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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 is 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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CG render of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 HB-IWF
CG render of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 HB-IWF
Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. This flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines. On Wednesday, 2 September 1998, the aircraft used for the flight, registered HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the tiny fishing and tourist communities of Peggys Cove and Bayswater. All 229 people on board died—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the second-highest of any air disaster in the history of Canada, after Arrow Air Flight 1285. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's (TSB) official report of their investigation stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the crew, resulting in a loss of control and the crash of the aircraft. Swissair Flight 111 was known as the "U.N. shuttle" due to its popularity with United Nations officials; the flight often carried business executives, scientists, and researchers. (Full article...)

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Did you know

...that Suriname's worst air disaster was Surinam Airways Flight 764, which crashed after the pilots ignored repeated warnings that they were flying too low? ...that the Ryan X-13 Vertijet aircraft landed by using a hook on its nose to hang itself on a wire? ... that former USAF officer David P. Cooley who was the chief test pilot for the F-117 Nighthawk died in March 2009 while testing the F-22 Raptor?

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

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal
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Selected biography

AIR VICE-MARSHAL GEORGE JONES
Air Marshal Sir George Jones KBE, CB, DFC (18 October 1896 – 24 August 1992) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He rose from being a private soldier in World War I to Air Marshal in 1948. He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief. Jones was a surprise appointee to the Air Force’s top role, and his achievements in the position were coloured by a divisive relationship during World War II with his head of operations and nominal subordinate, Air Vice Marshal William Bostock.

Jones first saw action as an infantryman in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps the following year. Initially an air mechanic, he undertook flying training in 1917 and was posted to a fighter squadron in France, achieving seven victories to become an ace. After a short spell in civilian life following World War I, he joined the newly-formed RAAF in 1921, rising steadily through training and personnel commands prior to World War II.

He did not actively seek the position of Chief of the Air Staff before being appointed in 1942, and his conflict with Bostock—with whom he had been friends for 20 years—was partly the result of a divided command structure, which neither man had any direct role in shaping. After World War II Jones had overall responsibility for transforming what was then the world's fourth largest air force into a peacetime service that was also able to meet overseas commitments in Malaya and Korea. Following his retirement from the RAAF he continued to serve in the aircraft industry and later ran unsuccessfully for political office.

Selected Aircraft

The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet and is commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven". The aircraft has seating for over 300 passengers and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles (9,695 to 17,372 km) depending on model. Its distinguishing features include the largest diameter turbofan engines of any aircraft, six wheels on each main landing gear, a circular fuselage cross-section, and blade-shaped tail cone. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 was designed to replace older wide-body airliners and bridge the capacity difference between the 767 and 747. As Boeing's first fly-by-wire airliner, it has computer mediated controls; it is also the first entirely computer-designed commercial aircraft.

The 777 is produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 777-200 model first entered service in 1995, followed by the extended range 777-200ER in 1997; the stretched 777-300, which is 33.3 ft (10.1 m) longer, began service in 1998. The longer-range 777-300ER and 777-200LR variants entered service in 2004 and 2006, respectively, while a freighter version, the 777F, debuted in 2008. Both longer-range versions and the freighter feature General Electric GE90 engines, as well as extended and raked wingtips. Other models are equipped with either the GE90, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. The 777-200LR ranks as the world's longest-range airliner and holds the record for longest distance flown by an unrefuelled commercial aircraft, with the demonstrated capability to fly more than halfway around the world.

United Airlines first placed the 777 into commercial airline service in 1995. As of August 2023, 1,716 777s have been delivered. The most common variant used worldwide is the 777-300ER, with 832 aircraft delivered, and Emirates operates the largest 777 fleet, with 134 aircraft (as of May 2019). The airliner has had 8 hull-loss accidents, with 541 fatalities. The most deadly incident was Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in which a 777-200ER carrying 298 people was shot down by a missile over Ukraine on 17 July 2014.

Through the 21st century, the 777 has emerged as one of its manufacturer's best-selling models. Because of rising fuel costs, airlines have acquired the type as a comparatively fuel-efficient alternative to other wide-body jets and have increasingly used the aircraft on long-haul, transoceanic routes. Direct market competitors include the Airbus A330-300, the A340 and A350 XWB.

  • Span: 212 ft 7 in (64.8 m)
  • Length: 242 ft 4 in (73.9 m)
  • Height: 61 ft 5 in (18.7 m)
  • Engines: 2 X GE 90-115B
  • Cruising speed: 0.84 Mach (555 mph, 892 km/h, 481 kn) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m) cruise altitude
  • First flight: 12 June 1994
  • Number built: 1,716 as of August 2023 (based on deliveries)
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Today in Aviation

January 18

  • 2005 – The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, gets unveiled in an elaborate ceremony in France.
  • 2005 – A United States Air Force Cessna T-37B, 66-8003, Cider 21, of the 89th Flying Training Squadron, 80th Flying Training Wing collides in midair with a civilian Air Tractor AT-502B, registration number N8526M, during a training flight over an unpopulated area near Hollister, Oklahoma, USA; both aircraft spiral out of control, 2 aircrew in T-37 eject, 1 suffers minor injuries, pilot and sole occupant of N8526M is killed. The crash is attributed to the failure of both pilots to watch for conflicting air traffic during VFR flight, a rare example of a midair collision in daylight VFR conditions during cruise flight in uncongested airspace distant from an airport.
  • 1992 – The United States Marine Corps retires the F-4 Phantom II from front-line service
  • 1991 – Seven Coalition aircraft are lost, all to Iraqi ground fire.
  • 1991 – Eastern Air Lines is dissolved after 64 years of operation. Many of its remaining assets are parceled out to American and Continental.
  • 1986 – STS-61-C Space Shuttle Columbia returns on earth, last shuttle mission before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
  • 1985 – A Chinese Antonov An-24 turbo-prop airplane crashed while making an emergency landing in the city of Jinan, located south of its original destination, Beijing. The flight originated in Shanghai and stopped in Nanjing before flying on to Beijing. Thirty-eight people were killed, including 32 mainland Chinese, 3 Hong Kongese, 2 America, and one Briton. One crew member and two passengers survived the crash.
  • 1982 – Death of Josef Mai, German WWI fighter ace and WWII instructor.
  • 1982 – 1982 Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash: The worst accident in U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team history involving show aircraft, when four Northrop T-38A Talons, Numbers 1-4, 68-8156, -8175, -8176 and -8184, crashed during pre-season training on Range 65 at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nevada (now Creech Air Force Base). While practicing the four-plane line abreast loop, the formation impacted the ground at high speed, instantly killing all four pilots: Major Norm Lowry, leader, Captain Willie Mays, Captain Pete Peterson and Captain Mark Melancon. The cause of the crash was officially listed by the USAF as the result of a mechanical problem with the #1 aircraft's control stick actuator. During formation flight, the wing and slot pilots visually cue off the #1 lead aircraft, completely disregarding their positions in relation to the ground. The crash of a team support Fairchild C-123 Provider on 10 October 1958 killed 19[1][2].
  • 1979 – Death of Giovanni Ballestra, Italian Air Force pilot, not bailing out of his F-104 Starfighter on fire in order to avoid victims in a high denisity population zone.
  • 1978 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 274 made a 2 point landing at Miami International Airport (KIMA) when its nose wheel locked in the up position.
  • 1972 – Ottawa banned the use of aircraft and large ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence seal hunt.
  • 1972 – General Dynamics F-111E-CF, 68-018, c/n A1-127 / E-28,[326][327] tailcode 'JS',[328] out of RAF Upper Heyford, crashes on high ground in Scotland, both crew KWF.
  • 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266, a Boeing 727, en route from Los Angeles to Milwaukee loses all electrical power and crashes into Santa Monica Bay; six crew and 32 passengers are killed.
  • 1968 – (overnight) – A U. S. Navy UH-2A Seasprite piloted by Lieutenant junior grade Clyde Everett Lassen makes a daring rescue of downed fliers in North Vietnam. For his actions, Lassen will become the only U. S. Navy helicopter pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED 19 JUNE 1969.
  • 1965 – Death of Charles Marie Joseph Leon Nuville, French WWI fighter ace and WWII officer.
  • 1960 – Capital Airlines Flight 20, a Vickers Viscount, flying from Washington National Airport to Norfolk International Airport crashes near Holdcroft, Virginia due to engine failure caused by icy conditions; all 50 on board are killed.
  • 1958 – Birth of Jeffrey Nels Williams, USAF test pilot and NASA astronaut.
  • 1957 – Three United States Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers make the world’s first round-the-world, non-stop flight by turbojet-powered aircraft. They complete the flight in 45 hours 19 min, at an average speed of 534 mph (859 km/h).
  • 1946 – A Dornier Do 335A-12 Pfeil (Arrow), AM223, ex-DP+UB, a twin piston engined "push-pull" aircraft, out of RAE Farnborough, suffers a rear-engine fire whilst in flight which severs the control runs and crashes into Cove School, Cove, Hampshire, killing 2 people, according to one source, and injuring six persons on the ground, with the pilot, Group Captain A. F. Hards DSO[disambiguation needed], KWF according another
  • 1944 – Death of Eugene Jules Emile Camplan, French WWI flying ace.
  • 1941 – A large German air raid strikes Malta’s airfields and other facilities.
  • 1938 – The RCAF accepted the first of 1,384 de Havilland Tiger Moth training aircraft.
  • 1930 – Death of Tommaso (Tomaso) Dal Molin, Italian pilot in the crash of his seaplane racer Savoia-Marchetti S.65 on Lake Garda.
  • 1920 – Death of Albert René Chabrier, French WWI flying ace.
  • 1918 – Birth of Frederick C. Bock, WWII pilot who took part in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, flying the B-29 bomber 'The Great Artist'.
  • 1916 – First "official" flight of the Junkers J 1. (A brief hop had been taken in December 1915.)[3]
  • 1916 – Birth of Giorgio Savoja (Savoia), Italian WWII fighter pilot.
  • 1913 – Birth of Wing Commander George Cecil Unwin DSO, DFM & Bar, British WWII fighter ace.
  • 1909 – The first book to treat the work and accomplishments of the Wright brothers, Les Premiers Hommes-Oiseaux: Wilbur et Orville Wright, is written by François Peyrey (1873 – 1934) and published in France.
  • 1905 – The Wright brothers begin discussions with the United States Government about selling it an airplane.
  • 1893 – Birth of Douglas Evan Cameron, British WWI flying ace.
  • 1893 – Birth of Dr. Wolfgang Benjamin Klemperer, German prominent aviation and aerospace scientist and engineer, who ranks among the pioneers of early aviation.
  • 1891 – Birth of Herbert Wilhelm Franz Knappe, German WWI flying ace.
  • 1888 – Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer, is born (d. 1989). Sopwith with Fred Sigrist and others set up The Sopwith Aviation Company. The company produced key British World War I aircraft, most famously the Sopwith Camel.
  • 1882 – Birth of Gaston Caudron, French aviation pioneer and aircraft designer along with his brother René.

References

  1. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild C-123B-12-FA Provider 55-4521 Payette, ID". www.aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  2. ^ Aircraft Wreck Finders. "Fairchild C-123B #55-4521A" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  3. ^ http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1703
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