Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Articles related to aviation include:
Aviation accidents and incidents – ADF – Accessory drive – Advance airfield – Advanced Air Mobility – Advanced Technology Engine – Adverse yaw – Aerial reconnaissance – Aerobatics – Aerodrome – Aerodrome mapping database (AMDB) – Aerodynamics – Aerofoil – Aerodrome beacon – Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) – Aeronautical chart – Aeronautical Message Handling System – Aeronautical phraseology – Aeronautics – Aerospace – Aerospace engineering – Afterburner – Agile Combat Employment (ACE) – Aileron – Air Charter – Air defense identification zone (ADIZ) – Air Freight Terminal – Air traffic flow management – Air-augmented rocket – Airband – Airbase – Airborne collision avoidance system – Aircraft canopy – Aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) – Aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) – Aircraft registration – Aircraft – Aircraft catapult – Aircraft engine controls – Aircraft fairing – Aircraft lavatory – Aircraft marshalling – Aircraft noise – Aircraft ordnance – Aircraft periscope – Air data boom – Airfoil – Airline Transport Pilot License – Airline – Airliner – Airmiss – Air navigation – Air observation post – Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) – Airpark – Airport - Airports Commission – Aviation safety – Air route – Airship – Airshow – Airspace classes – Airspeed – Airspeed indicator – Air-start system – Air traffic control – Air traffic controllers' strike of 1981 – Air-to-ground communication – Air turborocket – Altimeter – Altiport – Altitude – Angel Flight – Angle of attack – Angle of incidence – Anhedral – Anti-collision light – Anti-torque pedals (Helicopter rudder pedals) – Arresting gear – Artificial horizon – Aspect ratio (wing) – Assisted take-off – Astrodome – Attitude indicator – Autoflare – Autoland – Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast – Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) – Autorotation (helicopter) – Autorotation (fixed-wing aircraft) – Autopilot – Aviation – Aviation archaeology – Aviation communication – Aviation history – Aviation light signals – Aviation medical examiner (AME) – Aviation parts tag – Aviation safety – Aviation system – Aviator – Aviator call sign – Avionics – Auxiliary power unit
Balloon (aircraft) – Bird strike – Blast pad – Blimp – Bolter – Boundary layer – Brevity code – Brodie landing system – Bubble canopy – §Bypass ratio
Canard – Carrier onboard delivery – Center of gravity (aircraft) – Chord (aircraft) – Chosen instrument – Circuit (airfield) – Civil Air Patrol (US Air Force Auxiliary) – Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – Clear-air turbulence – Cloaking device – Cockpit – Cockpit voice recorder – Coefficient of lift – Coefficient of moment – Collective – Commercial pilot license – Common-use self-service (CUSS) – Compass – Compression lift – Compressor stall – Contour flying – Controlled airspace – CVFR – Convertiplane – Cowling – Crab landing – Crash position indicator – Cross control – CTAF – Cyclic
Deep stall – Delta wing – Dihedral – Distance measuring equipment (DME) – Downwash – Drag – Drag-reducing aerospike – Drop zone – Dual control – Ducted fan – Dutch roll
Elevator – Elevon – Emergency locator beacon – Emergency locator transmitter ELT – Empennage (tail section) – Enhanced flight vision system (EFVS/EVS) – ETOPS – Experimental aircraft – External vision system (XVS) – Eurocontrol (European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) – Empty weight – Environmental and climate impacts of aviation
Fail-safe – Federal Aviation Administration (FAA – US authority) – Fixed-base operator – Flame holder – Flameout – Flap – Flight – Flight computer – Flight control surfaces – Flight data recorder – Flight deck – Flight envelope protection – Flight information region – Flight instruments – Flight length – Flight level – Flight management system (FMS) – Flight plan – Flight planning – Flight simulator – Flight training – Flight time – Fly-by-wire – Flying – Flying car – Flying families – Fly-in – Flying Platform – Flying wing – Folding wing – Form drag - From the Ground Up (book) – Formation light - Flight information service – Fuel control unit
Geared turbofan – General aviation – g-LOC – G-suit – Glass cockpit – Glide path – Glider aircraft – Glider (sailplane) – Glider pilot certificate – Gliding – Gluhareff Pressure Jet – Go around – GPS – Great-circle distance – Ground Air Emergency Code – Ground carriage – Ground effect – Ground support equipment – Gust lock – Gyrodyne
Hardstand – Heading indicator – Head-up display – Hold (aviation) – History of aviation – Helicopter – Helicopter flight controls – Horseshoe vortex – Hypermobility – Hypersonic flight
ICAO spelling alphabet – Ion-propelled aircraft – Inertial Navigation System – Infrared signature – Instrument flight rules (IFR) – Instrument landing system (ILS) – Instrument rating – Indicated airspeed – Intake/Inlet blank – Intake ramp – International Air Transport Association (IATA) – International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – Integrated engine pressure ratio (IEPR) – Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) – International Fighter Pilots Academy (IFPA) - Instrument meteorological conditions
Jet Airliner – Jet blast deflector – Jet engine – Jetliner – Jet wash – Jetway – Joint-use airport – Joystick
Landing – Landing lights – Landing T – Landing zone – Leading-edge extension (LEVCON) – Lift (force) – Lift-induced drag – Light-sport aircraft – Low-altitude parachute-extraction system
Machmeter – Mach tuck – Magnetic chip detector – Maintenance – METAR – Meteorology – Maintenance, repair and overhaul – Minimum interval takeoff (MITO) – Mobility – Mobile Electric Power Plant (MEPP) – Moving map display (MMD) – Multi-function display (MFD)
NACA duct – Nacelle – Nanolight – Nautical airmile – Naval air station – Naval outlying landing field – Naval aviation – Navigation - Navigation light – No-fly zone – Non-directional beacon (NDB) – Non-towered airport – Night aviation regulations in the US – NOTAM
Oleo strut – Operational Readiness Platform (ORP) – Oshkosh Airshow – Overhead join
Performance and weather minima – Performance envelope – Personal air vehicle – Phugoid – Pilot controlled lighting – Pilot direction indicator (PDI) – Pilot licenses – Pilot licensing and certification – Pilot reports (PIREPS) – Plane guard – Powered lift – Precision approach path indicator – Precooled jet engine – Private pilot license – Prone pilot – Propeller – Propelling nozzle – Propfan – Pulsejet – Pushback (aviation)
Quick access recorder – QFE – QNH – Q code – QTOL
Radar – Radar intercept officer – Radio beacon – Radar blip – Radar cross-section – Radar lock-on – Radar warning receiver – Ramjet – Reaction engine – Reaction propulsion – Ready room – Reciprocating engines – Red square – Reduced take-off and landing (RTOL) – Relaxed stability – Remove before flight tag – RIAT – Roadable aircraft – Rocket turbine engine – Rogallo wing – Rotating detonation engine – Route structure – Rudder – Ruddervator – Rule of three (aviation) – Runway – Run-up (aviation)
Satellite airfield – Scramjet – Seaplane base – Second line - Sectional chart – Shock diamond – Shcramjet – Signal square – Spatial disorientation – Spar – Spin (flight) – Spoiler (aeronautics) – Spy basket – Slats – Slip landing – specific fuel consumption (propeller engines) – Specific fuel consumption (thrust) (jet engines) – Sport pilot certificate – Stabilator – Stagger – Stall (flight) – Standard day – Stealth aircraft – Stick shaker – STOLport – Strike package – Student pilot certificate – Supercruise – Supermaneuverability – Swedish Civil Aviation Administration – Swing-wing
T-tail – Tabletop runway – Tactical beacon (TACBE) – Tailess aircraft – Tailhook – Takeoff – Takeoff/go-around switch – Target blip – Taxiing – Taxiway – Ten-code – Terminal area chart – Thrust vectoring – Traffic pattern indicator – Transatlantic flight – Trim tab – True airspeed – Turbine engine – Turn and bank indicator
Uncontrolled airport (see Non-towered airport) – Uncontrolled airspace – Underground hangar – Urban Air Mobility
V speeds – V-tail – Valveless pulsejet – Variable cycle engine – Venturi effect – Vertical speed indicator – Vertical stabilizer (fin) – Visual approach slope indicator (VASI) – Visual flight rules (VFR) – VNE – VOR VHF omni-range (type of navigational beacon) - Visual meteorological conditions
War emergency power – Waverider – Waypoint – Wayport – Wheel chock – Wide-body aircraft – Wind shear – Wing – Wingtip vortices – Wingbox – Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle – Winglet – World aeronautical chart
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons.
Avionics are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to perform individual functions. These can be as simple as a searchlight for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an airborne early warning platform.
In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR).
A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft, and ornithopters. The wings of a fixed-wing aircraft are not necessarily rigid; kites, hang gliders, variable-sweep wing aircraft, and airplanes that use wing morphing are all classified as fixed-wing aircraft.
Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with data about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, heading and much more other crucial information in flight. They improve safety by allowing the pilot to fly the aircraft in level flight, and make turns, without a reference outside the aircraft such as the horizon. Visual flight rules (VFR) require an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, and a compass or other suitable magnetic direction indicator. Instrument flight rules (IFR) additionally require a gyroscopic pitch-bank, direction and rate of turn indicator, plus a slip-skid indicator, adjustable altimeter, and a clock. Flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) require radio navigation instruments for precise takeoffs and landings.
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded. The critical angle of attack is typically about 15°, but it may vary significantly depending on the fluid, foil, and Reynolds number.
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere or through the vacuum of outer space. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift associated with gliding or propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement.
Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown"a or "splashdown" as well. A normal aircraft flight would include several parts of flight including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent and landing.
An airfield traffic pattern is a standard path followed by aircraft when taking off or landing while maintaining visual contact with the airfield.
The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometres per hour (km/h), knots, miles per hour (MPH) and/or metres per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km/h, however knots (kt) is currently the most used unit. The ASI measures the pressure differential between static pressure from the static port, and total pressure from the pitot tube. This difference in pressure is registered with the ASI pointer on the face of the instrument.
The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another.
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allowing the operator to focus on broader aspects of operations.
Indicated airspeed (IAS) is the airspeed of an aircraft as measured by its pitot-static system and displayed by the airspeed indicator (ASI). This is the pilots' primary airspeed reference.
Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of aircraft and aviation infrastructure. The aviation industry is subject to significant regulation and oversight.
An airplane or aeroplane, informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectrum of uses for airplanes includes recreation, transportation of goods and people, military, and research. Worldwide, commercial aviation transports more than four billion passengers annually on airliners and transports more than 200 billion tonne-kilometers of cargo annually, which is less than 1% of the world's cargo movement. Most airplanes are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, but some are designed to be remotely or computer-controlled such as drones.
Helicopter flight controls are used to achieve and maintain controlled aerodynamic helicopter flight. Changes to the aircraft flight control system transmit mechanically to the rotor, producing aerodynamic effects on the rotor blades that make the helicopter move in a desired way. To tilt forward and back (pitch) or sideways (roll) requires that the controls alter the angle of attack of the main rotor blades cyclically during rotation, creating differing amounts of lift at different points in the cycle. To increase or decrease overall lift requires that the controls alter the angle of attack for all blades collectively by equal amounts at the same time, resulting in ascent, descent, acceleration and deceleration.
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide forward thrust during cruising flight. During forward flight the rotor is unpowered and free-spinning, like an autogyro, and lift is provided by a combination of the rotor and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
Frankfort Dow Memorial Field is a public use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) southeast of the central business district of Frankfort, a city in Benzie County, Michigan, United States. It is owned by the Frankfort City-County Airport Authority. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a general aviation facility.
The minimum control speed (VMC) of a multi-engine aircraft is a V-speed that specifies the calibrated airspeed below which directional or lateral control of the aircraft can no longer be maintained, after the failure of one or more engines. The VMC only applies if at least one engine is still operative, and will depend on the stage of flight. Indeed, multiple VMCs have to be calculated for landing, air travel, and ground travel, and there are more still for aircraft with four or more engines. These are all included in the aircraft flight manual of all multi-engine aircraft. When design engineers are sizing an airplane's vertical tail and flight control surfaces, they have to take into account the effect this will have on the airplane's minimum control speeds.
Not to be confused with one of the aircraft featured in Air Canada Flight 759