Aviation

Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical <a href="/facts/Flight/dvWK0PNd">flight</a> and the <a href="/facts/Aircraft/EhC4mBep">aircraft</a> industry. Aircraft include <a href="/facts/Airplane/81161IpU">fixed-wing</a> and <a href="/facts/Helicopter/chQF7H55">rotary-wing</a> types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as <a href="/facts/Aerostat/oFet21NW">lighter-than-air aircraft</a> such as <a href="/facts/Balloon_(aeronautics)/athPr7Hs">hot air balloons</a> and <a href="/facts/Airship/8X3TSBdx">airships</a>.
Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the <a href="/facts/Hot_air_balloon/k2LHQvXH">hot air balloon</a>, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through <a href="/facts/Buoyancy/9dIQwlrh">buoyancy</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Otto_Lilienthal/udqNSv6V">Otto Lilienthal</a> in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the <a href="/facts/Wright_Flyer/AltAzzvr">Wright Flyer</a>, the first powered <a href="/facts/Airplane/81161IpU">airplane</a> by the <a href="/facts/Wright_brothers/byU6xEkD">Wright brothers</a> 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.

Aviation open-in-new

Aviation