When brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright built and flew the first fully practical airplane, they probably couldn't imagine how far we'd take it.
Now, we're flying hundreds of people at a time, sending rovers to other planets, and launching interstellar probes.
So we decided to stop for a second and appreciate the fact that humanity has conquered the skies. And we've picked the subreddit r/aviation to do it.
Created back in 2008, this online community unites 1.2 million members who constantly share anything and everything related to helicopters and rotorcraft, airships, balloons, paragliders, winged suits and anything that sustains you in the air. Here are some of their top posts.
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I Graduated Pilot Training Today, This Is The Gift My Grandpa Sent Me
“We Made History As The First Mother-Daughter Crew At Skywest Airlines.”
Happy Veterans Day To My Grandfather Who Passed Away This Year At 97. This Is Him Standing In Front Of The Plane He Flew In World War II
Today I Got To Fly In My Grandfathers Restored Ww2 Hurricane!
Life Goal [1080*1336]
Everything That Fits Into A Rescue Helicopter
My Childhood Dream Has Come True. I'm A Pilot Now!
Sea Stallion Taking A Selfie
Decided To Go Planespotting During A Long Sit Between Flights, Was Lucky Enough To Get A Shot With The Plane I Was Flying Later That Day!
The Space Shuttle Carried On A 747 And Being Escorted By Two F-18’s
I saw the 747 with the Enterprise in '83, near Amsterdam, quite impressive
The Blue Angels Posted This To Their Fb Page After They Were Joined By The Thunderbirds And The Canadian Snowbirds
The Only Picture Ever Taken Of Concorde Flying At Mach 2 (1,350 Mph). Taken From An Raf Tornado Fighter Jet, Which Only Rendezvoused With Concorde For 4 Minutes Over The Irish Sea: The Tornado Was Rapidly Running Out Of Fuel, Struggling To Keep Up With Concorde At Mach 2
Good write up here: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/heres-the-only-picture-of-concorde-flying-at-supersonic-speed/amp/ Concorde had to slow down as the Tornado couldn’t keep up in supercruise - using reheat uses massive amounts of fuel.
Bomb Tags From Every Mission My Grandfather's B-17 Did During Wwii (Included Are The Two D-Day Tags). Included On Each Tag Are Descriptors Of The Run Such As Weather, Location, Elevation, Payload, Etc
25 missions was the number needed to rotate home in WW2. This crew (or maybe just the plane) flew over 50... Brave and Fortunate men.
Maiden Flight Of The Thiccest Boi
10 Years Since The Miracle On The Hudson
Unbelievable skill of an incredibly experienced and downright intuitive pilot, Captain Sullenberger. Even though the majority of water landings do not end well, Sully managed to bring the plane down smoothly and safely, with zero fatalities—-and Sully wasn’t a young man at the time, which perfectly illustrates the priceless value of long years of experience, especially in fields where inexperience can cost lives. If anyone but Sully had been in the pilot’s seat that day, I doubt this crash would’ve ended so miraculously. If Sully had been forced to retire, and some young hot dog pilot was put in that cockpit that day, the plane would probably have crashed in a populated place and killed people on the ground, as well as everyone on board. Don’t throw people away, ignore them, or out and out disrespect them (you know, the dismissive, cruel, and derisive “OK Boomer” b******t), simply because they’re older, because you then throw away their sorely needed experience and expertise, to keep your company—-or family—-running cohesively.
Boeing 747 Rainbow Contrails
For Those Of Us Who Love The Spit
Haha
Looks like the bottom right might have actually sneezed out a helicopter.
Thank You To Those Who Work At 1:00 A.m. In Snowstorms So People Can Travel
A Lucky P-47 And Its Pilot From WWII
Wow. I can only imagine what a bear it was to bring this plane back in one piece with such a large hole blown in one propeller, not to mention other damage.. Must’ve made awful balance and power issues. Kudos to the crew.
Plane Crossing Today's Eclipse
When She’s Out Of Your League
An Air Canada 787 Bursts Through The Mist In Stunning Fashion At Heathrow
100 Years Of The Raf Spelled Out By 22 Eurofighter Typhoons Over Buckingham Palace
Took me a couple seconds to see the 💯 in the formation but this is amazing!
I Asked To Take A Photo Of The Flight Deck Of The 787-9 I Was On. The Captain Said, "No I Have A Better Idea". No Matter How Many Years Pass, The Excitement Of Sitting In The Captain's Seat Never Fades. Even At 20
A United Airlines Boeing Dreamliner Holds Position At San Francisco As A British Airways Boeing Beautifully Descends Through The Fog To Land
Somebody Had An Expensive Oopsie At Ord Last Night
That's going to be a very expensive bandaid or just use duct tape.
A Patch Being Worn By Fighter Pilots Of The Taiwanese Air Force
52,000 Christmas Lights Decorating A B-52
New York Control Asking For Help Looking For The Missing Submarine
Sr-71 Blackbird Pilots. Looks Like This Picture Was Taken From A Sci-Fi Movie
Plane
Same here, age 62. My first job at 18 was at an airport (not an airline, no way). There is just something incredibly cool about landings and takeoffs. Back in the day, on summer evenings, I used to park in the lot at the end of the runway to sit or lay back on my car’s hood and watch planes land and takeoff. I was never alone in that. There were a lot of other people, including people bringing their kids, watching with me. Not only is there always a constant breeze at an airport, we also got a great live show—-for free! Sadly, we can’t really do stuff like that anymore, because a bunch of a******s ruined it for us. But I have some extremely fond memories of spending summer evenings like that, and the camaraderie of the other people there, comparing notes on all the different planes we watched.
Amazing How It Even Takes Off!!
I’m A Student Pilot, Heard Emergency Landing Over The Radio, So We Went To Find Him. He Ran Out Of Fuel 3 Miles From Maf. Couldn’t Spot Him Until Cows
You'd be surprises by how nosy and curious cows are. These ladies travelled from afar to check this out, and stick their noses into this guy's affairs.
I Am A Pilot And Spend A Lot Of Time In Airports At Night. I Made This Painting Inspired From Those Long Night Turnarounds. 24.09.2022, Somewhere
Air Canada's First Delivered A320, With Ear Warmers And A Scarf (1990)
F-22 With All Three Kills *humor* [1080x1080]
B-2 And F-15 In Formation
French Nato Equipment Just Arrived In Romania Aboard A Unique Plane With A Fitting Livery
Daughter Flew With An Elite Group Today!
This is truly bad a*s and I love the selfie reflection in her goggles, haha! 😆
Got My Private Pilot License Today
Ground Staff Pulled The Wrong Handle And Md-80's Butt Fell Off
Unbelievable Aerial Fire Fighting Efforts In Woolsey Fire In California
Kc-135q Stratotanker Has A Weird Shadow
I’m 15 And For Now I Can’t Go To An Airport To Do Some Plane Spotting. So Instead, My Parents Bought Me A Nikon P900 That Can Zoom To 83 Times. And Now, I Can Plane Spot From My House. This Is My Favourite Pic So Far. An A380 Emirates Expo 2020 Livery
I had a somewhat closer view of an Emirates A380 the first week it flew into Manchester. Was driving past the end of the runway when the traffic ground to a halt. Police car presence and a whole bunch of people pointing cameras to the sky. I had the roof down and all of a sudden the sky disappeared. The A380 is one heck of a fig bucker! Regularly see it from my lounge window and you can easily identify it as it so much bigger than anything else!
Dutch F-16
Co-Pilot Checklist
When Your Wife Leaves You Alone With Interiors Decorator And The Checkbook
Flying The Last Leg Before Sunset With All That Drama In The Sky!
Long Live The Ghost Of Kyiv
Flew My Mom As My First Passenger With My Ppl
After 41 Years Of Flying - 13 Years As An A-4 Pilot With The Marines And 28 Years With American Airlines, My Dad Has Officially Retired! Happy Retirement Dad!!!
I never really understood why they would have a window that opens in the cockpit of a plane, I'm guessing it's for safety/emergency purposes? Also if this somehow gets to the OP please tell your dad I said Semper Fi and congrats on retirement!
Shadow
My Favorite Picture Of The B-17 That Crashed In Connecticut Today. Rip Old Girl
Another Shot Of Raaf C-17 At Brisbane River Fire Air Show
What Type Of Missile Is This?
View From Inside A Latam A320neo Shortly After Landing Gear Collapse Due To Collision With Firetruck On Takeoff
Good Boy 747 Doing A Sit
The Antonov An-225 Sure Has A Lot Of Wheels
I can't believe it even manages to get airborne. It looks like it shouldn't be able to fly.
Found A Receipt For A Boeing 737 Purchase At Work Today
Clear Hd Photo Of The B-21 Raider With No Blue Lighting Or Shadows
Boeing 787 Crew Rest. It’s Above The Heads On The 1st Class Passengers And It’s Cozy Asf!
Black F/A-18 F Super Hornet
Us Midway And Uss Independence Docked Together
F-22 Power Loop Photo Composition
3 Years Ago I Had My First Flight - Today I Had My First Flight As An Airline First Officer
Boeing 737 Next To The Biggest Helicopter In The World
Russian Mil Mi-26 for those that want to know, i aksed Aunty Google
U2 Camera Viewfinder
Any Museum That Has Cockpits You Can Sit In Gets An Automatic 10/10
Interesting Switch Located In Every Uh-1 Iroquois
My Daughter Took This Portrait Of Me While I Was Doing Annual Maintenance With My Dad On Our Comanche 260. I Thought I Would Share It With My Fellow Aviators As It Is Getting A Great Reaction In The Photography Community!
My Grandpa's Hand-Written Instructions For Starting A B-29 Engine While Serving On Uss Ranger Aircraft Carrier In The Early 60s
My College Has An Engine From The Concorde In The Entry Way Of One Of The Aerospace Buildings
Awac Passing My House
Infinitessimally minute point: it's AWACS, not AWAC. Airborne Warning And Control System.
Sr 71 Cockpit
The Beginning Of The End For The Queen Of The Sky
Aftermath Of A Lightning Strike On An American Airlines 787-9
747 Engine Turned Into Grill
First And Last 747s
Beautiful Belly
Two Cia Agents Looming In The Haze
As We Apparently Are Into Helicopters Right Now: One Of My Favourites!
French Marine Nationale Bréguet Atlantique
I assume the guy is a spotter, but that would have freaked me out if I saw someone so exposed like that.
You Don't See This Very Often
Why Don't Any Aircraft Today Have Speed/Altitude Indicators In The Cabin Like The Concorde Did?
Which One Do You Choose?
My aunt has my grandfather's flight book, wings and photo from the Korean War in a shadow box. I'll receive it when she passes away. He was a highly decorated fighter pilot who was shot down and had a long recovery in England. He returned to the states and became a doctor. He passed away when I was 7. Wish I'd known him longer. He and his brother did amazing things.
Aww this reminds me of my favorite teacher from middle school. He's been posting pix like crazy on FB since his son got his pilots license. So cute 🥰
My aunt has my grandfather's flight book, wings and photo from the Korean War in a shadow box. I'll receive it when she passes away. He was a highly decorated fighter pilot who was shot down and had a long recovery in England. He returned to the states and became a doctor. He passed away when I was 7. Wish I'd known him longer. He and his brother did amazing things.
Aww this reminds me of my favorite teacher from middle school. He's been posting pix like crazy on FB since his son got his pilots license. So cute 🥰