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A Boeing 747

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...)

Selected article

Color Autochrome Lumière of a Nieuport Fighter in Aisne, France 1917

One of the many innovations of World War I, aircraft were first used for reconnaissance purposes and later as fighters and bombers. Consequently, this was the first war which involved a struggle for control of the air, which turned it into another battlefield, alongside the battlefields of land and sea. (Full article...)

More selected articles

Selected image

Me109G

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Credit: commons:User:Kogo

Did you know

...that five USAAF airmen were awarded the Medal of Honor following Operation Tidal Wave, a low-level bombing of Romanian oil refineries on 1 August 1943? ...that Theo Osterkamp was the first German reconnaissance pilot to fly a land-based aircraft to England during World War I? ... that No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF (aircraft of unit pictured) was the only Royal Australian Air Force training unit to be based in Tasmania during World War II?

General images -

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

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  Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
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  Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation)
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  Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
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  The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
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  Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter design (from History of aviation)
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  The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
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  Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation)
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  Cathay Pacific's first class cabin on board a Boeing 747-400 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
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  Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
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  Santos-Dumont's "Number 6" rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe Prize, October 1901 (from History of aviation)
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  Cessna CitationJet/M2, part of the Citation family of business jets (from General aviation)
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  La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation)
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  Experimental helicopter by Enrico Forlanini (1877), exposed at the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy (from History of aviation)
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  Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
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  Nieuport IV, operated by most of the world's air forces before WW1 for reconnaissance and bombing, including during the Italian-Turkish war (from History of aviation)
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  Robinson R22, a light piston-engine helicopter (from General aviation)
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  Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation)
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  1928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation)
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  "Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing Hounslow, near London, as the hub (from History of aviation)
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  The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation)
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  First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation)
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  The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation)
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  Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation)
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  Daedalus working on Icarus' wings (from History of aviation)
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  General aviation aircraft at Cheb Airport in Czech Republic (from General aviation)
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  1843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation)
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  Sailplane, a Rolladen-Schneider LS4 (from General aviation)
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  D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation)
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  The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
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  Concorde, G-BOAB, in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first flight in 1976 and final flight in 2000 (from History of aviation)
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  First female combat pilot, Sabiha Gökçen, reviews her Breguet 19 (from History of aviation)
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  The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation)
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  Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
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  "Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
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  French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation)
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  Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation)
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  Félix du Temple's 1874 Monoplane (from History of aviation)
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  Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation)
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  Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
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  German Taube monoplane, illustration from 1917 (from History of aviation)

In the news

Wikinews Aviation portal

• 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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Selected biography

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

AN-225 with the Soviet Space Shuttle, Buran.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a strategic airlift transport aircraft built by Antonov, and was the world's largest powered aircraft before its destruction in February 2022. Mriya (Мрія) means "dream" (inspiration) in Ukrainian.

With a maximum gross weight of 640,000 kg (1,400,000 lb), the An-225 was the world's heaviest aircraft. Although its wingspan is less than that of the Hughes H-4 "Spruce Goose", the latter never went beyond a single short low-altitude test flight, making the An-225 the largest aircraft in the world to take off more than once. Both the An-124 and An-225 are larger than the C-5 Galaxy, the largest aircraft in the U.S. inventory. The An-225 was also larger than the Airbus A380.

• Span: 88.40 m (291 ft 2 in)
• Length: 75.30 m n(246 ft 11 in)
• Height: 18.1 m (59.3 ft)
• Engines: 6× ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229 kN (51,600 lbf) each
• Cruising Speed: 750 km/h (400 knots, 465 mph)
• First Flight: December 21, 1988

Today in Aviation

May 13

• 2011 – The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the first solar-powered aircraft capable of both day and night flight thanks to its batteries charged by solar power, makes its first international flight, flying 630 km (391 miles) from Payerne Airport outside Payerne, Switzerland, to Brussels Airport in Belgium, in 12 hours 59 minutes at an average speed of 50 km/hr (31 mph).

• 2011 – A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airstrike targeting a Libyan government command and control bunker in Brega hits a building, killing 11 civilians and wounding 45.

• 1992 – A U.S. Navy instructor pilot is killed after two Navy Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentors collide over a densely wooded field 6 miles SW of NAS Whiting Field, Florida.

• 1989 – The Antonov An-225 Mriya, Soviet strategic airlift cargo aircraft, makes its first carrying flight of the Buran space shuttle.

• 1985 – Death of Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin, Soviet aircraft engine designer.

• 1982 – Launch of Soyuz T-5, Russian manned spaceflight into Earth orbit to the then new Salyut 7 space station.

• 1982 – A United States Navy HH-46 crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, one killed.

• 1982 – Braniff International Airways' president Howard D. Putnam announces the airline has filed for protection under bankruptcy laws, and the airline's fleet of 71 aircraft is grounded.

• 1980 – First flight of the Antonov An-3.

• 1975 – (13 – 14) U. S. Navy P-3 Orion patrol aircraft discover Mayaguez off Cambodia’s Puolo Wai island. For two days, U. S. Navy and U. S. Air Force aircraft exchange fire with Khmer Rouge ground and sea forces in the vicinity of Mayaguez.

• 1975 – Sikorsky CH-53C, 68-10933, c/n 65-231, Knife 13, of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, departs from Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base with a crew of five and 18 USAF Security Police onboard to assist in the recovery operation of the SS Mayaguez. The helicopter disappears from the airfield's departure radar 40 miles W of the airfield. All on board are KWF. The Air Force issues a "temporary flight restriction" order, service parlance for a grounding order, on 22 May 1975, for 40 HH-53 and 12 CH-53, following an inspection crew reaching the jungle crash site. A main rotor blade separated from the head in flight.

• 1965 – The United States suspends Operation Rolling Thunder strikes against North Vietnam.

• 1963 – NORAD Region Headquarters was moved from St Hubert to North Bay.

• 1957 – Three USAF North American F-100 Super Sabres set a new world distance record for single-engine aircraft by covering the 6,710 mi (5,835 nmi, 10,805 km) distance from London to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 4 min. The flight was accomplished using in-flight refueling.

• 1957 – Birth of Claudie Haigneré, French doctor, politician, and astronaut.

• 1956 – Birth of Aleksandr Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri, Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station(ISS).

• 1955 – On seventh and final flight of Northrop N-69A test vehicle for the Northrop XSM-62 Snark, only two of which were successful, mission was cut short when the missile collided with its T-33A photo plane.

• 1954 – First flight of the Kellett KH-15 "Stable Mable". This helicopter was designed to test the new gyro-stabilizing system, a kind of small rotor mounted concentrically and intended to stabilize the main rotor.

• 1953 – 59 U. S. Air Force F-84G Thunderjet fighter-bombers attack the Toksan dike in Korea.

• 1949 – First flight of the English Electric Canberra, British first-generation jet-powered light bomber.

• 1944 – (13 – 17) U. S. Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force bombers carry out heavy strikes against Japanese forces at Wakde Airfield and Sawar Airfield, Western New Guinea.

• 1943 – 20 Japanese Mitsubishi G4 M (Allied reporting name “Betty”) torpedo bombers fly from Paramushiro to attack American ships, but bad weather forces them to turn back without launching an attack.

• 1942 – Birth of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov, soviet cosmonaut who made 5 flights.

• 1942 – Construction of the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin resumes after a two-year hiatus.

• 1940 – First flight of the General Aircraft Fleet Shadower G. A. L.38, British long-range four-engine patrol prototype aircraft.

• 1940 – First flight of the Bell XFL Airabonita, United States experimental shipboard interceptor aircraft developed for the United States Navy by Bell Aircraft. It was similar to and a parallel development of the land-based P-39 Airacobra, differing mainly in the use of a tailwheel undercarriage in place of the P-39's tricycle gear.

• 1940 – The Sikorsky VS-300, which made its first flight the previous year, makes its first untethered flight.

• 1938 – (13-15) A Japanese Gasuden Koken aircraft breaks the closed-circuit world distance record of 11,651 km (7,240 mi).

• 1934 – US airmail pilot William John "Jack" Frye sets a new United States coast-to-coast record, carrying mail from Los Angeles to Newark. The journey is completed in 11 hours 31 min with a Douglas DC-1.

• 1933 – Lowe Wylde, designer and managing director of British Aircraft Company dies in the crash of a British Aircraft Company Drone during a demonstration at west Malling.

• 1930 – With the Latécoère 28 "Comte-de-la-Vaulx", Jean Mermoz complete the first south Transatlatic Postal flight from Saint-Louis, Senegal, to Natal, Brazil.

• 1927 – Colonial Air Transport offers a sightseeing trip from Teterboro, New Jersey, around New York City for just $8, less than the price of a similar trip in a taxi.

• 1923 – Birth of Donald Milton Sorlie, American test pilot who conducted test flights of the Northdrop M2-F2 lifting body.

• 1917 – Death of Julius Busa, Austro Hungarian WWI flying ace, shot down by Italian ace Francesco Baracca in a SPAD VII.

• 1913 – Sikorsky Russky Vityaz, the world’s first four-engined aircraft and the first aeroplane with a lavatory.

• 1912 – Birth of Felix Kracht, German aviation engineer.

• 1912 – King George V of the United Kingdom approves the formation of the Royal Flying Corps.
• 1912 – A Flanders Monoplane crashed at Brooklands, Surrey, United Kingdom, killing the pilot and his passenger. The accident was investigated by the Royal Aero Club, which issued the first-ever report into an aviation accident and established the science of aviation accident investigation.

• 1911 – Jan Kašpar, Czech aviator, aircraft constructor, designer and engineer, flies from Pardubice to Velká Chuchle (121 km) in 92 min. At the time, it was the longest flight in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

• 1896 – Birth of Louis Marcel Germain Doret, (Marcel Doret), French raid Aviator, Test Pilot and Aerobatic pilot.

• 1894 – Birth of Elwyn Roy "Bo" King, Australian WWI fighter ace and instructor during WWII.

• 1890 – Birth of Charles John Biddle, American WWI flying ace and lawyer.

• 1883 – Birth of Charles Alexander Holcombe Longcroft, Britsh WWI pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps who went on to become a senior commander in the Royal Air Force.

References

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