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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 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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Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.

Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Wind shear can be broken down into vertical and horizontal components, with horizontal wind shear seen across weather fronts and near the coast, and vertical shear typically near the surface, though also at higher levels in the atmosphere near upper level jets and frontal zones aloft.

Wind shear itself is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such as squall lines and cold fronts. It is commonly observed near microbursts and downbursts caused by thunderstorms, weather fronts, areas of locally higher low level winds referred to as low level jets, near mountains, radiation inversions that occur due to clear skies and calm winds, buildings, wind turbines, and sailboats. Wind shear has a significant effect during take-off and landing of aircraft due to their effects on steering of the aircraft, and was a significant cause of aircraft accidents involving large loss of life within the United States.

Sound movement through the atmosphere is affected by wind shear, which can bend the wave front, causing sounds to be heard where they normally would not, or vice versa. Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also inhibits tropical cyclone development, but helps to organize individual thunderstorms into living longer life cycles which can then produce severe weather. The thermal wind concept explains with how differences in wind speed with height are dependent on horizontal temperature differences, and explains the existence of the jet stream. (Full article...)

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McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk

Credit: Lt. j.g. John A. Ivancic

A T-45A Goshawk executes a turning rejoin during a recent formation flight over South Texas. The T-45 is a twin-seat, single-engine jet trainer and is the only aircraft in the Navy's inventory used specifically for training pilots to land aboard aircraft carriers.

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 Garuda Indonesia flight 152 was the deadliest air disaster of 1997, claiming the lives of over 230 people? ... that the loss of nine military crew members and passengers when Buffalo 461 was shot down over Syria in 1974, remains the largest single-incident loss of life in Canadian peacekeeping history?

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Concorde, 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 2D.H. Comet, the world's first jet airliner. As in this picture, it also saw RAF service (from History of aviation)
Image 3Me 262, world first operational jet fighter (from History of aviation)
Image 4Nieuport 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 5First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903 (from History of aviation)
Image 6A Boeing 787 Dreamliner of United Airlines landing at Beijing Capital International Airport on 28 December 2018. (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 7Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteryes of Nature and Art (from History of aviation)
Image 8Flagg biplane from 1933 (from History of aviation)
Image 9The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft (from History of aviation)
Image 10Alberto Santos-Dumont flying the Demoiselle over Paris (from History of aviation)
Image 11Cathay Pacific's first class cabin on board a Boeing 747-400 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 121843 artist's impression of John Stringfellow's plane Ariel flying over the Nile (from History of aviation)
Image 13Daedalus working on Icarus' wings (from History of aviation)
Image 14Clément Ader Avion III (1897 photograph) (from History of aviation)
Image 15One of Leonardo's sketches (from History of aviation)
Image 16The business class cabin on an A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 17Map of record breaking flights of the 1920s (from History of aviation)
Image 18Maxim's flying machine (from History of aviation)
Image 19Otto Lilienthal, 29 May 1895 (from History of aviation)
Image 20French reconnaissance balloon L'Intrépide of 1796, the oldest existing flying device, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (from History of aviation)
Image 21"Governable parachute" design of 1852 (from History of aviation)
Image 22"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 23The Biot-Massia glider, restored and on display in the Musee de l'Air (from History of aviation)
Image 24Planophore model aeroplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871 (from History of aviation)
Image 25The economy class cabin of an Airbus A350 (from Wide-body aircraft)
Image 26Early Voisin biplane (from History of aviation)
Image 27Qantas De Havilland biplane, c. 1930 (from History of aviation)
Image 281928 issue of Popular Aviation (now Flying magazine), which became the largest aviation magazine with a circulation of 100,000. (from History of aviation)
Image 29Cessna CitationJet/M2, part of the Citation family of business jets (from General aviation)
Image 30Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter design (from History of aviation)
Image 31Robinson R22, a light piston-engine helicopter (from General aviation)
Image 32General aviation aircraft at Cheb Airfield in Czech Republic (from General aviation)
Image 33First female combat pilot, Sabiha Gökçen, reviews her Breguet 19 (from History of aviation)
Image 34German Taube monoplane, illustration from 1917 (from History of aviation)
Image 35Sailplane, a Rolladen-Schneider LS4 (from General aviation)
Image 36The Wright Military Flyer aboard a wagon in 1908 (from History of aviation)
Image 37Félix du Temple's 1874 Monoplane (from History of aviation)
Image 38La France flying in 1885 (from History of aviation)
Image 39Apollo 11 lifts off on its mission to land a man on the Moon (from History of aviation)
Image 40The Aeroplane of Victor Tatin, 1879. (from History of aviation)
Image 41Experimental 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 42Santos-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 43Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868 (from History of aviation)
Image 44The 14-bis, or Oiseau de proie (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.

Selected Aircraft

The Airbus A400M Atlas is a four-engine turboprop aircraft, designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) to meet the demand of European nations for military airlift. Since its formal launch, the aircraft has also been ordered by Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

The A400M is assembled at the Seville plant of Airbus Military. The first test flight occurred in December 2009.

Span: 42.4 m (139 ft 1 in)
Length: 45.1 m (148 ft)
Height: 14.7 m (48 ft 3 in)
Engines: 4 EPI TP400-D6 (8,250 kW power)
Cruising Speed: 780 km/h (480 mph, 420 knots)
First Flight: 11 December 2009
Number built: 119 as of 31 August 2023

Today in Aviation

February 10

2011 – A Peruvian Air Force Zlin Z-242L crashed at Pisco airfield, Peru killing the two crew.

2011 – Manx2 Flight 7100 from Belfast, operated by Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner EC-ITP leased from Flightline BCN of Barcelona, overturns on its third attempt to land at Cork, Republic of Ireland in fog, killing six and injuring six.^[1]^[2]^[3]

2010 – A Eurocopter AS350 helicopter of the Brazilian Army crashed while training tactical piloting maneuvering at Sao Pedro da Aldeia naval base, about 130 kilometers (81 mi) away from Rio de Janeiro city.

2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit 490 miles (789 km) above Siberia at a speed of 26,170 miles per hour (42,120 km/h).This was the first major collision of two satellites in Earth orbit. Both satellites were destroyed.

2004 – Kish Air Flight 7170, a Fokker 50, crashes at Sharjah International Airport, killing 43 people. Three survive with serious injuries.

2000 – Death of Igor Bensen, Russian born American engineer, founder of the Bensen Aircraft, which produced a successful line of Gyro-gliders (rotor kites) and Autogyros. He founded the Popular Rotorcraft Association in 1962, a non-profit interest group for owners and homebuilders of auto-gyros and helicopters, based in Mentone, Indiana.

1997 – Death of Amron Harry Katz, American physicist who specialized in aerial reconnaissance.

1995 – The prototype Antonov An-70 is destroyed after a mid-air collision with an An-72 chase plane. All seven aboard are killed in the crash.

1995 – Two Peruvian Sukhoi Su-22 Ms are shot down by a pair of Ecuadorian Mirage F.1JAs. Almost simultaneously, a Peruvian Cessna A-37 B is also shot down by an Ecuadorian Kfir C.2.

1993 – McDonnell Douglas produces its 10,000th aircraft

1991 – U. S. Navy A-6 Es sink two Iraqi Navy patrol boats in the northern Persian Gulf. Iraqi antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U. S. Marine Corps AV-8 B Harrier II over southern Kuwait.

1988 – The pilot of an General Dynamics F-16A Block 15J Fighting Falcon, 82–0909, c/n 61–0502, ejected safely when his plane caught fire and crashed on take-off at Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia. Problems occurred during a routine practice flight. Witnesses said the aircraft climbed straight into the air during take-off and exploded into flames before hitting the ground. The plane was assigned to Moody.

1982 – The flight of the Argus 10742 from Summerside to Rockcliffe for delivery to National Aviation Museum. The Argus overflew Canadair plant in a final salute.

1981 – Two United States Marine Corps helicopters (a CH-46 and a CH-53) collide over Tustin MCAS in California, United States, six killed.

1977 – Death of George John Dufek, American naval officer, naval aviator, and Arctic expert.

1975 – The Royal Australian Navy suffers its only operational Grumman S-2E Tracker loss during approximately 17 years of operation of the type when N12-153608 is lost at sea with two fatalities.

1971 – Death of Alfred Clayburn Atkey, Canadian WWI fighter ace.

1968 – Birth of Garrett Erin Reisman, American engineer and NASA astronaut.

1967 – First flight of the Dornier Do 31, a West German experimental VTOL jet transport.

1964 – The Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager (D04) during exercises off of Jervis Bay, Australia, slicing the destroyer in two and killing 82 of Voyager's sailors.

1964 – Death of Eugen Sänger, Austrian-German aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology.

1963 – Death of Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, pioneering French aviator who flew “Le Canard”, the world's first seaplane.

1962 – American U-2 pilot Gary Powers, shot down and arrested in the U. S. S. R. May 1st 1960, is exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a well publicized spy swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel), a Soviet colonel who was caught by the FBI and put in jail for espionage, at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany.

1953 – Death of William Spurrett Fielding-Johnson, British WWI flying ace.

1952 – Maj George A. Davis Jr is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, after attacking a group of 12 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s that were about to bounce other US aircraft. He shot down two before being shot down himself.

1949 – USAF Douglas A-26B-66-DL Invader, 44–34719, out of Greenville AFB, South Carolina, piloted by Robert L. Kenyon, crashes at Waples Pond, Delaware - four killed.

1945 – German Junkers Ju 88s attack Convoy JW 64 in the Arctic Ocean.

1944 – American Airlines Flight 2, a Douglas DC-3, crashes into the Mississippi River for reasons unknown, killing all 24 occupants (21 passengers and 3 crew members).

1943 – A U. S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command B-24D Liberator sinks a German submarine, apparently U-519, in the North Atlantic Ocean, the first submarine sunk by the command.

1942 – A Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, P3664, of No. 55 OTU, based at RAF Usworth,[109] crashes in bad weather in an orchard opposite the High Marley Hill Radio Mast, killing RCAF Sergeant Pilot James D’Arcy Lees Graham, 24, of Carstairs, Alberta. The Air Ministry Crash Card records that the fighter flew into high ground in a squall, the weather deteriorated and the aircraft dived out of low cloud into a snow squall and failed to pull out of the dive. The pilot was interred at St Margaret's Church Cemetery, Castletown, Sunderland.

1941 – Britain uses paratroops for the first time in an attack on Tragino

1941 – (overnight) – 222 British bombers attack Hanover, Germany, losing seven of their number, and 43 others attack oil storage tanks in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In the Rotterdam raid, the Short Stirling makes its combat debut as the United Kingdom's first four-engined heavy bomber.

1936 – First flight of the Fiat BR.20, an Italian low-wing twin-engine medium bomber.

1935 – First flight of the A. N. F. Les Mureaux 180, a French Single engine High wing monoplane 2 seat fighter prototype, evolution of the ANF Les Mureaux 170.

1933 – First flight of the Hawker Demon

1930 – An Air Union Farman F.63 Goliath crashes while attempting an emergency landing at Marden Airfield, Marden, Kent due to structural failure, killing 2 of 6 on board.

1929 – Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout broke the record for the first all-night flight by a woman as well as and the new women's solo endurance record flying more than 17 hours in an open cockpit Bruner Winkle biplane .Trout flew from Mines Field USA.

1925 – The 1030 hrs. crash of a Curtiss JN-6H, AS-44806, ~2 miles (3.2 km) E of Brooks Field, Texas, kills instructor 1st Lt. Arthur L. Foster along with Maj. Lee O. Wright. Foster Field at Victoria, Texas is later dedicated to the pilot on 22 February 1942. Foster's widow, Mrs. Ruth Young Foster, of San Antonio, Texas, unveiled a plaque that read "Dedicated to the memory of Lieut. Arthur Lee Foster, a pioneer in aviation who gave his life teaching others to fly." Foster Field was designated Foster Air Force Base on an inactive status on 1 September 1952, by Department of the Air Force General Order No. 38, dated 29 August 1952.

1925 – Pacific Airways Ltd. was formed by D. R. MacLaren and took over the fishery patrol from the RCAF.

1923 – An experimental night flight arrives to Le Bourget, France, from Croydon, England. The pilot has given his position by radio and used the aviation light beacons to make his approach.

1914 – Berliner, Haase and Nikolai land their free balloon in Perm, setting a new distance record of 3053 km from Bitterfeld.

1913 – Birth of Federico Cozzolino, Italian Aviator.

1903 – Birth of George John Dufek, American naval officer, naval aviator, and Arctic expert.

1898 – Birth of Thomas Sydney Chiltern, British WWI flying ace.

1897 – Birth of Erik Thomas, German WWI flying ace.

1892 – Birth of Roland Rohlfs, American early aviator and test pilot.

1891 – Birth of Air Marshal Sir William Lawrie Welsh KBE, DSC, AFC, British Royal Air Force officer who commanded British air operations during Operation Torch and also a WWI RNAS Pilot.