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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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Hot air balloon

The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers.

A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is the gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule) which carries the passengers and a source of heat. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today's sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex.

Recently, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships. (Full article...)

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F-15 Eagle

Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Samuel Rogers [1]

Capt. Matt Buckner, an F-15 Eagle pilot assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., flies a combat air patrol mission Oct. 7 over Washington, D.C., in support of Operation Noble Eagle.

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Did you know

...that the pioneer American airman Lowell Smith participated in the first mid-air refueling, the first aerial circumnavigation and held 16 records for military aircraft in speed, endurance and distance? ...that PWS-10 designed in late 1920s was the first Polish fighter to enter serial production? ... 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?

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

Image 1Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
Image 2Santos-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)
Image 3"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
Image 4Sailplane, a Rolladen-Schneider LS4 (from General aviation)
Image 5Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
Image 6The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 7German Taube monoplane, illustration from 1917 (from History of aviation)
Image 8Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
Image 9Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation)
Image 10The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation)
Image 111843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation)
Image 12Nieuport 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)
Image 13Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation)
Image 14Experimental 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)
Image 15One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
Image 16French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation)
Image 17Félix du Temple's 1874 Monoplane (from History of aviation)
Image 18Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
Image 19Concorde, 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)
Image 20Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation)
Image 21D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation)
Image 22The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
Image 23Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation)
Image 24Cessna CitationJet/M2, part of the Citation family of business jets (from General aviation)
Image 25Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
Image 26The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 27Cathay Pacific's first class cabin on board a Boeing 747-400 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 28Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation)
Image 29The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation)
Image 30First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation)
Image 31"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)
Image 32La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation)
Image 33Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation)
Image 34Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter design (from History of aviation)
Image 35Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
Image 36Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
Image 37The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (from History of aviation)
Image 38Daedalus working on Icarus' wings (from History of aviation)
Image 39The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
Image 40Robinson R22, a light piston-engine helicopter (from General aviation)
Image 41First female combat pilot, Sabiha Gökçen, reviews her Breguet 19 (from History of aviation)
Image 42General aviation aircraft at Cheb Airport in Czech Republic (from General aviation)
Image 431928 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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Selected biography

Elizabeth 'Bessie' Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926), popularly known as "Queen Bess", was the first African American (male or female) to become an airplane pilot, and the first American of any race or gender to hold an international pilot license. Growing up in Chicago, she heard tales of the world from pilots who were returning home from World War I. They told stories about flying in the war, and Coleman started to fantasize about being a pilot. She could not gain admission to American flight schools because she was black and a woman. No black U.S. aviator would train her either. Coleman took French language class at the Berlitz school in Chicago, and then traveled to Paris on November 20, 1920. Coleman learned to fly in a Nieuport Type 82 biplane.

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The Embraer ERJ-145 is a regional jet produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. The ERJ 145 is the largest of a family of airliners, which also includes the ERJ 135, ERJ 140, and Legacy. All aircraft in the series are powered by two turbofan engines. It is one of the most popular regional jet families in the world with primary competition coming from the Canadair Regional Jet.

The first flight of the ERJ 145 was on August 11, 1995, with the first delivery in December 1996 to ExpressJet Airlines (then the regional division of Continental Airlines). ExpressJet is the largest operator of the ERJ 145, with 270 of the nearly 1000 ERJ 145s in service. The second largest operator is American Eagle, with 206 ERJ 145 aircraft. Chautauqua Airlines also operates 95 ERJ 145s through its alliances with American Connection, Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express. By some accounts, the ERJ 145 has a cost of ownership of about $2,500,000 per year.

Span: 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in)
Length: 29.9 m (98 ft 0 in)
Height: 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in)
Engines: 2× Rolls-Royce AE 3007A turbofans, 33.0 kN (7,420 lbf) thrust each
Cruising Speed: 834 km/h (518 mph, Mach 0.78)
First Flight: August 11, 1995
Number built: ≈1000

Today in Aviation

May 22

2010 – Iraqi Airways ceases operations.

2010 – Air India Express Flight 812, operated by Boeing 737–800 VT-AXV crashed at Mangalore International Airport with the loss of 162 lives.

2002 – First flight of the Boeing X-45

1990 – The German Luftwaffe flies the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter for the last time before it is withdrawn from service; the airplane was nicknamed “the widow-maker” because of its terrible safety record – In its years of service, 110 Starfighter pilots were killed.

1986 – US Navy Grumman A-6E Intruder, BuNo 162181, c/n I-674, of VA-65, bound for the USS John F. Kennedy at Puerto Rico, crashes on take-off from NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, at 1105 hrs., killing two crew and one motorist on Oceana Boulevard. Aircraft had no munitions but carried a full fuel load and burst into flame as it came down just outside the station perimeter, killing pilot Lt. James P. Hoban, 26, of River Vale, New Jersey, and bombardier-navigator Lt. Michael F. Wilson, 27, of Medford, New Jersey, as well as Navy wife Tammy Fowler, 25, of Virginia Beach, in the vehicle on Oceana Boulevard. Navy officials said that this was the first Navy plane crash in the area in more than two years. Witnesses reported that the Intruder's tail appeared to be on fire as it came down.

1984 – ULockheed U-2R, 68-10333, Article 055, fifth airframe of first R-model order, first flight 8 May 1968, registered N812X; delivered to the CIA, 28 May 1968. To 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing mid-1974. To 9th SRW in 1976. Damaged at Akrotiri, Cyprus, 24 April 1980 - repaired. Crashes this date at Osan Air Base, South Korea, pilot Capt. David Bonsi survives. Aircraft suffers tailpipe failure on climb-out at ~3,000 feet forcing an ejection. This was the first of three such tailpipe-related crashes.

1983 – A Canadian Forces Lockheed CF-104 Starfighter, 104813, of 439 Sqn., explodes in mid-air during airshow performance at Rhein-Main Air Base, Frankfurt, Germany, wreckage falling onto parked cars in woods near the airport, setting several afire and killing three adults and two children watching the display, Reuters news service reported. A Canadian Forces spokesman said that the CF-104, flown by Capt. Alan J. Stephenson, 27, was in a formation of five Starfighters, and that he was to do a solo display. He had done two complete circuits and had leveled off for a low-speed fly-past when the plane malfunctioned. He ejected safely. The spokesman said that a board of inquiry has been convened to investigate the cause of the crash.

1982 – The first aircraft carrier to be launched in Spain, Principe de Asturias, is launched at Ferrol.

1976 – NASA launches space vehicle S-179

1970 – A USAF Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star of the 1st Composite Wing, Andrews AFB, Maryland, crashes just short of the north runway on approach to that base, killing pilot Maj. John H. McDowell Jr., 37, Clinton, Maryland, and Lt. Edwin D. Billmeyer, 24, of Baltimore, Maryland, and injuring three motorists on the ground.

1969 – Thomas P. Stafford & Eugene Cernan pilot the Apollo 10 lunar module to within 15 kms above the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing, which took place in July 1969.

1968 – Los Angeles Airways Flight 841, a Sikorsky S-61L, crashes near Paramount, California resulting in the loss of 23 lives.

1962 – Robert A. Rushworth, USAF major, takes the X-15 to an altitude of 30 600 m.

1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 707, breaks up in mid-air near Unionville, Missouri after a passenger's bomb exploded in the lavatory; all 45 people on board are killed.

1961 – (22 or 24) To celebrate the 50th anniversary of naval aviation in the United States, five United States Navy McDonnell F4 H-1 F Phantom II fighters fly across the United States in less than three hours in Operation LANA. The fastest, flown by Lieutenants Richard F. Gordon, Jr., (pilot) and Bobbie Long (radar intercept officer), sets a new record for a transcontinental flight across the United States, flying from Ontario, California, to Floyd Bennett Field in New York City in 2 hours 47 min at an average speed of 869.74 mph (1,400.28 km/hr) with three in-flight refuelings. They receive the 1961 Bendix Trophy for their flight.

1959 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general-major in the United States Air Force.

1958 – (22-23) Flying a Douglas F4D-1 Skyray, United States Marine Corps Major N. LeFaivre breaks five world climb-to-height records, including 15,000 m (49,221 feet) in 2 min 36 seconds.

1957 – A U.S. Air Force B-36J-5-CF Peacemaker, 52-2816, (c/n 372), ferrying a Mark 17 nuclear bomb from Biggs AFB, Texas to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, accidentally drops it through closed bomb doors, impacting 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Kirtland tower. High explosives detonate creating crater 25X12 feet, but no fuel capsule fitted, no injuries.

1953 – S/L Keith R. Greenaway won the McKee Trans-Canada Trophy in recognition of his new methods of aerial navigation in the Arctic regions.

1947 – The prototype Boeing XC-97 Stratofreighter, 43-27472, c/n 8483, on a flight out of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, comes down in a wheat stubble field and bursts into flames.

1946 – First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk

1943 – Royal Air Force scatters first copies of The Flying Hollander

1943 – A U. S. Navy antisubmarine hunter-killer group scores a kill of an enemy submarine for the first time, when TBM Avengers of Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9} from the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) sink the German submarine U-569 in the North Atlantic Ocean. Aircraft of U. S. hunter-killer groups will sink – or cooperate with surface warships in sinking – 31 more German and two Japanese submarines in the Atlantic during World War II.

1943 – 19 Mitsubishi G4 M “Betty” torpedo bombers based at Paramushiro make the only Japanese air strike of the Battle of Attu, attacking the U. S. Navy destroyer USS Phelps (DD-360) and gunboat USS Charleston (PG-51) off Attu. They lose two aircraft and score no hits.

1941 – German dive bombers attack a British naval task force as it retires westward after raiding caiques carrying German troops north of Crete. They sink the light cruisers HMS Fiji and HMS Gloucester and the destroyer HMS Greyhound and damage the battleship HMS Warspite and the light cruisers HMS Carlisle and HMS Naiad.

1939 – The German Condor Legion holds a farewell parade in León, Spain.

1937 – The Spanish Republican Air Force sends fighters on a risky flight across Nationalist-controlled territory to Republican bases in northern Spain to support the Basque defense against Nationalist forces there; seven of them arrive safely. Over the next several weeks, 50 more Republican aircraft – Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters and Polikarpov R-5 light bombers – will make the trip, with 45 arriving safely.

1931 – First flight of the Berliner-Joyce XFJ

1929 – Pan American Airways inaugurates a new passenger service from Miami, Florida to Managua, Panama with stops at Belize. The journey by a F. VII/3 ns takes 56 hours.

1920 – Bristol F.2C Badger partial prototype, completed in 1919 for aerodynamic tests, using Armstrong-Siddeley Puma engine, but only the wings and undercarriage of the Badger design (and locally referred to as the Badger X - for experimental) crashes this date. It is entered on the civil register as K110, AFTER it has already been written off.

1906 – The Wright brothers are granted US patent No. 821,393 for their airplane control.

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