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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 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; 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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Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive sport where pilots fly un-powered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes. Properly, the term gliding refers to descending flight of a heavier-than-air craft, whereas soaring is the correct term to use when the craft gains altitude or speed from rising air. After launching glider pilots search for rising air to gain height. If conditions are good enough, experienced pilots can fly many hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometers before returning to their home airfields. However if the weather deteriorates, they must often land elsewhere, but some can avoid this by using engines. While many glider pilots merely enjoy the sense of achievement, some competitive pilots fly in races round pre-defined courses. These competitions test the pilots' abilities to make best use of local weather conditions as well as their flying skills. Local and national competitions are organized in many countries and there are also biennial World Gliding Championships. Powered aircraft or winches are the most common methods of launching gliders. These and other methods (apart from self-launching motor-gliders) require assistance from other participants. Gliding clubs have thus been established to share airfields and equipment, train new pilots and maintain high safety standards. (Full article...)

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Did you know

...that on October 5, 1914, a French Voisin III pilot scored the first air-to-air kill of World War I? ...that Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris accomplished the world's first powered flight in 1856, with a glider that was pulled behind a running horse? ... that while flying accidents were commonplace at RAAF training establishments during World War II, No. 8 Service Flying Training School's first fatality was from drowning?

More Did you know facts

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Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993), also nicknamed "The Blond Knight of Germany" by friends and "The Black Devil" by his enemies, was a German fighter pilot and still is the highest scoring fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. He scored 352 aerial victories (of which 345 were won against the Soviet Air Force, and 260 of which were fighters) in 1,404 combat missions and engaging in aerial combat 825 times while serving with the Luftwaffe in World War II. During the course of his career Hartmann was forced to crash land his damaged fighter 14 times. This was due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down, or mechanical failure. Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire.[1]

Hartmann, a pre-war glider pilot, joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942. He was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe's most experienced fighter pilots. Under their guidance Hartmann steadily developed his tactics which would earn him the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories.

He scored his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945. He and the remainder of JG 52 surrendered to United States Army forces and were turned over to the Red Army. Convicted of false "War Crimes" and sentenced to 25 years of hard labour, Hartmann would spend 10 years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe and became the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". Hartmann resigned early from the Bundeswehr in 1970, largely due to his opposition of the F-104 Starfighter deployment in the Bundesluftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue. Erich Hartmann died in 1993.

Selected Aircraft

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 planes, the airplane outperformed both the other entries and the Air Corps' expectations. Although losing the contract due to an accident, the Air Corps was so in favor of the B-17 that they ordered 13 B-17s regardless. Evolving through numerous design stages, from B-17A to G, the Flying Fortress is considered the first truly mass-produced large aircraft. From its pre-war inception, the USAAC touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a high-flying, long-ranging potent bomber capable of defending itself. With the ability to return home despite extensive battle damage, its durability, especially in belly-landings and ditchings, quickly took on mythical proportions.

The B-17 was primarily involved in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial targets. The United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing in Operation Pointblank, which helped secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord. The B-17 also participated, to a lesser extent, in the War in the Pacific.

Today in Aviation

April 26

  • 2009 – Douglas DC-3 C N136FS of Four Star Air Cargo is destroyed by fire at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, Puerto Rico.
  • 2009 – The third flying prototype of the Sukhoi Su-35, 04 (?), is destroyed during a high-speed taxi test just before its first flight at Komsomolsk-na-Amur/Dzemgi Airfield. Aircraft apparently ran off end of runway, hits obstacle, burns, destroying it. Test pilot Eugene Frolov ejects safely and is unhurt. This was actually the fourth prototype, but 03 is purely for ground testing.
  • 2004 – OH-58D(I) Kiowa 91-0567 from P Troop, 4th Squadron, 2d ACR made emergency landing at Kut after engine problem and burned out. Both crewmembers safe.
  • 2001 – Pilot Sean Loutitt lands in Chile after a daring two-day flight to the South Pole in a Twin Otter to rescue an ailing U. S. scientist. It was the first rescue of its kind in the harsh Antarctic winter.
  • 1995 – A Mikoyan MiG-29 sets a new FAI class C-1 h world altitude record of 90,092 ft.
  • 1994 – China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300, crashes while landing at Nagoya, Japan as a result of pilot error. 264 people of the 271 on board died.
  • 1993 – Indian Airlines Flight 491, a Boeing 737, strikes a large vehicle on a road just outside Aurangabad airport and crashes subsequently, killing 55 of the 118 people on board.
  • 1993 – Launch: Space Shuttle Columbia STS-55 at 10:50 am EDT. Mission highlights: Spacelab-D2, Germany funded mission.
  • 1987 – The first full-scale prototype of Saab’s hi-tech JAS 39 Gripen fighter is unveiled in Sweden.
  • 1984 – United States Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert M. Bond (1929–1984), Vice Commander of Air Force Systems Command, is killed in a high-speed ejection from a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, out of Groom Lake, Nevada at 1018 hrs., which was initially reported to be an F-117A Stealth fighter. The MiG impacted on Little Skull Mountain on the remote Nellis AFB range in a high-speed 60-degree dive. Following this accident, officers of General rank were prohibited from test flying. The Air Force is also forced to admit that it is flying Soviet bloc aircraft.
  • 1982 – A CAAC Trident 2E crashes into a mountain in Guilin, killing all 112 people on board. The Chinese media report that the plane, which had taken off in Guangzhou, crashed when the pilot attempted to fight off an armed hijacker.
  • 1982 – SFC Clifford Wilson Strickland is picked up by an Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talon of the 7th Special Operations Squadron at CFB Lahr, Germany, during Flintlock 82 exercise, using the Fulton STARS recovery system, but falls to his death reportedly due to faulty equipment in 1400 hrs accident. This will be the last ever attempt to utilize the Skyhook system.
  • 1978 – Possibly due to engine trouble, a United States Navy P-3 Orion patrol aircraft (BuNo 152724) of Patrol Squadron 23 (VP-23) crashes in the Atlantic Ocean near Naval Air Facility Lajes in Lajes in the Azores, killing the crew of seven.
  • 1954 – Northrop N-69 Snark, GM-11111, launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, crashes 3,000 yards from launcher, just after the booster rockets separate, due to loss of electrical power.
  • 1949 – Flying continuously in their Aeronca Chief light aircraft for 1,008 hours, and one minute (just over six weeks). Dick Reider and Bill Barris set a world endurance record for a flight-refueled aircraft in the U. S They received food and fuel handed up from a speeding vehicle four times a day.
  • 1945 – During a training exercise, a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 43-38859 collided in mid-air with another B-17G 44-8687. #859 crash-landed and was repaired. #687 was destroyed, with only 2 crew escaping and surviving the incident.
  • 1945 – (Overnight) – 563 bombers of the Soviet Air Force’s 18th Air Army strike Berlin.
  • 1943 – The British employ Ground Grocer, the first device capable of jamming the airborne Lichtenstein radar employed by German night fighters. Ground-based, Ground Grocer’s range is limited by the curvature of the earth, placing most German night fighter operations below its coverage.
  • 1937 – Four Heinkel He.111 and 23 Junkers Ju 52 bombers of the German Condor Legion attack Guernica, Spain, in the first example of “carpet bombing” to demoralize a civilian population. Over three hours, the bombers drop 45,000 kg (99,207 lbs) of bombs, destroying 70% of the city and killing at least 1,000, and perhaps as many as a third (over 1,600 people) of its inhabitants. Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Heinkel He 51 fighters also strafe the town to kill any inhabitants they see. The town burns for three days. The damage shocks Spanish Nationalist military leaders, and the Condor Legion engages in no further area bombing during the Spanish Civil War.
  • 1924 – Imperial Airways makes its first scheduled flight, from Croydon Aerodrome to Paris, using a de Havilland DH.34.
  • 1917 – The Pacific Aero Products Company is renamed the Boeing Airplane Company.
  • 1896 – Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer, was born (d. 1941). Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war (at the age of 22). His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus.

References

  1. ^ Toliver & Constable 1986, p. 12.
  2. ^ "5 Die in Helicopter Crash in Romania". news.yahoo.com. AP. April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
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