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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 include 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 was 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. A major leap followed with the construction of the Wright Flyer, 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 engine which enabled aviation to become a major form of transport throughout the world. In 2024, there were 9.5 billion passengers worldwide according to the ICAO. Air travel is not universal. In fact, in 2018, estimates suggest that only 11% of the world’s population traveled by air, with at most 4% taking international flights. (Full article...)

Selected article

Aircraft spotter on the roof of a building in London. St. Paul's Cathedral is in the background.
Aircraft spotter on the roof of a building in London. St. Paul's Cathedral is in the background.
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England) is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command. The name derives from a speech made on 18 June 1940 in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin..."

Had it been successful, the planned amphibious and airborne landings in Britain of Operation Sea Lion would have followed. The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign attempted up until that date. The failure of Nazi Germany to destroy Britain's air defence or to break British morale is considered its first major defeat.

British historians date the battle from 10 July to 31 October 1940, which represented the most intense period of daylight bombing. German historians usually place the beginning of the battle in mid-August 1940 and end it in May 1941, on the withdrawal of the bomber units in preparation for the attack on the USSR. (Full article...)

Selected image

Air Force One over Mt. Rushmore
Air Force One over Mt. Rushmore
The planes that serve as Air Force One can be operated as a military command center in the event of an incident such as a nuclear attack. Operational modifications include aerial refueling capability, electronic countermeasures (ECMs) which jam enemy radar, and flares to avoid heat-seeking missiles. The heavily shieleded electronics onboard include around twice the amount of wiring found in a regular Boeing 747-200.

Did you know

...that the Soviet spotter aircraft Sukhoi Su-12, though approved, was never produced due to lack of manufacturing capacity in the USSR? ...that Wing Commander Stanley Goble and Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre, piloting a single-engined seaplane (pictured), became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air in 1924? ...that the Lockheed NF-104A (pictured), equipped with a reaction control system as well as a rocket engine to supplement a jet engine, was a low-cost training vehicle for American astronauts in the 1960s?

More Did you know facts

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The following are images from various aviation-related articles on Wikipedia.

In the news

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The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Selected biography

Amelia Earhart, c. 1928
Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – missing as of July 2, 1937), daughter of Edwin and Amy Earhart, was an American aviator and noted early female pilot who mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a circumnavigational flight in 1937.

By 1919 Earhart had enrolled at Columbia University to study pre-med but quit a year later to be with her parents in California. Later in Long Beach she and her father went to a stunt-flying exhibition and the next day she went on a ten minute flight.

Earhart had her first flying lesson at Kinner Field near Long Beach. Her teacher was Anita Snook, a pioneer female aviator. Six months later Earhart purchased a yellow Kinner Airster biplane which she named "Canary". On October 22, 1922, she flew it to an altitude of 14,000 feet, setting a women's world record.

After Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, Amy Guest, a wealthy American living in London, England expressed interest in being the first woman to fly (or be flown) across the Atlantic Ocean, but after deciding the trip was too dangerous to make herself, she offered to sponsor the project, suggesting they find "another girl with the right image." While at work one afternoon in April 1928 Earhart got a phone call from a man who asked her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?"

Selected Aircraft

British Airways Boeing 747-400
British Airways Boeing 747-400

The Boeing 747 is a widebody commercial airliner, often referred to by the nickname Jumbo Jet. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first widebody ever produced. Manufactured by Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States, the original version of the 747 was two and a half times the size of the Boeing 707, one of the common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years.

The four-engine 747 uses a double deck configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions. Boeing designed the 747's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first class lounge or (as is the general rule today) extra seating, and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door. Boeing did so because the company expected supersonic airliners (whose development was announced in the early 1960s) to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete; while believing that the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would be robust into the future. The 747 in particular was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold but it exceeded its critics' expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. As of September 2023, 1,574 aircraft have been built, with the final delivery in January 2023.

The 747-8, the latest version in service, is among the fastest airliners in service with a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.855 (564 mph or 908 km/h). It has an intercontinental range of 7,730 nautical miles (14,320 km; 8,900 mi). The 747-8I (passenger version) can accommodate 467 passengers in a typical three-class layout. The 747-8 completed production on 6 December 2022 and the final 747 was delivered to Atlas Air on 31 January 2023.

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Today in Aviation

July 1

  • 2012 – A MAFFS-equipped Air Force Lockheed C-130H Hercules, assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, crashed in southwest South Dakota while fighting White Draw Fire, killing four crew and seriously injuring two.
  • 2004 – Cassini – Huygens, flagship-class NASA-ESA-ASI spacecraft, enters into orbit around Saturn.
  • 2002 – America West Flight 556, an Airbus A319, is ordered back to the terminal at Miami before take-off after security screeners report that the pilots appear intoxicated; the pilots are eventually given prison sentences.
  • 2002 – In the Überlingen mid-air collision, Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 with 57 passengers and 14 crew members on board, collides with DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo plane with 2 pilots on board near Lake Constance, Germany; all people on both planes perish.
  • 2000 – British Midland becomes the 15th airline to join the Star Alliance, the world's largest airline grouping.
  • 1998 – A MK.51 BAE Hawk, 'HW-324', c/n 312221, of the Finnish Air Force crashes into the forest near Luopioinen due to Engine failure. Both pilots ejected. One of the pilots sustained minor injuries.
  • 1997 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-94 at 2:02:02 pm EDT. Mission highlights: Spacelab mission.
  • 1994 – Launch of Soyuz TM-19, Russian mission to the space station Mir.
  • 1993 – STS-57, Shuttle-Spacehab mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour, is back on earth
  • 1993 – Launch of Soyuz TM-17, Russian mission to the space station Mir.
  • 1989 – The crowd at the Paris air show is stunned when the Soviet Sukhoi Su27 performs its 'Cobra' manoeuvre. The Cobra sees the aircraft transfer from level flight to a vertical attitude and back to level flight with negligible changes in altitude.
  • 1988 – CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China), the Chinese state airline, changes its name to become Air China.
  • 1978 – Death of Kurt Arthur Benno Student, German WWI Flying ace, Luftwaffe general and commander of German Fallschirmjäger (Paratroopers) during WWII.
  • 1975 – First flight of the Valmet L-70 Vinka, a Finnish-designed piston-powered military basic trainer aircraft.
  • 1969 – Death of Will Hubbard, British WWI flying ace, who served in the RAAF in WWII.
  • 1965 – The U. S. Army combines the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) with the 2nd Infantry Division to form the first Cavalry Division (Airmobile), a unique division that includes three airborne-qualified battalions and several battalions of helicopters which are integral to its combat elements, allowing it to engage in helicopter assault operations.
  • 1965 – Continental Airlines Flight 12, a Boeing 707, runs off the end of the runway at Kansas City Downtown Airport, breaking into three pieces; all 66 on board survive.
  • 1961 – The Royal Air Force deploys Hawker Hunter combat aircraft to reinforce Kuwait, which is under threat from Iraq. Simultaneously it deploys Canberras and Valiant aircraft to Malta.
  • 1961 – The RAF deploys combat aircraft to reinforce Kuwait, which is under threat from Iraq.
  • 1957 – Death of August Heinrich Euler, German aviation pioneer and aircraft designer and holder of the first Germany Pilots license
  • 1955 – South Vietnam’s air force, the Vietnam Air Force, is established.
  • 1954 – Vought becomes an independent company for the first time since 1929, taking the name Chance Vought Incorporated.
  • 1954 – Second of 13 North American X-10s, GM-19308, c/n 2, on Navaho X-10 flight number 7, crashes and burns after 8 minutes of flight out of Edwards AFB, California, when a fire develops on board.
  • 1952 – No. 407 Squadron was reformed at Comox and equipped with Avro 683 Lancaster 10 MR aircraft.
  • 1952 – No. 434 Squadron was reformed at Uplands, Ottawa and equipped with North American Sabre fighters.
  • 1951 – Death of Maurizio Ramassotto, Early Italian aviator, and race car driver.
  • 1950 – The United States Air Force discontinues the Air Defense Command.
  • 1947 – The Philippine Air Force (PAF), air force of the Republic of the Philippines, is formed.
  • 1945 – (1-3) The U. S. Navy escort aircraft carriers USS Suwannee (CVE-27), USS Chenango (CVE-28), and USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107) with Marine Air Group 2 embarked support Australian Army amphibious landings at Balikpapan, Borneo.
  • 1944 – Orenda Engines, Canadian aircraft engine manufacturer and parts supplier, is incorporated
  • 1943 – US Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina, BuNo 04447, returning to NAS Pensacola, Florida, after anti-submarine patrol flight over the Gulf of Mexico, attempts ill-advised landing in a storm brought on by a passing weather front, hits swell, bounces twice and overturns in Pensacola Bay. Nose section breaks away right at the wing tower and sinks, taking with it U.S. Coast Guard Motor Machinists Mate Chief Dana W. Heckart, in the co-pilot's seat as a pilot trainee. Rest of crew, all U.S. Navy personnel, pilot Ltjg. John W. Nichols, Lt. Norman Bennett, Ens. Francis R. Young, AMM3c Van C. Hardin, AM3c William E. Mutch, AMM2c Robert H. Ovink, ASM3c Albert W. Smith, and ARM3c Ralph E. Stuckey, survive as rest of airframe floats. Hardin, Mutch, Ovink and Smith suffer minor injuries, rest of crew more seriously injured. A seaplane wrecking derrick (YSD) retrieves floating section the following day. Heckart's body never recovered. Investigation finds pilot Nichols at fault for trying to land in storm conditions.
  • 1943 – Municipal authorities in Hamburg, Germany, have logged 137 air attacks on the city and the deaths of 1,387 people and injuries to 4,496 in air raids since the beginning of World War II.
  • 1942 – The United States Army Air Forces establish the Air Transport Command, a centralized, strategic air transport service directed by the United States Department of War.
  • 1941 – No. 413 (Coastal) Squadron was formed in England.
  • 1933 – First flight of the Douglas DC-1, an American prototype and first model of the famous United States DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series
  • 1933 – Start of the 2nd and ultimate air raid of Italo Balbo with 25 SIAI-Marchetti S.55X seaplanes (Air cruise of the decade) from Orbetello, Italy
  • 1931 – The first mail delivered by rocket in the United States is claimed by three Struthers, Ohio high school students led by philatelist, John Kiktavi. He sends mail from Struthers to Poland, Ohio.
  • 1929 – C. H. (“Punch”) Dickens was the first airman to reach any point on the western Canadian Arctic shore by air when he arrived at Aklavick, NWT 01 July 1929.
  • 1929 – Death of Wilmer Lower Stultz, American pioneering aviator, test pilot and raid pilot, killed in a crash during a test flight.
  • 1928 – The first aviation weather reports were sent through teletype from Washington, D. C. to stations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois.
  • 1927 – Richard Evelyn Byrd with crew (Balchen, Acosta, and Noville) with their Fokker F.VIIa/3m "America" arrive from Roosevelt Field East Garden City, New York over Paris. Cloud cover prevented a landing in Paris; they returned to the coast of Normandy, crash-landing near the beach at Ver-sur-Mer without fatalities
  • 1925 – The U. S. Air Mail Service begins overnight flights between New York and Chicago over the Allegheny Mountains.
  • 1920 – Belgium establishes the first internal air-service of any European colony with the Lara-Ligne Aérienne Roi Albert in Belgian Congo
  • 1918 – John Ingles Gilmour, Scottish WWI fighter ace, scores 5 on that single day.
  • 1916 – Roland Robert Tuck, British fighter ace during World War II was born.
  • 1916 – beginning of the Battle of the Somme. In the five months of the battle, the British lose 782 aircraft and 576 pilots but maintain air superiority over the battlefield.
  • 1915 – The United States Department of the Navy establishes an Office of Naval Aeronautics, the first formal recognition of naval aviation within the United States Navy bureaucracy.
  • 1915 – The French Navy seaplane carrier Pas-de-Calais is commissioned. She is the first paddle steamer to serve as an aviation vessel.
  • 1914 – The Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps is separated from the RFC and established it as a separate service, the Royal Naval Air Service, under the control of the Royal Navy.
  • 1914 – The United States Navy establishes its first air department, the Bureau of Aeronautics.
  • 1912 – Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the United States, as part of an Air Show spectacular flew around the Boston Light. During the flight, her Berliot plane was caught in turbulent air and nose-dived, plummeting both Quimby and a meet organizer passenger to their deaths in Dorchester Bay.
  • 1911 – First US Navy airplane. Curtiss D Triad as Navy A-1, first flown by Lt T G Ellyson. This was followed by a Curtiss A-2 and Wright B-1.
  • 1893 – Birth of Mario de Bernardi, Italian WWI fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, and test pilot of early Italian experimental jets.
  • 1887 – Birth of Leighton Wilson Hazelhurst Jr., American aviation pioneer.
  • 1884 – Birth of René Caudron, French aviation pioneer and aircraft designer along with his brother Gaston.
  • 1872 – Louis Blériot, the pioneer aviator who made the world’s first airplane flight across the English Channel, is born in Cambrai, France. After experimenting first with gliders, he designed and built his own monoplane with a 25-hp engine, which took him across the channel.
  • 1862 – (1-2) The Confederate States Navy steamer Teaser operates a coal-gas silk observation balloon to reconnoitre Union Army positions along the James River in Virginia, the only use of a balloon by the Confederate States Navy. Her capture on July 4 by the steamer USS Maratanza ends Confederate naval balloon operations.

References

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