospital.
  • 1993 – China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119, a BAe 146, overruns the runway at Yinchuan Hedong Airport, Ningxia, China after an aborted takeoff; the aircraft crashes into a lake, killing 54 passengers and 1 crew member.
  • 1983 – Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767, runs out of fuel above Manitoba because of a miscalculation; the crew successfully glides the aircraft to a safe landing at a former Air Force base (and current drag strip) at Gimli, Manitoba; the aircraft becomes known as the "Gimli Glider".
  • 1977 – After threats of shutting down transatlantic air traffic, the U. S. and British governments reach the Bermuda II accord, giving British airlines additional ports of entry in the United States and removing American airlines' rights to carry passengers beyond London and Hong Kong.
  • 1977 – (23-24) Further Egyptian Air Force attacks destroy large numbers of Libyan aircraft before a ceasefire ends the war. Egypt admits the loss of two planes during the last two days of the war.
  • 1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, WW I fighter pilot, dies at 82.
  • 1973 – Ozark Air Lines Flight 809, a Fairchild-Hiller FH-227, crashes short of the runway at St. Louis International Airport due to windshear from a thunderstorm, killing 38 of 44 on board.
  • 1973 – Japan Air Lines Flight 404, a Boeing 747, is hijacked after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands; one hijacker is killed and the flight's purser injured by a grenade blast; after several days and multiple flight legs, the passengers are released in Benghazi, Libya and the aircraft is blown up on the ground; this is the first loss of a Boeing 747-200.
  • 1968 – Three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijack El Al Flight 426 from Rome to Tel Aviv. Diverting to Algiers the negotiations extend over forty days. Both the hijackers and the hostages go free.
  • 1956 – Bell X-2 rocket plane sets world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph.
  • 1947 – First (US Navy) air squadron of jets, Quonset Point, RI.
  • 1945 – The Japanese submarines I-400 and I-401 depart Japan to launch a surprise air strike on American ships at Ulithi Atoll using six submarine-launched Aichi M6 A floatplanes painted in American markings. The two submarines will abort the mission and jettison the aircraft on 16 August when they learn of Japan’s surrender.
  • 1944 – During strikes on the southern half of Tinian, aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Langley (CVL-27) fly almost 200 sorties, those from the escort aircraft carriers USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) and USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) fly over 50, and those of the U. S. Army Air Forces’ Saipan-based 318th Air Group fly over 100, including 18 sorties with a new weapon, the napalm bomb.
  • 1944 – Focke-Wulf Fw 190C V33 prototype, Werke Nummer 0058, modified to Fw 190 V33/U1 as prototype for Ta 152H-0 with 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Junkers Jumo 213E-1 engine and new wing fuel tanks of the definitive Ta 152H-1, comprising three tanks in each inner portion, located just aft of the truncated mainspar, first flown 12 July 1944, crashes out of Langenhagen, setting back the flight test program.
  • 1944 – Two Curtiss RA-25A Shrikes, of the 4134th Base Unit, Spokane Army Air Field, collide in flight while participating in a flypast for an air show near Spokane, Washington. Part of a three-plane formation, the left-hand aircraft collided with the middle plane during a turn, both crashing into a valley. Pilot 2nd Lt. George E. Chrep and engineer-rated passenger Sgt. Joseph M. Revinskas were killed in the crash of 42-79804, while pilot 2nd Lt. William R. Scott and passenger Captain Ford K. Sayre, a noted snow skier on the east coast, were killed in the crash of 42-79826. A Paramount Pictures newsreel crew caught the accident on film, which was examined by the crash investigation board for clues to the accident. This footage was later incorporated into the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
  • 1941 – During Operation Substance, Italian high-level and torpedo bombers attack a resupply convoy of six fast store ships bound for Malta escorted by a British naval forces including the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. The high-level bombers are ineffective and Fairey Fulmars from Ark Royal shoot down two of them, but the six torpedo bombers fatally damage the destroyer HMS Fearless and cripple the light cruiser HMS Manchester.
  • 1940 – “Blitz” all-night air raid by German bombers on London begins.
  • 1937 – The International Military Aircraft Competition in Debendorf near Zuich provided the picturesque venue for the first major demonstration of the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
  • 1930 – Aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss dies at age of 52.
  • 1917 – Maj. Benjamin D. Foulois, one of the great figures of early American aviation, is appointed commanding officer of the Airplane Division of the U. S. Signal Corps.
  • 1913 – With his biplane fitted with electric lights on the wings and his landing area outlined with small blazes, H. W. Blakeley makes the first night flight in Canada at the Dominion Livestock Show and Fair at Brandon, Manitoba.
  • 1906 – Having abandoned his helicopter project, Alberto Santos-Dumont unveils a new aircraft, the No.14 bis. at Bagatelle, France. The odd-looking machine is dubbed canard (duck).
  • 1905 – The first flight of the Wright Flyer III took place in June 1905.[2] This is the first fully controllable and practical version of the original Flyer.

References

  1. ^ "Rebels Repulse Attack by Gaddafi Forces". The Sydney Morning Herald. Agence France-Presse. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  2. ^ http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airplanes/Wright_Airplanes.htm
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