Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
aviation
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
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
Seven of the largest flying objects in history
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
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?
airplane in flight (plane, aircraft, flying)
7 Puzzling Plane Disappearances
Car with a pickle design in the Zagreb Red Bull Soapbox Race, Zagreb, Croatia, September 14, 2019. (games, races, sports)
10 Unusual Sports
Amelia Earhart sitting in the cockpit of an Electra airplane.
The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
Abstract vector hi speed internet technology background
History of Technology Timeline
Discover
NBA Lakers Celtics Finals Kevin Garnett shooting.
10 Great Sports Rivalries
Flags of the United Kingdom of Great Britain - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Union Flag.
Acts of Union: Uniting the United Kingdom
Aurochs. Bos primigenius. Skeleton. Extinct animal. Skeleton of an Aurochs, an extinct wild ox.
6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction
Secret Service Agent Listens To Earpiece
Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents
Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan
6 Animals That Eat Their Mates
Berries and leaves of the bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) plant. Poisonous plant
7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants
Germans from East and West stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the November 10, 1989, photo, one day after the wall opened.
Timeline of the 1980s

aviation: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/aviation
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As civil aviation • air transportation • flight

Photos and 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
Seven of the largest flying objects in history
See how air traffic controllers at Frankfurt Airport, Germany manage the rush hour traffic in the skies
Learn how the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon contributed to the field of aviation
Know how a helicopter stays up in the air and how its rotor generates lift
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Orville and Wilbur Wright
Wright brothers
American aviators
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
American aviator
Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Kármán
American engineer
Richard E. Byrd.
Richard E. Byrd
American explorer
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
American aviator
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Russian scientist
Auguste Piccard, 1961
Auguste Piccard
Swiss-Belgian physicist
Fieseler, Gerhard
Gerhard Fieseler
German aviator
Louise McPhetridge Thaden
American aviator
Edward O'Hare
Edward O’Hare
American aviator and WWII hero
Jacqueline Cochran
Jacqueline Cochran
American pilot
Paul Painlevé.
Paul Painlevé
French prime minister and mathematician
Watch the “Gossamer Albatross” the first human-powered plane crossing the English Channel in 1979
Paul Beattie MacCready
American aeronautical engineer
Wilbur Wright
American aviator
Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier
French aviator
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier
French aviator
Orville Wright
American aviator
Harold Gatty
Australian-born aviator
Glenn Hammond Curtiss.
Glenn Hammond Curtiss
American engineer
Eileen Collins
Eileen Collins
United States pilot and astronaut

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
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
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
Sextant. Celestial navigation at sea. Sailor using sextant. Travel and navigation.
Travel and Navigation
Hindenburg zeppelin crashing, 1937
Transportation and Technology Firsts Quiz
Demystified
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?