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Autogyro

Autogyro

An autogyro (only an autogiro™ when produced by the Cierva Autogiro Company or one of its licensees (see below), sometimes called a gyroplane, gyrocopter™, or rotaplane) is an aircraft supported in flight by an unpowered rotor. Though the autogyro resembles a helicopter, it is driven in flight by an engine-powered propeller similar to that of an airplane. Often mistakenly characterized as a hybrid between an airplane and helicopter, the autogyro is a distinct type of aircraft that made its first successful flight on 17 January 1923 at Cuatro Vientos Airfield in Madrid, Spain, predating the first successful helicopter by 13 years. All helicopters utilize rotor technology first developed for the autogiro: the helicopter owes its existence to the brilliant work conducted by Juan de la Cierva and his associates. helicopter

General characteristics

Autogyros can take off and land in significantly smaller areas compared to airplanes, and depending on the model, can operate from helipads. When fitted with a jump start feature, an autogyro can takeoff from a standing start into forward flight, accelerate in ground effect, then commence a climb; hovering capability is not available however since the rotor is always declutched before the autogyro leaves the ground. If rotor collective pitch control is provided, an autogyro can execute a collective flare; otherwise landings are always made with a cyclic flare. Certificated autogyros flown by trained and qualified pilots are notably safe. As intended by la Cierva, the rotor always turns regardless of the airspeed of the aircraft, though as airspeed decreases rotor rpm reduces to a minimum value at zero airspeed. Reduction of engine power increases the descent rate, though the autogyro remains fully stable and controllable. Directional control, provided by a rudder, can become nonexistent at low airspeed and low propeller thrust. For example, the Air and Space 18A gyroplane rudder rapidly loses effectiveness below 50mph airspeed when the engine is throttled. Most autogyros are neither efficient nor very fast (for one exception see Wing Commander Ken Wallis, below - around 120mph on 60bhp). Fixed-wing aircraft are faster and use less fuel over the same distance, helicopters generally require more power (and hence fuel) than a fixed wing aircraft (or autogyro) for the same top speed/load etc. It must be noted, however, that large scale autogyro development ceased prior to WW2 and with few exceptions has not benefitted from rotary wing developments applied to helicopters. Gyroplanes are typically more maneuverable than fixed-wing aircraft, but do not hover as does a helicopter. When helicopters became practical, autogyros were neglected for nearly 30 years. They were however at one time used extensively by major newspapers and by the US Postal Service for mail service between the Camden, NJ airport and the top of the post office building in downtown Philadelphia, PA. As the infrastructure for service, repair, training and building increases the number of autogyro users may increase. Autogyros can be of tractor configuration with the engine(s) and propeller(s) at the front of the fuselage, or pusher configuration with the engine(s) and propeller(s) at the rear of the fuselage. Early autogyros were fitted with fixed rotor hubs, small fixed-wings and airplane-type control surfaces. At the low airspeed at which autogyros can easily operate, the airplane-type control surfaces became ineffective and could readily lead to loss of control, particularly during landing. The direct control rotor hub, which could be tilted in any direction by the pilot, was first developed on the Cierva C.19 Mk.V and saw production on the Cierva C.30 series of 1934. Rotor drives initially took the form of a rope wrapped around the rotor axle and then pulled by a team of men to accelerate the rotor prior to a long taxi to bring the rotor up to speed sufficient for takeoff. The next innovation was a fully deflectable horizontal stabilizer that directed propeller slipstream into the rotor. Cierva license, Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company of Willow Grove, PA, finally solved the problem with a light mechanical transmission driven by the engine. The Groen Brothers Hawk 4 of the late 1992 is advertised as possessing Ultra-Short Take-Off and Landing (USTOL) capabilty, enabling the aircraft to take off and land within a very short distance (25 feet). This is merely a new name for performance autogyros have always possessed.

History

Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish engineer and aeronautical enthusiast, invented the first successful rotorcraft, which he named autogiro in 1923. His craft used a tractor-mounted forward propeller and engine, a rotor mounted on a mast, and a horizontal and vertical stabilizer. His first three designs, C.1, C.2, and C.3, were unstable due to aerodynamic and structural deficiencies in their rotors. His fourth design, the C.4, fitted with flapping hinges to attach each rotor blade to the hub, made the first successful flight of a rotary-wing aircraft, piloted by Alejandro Gomez Spencer, on 17 January 1923. The C.4 was fitted with conventional airplane ailerons, elevators and rudder for control. During a later test flight, the engine failed shortly after takeoff and the aircraft descended slowly and steeply to a safe landing, validating la Cierva's efforts to produce an aircraft that could be flown safely at low airspeeds. Juan de la Cierva This success eventually became well known and after further limited Autogiro development in Spain, la Cierva accepted an offer from Scottish industrialist James G. Weir to establish the Cierva Autogiro Company in England following a 20 October 1925 demonstration to the British Air Ministry at Farnborough. Test pilot for these flights was Frank T. Courtney. From this point on, Britain became the world center of rotary-wing aircraft development. A crash due to blade root failure in February 1927 led to an improvement in rotor hub design. Adjacent the flapping hinge a drag hinge was incorporated to allow each blade to slightly oscillate horizontally and relieve inplane stresses generated as a byproduct of flapping motion. Development work on means to accelerate the rotor prior to takeoff was also undertaken. Efforts with the C.11 in Spain showed that development of a light and efficient mechanical rotor transmission was not a trivial undertaking and led to the adoption of the intermediate expedient of inclining the horizontal stabilizer to redirect the propeller slipstream into the rotor while on the ground. This feature was later introduced on the production C.19 series of 1929. Further Autogiro development led to the Cierva C.8 L.IV which on 18 September 1928 made the first rotary-wing aircraft crossing of the English Channel followed by an extensive tour of Europe. US industrialist Harold F. Pitcairn had in 1925 visited la Cierva in Spain upon learning of the successful flights of the Autogiro; in 1928 he visited la Cierva in England after taking a C.8 L.IV test flight piloted by Arthur H.C.A. Rawson and being particularly impressed with the Autogiro's safe vertical descent capability, purchased a C.8 L.IV with a Wright Whirlwind engine. Arriving in the United States on 11 December 1928 accompanied by Rawson, this Autogiro was redesignated C.8W. (Further editing of the following to continue) The Cierva "Autodynamic" rotor used drag hinges with offset axes to perform this to good effect with great simplicity, but the Pitcairn collective pitch control advanced the "jump" ability. The C-19 technology was licensed to a number of manufacturers, including Harold Pitcairn in the U.S. (in 1928) and Focke-Achgelis of Germany. In 1931 Amelia Earhart flew a Pitcairn PCA-2 to a then world altitude record of 18,415 feet (5613 m). In World War II, Germany pioneered a very small gyroglider "rotor-kite", the Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 "Bachstelze" (Water-wagtail), towed by submarines to provide aerial surveillance. It's reported that German gyro pilots were often forgotten in the heat of battle when the submarine dived suddenly. The Japanese also developed the Kayaba Ka-1 Autogyro for reconnaissance, artillery-spotting, and anti-submarine uses. The autogyro was resurrected post WW2 when Dr. Igor Bensen (a doctor of Divinity) saw a captured German U-Boat's gyroglider, and was fascinated by its characteristics. At work he was tasked with the analysis of the British "Rotachute" gyro glider designed by expatriate Austrian Raoul Hafner. This led him to adapt the design for his own purposes and eventually market the B-7. Post WW2 autogyros, such as the Bensen B-8M gyrocopter, generally use a pusher configuration for simplicity and to increase visibility for the pilot. For greater simplicity, they generally lack both variable-pitch rotors and powered rotors. It must be noted that Bensen autogyros and its derivatives have established an abysmal safety record due to their deficient stability and control characteristics greatly worsened by use of a teetering rotor, and their marketing as a build it yourself and teach yourself how to fly it aircraft. Three FAA-certified designs, Umbaugh U-18/Air and Space 18A of 1965, Avian 2-180 of 1967, and McCulloch J-2 or 1972 have for various reasons been commercial failures.

Bensen's design

The Bensen Gyrocopter™, the protoype of many post WW2 gyroplanes, actually consists of three versions, the B-6, B-7 and B-8. All three were designed in both unpowered and powered forms. The basic design is a simple frame of square aluminum or galvanized steel tubing, reinforced with triangles of lighter tubing. It is arranged so that the stress falls on the tubes, or special fittings, not the bolts. All welds or soldered structural joints should be inspected. The rotor is on the top of the vertical mast. The outlying fixed wheels are mounted on an axle (of tubing). The front-to-back keel (more tubing) mounts the forward wheel (which casters), seat, other tubes, engine and a vertical stabilizer. Some versions mount seaplane-style floats and successfully land and take off from water. It is common for the vertical stabilizer to drag on the ground unless it is cut away. This is also why many frames have a small wheel mounted on the back end of the keel. Many light gyroplane rotors are made from aluminum, though GRP-based composite blades (Sport Copter, Averso, Revolution, RAF eg) and GRP-skinned blades are increasing in number. Even aircraft-quality birch was specified in early Bensen designs, and a wood/steel composite is still used in the world speed record holding Wallis.

Flight Controls

There are only three flight controls: a control stick, rudder pedals and a throttle. Modern designs typically use a between-legs control stick instead, and the precession is handled by a mechanical linkage so that left and right stick motions are more intuitive than Bensen's simple design. Another control is a simple set of rudder pedals that move the hinged back half of the vertical stabilizer, similar to a rudder on a fixed wing aircraft. This lets the pilot keep the craft lined up in the desired direction of motion. The stabilizer is mounted behind the pusher propeller, so one can steer the craft on the ground and during takeoff. Some builders use a pushrod between the rudder bar and stabilizer. Others use cables. Some simple autogyros, including Bensen's G-6, do not use controllable-vertical stabilizers at all. They are fixed - this works for towed gyro gliders, but not for powered gyros. The throttle and choke are usually levers mounted where convenient- often under the seat. The rotor generates more lift on the leading side and less on the lagging side, and this causes the rotor to tilt backwards with forward airspeed (helicopters tilt their rotor in the opposite way as they use their rotor to drag the vehicle through the air, whereas an autogyros's blades are unpowered). This increases drag and has a lot to do with the relatively low top speed that Autogyros can reach.

Flight characteristics

Autogyros are often regarded by fixed-wing aircraft pilots as "dangerously unstable", which is certainly true when its pilot is, as is so often the case, self-taught with no professional flight instruction received whatsoever. Piloted properly, a certificated autogyro is significantly safer than any other type of aircraft because it cannot stall, since the rotor of a autogyro is always spinning. If translational airspeed becomes zero, the autogyro will descend vertically to the ground, rotor still spinning. Though safe for the pilot and passengers, landing from a vertical descent usually results in damage to the autogyro. One weakness in certain types of autogyro is pitch instability (pitch is the tilting up or down of the craft as viewed from the front or the back). Pitch instability can be a problem because autogyros lose rotor control authority in negative-G forces (positive-G forces push people into their seats; negative-G forces make people float out of them, such as driving over a hump back bridge at high speed in an automobile). Negative-G forces "unload the rotor" and rotor control authority is lost. A flying autogyro hangs from the rotor much like an object hung from a string. As long as the plane is hanging from the rotor, stability is maintained. The instant zero or negative-Gs are introduced, rotor speed begins to decay and the forces stabilizing the plane are lost. Negative-Gs can be caused by Pilot-Induced Oscillation, or PIO. PIO happens when a pilot adjusts his pitch too much too quickly, then makes a countering control input to bring the pitch back. The countering input often overcompensates, and the autogyro begins to buck like a bronco. You can see a similar effect when some learner-drivers are doing kangaroo-hops in a car with a stick shift and clutch. This is most likely at higher engine throttle settings. If the pilot continues to fight the plane, the rotor (which is flexible) can slow down due to the lack of positive G force, and can flop down and strike the spinning propeller, which destroys both and sends the autogyro into an uncontrolled fall. The way to avoid this during an incipient PIO is to apply gentle back pressure on the stick (to raise the nose in pitch) and cut engine power. Note that this is the exact opposite of what fixed-wing pilots are trained to do when in trouble, which has led to some unfortunate accidents and the autogyro's undeserved reputation for being "dangerous." Another danger is "bunting over" or a Power Push-Over (PPO). An autogyro's vertical airspeed (climb or sink rate) is directly coupled to airspeed. Increase forward airspeed, increase rate of climb. In order to maintain level flight at high engine throttle settings, the pilot must tilt the rotor forward to prevent climbing and maintain level flight. The rotor thus becomes more nearly horizontal, and the control stick becomes more sensitive. Too much forward stick, and the autogyro's rotor can aim down towards the ground. When this happens, negative-Gs occur, rotor speed drops too low to provide lift, and a high-thrustline autogyro is then pitched forward by the propeller thrust and tumbles end-over-end in a somersault. It is virtually impossible to regain control after a full PPO. Two factors can lead to pitch instability: no or too small horizontal stabilizers (h-stabs) on too short a tail and high thrustline propeller placement which destabilises the force diagram. A large h-stab, ideally in the prop wash (where the propeller blows on it) will reduce the tendency of an autogyro to bunt over as a result of improper control input by damping the control response. If the propeller thrustline in an autogyro is high -- meaning the axis of propeller power is above the center of gravity for the aircraft -- the autogyro tends to pitch forward under sudden power application (see PPOs above, as for why this is Bad). (Unfortunately, Bensen-type autogyros have a notably high thrustline.) If the thrustline is low, the autogyro tends to pitch up under sudden power application, which is harmless. It's difficult to have a low thrustline without a really tall autogyro (such as a "Dominator" style) however, so most autogyro designs simply try to get the thrustline as low as possible though still being slightly above the center of gravity. In spite of these dangers, most autogyros are designed to reduce them. Also, the majority of autogyro pilot training involves avoidance of PIO and PPOs. Autogyro rotors usually feature a teeter-hinge in the middle. Picture a autogyro or helicopter from above, rotor spinning clockwise. If the aircraft is flying forward, the rotor tips on the left are traveling faster than the aircraft, while those on the right are actually going backwards relative to the craft. If the rotor blades were fixed, this would produce uneven lift -- more lift on the left side, since those blades are traveling faster. The teeter hinge on each blade lets it "flap" up and down. As the blade swings on the left, the increased speed makes it flap up with a greater angle of attack to the relative wind. This increases drag and reduces lift. As it swings to the right, it's now going slower, relative to forward speed. This reduced drag lets it flap down and get a better bite into the air, increasing lift. Pitch is controlled by a conventional joystick coupled to the rotor. Pulling back on the stick tilts the rotor back, increasing lift and decreasing forward airspeed. Pushing forward on the stick decreases lift and increases airspeed, as long as it is not pushed much beyond horizontal (see PPO above). The plane's direction is controlled by rudder pedals.

Records and Application

As of 2002, Wing Commander Ken Wallis, an enthusiast who has built several gyroplanes, holds or has held most of the type's record performances. These include the speed record of 111.7mph (186km/h), and the straight-line distance record of 543.27 miles (905km). The record picture is continually changing, and on 16 November 2002, Ken Wallis increased the speed record to 207.7 km/h - and simultaneously set another world record as the oldest pilot to set a world record! See: [http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=rotorcraft&id=335] Ken Wallis also built and flew one of the most famous autogyros - "Little Nellie" - in the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice".
- Hours flown :Autogyros are often used to herd range animals. An autogyro 'cowboy' holds the world record for total hours in the air each week. The Bensen design has also been used by hobbyists, sight-seers and scientists (for game counting).
- Speed :The CarterCopter fixed wing/autogyro hybrid has been unofficially flown in tests at speeds above 170 mph. The claimed theoretical top speed for this general design is in excess of 450 mph. :In the late 1950s, the Fairey Rotodyne, another hybrid was capable of 213 mph. Andy Keech made a TransContinental flight from Kitty Hawk, N.C. to San Diego, Ca. in October 2003 and set 3 World Records. The 3 records are for 'speed over a recognised course', and are verified by tower personnel or by Official Observers of the U.S. National Aeronautic Association:
- Sub-class : E-3a (Autogyros : take-off weight less than 500 kg) :Category : General :Group 1 : piston engine
- Speed over a recognised course : 16.45 km/h, :::Date of flight: 12 October 2003 :::Pilot: Andrew C. KEECH (USA) :::Course/place: Kitty Hawk, NC (USA) - San Diego, CA (USA)
- Speed over a recognised course : 31.89 km/h :::Date of flight: 22 October 2003 :::Pilot: Andrew C. KEECH (USA) :::Course/place: San Diego, CA (USA) - Kitty Hawk, NC (USA)
- Speed over a recognised course, round trip : 16.42 km/h :::Date of flight: 22 October 2003 :::Pilot: Andrew C. KEECH (USA) :::Course/place: Kitty Hawk, NC (USA) - San Diego, CA (USA) and return

Kits

Many autogyros are assembled from kits. Kits with all parts, ready to assemble, are listed for US$19,550 as of 18th July 2002. This is extremely inexpensive for an aircraft. This includes an engine, the major expense. It can be reduced. Some people are clever at scrounging materials. However, scrounging increases one's construction time and program risk. Buying both the engine and rotor hub is recommended by most vendors. Some people who actually completed an autogyro have said that it took them about a year, working in their spare time. Careful estimates place most build times at 100 to 200 hours. Kit vendors often say that since it has relatively few parts, hobbyists can assemble it more rapidly and correctly than most fixed-wing kit aircraft. Kit vendors recommend working on it every day for an hour or two.

Warnings

Most vendors recommend that a new pilot have at least ten hours of instruction by a rated instructor in small fixed-wing aircraft, followed by at least two hours of instruction in a dual-place autogyro with an experienced instructor. An autogyro is more similar to a fixed-wing aircraft than to a helicopter. One must be able to land safely and reliably before attempting to fly any aircraft alone. Autogyros are relatively safe, but not foolproof. There were 19 fatal autogyro accidents reported to the FAA between 1996 and 2001. Autogyros are aircraft. Do not neglect safety precautions: training, instrumentation, flight rules, preflight checklists and periodic inspections and maintenance. In the United States private, recreational, and commercial pilot licenses with rotorcraft category and gyroplane class rating are issued, or the rating is added to an existing license for other aircraft; holders of sport pilot licenses can also qualify to fly autogyros. Requirements include completing required training times, passing written exams, and successfully doing oral and practical tests. Sport pilot license in-flight tests can be conducted in single-seat aircraft, but a "single place only" limitation is placed on the certificate in such cases. "Learning to fly the rotor" is a vital ingredient for safe flight in an autogyro - models and rotary kites can help the learning process, and towed gyro-gliders and boom-trainers are ideal tools for this as well as being cheap to build and fly.

See also


- [http://www.raf2000.com Rotary Air Force]
- [http://www.jefflewis.net/autogyros.html Jeff Lewis' in-depth Autogyro paper], complete with multiple diagrams. Excellent resource.
- Fairey Rotodyne
- Carter Copter - the company recently [http://www.cartercopters.com/pr_2005-06-17.html fielded a rotor that broke] the important [http://www.cartercopters.com/faq-general.html#question3b Mu-1 barrier].
- [http://www.gbagyros.com Groen Brothers Aviation]
- [http://www.kenwallisautogyro.com Wallis Autogyros]
- [http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/gyro/gbee.htm The Gyrobee]
- [http://www.GyroPilot.co.uk GyroPilot] a website for people interested in Autogyros and gyroplanes
- [http://www.sagpa.co.za SAGPA] The South African Gyroplane Association
- [http://es.geocities.com/autogirototal/ Autogirototal] Big Collection of Links Category:Transportation ja:オートジャイロ

Aircraft

An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. flight. This is a wide-bodied long-haul aircraft]]

Categories and classification

Aircraft fall into two broad categories:

Heavier than air


- Heavier than air aerodynes, including autogyros, helicopters and variants, and conventional fixed-wing aircraft: aeroplanes in Commonwealth English (excluding Canada), airplanes in North American English. Fixed-wing aircraft generally use an internal-combustion engine in the form of a piston engine (with a propeller) or a turbine engine (jet or turboprop), to provide thrust that moves the craft forward through the air. The movement of air over the airfoil produces lift that causes the aircraft to fly. Exceptions are gliders which have no engines and gain their thrust, initially, from winches or tugs and then from gravity and thermal currents. For a glider to maintain its forward speed it must descend in relation to the air (but not necessarily in relation to the ground). Helicopters and autogyros use a spinning rotor (a rotary wing) to provide lift; helicopters also use the rotor to provide thrust. The abbreviation VTOL is applied to aircraft other than helicopters that can take off or land vertically. STOL stands for Short Take Off and Landing. Mainly used internationally.

Lighter than air

STOL
- Lighter than air aerostats: hot air balloons and airships. Aerostats use buoyancy to float in the air in much the same manner as ships float on the water. In particular, these aircraft use a relatively low density gas such as helium, hydrogen or heated air, to displace the air around the craft. The distinction between a balloon and an airship is that an airship has some means of controlling both its forward motion and steering itself, while balloons are carried along with the wind.

Types of aircraft

:See also: List of aircraft There are several ways to classify aircraft. Below, we describe classifications by design, propulsion and usage.

By design

A first division by design among aircraft is between lighter-than-air, aerostat, and heavier-than-air aircraft, aerodyne. Examples of lighter-than-air aircraft include non-steerable balloons, such as hot air balloons and gas balloons, and airships (sometimes called dirigible balloons) such as blimps (that have non-rigid construction) and rigid airships that have a rigid frame. The most successful type of rigid airship was the Zeppelin, although there were some accidents such as the Hindenburg Zeppelin which was destroyed in a fire at Lakehurst, NJ, in 1937. In heavier-than-air aircraft, there are two ways to produce lift: aerodynamic lift and engine lift. In the case of aerodynamic lift, the aircraft is kept in the air by wings or rotors (see aerodynamics). With engine lift, the aircraft defeats gravity by use of vertical thrust greater than its weight. Examples of engine lift aircraft are rockets, and VTOL aircraft such as the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier. Among aerodynamically lifted aircraft, most fall in the category of fixed-wing aircraft, where horizontal airfoils produce lift, by profiting from airflow patterns determined by Bernoulli's equation and, to some extent, the Coanda effect. The forerunner of these type of aircraft is the kite. Kites depend upon the tension between the cord which anchors it to the ground and the force of the wind currents. Much aerodynamic work was done with kites until test aircraft, wind tunnels and now computer modelling programs became available. In a "conventional" configuration, the lift surfaces are placed in front of a control surface or tailplane. The other configuration is the canard where small horizontal control surfaces are placed forward of the wings, near the nose of the aircraft. Canards are becoming more common as supersonic aerodynamics grows more mature and because the forward surface contributes lift during straight-and-level flight. The number of lift surfaces varied in the pre-1950 period, as biplanes (two wings) and triplanes (three wings) were numerous in the early days of aviation. Subsequently most aircraft are monoplanes. This is principally an improvement in structures and not aerodynamics. Other possibilities include the delta-wing, where lift and horizontal control surfaces are often combined, and the flying wing, where there is no separate vertical control surface (e.g. the B-2 Spirit). A variable geometry ('swing-wing') has also been employed in a few examples of combat aircraft (the F-111, Panavia Tornado, F-14 Tomcat and B-1 Lancer, among others). The lifting body configuration is where the body itself produce lift. So far the only significant practical application of the lifting body is in the Space Shuttle, but many aircraft generate lift from nothing other than wings alone. A second category of aerodynamically lifted aircraft are the rotary-wing aircraft. Here, the lift is provided by rotating aerofoils or rotors. The best-known examples are the helicopter, the autogyro and the tiltrotor aircraft (such as the V-22 Osprey). Some craft have reaction-powered rotors with gas jets at the tips but most have one or more lift rotors powered from engine-driven shafts. A further category might encompass the wing-in-ground-effect types, for example the Russian ekranoplan also nicknamed the "Caspian Sea Monster" and hovercraft; most of the latter employing a skirt and achieving limited ground or water clearance to reduce friction and achieve speeds above those achieved by boats of similar weight. A recent innovation is a completely new class of aircraft, the fan wing. This uses a fixed wing with a forced airflow produced by cylindrical fans mounted above. It is (2005) in development in the United Kingdom. And finally the flapping-wing ornithopter is a category of its own. These designs may have potential but are not yet practical.

By propulsion

ornithopter adapted as a floatplane]] Some types of aircraft, such as the balloon or glider, do not have any propulsion. Balloons drift with the wind, though normally the pilot can control the altitude either by heating the air or by releasing ballast, giving some directional control (since the wind direction changes with altitude). For gliders, takeoff takes place from a high location, or the aircraft is pulled into the air by a ground-based winch or vehicle, or towed aloft by a powered "tug" aircraft. Airships combine a balloon's buoyancy with some kind of propulsion, usually propeller driven. Until World War II, the internal combustion piston engine was virtually the only type of propulsion used for powered aircraft. (See also: Aircraft engine.) The piston engine is still used in the majority of aircraft produced, since it is efficient at the lower altitudes used by small aircraft, but the radial engine (with the cylinders arranged in a circle around the crankshaft) has largely given way to the horizontally-opposed engine (with the cylinders lined up on two sides of the crankshaft). Water cooled V engines, as used in automobiles, were common in high speed aircraft, until they were replaced by jet and turbine power. Piston engines typically operate using avgas or regular gasoline, though some new ones are being designed to operate on diesel or jet fuel. Piston engines normally become less efficient above 7,000-8,000 ft (2100-2400 m) above sea level because there is less oxygen available for combustion; to solve that problem, some piston engines have mechanically powered compressors (blowers) or turbine-powered turbochargers or turbonormalizers that compress the air before feeding it into the engine; these piston engines can often operate efficiently at 20,000 ft (6100 m) above sea level or higher, altitudes that require the use of supplemental oxygen or cabin pressurisation. During the forties and especially following the 1973 energy crisis, development work was done on propellers with swept tips or even scimitar-shaped blades for use in high-speed commercial and military transports. Pressurised aircraft, however, are more likely to use the turbine engine, since it is naturally efficient at higher altitudes and can operate above 40,000 ft. Helicopters also typically use turbine engines. In addition to turbine engines like the turboprop and turbojet, other types of high-altitude, high-performance engines have included the ramjet and the pulse jet. Rocket aircrafts have occasionally been experimented with. They are restricted to rather specialised niches, such as spaceflight, where no oxygen is available for combustion (rockets carry their own oxygen).

By usage

The major distinction in aircraft usage is between military aviation, which includes all uses of aircraft for military purposes (such as combat, patrolling, search and rescue, reconnaissance, transport, and training), and civil aviation, which includes all uses of aircraft for non-military purposes.
Military aircraft
Combat aircraft like fighters or bombers represent only a minority of the category. Many civil aircraft have been produced in separate models for military use, such as the civil Douglas DC-3 airliner, which became the military C-47/C-53/R4D transport in the U.S. military and the Dakota in Britain and the Commonwealth. Even the little fabric-covered two-seater Piper J3 Cub had a military version, the L-4 liaison, observation and trainer aircraft. In the past, gliders and balloons have also been used as military aircraft; for example, balloons were used for observation during the American Civil War and World War I, and cargo gliders were used during World War II to land intruding German troops in many European countries in the 1940/42 period, while Allied troops used them in Europe after D-Day . Combat aircraft themselves, though used a handful of times for reconnaissance and surveillance during the Italo-Turkish War, did not come into widespread use until the Balkan War when first air-dropped bomb was invented and widely used by Bulgarian air force against Turkey. During World War I many types of aircraft were adapted for attacking the ground or enemy vehicles/ships/guns/aircraft, and the first aircraft designed as bombers were born. In order to prevent the enemy from bombing, fighter aircraft were developed to intercept and shoot down enemy aircraft. Tankers were developed after World War II to refuel other aircraft in mid-air, thus increasing their operational range. By the time of the Vietnam War, helicopters had come into widespread military use, especially for transporting and supporting ground troops.
Civil aviation
helicopter]] Civil aviation includes both scheduled airline flights and general aviation, a catch-all covering other kinds of private and commercial use. The vast majority of flights flown around the world each day belong to the general aviation category, ranging from recreational balloon flying to civilian flight training to business trips to firefighting to medevac flights to cargo transportation on freight aircraft. Within general aviation, the major distinction is between private flights (where the pilot is not paid for time or expenses) and commercial flights (where the pilot is paid by a customer or employer). Private pilots use aircraft primarily for personal travel, business travel, or recreation. Usually these private pilots own their own aircraft and take out loans from banks or specialized lenders to purchase them. Commercial general aviation pilots use aircraft for a wide range of tasks, such as flight training, pipeline surveying, passenger and freight transport, policing, crop dusting, and medical transport (medevac). Piston-powered propeller aircraft (single-engine or twin-engine) are especially common for both private and commercial general aviation, but even private pilots occasionally own and operate helicopters like the Bell JetRanger or turboprops like the Beechcraft King Air. Business jets are typically flown by commercial pilots, although there is a new generation of small jets arriving soon for private pilots.

Related topics


- List of aircraft by category
- List of aircraft by date and usage category
- List of civil aircraft
- List of helicopter models
- List of military aircraft
- List of World War II jet aircraft
- List of aircraft engines
- List of aircraft engine manufacturers (alphabetical)
- Aerial refuelling
- Aeronautics
- Aircraft carrier
- Aircraft spotting
- Airline call signs
- Airliner
- Air safety
- Aviation
- Contrail
- First flying machine
- Flight controls
- Flight instruments
- Gliding
- Lifting body
- List of early flying machines
- Model aircraft
- Mobile phones on aircraft
- Spacecraft propulsion
- Spacecraft
- Steam aircraft
- Successful aircraft types
- Undercarriage
- Wright brothers
- List of aviation, aerospace and aeronautical terms

External links

History
- [http://www.nasm.si.edu/ Smithsonian Air and Space Museum] - Excellent online collection with a particular focus on history of aircraft and spacecraft
- [http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/Tale_of_Airplane/taleplane.html Virtual Museum]
- [http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Prehistory/PH-OV.htm Prehistory of Powered Flight]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-468/contents.htm The Evolution of Modern Aircraft (NASA)]
- [http://www.check-six.com Check-Six] - Information on historic aircraft crashes including the X-15 and Flying Wing
- [http://www.anythingplanes.net Aircraft community ] Information
- [http://www.aircraft-info.net Aircraft-Info.net]
- [http://www.airliners.net/info/ Airliners.net]
- [http://www.HomebuiltAircraft.com HomebuiltAircraft.com]- Information Portal about Homebuilt Aircraft
- [http://www.DefenceTalk.com Airforces ]
- [http://www.challoner.com/aviation/index.html Series of Photo Essays on British Aviation]
- [http://www.usenet-replayer.com/webrings/aviation.html Pictures of Aircraft] published on Usenet
- [http://www.sulman4paf.tk PAF Procedures and Information, Wallpapers, Picture Gallery, Updated News] Patents
- US[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=821393.WKU.&OS=PN/821393&RS=PN/821393 821393] -- Flying machine -- O. & W. Wright Category:Aircraft Category:Aviation zh-min-nan:Hui-hêng-ki ko:항공기 ms:Pesawat udara ja:航空機 simple:Aircraft

Juan de la Cierva

Juan de la Cierva (21 September 1895--19 December 1936) was a Spanish aeronautical engineer and pilot. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1923 of the Autogiro, the predecessor to the helicopter. He was born in Murcia, Spain, and moved to England in 1925 where with the support of Scottish industrialist James G. Weir, established the Cierva Autogiro Company. The Autogiro used a tractor-mounted propeller and engine, a rotor mounted on a mast, and an airplane-type tail assembly. His first three designs -- the C.1, C.2, and C.3 were unstable; the fourth design, the C.4, was successful. The C.8L Mk.II Autogiro made the first flight across the English Channel by a rotary-winged airplane on 18 September 1928. During the Spanish Civil War, he supported Francisco Franco's side. He died in a fixed-wing airplane accident near London, England, at the age of 41. Many say that if he had not died so young, he would have invented the helicopter, because his creation the Autogiro is the direct predecessor of the helicopter.

External links


- [http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Dictionary/cierva/DI17.htm U.S. Centennial of Flight - Juan de la Cierva] Cierva, Juan de la La Cierva, Juan de La Cierva, Juan de La Cierva, Juan de La Cierva, Juan de Cierva, Juan de la

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Mary Earhart (born 24 July, 1897, Atchison, Kansas - missing from 2 July 1937, western Pacific ocean), daughter of Edwin and Amy Earhart, was an American aviator and noted early female pilot who mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a circumnavigational flight in 1937.

Early life

Amelia's grandfather was Alfred Otis, a former federal judge and a leading citizen in Atchison who reportedly was not satisfied with her father Edwin's own success as a lawyer, which is said to have contributed to the break up of her family. Some biographers have speculated that this history of disapproval and doubt followed Amelia throughout her childhood as a tomboy and into her adult flying career. As a girl she is said to have spent long hours playing with her little sister Muriel (Pidge) along with climbing trees, “belly-slamming” her sled downhill and hunting rats with a rifle. At the age of ten (1907) in Des Moines, Iowa Amelia saw an airplane at the Iowa State Fair. She later described it as “...a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting.” Amelia was twelve when her father Edwin, by then a railroad executive, was promoted and the family's finances improved. However it soon became apparent Edwin was an alcoholic. Five years later, in 1914, he was fired from The Rock Island Railroad. Amy Earhart took Amelia and Muriel to Chicago where they lived with friends. She sent the girls to private schools using money from a trust fund set up by her grandfather Alfred. Amelia graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1915, then went to Canada where she visited her sister at school. She received training as a nurse's aide and in November 1918 began work at Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. By 1919 Earhart had enrolled at Columbia University to study pre-med but quit a year later to be with her parents who had gotten together again in California. Later in Long Beach she and her father went to a stunt-flying exhibition and the next day she went on a ten minute flight. Earhart had her first flying lesson at Kinner Field near Long Beach. Her teacher was Anita “Neta” Snook, a pioneer female aviator. Six months later Earhart purchased a yellow Kinner Airster biplane which she named "Canary." On 22 October 1922 she flew it to an altitude of 14,000 feet, setting a women's world record. On 15 May 1923 Earhart was the sixteenth woman to be issued a pilot's license by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

Aviation career and marriage to GP

High-altitude fliers made little money. Earhart sold Canary and bought a yellow Kissel roadster which she named "the Yellow Peril." Her parents divorced in 1924 and she drove her mother across the United States in the Yellow Peril to Boston, Massachusetts where in 1925 she took employment as a social worker. Earhart also became a member of the National Aeronautic Association's Boston chapter, through which she invested a small sum of money into airport construction and the sale of Kinner airplanes in the Boston area. She also wrote local newspaper columns on flying and as her local celebrity grew she helped market Kinner airplanes, promote flying and encourage women pilots. According to the Boston Globe she was “one of the best women pilots in the United States,” although this characterization has been somewhat disputed by aviation experts and experienced pilots in the decades since. After Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, Amy Guest, a wealthy American living in London, UK, expressed interest in being the first woman to fly (or be flown) across the Atlantic Ocean. After deciding the trip was too dangerous to make herself, she offered to sponsor the project anyway, suggesting they find "another girl with the right image." While at work one afternoon in April 1928 Earhart got a phone call from a man who asked her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?" She interviewed with the project coordinators who included book publisher and publicist George P. Putnam and was asked to join pilot Wilmer Stultz and co-pilot/mechanic Louis Gordon on the flight, nominally as a passenger. The team left Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland in a Fokker F7 on 17 June 1928 and arrived at Burry Port, Wales, United Kingdom approximately 21 hours later. She piloted the plane for part of the journey and wrote in the flight log, "If anyone finds that wreck, know that the non-success was caused by my getting lost in a storm for an hour." When the crew returned to the States they were greeted with a ticker-tape parade in New York and a reception by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House. Because of her physical resemblance to Lindbergh, whom the press had dubbed "Lucky Lindy", the American public began referring to Amelia as "Lady Lindy". Earhart later placed third at the Cleveland Women's Air Derby (nicknamed the "Powder Puff Derby" by Will Rogers). For a while she was engaged to Samuel Chapman, an attorney from Boston. Meanwhile Putnam took the chance of heavily promoting Earhart, which included publishing a book she authored, lecture tours and using pictures of her in mass market endorsements for products including luggage, cigarettes (she didn't smoke), pajamas and women's sportswear. The extensive time they spent together led to intimacy and after substantial hesitation on her part they were married on 7 February 1931. Earhart referred to the marriage as a "partnership" with "dual control", and appears to have requested an open marriage; in a recently-discovered premarital letter to Putnam, she wrote that "I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any midaevil [sic] code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly."[http://ncbuy.com/news/wireless_news.html?qdate=2003-02-25&nav=VIEW&id=0823D7UCP05030225],[http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/030224.Mobley.Earhart.html]. Later in 1931 she set a world altitude record of 18,415 feet (5613 m) in a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro. On the morning of 20 May 1932, at the age of thirty-four, Earhart took off from Saint John, New Brunswick with the latest (dated) copy of a local newspaper. She stopped off in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in her single engine Lockheed Vega, intending to fly to Paris and duplicate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight. However strong north winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems forced her to land in a pasture near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. As the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic she received the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French Government, and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover. On 11 January 1935 Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California. Later that year she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City and back to Newark, New Jersey. She held several transcontinental speed records. Earhart joined the faculty of Purdue University in 1935 as counselor on careers for women, exploring new fields for young women to enter after graduation.

World Flight, 1937

In July 1936 she took delivery of a Lockheed 10E Electra financed by Purdue University and started planning a round-the-world flight. This would not be the first to circle the globe, but would be the longest at 29,000 miles (47,000 km) since it would follow a grueling equatorial route. Although the Electra was publicized as a "flying laboratory" little useful science was planned and the flight seems to have been arranged around Earhart's goal to circumnavigate the earth along with providing raw material and public attention for her next book. Through contacts in the Los Angeles aviation community Fred Noonan was eventually chosen as navigator. He had vast experience in both marine (he was a licensed ship's captain) and flight navigation. Noonan had recently left Pan Am, where he established most of the company's seaplane routes across the Pacific. He hoped the resulting publicity would help him establish his own navigation school in Florida. On 17 March 1937 they flew the first leg, Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. The flight resumed three days later but a tire blew on takeoff and Earhart ground-looped the plane. Severely damaged, the aircraft had to be shipped to California for repairs and the flight was called off. The second attempt would begin at Miami, this time flying east. They departed on 1 June and after numerous stops in South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia they arrived at Lae, New Guinea on June 29. About 22,000 miles (35,000 km) of the journey had been completed and the remaining 7,000 miles (11,000 km) would all be over the Pacific. June 29 On 2 July 1937 at midnight GMT Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae. Their intended destination was Howland Island, a flat sliver of land 2000 meters long and 500 meters wide, 10 feet (3 m) high and 2556 miles (4113 km) away. Their last positive position report and sighting were over the Nukumanu Islands, about 800 miles (1,300 km) into the flight. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was on station at Howland, assigned to communicate with Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E and guide her to the island once she arrived in the vicinity. Through a series of misunderstandings or errors (the details of which are still controversial), the final approach to Howland using radio navigation was never accomplished, although vocal transmissions by Earhart indicated she and Noonan believed they had reached Howland's charted position, which was incorrect by about five nautical miles (9 km), over scattered clouds which are said to have cast hundreds of island-like shadows on the ocean. After several hours of frustrating attempts at two-way communications, contact was lost, although subsequent transmissions from the downed Electra may have been received by operators across the Pacific. The United States government spent $4 million looking for Earhart. The air and sea search by the Navy and Coast Guard was the most costly and intensive in history at that time, but search and rescue techniques during that era were rudimentary and planning was influenced by individuals wary about how their roles in looking for an American hero might be reported by the press. Many researchers believe the plane ran out of fuel and Earhart and Noonan ditched at sea. However, one group (TIGHAR - The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) suggests they may have flown for two and a half hours along a standard line of position, which Earhart specified in her last transmission received at Howland, to Nikumaroro Gardner Island (now Nikumaroro, Kiribati), landed there, and ultimately perished. TIGHAR's research has produced a range of documented, archaeological and anecdotal evidence (but no proof) supporting this theory.

Legacy

Amelia Earhart was a widely-known celebrity during her lifetime. Her shyly charismatic appeal, independence, persistence, coolness under pressure, courage and goal-oriented career along with the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance have driven her lasting fame in popular culture. Hundreds of books have been written about her life, which is often cited as a motivational tale, especially for girls. Earhart is generally regarded as a feminist icon who blazed a trail of achievement for generations of women who came after her.

Books by Earhart

Kiribati Amelia Earhart was an accomplished and articulate writer who served as aviation editor for Cosmopolitan magazine from 1928 to 1930. She authored numerous magazine articles and essays, and published two books based upon her experiences as a flyer during her lifetime:
- 20 Hrs., 40 Min. was her journal of her 1928 flight across the Atlantic as a passenger (making her the first woman to make such a journey).
- The Fun of It was a memoir of her flying experiences, as well as an essay on women in aviation. A third book credited to Earhart, Last Flight, was published following her disappearance and featured journal entries she made in the weeks prior to her final departure from New Guinea. Compiled by Putnam himself, historians have cast doubt upon how much of the book was actually Earhart's original work and how much had been embellished by Putnam.

Fiction by other authors

The romantic, tragic and mysterious story of Amelia Earhart has spurred the imaginations of many writers. Stories featuring her have ranged from straightforward biographies to true flights of fantasy. For example:
- I Was Amelia Earhart is a faux autobiography by Jane Mendelsohn in which "Earhart" tells the story of what happened to her in 1937, complete with heavy doses of romance with her co-pilot.
- Flying Blind by Max Allan Collins is a detective novel in which the intrepid Nathan Heller is hired to be a bodyguard for Amelia Earhart. Before long they become lovers, and later Heller helps her to try to escape from the Japanese following her ill-fated flight.
- The Star Trek: Voyager episode, "The 37s", suggests that Earhart and Noonan were kidnapped by aliens in 1937 and taken to the Delta Quadrant, where they were found by Captain Kathryn Janeway but chose to remain on the far side of the galaxy instead of returning to Earth. (Star Trek also established that one of Starfleet's main space stations is named after Earhart.)
- The 1943 Rosalind Russell film Flight for Freedom was a fictionalized treatment of Earhart's life, with a heavy dose of Hollywood World War II propaganda.
- In an episode of the TV sitcom Friends, Ross suggested that if he were to win the lottery, he intended to make a dinosaur/Amelia Earhart theme park.
- Heather Nova recorded a song named I Miss My Sky (Amelia Earhart's Last Days), located on her album Redbird (2005).
- A 1976 television bio project titled Amelia Earhart included flying by Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Tallman whose late partner in Tallmantz Aviation, Paul Mantz, had tutored Earhart in the 1930s.
- In the TV adaptation of Dilbert, Amelia Earhart is trapped in a museum exhibition where there are buttons which serves to torment her and to simulate a fictional storm which brought her plane down.

Urban legends

During the decades since her disappearance many rumours and urban legends have circulated (and often been published) about what might have happened to Earhart and Noonan. Some have claimed Earhart was captured in the South Pacific Mandate area by the Japanese and interned for a number of years before either perishing or being executed. This originated when a man, then 15, claimed he had been toying with his radio and a woman came upon the speaker, claiming to be Amelia Earhart. There was then a scream and the woman said Japanese soldiers had entered the plane, she begging them not to hurt her. Then the transmission went dead. Purported photographs of Earhart during her captivity have been identified as having been taken before her final flight. A fictional World War II era movie called Flight for Freedom starring Rosalind Russell and Fred MacMurray is often cited as the most likely source of a popular myth Earhart was a spy. Some researchers have noted the possibility that for wartime propaganda purposes, the US government may have tacitly encouraged (or was indifferent to) false rumours Earhart had been captured by the Japanese. An archaeological dig on Tinian in 2004 failed to turn up any bones at a location rumoured since the close of World War II to be the aviators' grave. Perhaps the strangest rumour was that Earhart had been forced to make propaganda radio broadcasts as one of the many women known as Tokyo Rose (according to several biographies of Earhart, George Putnam investigated this rumor personally, but after listening to recordings of numerous Tokyo Roses, was unable to recognize her voice among them). Others have suggested Earhart later managed to return to America where she changed her name and lived out her life quietly, while still others blame her disappearance on Unidentified Flying Objects. There is no evidence to support any of these suggestions, which have all been dismissed by serious historians. (The aforementioned Star Trek episode was based upon the UFO myth.)

Bibliography


- Briand, Paul, Daughter of the Sky. New York: Duell, Sloan, Pearce, 1960.
- Butler, Susan, East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart. Reading MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997.
- Devine, Thomas E., Eyewitness: The Amelia Earhart Incident. Frederick, CO: Renaissance House, 1987.
- Goerner, Fred, The Search for Amelia Earhart. New York: Doubleday, 1966.
- King, Thomas F.; Jacobson, Randall; Spading, Kenton; Burns, Karen Ramey; Amelia Earhart's Shoes. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2001. ISBN: 0759101302
- Long, Elgen M., Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
- Loomis, Vincent V., Amelia Earhart, the Final Story. New York: Random House, 1985.
- Lovell, Mary S., The Sound of Wings. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
- Rich, Doris L., Amelia Earhart: A Biography. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
- Strippel, Dick., Amelia Earhart - The Myth and the Reality. New York: Exposition Press, 1972.

External links


- [http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/AEdescr.html The Earhart Project] from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. Includes a summary of the Nikumaroro landing hypothesis and a video showing Earhart's Lockheed taking off from Lae
- [http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/aearhart/ Amelia Earhart Collection of Papers, Memorabilia and Artifacts] Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart, Amelia ja:アメリア・イアハート

Somersault

:This article is about somersault, the acrobatic feat. For the movie, see Somersault (movie). Somersault (movie) A somersault (sometimes somerset) is an acrobatic feat in which a person tucks in mid-air and moves the feet over the head. The somersault can be performed either forwards or backwards and is synonymous with a flip (or, if performed backwards, backflip). The word originates from the obsolete French word sombresault. French

See also


- Gymnastics
- Jules Léotard Category:Gymnastics

External links


- [http://www.overflux.com/content.php?article.52 Front flip tutorial]

16 November

November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining.

Events


- 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published.
- 1384 - Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman.
- 1532 - Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa.
- 1632 - The Battle of Lützen, where king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is killed.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
- 1776 - American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States, the first country in the world to do so.
- 1821 - American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
- 1849 - A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his execution is canceled at the last minute.
- 1857 - Second relief of Lucknow. The most Victoria Crosses won in a single day (24).
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
- 1885 - Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba", Louis Riel is executed for high treason.
- 1893 - Athletic Club Královské Vinohrady is founded. Later the team was renamed to Sparta Prague.
- 1896 - First transmission of electrical power between two cities was sent from Niagara Falls to industries in Buffalo, New York. (See War of Currents.)
- 1904 - John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube.
- 1906 - Opera star Enrico Caruso is charged with an indecent act after allegedly pinching a woman's bottom in the monkey house of New York's Central Park Zoo.
- 1907 - Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
- 1914 - The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens for business.
- 1920 - Qantas, the national airline of Australia is registered as an aerial carrier under the name of “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited”. Only KLM (now part of Air France-KLM) is older.
- 1933 - The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.
- 1940 - World War II: In response to Germany leveling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
- 1940 - Holocaust: In Poland, Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
- 1940 - New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
- 1943 - World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vermork, Norway.
- 1945 - Cold War: The United States controversially imports 88 German scientists to help in the production of rocket technology.
- 1957 - Serial killer Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden.
- 1959 - The Broadway musical, The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel opens at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater.
- 1965 - Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
- 1969 - The first episode of The Clangers is broadcast by the BBC.
- 1973 - Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
- 1973 - US President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
- 1977 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind opens in theaters.
- 1979 - The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
- 1980 - Louis Althusser murders his wife and immediately confesses.
- 1981 - Luke and Laura marry on General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.
- 1988 - The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that the Estonia was "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence.
- 1988 - In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan choose populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister.
- 1989 - A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
- 1990 - Rocky V is the 4th Rocky sequel to open in theaters, starring Sylvester Stallone.
- 1996 - Mother Teresa receives honorary US citizenship.
- 1997 - After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
- 2000 - Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting US President to visit Vietnam.
- 2001 - The first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is released, becoming the second highest grossing film around the world of all time.
- 2004 - X-43A scramjet becomes the fastest air-breathing jet flying at nearly Mach 10 at approx. 11,200 km/h or 3.11 km/s.
- 2005 - Australia qualify for the FIFA World Cup in June, 2006, for the first time in 32 years.

Births


- 42 BC - Tiberius, Roman emperor (d. 37)
- 1603 - Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior (d. 1673)
- 1717 - Jean le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician and encyclopædist (d. 1793)
- 1720 - Carlo Antonio Campioni, Italian composer (d. 1788)
- 1766 - Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist (d. 1831)
- 1836 - David Kalakaua of Hawaii, last king of Hawaii (d. 1891)
- 1862 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (d. 1944)
- 1873 - W. C. Handy, American composer (d. 1958)
- 1889 - George Kaufman, American playwright (d. 1961)
- 1892 - Guo Moruo, Chinese writer (d. 1978)
- 1894 - Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, Austrian politician (d. 1972)
- 1895 - Paul Hindemith, German composer (d. 1963)
- 1896 - Oswald Mosley, British fascist (d. 1980)
- 1896 - Lawrence Tibbett, American actor and singer (d. 1960)
- 1905 - Eddie Condon, American musician (d. 1973)
- 1907 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1916 - Daws Butler, voice actor (d. 1988)
- 1922 - Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist
- 1922 - José Saramago, Portuguese writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1924 - Mel Patton, American athlete
- 1928 - Clu Gulager, American actor
- 1930 - Chinua Achebe, Nigerian author
- 1938 - Robert Nozick, American philosopher (d. 2002)
- 1943 - Michael Cimino, American film director
- 1952 - Shigeru Miyamoto, Japanese video game designer
- 1954 - Bruce Edwards, golf caddy (d. 2004)
- 1958 - Marg Helgenberger, American actress
- 1961 - Frank Bruno, British boxer
- 1962 - Josh Silver, American keyboardist and record producer (Type O Negative)
- 1964 - Dwight Gooden, American athlete
- 1964 - Diana Krall, Canadian singer
- 1964 - Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Italian actress
- 1967 - Lisa Bonet, American actress
- 1967 - Craig Arnold, American poet
- 1970 - Martha Plimpton, American actress
- 1971 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimmer
- 1971 - Waqar Younis, Pakistani cricketer
- 1974 - Paul Scholes, English footballer
- 1977 - Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
- 1977 - Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress
- 1978 - Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer
- 1980 - Kayte Christensen, American Basketball Player
- 1981 - Allison Crowe, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1984 - Kimberly J. Brown, American actress

Deaths


- 1093 - Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife of King Malcolm Canmore
- 1240 - Edmund Rich, St. Edmund of Canterbury
- 1272 - King Henry III of England (b. 1207)
- 1328 - Prince Hisaaki, Japanese shogun (b. 1276)
- 1613 - Trajano Boccalini, Italian satirist (b. 1556)
- 1628 - Paolo Quagliati, Italian composer
- 1632 - King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (killed in battle) (b. 1594)
- 1695 - Pierre Nicole, French philosopher (b. 1625)
- 1724 - Jack Sheppard, English burglar (hanged) (b. 1702)
- 1745 - James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (b. 1665)
- 1773 - John Hawkesworth, English writer
- 1779 - Pehr Kalm, Finnish explorer and naturalist (b. 1716)
- 1790 - Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
- 1797 - Frederick William II of Prussia (b. 1744)
- 1802 - André Michaux, French botanist (b. 1746)
- 1806 - Moses Cleaveland, founder of Cleveland, Ohio (b. 1754)
- 1836 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, Dutch mycologist (b. 1761)
- 1885 - Louis Riel, Canadian activist and politician (b. 1844)
- 1907 - Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (b. 1848)
- 1911 - Albert Alonzo Ames, Mayor of Minneapolis (b. 1842)
- 1922 - Max Abraham, German physicist (b. 1875)
- 1939 - Pierce Butler, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1866)
- 1960 - Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1961 - Sam Rayburn, U.S. Speaker of the House (b. 1882)
- 1973 - Alan Watts, English writer (b. 1915)
- 1982 - Arthur Askey, British comedian (b. 1900)
- 1994 - Doris Speed, British actress (b. 1899)
- 1994 - Dino Valente, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (b. 1943)
- 1999 - Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1928)
- 2000 - DJ Screw, American hiphop DJ (b. 1971)
- 2003 - Bettina Goislard, French relief worker (b. 1974)
- 2005 - Henry Taube, Canadian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Robert Tisch, American football team owner (b. 1926)
- 2005 - Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. Saints - Saint Margaret of Scotland ; Gertrude the Great
- Also see November 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- International Day for Tolerance
- Iceland - Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Icelandic Language Day)
- Thailand - Loy Krathong festival (2005)
- USA - admission of Oklahoma, 46th state, 1907

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/16 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 15 - November 17 - October 16 - December 16 -- listing of all days ko:11월 16일 ms:16 November ja:11月16日 simple:November 16 th:16 พฤศจิกายน

2002

2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains
- Year of the Outback in Australia
- National Science Year in the United Kingdom
- Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Overview of the year

In contrast to 2000 and 2001, which retained elements of the late 1990s, 2002 shifted into a new cultural decade. With the declining popularity of late 1990s and early 2000s acts like 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys after band break-ups, rap acts like 50 Cent and Eminem rose in popularity. Pop-Punk acts like Good Charlotte and New Found Glory also appealed to adolescents. 2002 also marked the begining of the controversial Iraq War, which many say, along with 9/11, was the true generation definer of the 2000s.

Events

January


- January 1 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- January 1 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters in to force.
- January 5 - Charles Bishop, a 15 year-old student pilot, crashes a light aircraft into a Tampa, Florida building, evoking fear of a copycat 9/11 terrorist attack.
- January 9 - The United States Department of Justice announces it is going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
- January 10 - Enrique Bolaños began his five-year term as President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
- January 13 - President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel.
- January 14 - The case of Adelaide Abankwah comes into trial in New York
- January 16 - A student shoots 6 people at the Appalachian School of Law, killing three.
- January 16 - John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban member John Walker Lindh would be tried in the United States.
- January 16 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban.
- January 17 - Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
- January 18 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one.
- January 22 - AOL Time Warner brings a federal suit against Microsoft seeking damages. The suit alleges that the market for AOL's Netscape Navigator Internet browser was harmed when Microsoft started to give away a competing browser.
- January 22 - Kmart Corp becomes the largest retailer in American history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
- January 22 - Clyde Hood sentenced for 14 years in prison for Omega Trust fraud
- January 24 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.
- January 27 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.

February


- February 2 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands marries Máxima, Princess of Orange in Amsterdam.
- February 3 - Costa Rica: elections for President and Congress
- February 8-February 24 - 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
- February 12 - The trial of former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague
- February 12 - Nuclear waste: US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.
- February 13 - Queen Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood.
- February 16 - Rachel Thaler, aged 16, blown up at a pizzena in an Israeli shopping mall following a suicide bombing attack on a crowd of teenagers.
- February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of using its thermal emission imaging system.
- February 20 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370
- February 20 - In most of the world, at 20:02 (8:02 PM) local time, date (written as day/month), time, and year are all 2002, making each of them alone, any two together, and the combination of all three, all palindromes.
- February 22 - Norwegian-facilitated ceasefire begins in Sri Lanka
- February 23 - FARC kidnaps Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia when she campaigns for presidency
- February 27 - Ethnic conflict in India: 59 Hindu pilgrims die aboard a train burned by a Muslim mob in Godhra, India, sparking a series of riots, leaving hundreds dead
- February 28 - The ex-currencies of all euro members officialy (at EU-level) cease to be legal tender.

March


- March 1 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.
- March 1 - 28 people die in continuing violence in Ahmedabad. Police shoot and kill five while attempting to control rioters.
- March 1 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800km above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500kg.
- March 1 - Space Shuttle Columbia flies Hubble Space Telescope service mission (STS-109).
- March 1 - Peseta discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€)
- March 3 - São Tomé and Príncipe: elections for the legislature
- March 6 - France agrees to return the remains of Saartje Baartman to South Africa
- March 10 - Colombia: elections for the legisla