Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. 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 Otto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the Wright Flyer, the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers 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. In 2024, there were 9.5 billion passengers worldwide according to the ICAO. As of 2018, estimates suggest that 11% of the world's population traveled by air, with up to 4% taking international flights. (Full article...)
Aviation WikiProjects
WikiProjects connected with aviation:
Aviation
Airlines
Airports
Aircraft
Gliding
Military aviation
Aircraft Parts Industry
Things you can do
Aviation WikiProject announcements and open tasks
We encourage all members of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aviation to use the translation feature more often. There are many articles that can be created or expanded via translation.
The Soviet Aviation Task force needs articles translated into English! Please feel free to join!
The Aviation accident task force has a list of missing articles of major aviation accidents that aren't covered on English Wikipedia.
Missing women aviators is a small redlist of women aviators for whom we lack biographies.
The defunct airlines project is now a task force of WikiProject Airlines – check it out and join today!
Find images for Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of aircraft
A quick reference to aviation articles that are up for discussion and deletion is available - watchlist it and use it!
Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/Missing articles lists over 500 articles that require creating or redirecting. Dig in!
A template is available to quickly create articles. Go to Template:WPAVIATION creator and start creating!
The collaboration and review departments are open. Please visit and nominate or help review articles!
11 Aug 2025 – Al Azaiba Airport (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Nfutvol (t · c) and endorsed by Dan Leonard (t · c) on 11 Aug 2025 was deleted
08 Aug 2025 – Total Airport Management Systems (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by LibStar (t · c) was deleted
Templates for discussion
10 Aug 2025 – Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Indonesia (talk · edit · hist) TfDed by DemocracyDeprivationDisorder (t · c) was closed; see discussion
06 Aug 2025 – First-person view (radio control)(talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to First-person view (control) by 94.246.147.217 (t · c); see discussion
22 Jul 2025 – 2025 Dhaka fighter jet crash(talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to 2025 Dhaka Chengdu J-7 crash by Cyrobyte (t · c); see discussion
19 Aug 2025 – Air India Flight 171(talk · edit · hist) move request to 2025 Ahmedabad Air Disaster by Showblox (t · c) was not moved; see discussion
10 Aug 2025 – Blohm & Voss P 163(talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to List of Blohm & Voss aircraft projects by Just a passing viewer 008 (t · c); see discussion
10 Sep 2023 – Ibaraki Airport(talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Harashisaki (t · c); see discussion
Articles for creation
22 Aug 2025 – Draft:West Star Aviation(talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by TiffanyWalkerFan (t · c)
16 Aug 2025 – Draft:Jamail Larkins (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Qwerfjkl (bot) (t · c)
15 Aug 2025 – Draft:West Coast Aviation Services (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Adnanjehan (t · c)
14 Aug 2025 – Draft:Walter M208 (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by 98.151.143.254 (t · c)
13 Aug 2025 – Draft:Pilatus U-28 Draco (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Dauby09 (t · c)
12 Aug 2025 – Draft:Jetron (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by TuomasWriter (t · c)
10 Aug 2025 – Draft:Leslie LeRoy Long (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Riedener (t · c)
08 Aug 2025 – Draft:American Helicopter XA-5 Top Sergeant (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by 2600:1012:B13F:98CA:FDB9:E438:6A1E:A7A9 (t · c)
07 Aug 2025 – Draft:Kaddour Terhzaz (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Xonarch (t · c)
06 Aug 2025 – Draft:2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35A crash (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Thebaldball (t · c)
11 Aug 2025 – Al Azaiba Airport (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Nfutvol (t · c) and endorsed by Dan Leonard (t · c) on 11 Aug 2025 was deleted
08 Aug 2025 – Total Airport Management Systems (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by LibStar (t · c) was deleted
Templates for discussion
10 Aug 2025 – Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Indonesia (talk · edit · hist) TfDed by DemocracyDeprivationDisorder (t · c) was closed; see discussion
06 Aug 2025 – First-person view (radio control)(talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to First-person view (control) by 94.246.147.217 (t · c); see discussion
22 Jul 2025 – 2025 Dhaka fighter jet crash(talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to 2025 Dhaka Chengdu J-7 crash by Cyrobyte (t · c); see discussion
19 Aug 2025 – Air India Flight 171(talk · edit · hist) move request to 2025 Ahmedabad Air Disaster by Showblox (t · c) was not moved; see discussion
10 Aug 2025 – Blohm & Voss P 163(talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to List of Blohm & Voss aircraft projects by Just a passing viewer 008 (t · c); see discussion
10 Sep 2023 – Ibaraki Airport(talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Harashisaki (t · c); see discussion
Articles for creation
22 Aug 2025 – Draft:West Star Aviation(talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by TiffanyWalkerFan (t · c)
16 Aug 2025 – Draft:Jamail Larkins (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Qwerfjkl (bot) (t · c)
15 Aug 2025 – Draft:West Coast Aviation Services (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Adnanjehan (t · c)
14 Aug 2025 – Draft:Walter M208 (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by 98.151.143.254 (t · c)
13 Aug 2025 – Draft:Pilatus U-28 Draco (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Dauby09 (t · c)
12 Aug 2025 – Draft:Jetron (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by TuomasWriter (t · c)
10 Aug 2025 – Draft:Leslie LeRoy Long (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Riedener (t · c)
08 Aug 2025 – Draft:American Helicopter XA-5 Top Sergeant (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by 2600:1012:B13F:98CA:FDB9:E438:6A1E:A7A9 (t · c)
07 Aug 2025 – Draft:Kaddour Terhzaz (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Xonarch (t · c)
06 Aug 2025 – Draft:2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35A crash (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Thebaldball (t · c)
(9 more...)
Request for Comment
Request for comment at Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2007-01-07 Singapore Airlines#Request for Comment: Reasons For/Against.05:11, 20 February 2007 (UTC)