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aviation
aviation
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Images & Videos
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Wright brothers Sopwith Camel Airbus A380 helicopter aviation: Chicago air distances from United States
View the launching of the Bell X-1 aircraft from the bomb bay of a B-29 bomber
Marvel at the H-4 Hercules flying boat, the flying foxes of genus Pteropus, and the giraffe-sized pterosaur
See how air traffic controllers at Frankfurt Airport, Germany manage the rush hour traffic in the skies
Quizzes
Sextant. Celestial navigation at sea. Sailor using sextant. Travel and navigation.
Travel and Navigation
Concorde. Front end of one of the 20 Concorde supersonic airplanes. A joint British French production they flew for 30 years (1973-2003).
Navigating the Sky
Close-up profile view of American aviator Amelia Earhart sitting in the cockpit of a helicopter. Earhart wears a bomber jacket and flight goggles on her head.
Early Aviation
Hindenburg zeppelin crashing, 1937
Transportation and Technology Firsts Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.
How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?
Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.
How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?
Car with a pickle design in the Zagreb Red Bull Soapbox Race, Zagreb, Croatia, September 14, 2019. (games, races, sports)
10 Unusual Sports
The Apple II
10 Inventions That Changed Your World
Passengers waiting in a row for boarding on an airport to a flight to America
Why Do Airlines Overbook Seats on Flights?
Discover
American bison (Bison bison) also known as buffalo or plains buffalo on the prairie, western U.S.
What’s the Difference Between Bison and Buffalo?
Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting
Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?
Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland
The Largest Islands in the World
Calendar marking march 15th
What Is the “Ides” of March?
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)
New Seven Wonders of the World
Moonrise over Tucson, Arizona
Why Doesn’t Arizona Observe Daylight Saving Time?
Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company
Periods of American Literature
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Also known as: air transportation, air travel, civil aviation, flight
Last Updated: • Article History
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
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Category: Science & Tech
Key People:
Wright brothers
Theodore von Kármán
Richard E. Byrd
Charles Lindbergh
Auguste Piccard
Related Topics:
history of flight
airport
balloon flight
aerobatics
stunt flying
See all related content →

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aviation, the development and operation of heavier-than-air aircraft. The term military aviation refers to the development and use of military aircraft, while the term civil aviation refers to all nonmilitary aviation, such as air transportation provided by airlines or the carrying of cargo by commercial aircraft. (Read Orville Wright’s 1929 biography of his brother, Wilbur.) A brief treatment of aviation follows. For full treatment of military aviation, see military aircraft. For civil aviation, see airplane; history of flight. The first objects to fly that carried people were balloons, which were pioneered in France by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. Some ...(100 of 444 words)

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