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Introduction

The Boeing 747, one of the most iconic aircraft in history.


Aviation, or air transport, refers to 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 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.

Selected article

Air Force One
Air Force One (the ATC callsign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President) has, since 1990, consisted of two specifically-configured, highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft. The planes' three floors (4,000 square feet – 372 m²) include multiple modifications including the president's executive suite which includes a private dressing room, workout room, lavatory, shower, and private office.

Selected image

Refueling a fire fighting helicopter Southern River, Western Australia.
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...Archive/Nominations [[|Read more...]]

Did you know

..that an aircraft's pitot-static system allows a pilot to monitor airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend? ...that the BAE Systems HERTI is the first and only fully autonomous UAV to have been certificated by the United Kingdom? ... that when Lilian Bland built an aircraft in 1910, she used her aunt's ear-trumpet and a whisky bottle to feed petrol to the engine?

Selected Aircraft

An A400M flying

The Airbus A400M is a four-engine turboprop aircraft, designed by Airbus Military to meet the demand of European nations for military airlift. Since its formal launch the aircraft has also been ordered by South Africa, Chile and Malaysia.

The A400M will begin assembly in the Seville plant of EADS Spain (part of Airbus Military) in October 2006. The first test flight occurred in December 2009.

  • Span: 42.4 m (139 ft 1 in)
  • Length: 45.1 m (148 ft)
  • Height: 14.7 m (48 ft 3 in)
  • Engines: 4 EPI TP400-D6 (8,250 kW power)
  • Cruising Speed: 780 km/h (480 mph, 420 knots)
  • First Flight: 11 December 2009
  • Number built: 4 (174 on order)
...Archive/Nominations Read more...

Related portals

Selected biography

Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson (1 July 1903 – 5 January 1941) C.B.E. was a pioneering British aviatrix.

Born in Kingston upon Hull, Johnson graduated from University of Sheffield with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining a pilot's A Licence No. 1979 on 6 July 1929 at the London Aeroplane Club. In that same year, she became the first British woman to gain a ground engineer's C License.

Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when, in 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. She left Croydon on 5 May of that year and landed in Darwin, Australia on 24 May after flying 11,000 miles. Her aircraft for this flight, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth (registration G-AAAH) named Jason, can still be seen in the Science Museum in London. She received the Harmon Trophy as well as a CBE in homage to this achievement, and was also honoured with the No. 1 civil pilot's licence under Australia's 1921 Air Navigation Regulations.

In July 1931, Johnson and her co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first pilots to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the 1,760-mile journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for flying from England to Japan. The flight was completed in a De Havilland Puss Moth.

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
Read and edit Wikinews

Today in Aviation

November 19

  • 2009 – A de Havilland Canada DHC-8-200 being operated on behalf of United States Africa Command was substantially damaged when the undercarriage collapsed and the starboard wing was ripped off in an emergency landing at Tarakigné, Mali.
  • 2009 – Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Flight 3711, operated by McDonnell Douglas MD-82 9Q-CAB overran the runway on landing at Goma International Airport, suffering substantial damage. The overrun area was contaminated by solidified lava.
  • 1999 – Launched: Shenzhou 1, China's first spacecraft.
  • 1997 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 at 14:46 EST. Mission highlights: Microgravity experiments, 2 EVAs, SPARTAN.
  • 1996 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-80 at 2:55:47 p.m EST. Mission highlights: Wake Shield Facility; ASTRO-SPAS.
  • 1996United Express Flight 5925, a Beechcraft 1900, collides with a privately-owned Beechcraft King Air at Quincy Regional Airport, Illinois; killing all 14 on board both aircraft.
  • 1977TAP Portugal Flight 425, a Boeing 727, overruns the runway at Madeira Airport and plunges over a steep bank, bursting into flames and killing 131 of the 164 people on board.
  • 1975 – First of three Boeing-Vertol YUH-61 helicopters completed, 73-21656, crashes and is moderately damaged during testing, but two company pilots escape injury. Cause is found to be failure of tail rotor drive shaft after the main rotor oversped during an auto-rotational recovery. Airframe is repaired. Now preserved at the Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama. Type loses competition to Sikorsky UH-60 and airframes four and five are not completed.
  • 1969Apollo 12 lands on the Moon, allowing Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan L. Bean to become the third and fourth humans to walk on its surface.
  • 1954 – A North American B-25 Mitchell on an "unauthorized flight" from Keesler Air Force Base crashed 400 yd (370 m) off shore into the Mississippi Sound, exploding near the Biloxi lighthouse.
  • 1951 – A Boeing B-47B-5-BW Stratojet, 50-006, crashes shortly after an afternoon take-off at Edwards Air Force Base, California, killing three crew. The bomber comes down a quarter mile W of the runway and explodes. Officials at the base said the bomber was beginning a routine test flight. Killed are Captain Joseph E. Wolfe, Jr., the pilot, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Major Robert A. Mortland, 30, co-pilot, of Clarion, Pennsylvania, and Sergeant Christy N. Spiro, 32, of Worcester, Massachusetts.
  • 1948Fairey Aviation Company of Canada was established and took over the facilities of the Clark-Ruse Aircraft Co. at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
  • 1947 – Only accident of the Martin XB-48 test programme occurs when pilot E. R. "Dutch" Gelvin tries to abort takeoff in first prototype, 45-59585, from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, when fire warning light comes on as engines reach full power. He retards throttle and applies brakes but bomber does not slow. As he runs out of runway and as the brake pressure bleeds off, he has a choice of running into the Chesapeake Bay or heading for the mudflats - he opts for the latter. He turns off the runway, tries to retract the undercarriage, runs across a ditch, a road, another ditch, left outrigger gear collapses and jet slides to stop leaning to port, just 50 feet short of a Navy doctor's home. Damage is minimal, limited to gear doors, outrigger, and flaps. Cause was the emergency fuel system, designed to maintain engine power at 94 percent, regardless of throttle position. This will be eliminated in second prototype.
  • 1944 – U. S. Navy Task Force 38 carrier aircraft strike Luzon, destroying more than 100 Japanese aircraft in exchange for the loss of 13 U. S. planes in combat.
  • 1941 – North American P-64, 41-19086, assigned to the 66th Air Base Squadron, Luke Field, Arizona, crashes and burns 20 miles NW of Luke Field after a stall/spin, killing pilot Charles C. Ball. Mölders, pilot Oberleutnant Kolbe and flight engineer Oberfeldwebel Hobbie were killed. Major Dr. Wenzel and radio operator Oberfeldwebel Tenz survived the crash landing. Dr. Wenzel sustained a broken arm and leg as well as a concussion, and Tenz a broken ankle. Mölders' fatal injuries included a broken back and a crushed ribcage. Accident investigators then and since have speculated whether Mölders would have survived the crash if he had used his seat belt. In his memory, on 20 December 1941, JG 51 was bestowed the honor name "Mölders".
  • 1940 – The formation of the Air Cadet League of Canada formed to train 12-18 year-olds for future enlistment in the RCAF.
  • 1938 – RCAF became directly responsible to the Minister of National Defence instead of the Chief of the General Staff, and achieved equal status with the RCN and Canadian Army.
  • 1938 – Construction begins on a new airport serving the nation’s capital, Washington, D. C. built in nearby Virginia, and this airport will become Ronald Reagan National Airport.
  • 1936 – (19-22) Curious to see the reaction of a civilian population to an attempt to systematically destroy its city by bombing, officers of the German Condor Legion supporting Francisco Franco's desire to bomb Madrid into surrendering oversee a bombing campaign by German Junkers Ju 52 and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 aircraft that kills 150 people in the city. It is the heaviest bombing ever carried out against a city up to that time.
  • 1916Ruth Law sets a new distance record for cross-country flight by flying 590 miles (950 km) non-stop from Chicago to New York State. She flies on to New York City the next day.
  • 1912 – Italy's colonial air force is established as the Servizio d'Aviazione Coloniale.
  • 1903 – After inventing and patenting the V8 engine the year before, Léon Y. K. Levavasseur demonstrates his Antoinette engine, designed as a lightweight powerplant specifically for aircraft.

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