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Aviation, or air transport, refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, parachutes, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as 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; then a largest 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 with the introduction of the jet which permitted a major form of transport throughout the world.

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.

Credit: Luigi Rados

Sophie Blanchard, French Balloonist. Ascent of August 15th 1811 at Milan. Full-length portrait of French balloonist Marie-Madeleine-Sophie Armand Blanchard, standing in the decorated basket of her balloon during her flight in Milan, Italy, in 1811, in the presence of the imperial and royal highness.

Template:/box-header ...that the Heinkel He 46, designed for the Luftwaffe in 1931, was still being used to fight the Soviets in 1943?

..that Elm Farm Ollie in 1930 became the first cow to be milked while flying in an airplane?

... that to open the swing door on the General Aircraft Hamilcar glider and allow vehicles to emerge, pilots had to climb out of the glider's cockpit and slide down 15 feet of fuselage? Template:/box-footer

File:Me109 G-6 D-FMBB 1.jpg

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. The Bf 109 was produced in greater quantities than any other fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Fighter production totalled 47% of all German aircraft production, and the Bf 109 accounted for 57% of all German fighter types produced.

The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941. The Bf 109 was the most successful fighter of World War II, shooting down more aircraft than any of its contemporaries. Originally conceived as an interceptor, it was later developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter pilot of all time with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall with 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front. Hartmann chose to fly the Bf 109 in combat throughout the war, despite being offered the use of the Me 262. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign, also scored all of his 158 victories flying the Bf 109, against Western Allied pilots.

• Span: 9.925 m (32 ft 6 in)
• Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 7 in)
• Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 2 in)
• Engine: 1× Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 liquid-cooled inverted V12, 1,475 PS (1,455 hp, 1,085 kW)
• Cruising Speed: 590 km/h (365 mph) at 6,000 m (19,680 ft)
• First Flight: 28 May 1935

Infrastructure		Transport		US Air Force		Royal Air Force

Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974), known as "Lucky Lindy" and "The Lone Eagle", was a pioneering United States aviator famous for piloting the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, flying from Roosevelt Airfield (Nassau County, Long Island), New York to Paris on May 20-May 21, 1927 in his single-engine aircraft The Spirit of St. Louis.

He grew up in Little Falls, Minnesota. Early on he showed an interest in machinery, especially aircraft. After training as a pilot with the Army Air Service Lindbergh took a job as lead pilot of an airmail route in a DeHavilland DH-4 biplane. He was renowned for delivering the mail under any circumstances.

Lindbergh is recognized in aviation for demonstrating and charting polar air-routes, high altitude flying techniques, and increasing aircraft flying range by decreasing fuel consumption. These innovations are the basis of modern intercontinental air travel.

Wikinews Aviation portal

Template:/box-header April 9

• 2010 – A U.S. Air Force Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey crashed near Qalat, Zabul Province, killing 4.

• 2009 – Aviastar Mandiri BAe 146-300 PK-BRD crashes into Gunung Pike on approach to Wamena Airport, Indonesia, killing all six people on board.

• 2002 – A Portuguese Air Force 552 Squadron Alouette III crashes, killing the three crewman.

• 1997 – The first production F/A-22 was unveiled at a roll out ceremony hosted by Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney.

• 1994 – The Boeing 777 twinjet, the newest member of the Boeing jet family, rolls out.

• 1994 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-59 at 7:05 am EDT. Mission highlights: Shuttle Radar Laboratory-1.

• 1993 – USAF aircraft attack and destroy an Iraqi anti-aircraft battery

• 1990 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 2254 operated under 14 CFR 135 by Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia N217AS from Muscle Shoals, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia with an intermediate stop at the Northeast Alabama Regional Airport in Gadsden, Alabama collided in mid-air with Civil Air Patrol Cessna 172 N99501 on April 9, 1990 over Gadsden. Following departure from Northeast Alabama Regional Airport Runway 24, the ASA flight turned left toward the east along its intended flight path to Atlanta at an assigned altitude of 5,000 feet. The Cessna 172 was west bound at the same altitude, facing the setting sun. During the head-on collision at 6:05 p. m. Central Daylight Time, the right horizontal stabilizer of the Embraer was torn from the aircraft. Though significantly damaged, the ASA flight managed to return to Northeast Alabama Regional Airport with no injuries to occupants, the Cessna 172 crashed into a field, resulting in fatal injuries to both occupants. An eyewitness to the event did not report any evasive maneuvers by either aircraft prior to the collision.

• 1983 – Landing: Space shuttle Challenger STS-6 at 18:53:42 UTC. Mission highlights: TDRS deployment; first flight of Challenger; first space shuttle extra-vehicular activity.

• 1976 – Air France opens its second supersonic service, from Paris to Caracas, Venezuela; the Concorde takes six hours, including a stop at the Azores.

• 1971 – The last major airmobile operation of the Vietnam war, Operation Lam Son 719, ends after North Vietnamese Army forces drive all South Vietnamese forces out of Laos with heavy casualties. Facing the heaviest antiaircraft artillery fire of the war, American helicopter crews have suffered casualties of 176 killed, 1,942 wounded, and 42 missing, with 107 helicopters destroyed and 600 damaged. The operation has demonstrated a need for the U. S. Army to develop a specialized antitank attack helicopter.

• 1969 – The first United Kingdom assembled supersonic transport, Concorde 002, makes its first successful flight in England.

• 1967 – First flight of the Boeing 737

• 1965 – U. S. Navy F-4 Phantom IIs of Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96) clash with Chinese MiG-17 fighters over the South China Sea south of Hainan. One F-4 B is shot down, but VF-96 claims one MiG-17 destroyed.

• 1965 – Entered Service: BAC One-Eleven with British United Airways

• 1964 – Official retirement of the Lancaster at Downsview, Ontario.

• 1964 – First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo

• 1960 – The giant Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya sets a new world speed record for propeller-driven airplanes of 545.07 mph. It was carrying a 55,116-pound payload at the time and flew around an official 3,107-mile closed circuit in the USSR.

• 1959 – Mercury program – NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, which the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven”.

• 1958 – Entered Service: Handley Page Victor with No. 10 Squadron RAF at RAF Cottesmore

• 1948 – A six-month fatality-free period at Eglin AFB, Florida, (the longest since the base opened) ends when Capt. William Robbins, 26, is killed in the crash of a North American P-51D-30-NA Mustang, 44-74913, in a wooded area N of Crestview, Florida. The pilot in the Friday morning accident was father of three and was well known for his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. A resident of Cinco Bayou, Florida, Robbins is buried in his hometown of Tampa, Florida on 11 April.

• 1945 – Over 300 Royal Air Force bombers raid the dockyard at Kiel, Germany. They capsize the German “pocket battleship” Admiral Scheer with a direct hit and several near misses.

• 1945 – The United Kingdom transfers the escort aircraft carrier HMS Biter to France, which immediately commissions her into the French Navy as Dixmude. Dixmude is France’s first aircraft carrier since the demilitarization of Béarn in 1942.

• 1944 – B-24D Liberator #42-41128 crashes south-west of Mojave while on a routine training mission to simulate a long range bombing mission. All ten crew members die in the crash.

• 1944 – Royal Air Force Fairey Albacore, X9117, of 415 Squadron, engaged in a fighter affiliation exercise, crashes near Bosham, Hants. while making a low turn. All four crew KWF.

• 1943 – Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning, 42-12937, flown by Col. Ben Kelsey, gets into inverted spin during dive flap test, loses one wing and entire tail section. Kelsey bails out, suffers broken ankle, while P-38 hits flat on hillside near Calabasas, California.

• 1942 – No. 421 (Fighter) Squadron was formed in England.

• 1942 – 129 aircraft from the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Hiryū, Sōryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku strike Trincomalee, Ceylon. A second wave sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes that afternoon off Batticaloa, Ceylon. Hermes becomes the first aircraft carrier ever to be sunk by aircraft.

• 1941 – The United States Army re-designates the Northeast Air District as the First Air Force. It is responsible for the northeastern United States.

• 1940 – Germany invades Denmark and Norway, making extensive use of paratroops

• 1937 – The Kamikaze, a Mitsubishi Ki-15 aircraft, arrives at Croydon Airport in London – It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.

• 1929 – The French airline Air Union starts to operate a nightly service from Paris to London.

• 1919 – Second of only two Bristol M.R.1 metal-covered, two-seat biplanes built, A5178, powered by 180 hp Wolseley Viper engine, flown by Capt. Frank Barnwell, strikes pine tree on approach to RAE Farnborough's North Gate and is written off.

• 1899 – James Smith McDonnell, an aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, was born (d. 1980).

References

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