Portal:Aviation
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The Aviation Portal
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...)
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Did you know
...that Chris Phatswe committed suicide by crashing his Air Botswana plane into two other planes belonging to the airline, effectively crippling operations?
- ...that the Aichi D1A (pictured) was a carrier-borne dive bomber primarily used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second Sino-Japanese War?
... 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"?
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In the news
- 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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Foulois conducted the acceptance test for the Army's first aircraft, a Wright Model A, in 1909. He participated in the Mexican Expedition from 1916–17 and was part of the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I where he was responsible for the logistics and maintenance of the U.S. air fleet. During World War I he and Billy Mitchell began a long and hostile relationship over the direction of military aviation and the best method to get there. After the war he served as a military attaché to Germany where he gathered a great deal of intelligence on German aviation. He later went on to command the 1st Aero Squadron and ultimately commanded the Air Corps.
He retired in 1935 as part of the fallout from the Air Mail scandal. Foulois continued to advocate for a strong air service in retirement. In 1959, at the invitation of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Foulois began touring Air Force bases advocating national security. He died of a heart attack on 25 April 1967 and is buried in his home town of Washington, Connecticut.
Selected Aircraft
The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet and is commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven". The aircraft has seating for over 300 passengers and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles (9,695 to 17,372 km) depending on model. Its distinguishing features include the largest diameter turbofan engines of any aircraft, six wheels on each main landing gear, a circular fuselage cross-section, and blade-shaped tail cone. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 was designed to replace older wide-body airliners and bridge the capacity difference between the 767 and 747. As Boeing's first fly-by-wire airliner, it has computer mediated controls; it is also the first entirely computer-designed commercial aircraft.
The 777 is produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 777-200 model first entered service in 1995, followed by the extended range 777-200ER in 1997; the stretched 777-300, which is 33.3 ft (10.1 m) longer, began service in 1998. The longer-range 777-300ER and 777-200LR variants entered service in 2004 and 2006, respectively, while a freighter version, the 777F, debuted in 2008. Both longer-range versions and the freighter feature General Electric GE90 engines, as well as extended and raked wingtips. Other models are equipped with either the GE90, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. The 777-200LR ranks as the world's longest-range airliner and holds the record for longest distance flown by an unrefuelled commercial aircraft, with the demonstrated capability to fly more than halfway around the world.
United Airlines first placed the 777 into commercial airline service in 1995. As of August 2023, 1,716 777s have been delivered. The most common variant used worldwide is the 777-300ER, with 832 aircraft delivered, and Emirates operates the largest 777 fleet, with 134 aircraft (as of May 2019). The airliner has had 8 hull-loss accidents, with 541 fatalities. The most deadly incident was Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in which a 777-200ER carrying 298 people was shot down by a missile over Ukraine on 17 July 2014.
Through the 21st century, the 777 has emerged as one of its manufacturer's best-selling models. Because of rising fuel costs, airlines have acquired the type as a comparatively fuel-efficient alternative to other wide-body jets and have increasingly used the aircraft on long-haul, transoceanic routes. Direct market competitors include the Airbus A330-300, the A340 and A350 XWB.
- Span: 212 ft 7 in (64.8 m)
- Length: 242 ft 4 in (73.9 m)
- Height: 61 ft 5 in (18.7 m)
- Engines: 2 X GE 90-115B
- Cruising speed: 0.84 Mach (555 mph, 892 km/h, 481 kn) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m) cruise altitude
- First flight: 12 June 1994
- Number built: 1,716 as of August 2023 (based on deliveries)
Today in Aviation
- 1993 – Widerøe Flight 744, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, crashes in Overhalla, Norway on approach to Namsos Airport, killing both pilots and four passengers; the crash is also known as the Namsos Accident.
- 1982 – The first CF 18 Hornet arrived to 410 Squadron OTU CFB Cold Lake.
- 1979 – First flight of the Panavia Tornado ADV
- 1976 – General Dynamics F-111E-CF, 67-0116, c/n A1-161 / E-2, of the 3246th Test Wing, Armament Development and Test Center, one of two assigned to the base, crashed at Eglin AFB, Florida, upon return from a test mission. Crew, pilot Capt. Douglas A. Joyce, and Capt. Richard Mullane, deployed crew escape module safely and were uninjured.
- 1965 – A raid by Viet Cong sappers against the U. S. Marine Corps‘s Marble Mountain Air Facility in South Vietnam destroys 13 UH-1E and six UH-34 helicopters and damages four UH-1 Es and 26 UH-34 s.
- 1962 – The plane of Enrico Mattei, Italian industry’s most relevant figure, crashes in mysterious circumstances.
- 1962 – A USAF Boeing RB-47H-BW Stratojet, 53-6248, of the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, experienced loss of thrust and crashed at Kindley AFB, Bermuda, killing all four crew, aircraft commander Maj. William A. Britton, copilot 1st Lt. Holt J. Rasmussen, navigator Capt. Robert A. Constable, and observer Capt. Robert C. Dennis. Cause was contaminated water-alcohol. This aircraft had spotted the Soviet freighter Grozny with missiles bound for Cuba on its deck on 26 September.
- 1962 – Major Rudolf Anderson, a Greenville, South Carolina native and 1948 graduate from Clemson University's cadet corps and pilot with the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing is tasked with an overflight of Cuba on mission 3128, in a CIA Lockheed U-2F spy plane, remarked with USAF insignia, to take photos of the Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and SS-5 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBMs) build-ups. Anderson had first qualified on the U-2 type on 3 September 1957. This would be his sixth Cuban overflight. He departed McCoy AFB, Florida at 0909 hrs ET. Contrary to Moscow orders to not engage reconnaissance flights, a single Soviet-manned SA-2 missile battery at Banes fired at Anderson's high-flying U-2F, 56-6676, (Article 343), at 1021 hrs, Havana time (1121 hrs. ET). Although not a direct hit, several pieces of shrapnel punctured the canopy and the pilot's partial pressure suit and helmet, resulting in Anderson's immediate death. A censored Central Intelligence Agency document dated 28 October 1962, 0200 hours, states "The loss of the U-2 over Banes was probably caused by intercept by an SA-2 from the Banes site, or pilot hypoxia, with the former appearing more likely on the basis of present information." Actually, it was both.
- 1961 – The first Saturn I heavy launch vehicle (SA-1) lifted off from Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was a test of the first stage, only. The upper stages were dummies.
- 1960 – Air Mali (1960–1985) is established
- 1959 – First flight of the Myasishchev M-50
- 1959 – Convair YB-58-1-CF Hustler, 55-0669, c/n 10, crashes 7 miles (11 km) W of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Convair pilot Everett L. Wheeler, and Convair flight engineer Michael F. Keller survive; Convair flight engineer Harry N. Blosser killed. Accident cause was loss of control during normal flight.
- 1957 – Pioneering Italian aircraft designer Giovanni Caproni dies.
- 1952 – An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-64 crashed at Morón Air Base.
- 1950 – A North American AJ-1 Savage, BuNo 124163, of VC-5, fails to climb out on launch from the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, and goes into the water directly off the bow, reportedly off of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Plane Commander was LCDR Dave Purdon, the B/N was LTJG Ed Decker, and the Third Crewman was Chief Edward R. Barrett. Only Decker escapes from the wreckage with minor injuries to be rescued by the plane guard helicopter. Cause was possibly accidental engagement of the flight control gust locks. Newsreel footage of this accident was released through Movietone News.
- 1949 – Air France Lockheed Constellation crashes in the Azores. 48 die including French boxing star Marcel Cerdan and the young concert violinist, Ginette Neveu.
- 1944 – First flight of the Bristol Buckmaster
- 1943 – During U. S. landings in the Treasury Islands, 25 Japanese Aichi D3A (“Val”) dive bombers attack U. S. ships offshore, damaging a destroyer in exchange for the loss of 12 aircraft.
- 1941 – Victor Talalikhin, the Soviet Union’s first major air hero of World War II, is killed in action during a dogfight with German aircraft.
- 1940 – The first 37 AOS graduates passed and were awarded badges at Trenton.
- 1931 – The Detroit Aircraft Corporation files for bankruptcy. Eventually, the Lockheed portion of the company is bought out of receivership.
- 1926 – First flight of the Blériot 165
- 1918 – Col. William Barker shoots down a German plane over the front lines, then is attacked by a large formation of enemy aircraft. He sends three more German aircraft to the ground, while suffering serious gunshot wounds to his legs and elbow; crash landing near the Allied lines. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
- 1917 – Arthur Rhys Davids, English WWI fighter pilot, dies (b. 1897). Davids was credited with having brought down Germany’s Werner Voss on 23 September 1917, in one of the most famous dogfights of World War I.
- 1909 – Mrs. Ralph van Denman flies for four minutes with Wilbur Wright at College Park, Maryland, becoming the U. S.’s first female passenger. [1]
References
- ^ Editor-in-Chief: Bill Gunston, Aviation: Year by Year, Amber Books Limited, London, UK, 2001.
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