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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 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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Air Force One
Air Force One
An airport is a facility where aircraft can take off and land. At the very minimum, an airport consists of one runway (or helipad), but other common components are hangars and terminal buildings. Apart from these, an airport may have a variety of facilities and infrastructure, including fixed base operator services, air traffic control, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. (Full article...)

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San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO) opened on May 7, 1927 on 150 acres (607,000 m²) of cow pasture leased from prominent local landowner Ogden L. Mills, and was named Mills Field Municipal Airport. During the economic boom of the 1990s and the dot-com boom, SFO became the 6th busiest international airport in the world. However, since the boom times ended, it has fallen back out of the top twenty.

Did you know

...the study of airmail is known as aerophilately?

Aichi D1A

...that the strategic bombing campaign used in the 1990 Operation Instant Thunder served as a model for subsequent American military conflicts?

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
Read and edit Wikinews

Associated Wikimedia

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

Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006
Avro Arrow replica at CASM Arrow rollout in 2006

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond. Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate. The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered... The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Arrow."

  • Span: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
  • Length: 77 ft 9 in (23.71 m)
  • Height: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
  • Engines: 2×Pratt & Whitney J75-P-3
  • Cruising Speed: Mach 0.91 (607 mph, 977 km/h) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
  • First Flight: 25 March 1958
  • Number built: 5
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Today in Aviation

October 30

  • 2012 – The Syrian Air Force carries out scores of airstrikes around Syria, the most widespread bombing in a single day since the Syrian Civil War began 19 months before, according to anti-regime activists. Maarat al-Numan is among the hardest-hit places,[1] and air strikes level areas of Douma, leaving 18 people dead.[2]
  • 2012 – Syrian Air Force Major General Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi is assassinated in Damascus, Syria.
  • 2003 – AH-64D Apache　00-5211 (ex AH-64A 86-9009) of 6–6th Cavalry Regiment crashes near Balad AAF, Iraq, and burned out. Both crewmembers are safe.[3]
  • 1985 – Launch: Space Shuttle Challenger STS-61-A at 17:00:00 UTC. Mission highlights: Spacelab-D1, Germany funded mission, last successful mission of Challenger.
  • 1981 – A United States Air Force Boeing B-52D Stratofortress, 55-078, of the 22d Bomb Wing, March AFB, California, crashes on the eastern Colorado prairie near La Junta at 0630 hrs. while on a low-level (400 foot altitude) training mission, killing all eight crew. No weapons were on board.
  • 1976 – Pan Am Flight 50, operated by the 747SP named Clipper New Horizons (N533 PA), lands back in San Francisco 54 hours 7 min 12 seconds after it left, thereby setting a new speed record for a round-the-world polar flight. Over 170 passengers paid $2222 (economy) to $3333 (first class) for the privilege of flying over the North and South Poles with musicians, a hair dresser and a Gucci fashion show on board. The flight also made stops in London, Cape Town and Auckland along the way. Earlier that year, the same aircraft (though named Clipper Liberty Bell at the time) set a speed record for circumnavigating the globe around the Equator.
  • 1963 – Mrs. Hester Dunlap, spouse of A/M CR Dunlap, christened the first production Canadair CL-41 for the RCAF, “Tutor”.
  • 1962 – Third prototype Hawker Siddeley P.1127, XP972, first flown 5 April 1962, is severely damaged when the Bristol-Siddeley Pegasus 2 fails following a main bearing seizure during a high-G turn. Hawker's chief experimental test pilot Hugh Merewether attempts forced landing at RAF Tangmere, but the undercarriage collapses, followed by a titanium fire. Pilot escapes unhurt but the airframe is not repaired.
  • 1961 – The Soviet Union detonates Tsar Bomba over an island in the Arctic Ocean. The 58 megaton bomb remains the largest manmade explosive ever detonated.
  • 1959 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 349, a Douglas DC-3, crashes on Bucks Elbow Mountain near Charlottesville, Virginia, killing the crew of three and 23 of 24 passengers; the sole survivor is seriously injured; the cause is a navigational error during an Instrument Landing System approach.
  • 1945 – No. 166 Squadron was disbanded.
  • 1944 – Kamikazes damage the aircraft carriers USS Franklin (CV-13) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) off Leyte.
  • 1942 – F/O DF Raymes and crew in a Douglas B-18 Digby of No. 10 (BR) Squadron destroyed the German submarine U-520 far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1942 – F/O EL Robinson and crew in a Lockheed Hudson of No. 145 (BR) Squadron, destroyed the German submarine U-658, 320 miles east of St. John’s Newfoundland.
  • 1938 – Another Nationalist counteroffensive begins in the Battle of the Ebro, preceded by a three-hour bombardment of Republican positions by artillery and over 100 Nationalist aircraft.
  • 1935 – The United Airlines Cheyenne test crash occurred on 1935 during a flight to check the instruments of a Boeing 247D. The aircraft was seen to enter a turn, drop its nose, impact the ground and burst into fire. The Probable Cause was the pilot’s initiation of an abrupt maneuver with insufficient altitude for safety.
  • 1918 – Flying a SPAD XIII fighter, Eddie Rickenbacker shoots down a German observation balloon near Remonville, France, for his 26th and final aerial victory. His 26 victories (22 aircraft and four balloons) will make him the top-scoring American ace of World War I.
  • 1908 – Henry Farman performs the first cross-country flight in Europe as well as the first flight between two towns.

References

  1. ^ "Syrian regime attacks strategic northern city", Associated Press
  2. ^ "Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera".
  3. ^ "2000 USAF Serial Numbers". Retrieved 2010-02-17.
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