Portal:Aviation
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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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External aerodynamics is the study of flow around solid objects of various shapes. Evaluating the lift and drag on an airplane, the shock waves that form in front of the nose of a rocket is an example of external aerodynamics. Internal aerodynamics is the study of flow through passages in solid objects. For instance, internal aerodynamics encompasses the study of the airflow through a jet engine.
The ratio of the problem's characteristic flow speed to the speed of sound comprises a second classification of aerodynamic problems. A problem is called subsonic if all the speeds in the problem are less than the speed of sound, transonic if speeds both below and above the speed of sound are present (normally when the characteristic speed is approximately the speed of sound), supersonic when the characteristic flow speed is greater than the speed of sound, and hypersonic when the flow speed is much greater than the speed of sound. Aerodynamicists disagree over the precise definition of hypersonic flow; minimum Mach numbers for hypersonic flow range from 3 to 12. Most aerodynamicists use numbers between 5 and 8. (Full article...)
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Did you know
...that the hyper engine was a hypothetical aircraft engine design meant to deliver 1 horsepower from 1 cubic inch of displacement? ...that Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was only twenty-eight years old when he helped found Pan American World Airways? ...that François Denhaut built the world's first flying boat, or seaplane with a hull?
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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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Ballooning was a risky business for the pioneers. Blanchard lost consciousness on a few occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819, she became the first woman to be killed in an aviation accident when, during an exhibition in the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon. Her craft crashed on the roof of a house and she fell to her death. She is commonly referred to as Madame Blanchard and is also known by many combinations of her maiden and married names, including Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, Marie Sophie Armant and Madeleine-Sophie Armant Blanchard.
Selected Aircraft
The Pregnant Guppy was a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft built in the USA and used for ferrying outsized cargo items, most notably NASA's components of the Apollo moon program. The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines, Inc. The design also inspired similar designs such as the jet-powered Airbus Beluga, and the Boeing 747 LCF designed to deliver Boeing 787 parts.
Today in Aviation
- 2012 – Allied Air Flight 111, a Boeing 727 cargo plane, overruns the runway on landing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, and strikes a crowded minibus and a bicyclist on a nearby road. All four people on the plane survive, but the bicyclist and all 11 people on the minibus die.
- 2011 – NATO air attacks in Libya destroy ammunition and vehicle depots, a surface-to-air missile launcher, and a radar installation in Tripoli.[1]
- 2009 – Deceased: British Air Vice-Marshal John Ernsting, 81.
- 2009 – 8Q-MAG, a DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Maldavian Air Taxi is destroyed when it crashes into the sea at the Haliveli Atoll, Maldives. All seven people on board survive.
- 2009 – A Royal Jordanian Air Force Slingsby T-67 Firefly while on a routine training flight being flown by a cadet pilot and instructor, crashes near the Al-Hassan Industrial Estate, Irbid, Jordan. The pilot, due to a technical fault, was unable to recover from a spin leaving 1 crew dead and 1 injured.
- 2008 – Aeroméxico Travel, operated by Aeromexico, commenced operations.
- 2002 – n Angolan Armed Forces Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in poor weather killing 20 of the 25 on board. Among those on board were top military officials that were going to attend a disarmament ceremony by UNITA rebels.
- 1998 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-91 at 18:06:24 EDT. Mission highlights: Last Shuttle-Mir docking.
- 1995 – A U. S. Air Force F-16 C was shot down by a Bosnian Serb surface-to-air missile while on a NATO air patrol in northern Bosnia; the pilot, Capt. Scott F. O’Grady, was rescued six days later.
- 1994 – 1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash: A Royal Air Force Boeing Chinook HC.2 helicopter, ZD576, 'G', of Odiham Wing, crashes near Campbeltown, Scotland, killing 29 crew and passengers, including several top officials of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- 1986 – The greatest distance achieved by a hang-glider is made by American Randy Haney who flies an unpowered hang-glider 199.75 miles (321.47 km) from his takeoff point.
- 1984 – Flight readiness firing of Discovery’s main engines.
- 1983 – Air Canada Flight 797, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9, catches fire during flight over Kentucky; 23 of 46 passengers die from smoke inhalation even after the crew successfully lands the aircraft in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- 1982 – A Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan B.2 XM597 on Operation Black Buck during the Falklands War is forced to divert to Brazil after breaking a refuelling-probe. The aircraft was interned at the Brazilian air force base, Aérea de Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro and was allowed to leave nine days later due to the arrival of Pope John Paul II on a pastoral visit to Brazil.
- 1972 – First flight of the Aérospatiale SA 360 Dauphin
- 1965 – First flight of the Aerotec Uirapuru
- 1958 – First flight of the Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III, the “Super Crusader”
- 1957 – Cpt Joseph Kittinger sets a new balloon altitude record of 96,000 ft (29,261 m)
- 1954 – Yugoslavian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s attack a Belgian Douglas DC-3, which lands in Austria
- 1948 – Entered Service: Convair B-36 Peacemaker with the United States Air Force’s 7th Bombardment Wing (Heavy)
- 1945 – (2-3) Carrier aircraft of Task Group 38.4 strike Kyushu.
- 1944 – 54 Japanese planes attack U. S. landing forces off Biak, losing 12 of their number and inflicting almost no damage.
- 1943 – An hour into a routine training flight from the USS Lexington (CV-16) over the Gulf of Paria off Venezuela, 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick develops severe oil leak, cannot recover to either the carrier or land, and ditches his F4F Wildcat.[207] Although rescue forces arrive at the scene in eight minutes, neither he nor his plane are found, only an oil slick. Kinnick was the first Heisman winner to die. The University of Iowa renames their football stadium "Kinnick Stadium" in 1972.
- 1942 – Nos. 8, 111 and 118 Squadrons moved to Alaska to join No. 115 Squadron already there, to work with the US Forces against the Japanese threat.
- 1941 – First British Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL503, on its acceptance flight for delivery from the Consolidated Aircraft Company plant at San Diego, California, crashes into San Diego Bay when flight controls freeze, killing all five civilian crew, CAC Chief Test Pilot William Wheatley, co-pilot Alan Austen, flight engineer Bruce Kilpatrick Craig, and two chief mechanics, Lewis McCannon and William Reiser. Craig, who had been commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1935 following Infantry ROTC training at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, had applied for a commission in the Army Air Corps before his death. This was granted posthumously, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and on 25 August 1941, the airfield in his hometown of Selma, Alabama was renamed Craig Field, later Craig Air Force Base. Investigation into the cause of the accident causes a two month delay in deliveries, so the RAF does not begin receiving Liberator IIs until August 1941.
- 1941 – The United States Navy commissions USS Long Island (AVG-1), its first escort aircraft carrier – At the time designated an “aircraft escort vessel” (AVG) – At Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.
- 1938 – Nationalist aircraft bomb Granollers, Spain, a town without military significance, killing about 100 people. Most of the dead are women and children.
- 1936 – First flight of the LACAB GR.8
- 1923 – First flight of the Boeing Model 15
- 1917 – Captain William Avery Bishop, 60 Squadron, flying a Nieuport 17, made a single-handed attack on a German aerodrome and shot down three enemy aircraft. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.
- 1912 – The Lewis machine gun is first tested in an aircraft by the US Army. The results are extremely encouraging, and this weapon would go on to become the standard armament of many fighter aircraft during World War I.
- 1910 – Charles Rolls makes the first successful return flight over the English Channel
- 1794 – J. M. J. Coutelle and N. J. Conte of the French army’s “Aerostiers” at Mauberge, France make the first military use of a balloon, when they observe enemy positions from their captive balloon.
References
- ^ "Gaddafi To Send Representative to OPEC". Al Jazeera. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
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