Portal:Aviation

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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. As of 2018, estimates suggest that 11% of the world's population traveled by air, with up to 4% taking international flights. (Full article...)

Selected article

The Luftwaffe Balkenkreuz (balk cross) was carried on the upper and lower wings and the fuselages of practically all German military aircraft between 1935 and 1945. It was essentially the national marking used by the German Air Service in the last year of World War I.

The German Luftwaffe was one of the strongest, doctrinally advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. Officially unveiled in 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, its purpose was to support Hitler's Blitzkrieg across Europe. The aircraft that were to serve in the Luftwaffe were of a new age and far superior to that of most other nations in the 1930s. Types like the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and Messerschmitt Bf 109 came to symbolize German aerial might.

The Luftwaffe became an essential component in the "Blitzkrieg" battle plan. Operating as a tactical close support air force, it helped the German armies to conquer the bulk of the European continent in a series of short and decisive campaigns in the first nine months of the war, experiencing its first defeat during the Battle of Britain in 1940 as it could not adapt into a strategic role, lacking heavy bombers with which to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against the British Isles.

Despite this setback the Luftwaffe remained formidable and in June 1941 embarked on Adolf Hitler's quest for an empire in eastern Europe by invading the USSR, with much initial success. However, the Luftwaffe's striking victories in the Soviet Union were brought to a halt in the Russian winter of 1942-1943. From then on, it was forced onto the strategic defensive contesting the ever increasing numbers of Soviet aircraft, whilst defending the German homeland and German occupied Europe from the growing Allied air forces pounding all aspects of German industry.

Having failed to achieve victory in the Soviet Union in 1941 or 1942, the Luftwaffe was drawn into a war of attrition which extended to North Africa and the Channel Front. The entry of the United States into the war and the resurgence of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) offensive power created the Home Front, known as Defense of the Reich operations. The Luftwaffe's strength was slowly eroded and by mid 1944 had virtually disappeared from the skies of Western Europe leaving the German Army to fight without air support. It continued to fight into the last days of the war with revolutionary new aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt Me 262, Messerschmitt Me 163 and the Heinkel He 162, even though the war was already hopelessly lost. (Full article...)

More selected articles

Selected image

attitude indicator

An attitude indicator (AI), gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is an instrument used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the airplane relative to earth.

Did you know

...that the Vickers machine gun was the standard weapon on all British and French military aircraft after 1916? ...that the crash of Crossair Flight LX498 was initially attributed to cell phone use, and led to bans of cell phones in airplanes in several countries? ... 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?

General images -

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

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  Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter design (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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  The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (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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  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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  Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (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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  An Airbus A380 of Qantas. The A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner. (from Wide-body aircraft)
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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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  Sailplane, a Rolladen-Schneider LS4 (from General aviation)
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  One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
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  Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
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  Robinson R22, a light piston-engine helicopter (from General 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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  Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation)
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  Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
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  The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation)
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  Daedalus working on Icarus' wings (from History of 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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  The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
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  Often published as a photo of Santos-Dumont during the prize-winning flight, this is actually an earlier attempt using his "Number 5" (from History of aviation)
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  Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
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  Delta Air Lines' economy class cabin on a Boeing 767 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  The General Electric GE90 was the most powerful turbofan engine. (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  A Boeing 777X. It is under testing and will be the largest twinjet, with the widest and longest fuselage to enter production. (from Wide-body aircraft)
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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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  Swiss International Air Lines' business class cabin on an Airbus A340 (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
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  Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation)
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  Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
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  Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
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  "Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
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  Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
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  Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation)
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  German Taube monoplane, illustration from 1917 (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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  An Airbus A321 of Vietravel Airlines parking next to a Vietnam Airlines Airbus A350-900 and a Cargolux Boeing 747-400 widebodies, highlighting their size differences. (from Wide-body aircraft)
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  Cessna CitationJet/M2, part of the Citation family of business jets (from General 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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  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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  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 Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation)
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  Félix du Temple's 1874 Monoplane (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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  La France flying in 1885 (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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  General aviation aircraft at Cheb Airfield in Czech Republic (from General aviation)

Aviation news

28 September 2026 – Starship flight 14

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 launches into orbit from Starbase, Texas, United States. However, it also returns early to Earth. (Al Jazeera) (AP)

26 September 2026 – September 2026 nor'easter

A nor'easter is reported along the East Coast of the United States, forcing the cancellation of 400 flights and leaving more than 68,000 homes without power. One person is killed in New York City. (Reuters) (WABC-TV)

24 September 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis

France announces that it will deploy its soldiers and air defense systems to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, to support the Saudi military against the Houthis. (Reuters)

24 September 2026 – Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war

The Emirati General Civil Aviation Authority announces the suspension of all flights between Iran and the United Arab Emirates amidst new U.S. sanctions until further notice. (Gulf News)

23 September 2026 – Ethiopian civil conflict

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seizes several airports in Tigray, while clashes are ongoing in the nearby regions of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF says that it has started a "defensive war" against the federal government of Ethiopia. (Reuters)

Related portals

Associated Wikimedia

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

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  Commons
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• 
  Wikibooks
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  Wikidata
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  Wikiquote
  Collection of quotations
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  Wiktionary
  Dictionary and thesaurus

Selected biography

Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager (born February 13, 1923) is a retired Brigadier-General in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot. In 1947, he, at age 24, became the first pilot to travel faster than sound in level flight and ascent.

His career began in World War II as a private in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of Flight Officer (WW 2 U.S. Army Air Forces rank equivalent to Warrant Officer) and became a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. After the war he became a test pilot of many kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter exceeded Mach 2.4. He later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to Brigadier-General. Yeager's flying career spans more than sixty years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, even into the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.

Selected Aircraft

F-4E from 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron dropping 500 lb (230 kg) Mark 82 bombs

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force. It was used extensively by all three of these services during the Vietnam War, serving as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, as well as being important in the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles by the close of U.S. involvement in the war.

First entering service in 1960, the Phantom continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force; the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy; and the F/A-18 in the U.S. Marine Corps. It remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. The Phantom was also operated by the armed forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its large fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with seven countries, and in use as an unmanned target in the U.S. Air Force.

Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built. This extensive run makes it the second most-produced Western jet fighter, behind the F-86 Sabre at just under 10,000 examples.

• Span: 38 ft 4.5 in (11.7 m)
• Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
• Height: 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
• Engines: 2× General Electric J79-GE-17A axial compressor turbojets, 17,845 lbf (79.6 kN) each
• Cruising Speed: 506 kn (585 mph, 940 km/h)
• First Flight: 27 May 1958
• Number built: 5,195

Today in Aviation

September 29

• 2011 – Nusantara Buana CASA C-212 crash: A CASA C-212 Aviocar operated by Nusantara Buana Air, crashed half way through its flight from Polonia International Airport in Indonesia. The crash killed all eighteen people on board; fourteen passengers and four crew.

• 2009 – Greek state-owned airline Olympic Airlines ceased operation.It was replaced by privately owned Olympic Air, which commenced operations on this day.

• 2009 – British Airways operates the first transatlantic flight from London City Airport: BA001 (a flight number unused since Concorde retired), an all-business class Airbus A318.

• 2007 – Dash 8 landing gear incidents: Two separate failures occurred within four days of each other on Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, all operated by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). A third incident, again with an SAS aircraft, occurred in October 2007, leading to the withdrawal of the type from the airline’s fleet.

• 2006 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737-800, collides with an Embraer Legacy business jet and crashes in Mato Grosso, Brazil; the Embraer Legacy, with seven on board, lands safely with no reported injuries while all 154 people on board the Boeing 737 perish; this crash marks the first loss of a Boeing 737-800.

• 2004 – The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry SpaceShipOne performed a successful spaceflight, the first of two needed to win the prize.

• 1998 – Lionair Flight 602, an Antonov An-24, is shot down by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and crashes off the coast of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, killing all 55 on board.

• 1988 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-26 at 15:37:00 UTC. Mission highlights: TDRS deployment; first post Challenger flight.

• 1995 – The United States Navy disestablishes Fighter Squadron #84 (VF-84), the celebrated Jolly Rogers.

• 1988 – NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with STS-26.

• 1971 – A USAF Lockheed C-5A Galaxy of the 443d Military Airlift Wing, Altus AFB, Oklahoma, one of six used for training, had its number one (port outer) engine tear off the pylon while advancing take-off power before brake release, setting the wing on fire. The crew evacuated safely within 90 seconds and the fire was extinguished by emergency equipment. The engine had flown up and behind the Galaxy, landing some 250 yards to the rear. The Air Force subsequently grounded six other C-5s with similar flight hours and cycles. Further investigation found cracks in younger C-5s and the entire fleet was grounded.

• 1964 – The first take-off and landing of the LTV-Hiller-Ryan XC-142 A vertical take-off transport is made in Dallas, Texas. The aircraft has four 2,850-hp General Electric turboprops mounted on the wings that can pivot 90 degrees to allow for a vertical take-off.

• 1959 – Braniff Flight 542, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, breaks up in mid-air and crashes 4 miles (6.4 km) from Buffalo, Texas; all 34 on board perish.

• 1954 – The new Downsview Ontario plant of DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd was opened by the Right Honourable CD Howe.

• 1954 – First flight of the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo jet fighter makes its first flight, flown by test pilot Robert C. Little. An advanced design of the XF-88, the Voodoo goes supersonic on its first flight.

• 1951 – A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF555, of 57 Squadron, RAF Waddington, experiences runaway propeller on number 3 (starboard inner) engine which hits number 4 (starboard outer) causing severe damage. Three crew in rear fuselage ordered to bail out before bomber makes successful wheels-up landing at a disused airfield near Amiens, France - no casualties, but airframe written off. Scrapped 3 January 1952.

• 1948 – First flight of the Vought XF7U-1 Cutlass, a prototype of the F7U Cutlass

• 1946 – The United States Navy Lockheed P2 V Neptune Truculent Turtle, piloted by Commander Thomas D. Davies and aided by four JATO rockets, departs Perth, Australia, bound nonstop for Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D. C. On take-off, it weighs 85,575 lbs (38,817 kg), the heaviest twin-engine aircraft ever to take off up to that time. Although bad weather forces the plane to land short of Washington in Columbus, Ohio, after 55 hours 17 min continuously in the air, the flight nonetheless sets a new nonstop, unrefueled world distance record of 11,235.6 nautical miles (20,807 km) which stands for 16 years until broken by a U. S. Air Force B-52 H Stratofortress in 1962.

• 1946 – Blue Angels pilot Lt. (JG) Ros "Robby" Robinson is killed in Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat, BuNo 95986, Blue Angels No. 4, at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, when he fails to pull out of a dive during a Cuban Eight manoeuvre - wingtip broke off his fighter.

• 1945 – Silverplate Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 44-27303, named "Jabit III", of the 509th Composite Group, Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, on cross-country training mission, strikes several objects on landing at Chicago Municipal Airport, Illinois, never flies again. Assigned to the 4200th Base Unit at the airport pending disposition decision, it is salvaged there in April 1946.

• 1940 – The 1940 Brocklesby mid-air collision occurred over Brocklesby, New South Wales, Australia. The accident was unusual in that the aircraft involved, two Avro Ansons of No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF, remained locked together after colliding, and then managed to land safely. Both navigators bailed out after the aircraft struck, followed shortly afterwards by the injured pilot of the lower Anson. The pilot of the upper Anson, however, found that he was able to control the interlocked aircraft using his ailerons and flaps, coupled with the still-functioning engines on the machine underneath. He was then able to make a successful emergency landing in a paddock near Brocklesby. All four crewmen survived the incident, and the Ansons were repaired and remained in service with the Air Force.

• 1934 – A London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Airspeed Courier crashes at Tiverton Bottom, Shoreham, Kent, in the United Kingdom, killing all four people on board. Flying debris injures two people on the ground.

• 1931 – First flight of the Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11

• 1931 – Following the Schneider Trophy success, Flt Lt. George Stainforth in S.6 B serial S1596 breaks the 400 mph air speed record barrier at 407.5 miles per hour (655.8 km/h).

• 1929 – The first flight at Cartierville of Reid Rambler. A Canadian-designed and built trainer; it was intended to fill the needs of flying clubs. It was a sesquiplane with folding wings to facilitate storage and it had incorporated Warren truss bracing that eliminated the need for bracing wires.

• 1929 – Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte arrive in Manchuria in a Breguet 19 (right), having set a new distance record of 7,905 km (4,912 miles) from Le Bourget, France.

• 1927 – Georg Wulf, co-founder of Focke-Wulf, is killed in the crash of the first Focke-Wulf F 19 Ente ("Duck"), D-1960. Second airframe is constructed, eventually put on display in Berlin air museum, destroyed in bombing raid in 1944.

• 1922 – First flight of the Thomas-Morse R-5, also known as the Thomas-Morse TM-22

• 1921 – First Orenco D manufactured by Curtiss, 63281, McCook Project Number 'P163', loses entire leading edge of its upper wing, crashing at McCook Field, Ohio. An investigation by an officer of the flying test section of the USAAS Engineering Division reveals that the Orenco Ds are badly constructed, no fewer than 30 defects and faulty fittings being recorded in the published report, forcing the Air Service to withdraw all Orenco Ds from use (Joe Baugher cites date of 28 September).

• 1918 – Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, the second-highest-scoring American ace of World War I with 18 victories, is killed in action.
• 1912 - The “Bull Wing” plane designed by John Alabaster, equipped with a hunting shotgun bolted to the plane, kills her wife after the plane dived and shot her down by accident. This is the first recorded death from an airplane’s armament.

• 1909 – Wilbur Wright begins flights as part of New York City’s Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

• 1907 – Louis Breguet and Charles Robert Richet demonstrate their Breguet-Richet Gyroplane No. 1, the first rotorcraft to lift a person off the ground. (The craft is still controlled by handlers standing around it on the ground).

• 1895 – Roscoe Turner, American aviator and racer was born (d. 1970).

References

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