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37-454: The South African Airways Museum Society is an aviation museum based at Rand Airport in Germiston , Gauteng, South Africa. The museum was founded in 1986 and houses a collection of South African Airways memorabilia such as photos and aircraft scale models. The museum also has a collection of static display aircraft including two Boeing 747s donated to them in 2004 and 2006. The museum

74-645: A Boeing 737-200 , the 747-244B and the 747SP-44. In 1984 the Ju 52 was still flying on an informal basis and not generating the funds required to support itself. In 1989, Captain Flippie Vermeulen, the pilot in charge of the Ju 52, submitted a request for the formation of a profit centre within SAA to manage the Ju 52 operation. Approval was received 23 November 1993. The Historic Flight operated out of Johannesburg International Airport . In 1993, after negotiation with

111-755: A decision was made by SAA to shut down the SAA Historic Flight and dispose of its assets. Vermeulen negotiated with the Transnet Heritage Foundation to take over the aircraft and the SAA Historic Flight became the SA Historic Flight. In 2006 the Historic Flight moved from Johannesburg International Airport to Rand Airport in Germiston. At the end of 2007 all the SA Historic Flight's assets were donated to

148-604: A lifting gas, though practical demonstration awaited a gas-tight balloon material. On hearing of the Montgolfier Brothers' invitation, the French Academy member Jacques Charles offered a similar demonstration of a hydrogen balloon. Charles and two craftsmen, the Robert brothers, developed a gas-tight material of rubberised silk for the envelope. The hydrogen gas was to be generated by chemical reaction during

185-426: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This aviation -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design , and manufacturing of air flight -capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere . While the term originally referred solely to operating

222-418: Is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction . Rocket engines push rockets forwards simply by throwing their exhaust backwards extremely fast. Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China . Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry

259-593: Is funded by entrance fees to the museum and by renting out the aircraft interiors for corporate functions. The flying aircraft of the museum are known as the South African Historic Flight collection, the aircraft are owned by the South African Airways Museum Society and are leased to the company Skyclass Aviation, who operate them for charter usage. The South African Airways Museum Society (SAA Museum Society)

296-421: Is the art or practice of aeronautics. Historically aviation meant only heavier-than-air flight, but nowadays it includes flying in balloons and airships. Aeronautical engineering covers the design and construction of aircraft, including how they are powered, how they are used and how they are controlled for safe operation. A major part of aeronautical engineering is aerodynamics , the science of passing through

333-462: Is widely acknowledged as the founder of modern aeronautics. He was first called the "father of the aeroplane" in 1846 and Henson called him the "father of aerial navigation." He was the first true scientific aerial investigator to publish his work, which included for the first time the underlying principles and forces of flight. In 1809 he began the publication of a landmark three-part treatise titled "On Aerial Navigation" (1809–1810). In it he wrote

370-461: The Rozière. The principle was to use the hydrogen section for constant lift and to navigate vertically by heating and allowing to cool the hot air section, in order to catch the most favourable wind at whatever altitude it was blowing. The balloon envelope was made of goldbeater's skin . The first flight ended in disaster and the approach has seldom been used since. Sir George Cayley (1773–1857)

407-572: The South African Air Force , the Historic Flight acquired a Douglas DC-3 and a Douglas DC-4 . The DC-4 was delivered with a certificate of airworthiness and Vermeulen was able to introduce it to service before the Historic Flight was formally approved by SAA. The SAA Historic Flight was approved and Vermeulen acquired a second DC-3 and a second DC-4. The aircraft performed at airshows in America and Europe from 1994 to 2000. In 1999,

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444-407: The "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders , therefore making the idea of " heavier than air " a reality. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favourably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical. His work lead to him developing the concept of

481-593: The Renaissance and Cayley in 1799, both began their investigations with studies of bird flight. Man-carrying kites are believed to have been used extensively in ancient China. In 1282 the Italian explorer Marco Polo described the Chinese techniques then current. The Chinese also constructed small hot air balloons, or lanterns, and rotary-wing toys. An early European to provide any scientific discussion of flight

518-591: The SAA Museum Society and one of the DC-3s was sold to Vermeulen. Scenes from the film Invictus and several other films and documentaries were filmed around and on board the SAA Museum 747s. Aviation museum Aviation museums vary in size from housing just one or two aircraft to hundreds. They may be owned by national, regional or local governments or be privately owned. Some museums address

555-485: The SAA Museum requested that an ex-SAA Boeing 747 be made available. Two 747s were donated to the museum by SAA, a Boeing 747-244 and a Boeing 747SP . On 5 March 2004, the 747-244, registered ZS-SAN and named 'Lebombo', was delivered to the SAA Museum from SAA Technical at Johannesburg International Airport . It landed on Rand Airport's runway 11, which is 15 metres (49 ft) wide and 1,712 metres (5,617 ft) long at an altitude of 1,671 metres (5,482 ft), without

592-405: The air becomes compressed, typically at speeds above Mach 1. Transonic flow occurs in the intermediate speed range around Mach 1, where the airflow over an object may be locally subsonic at one point and locally supersonic at another. A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile , spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine . In all rockets, the exhaust

629-544: The air. With the increasing activity in space flight, nowadays aeronautics and astronautics are often combined as aerospace engineering . The science of aerodynamics deals with the motion of air and the way that it interacts with objects in motion, such as an aircraft. The study of aerodynamics falls broadly into three areas: Incompressible flow occurs where the air simply moves to avoid objects, typically at subsonic speeds below that of sound (Mach 1). Compressible flow occurs where shock waves appear at points where

666-452: The aircraft, it has since been expanded to include technology, business, and other aspects related to aircraft. The term " aviation " is sometimes used interchangeably with aeronautics, although "aeronautics" includes lighter-than-air craft such as airships , and includes ballistic vehicles while "aviation" technically does not. A significant part of aeronautical science is a branch of dynamics called aerodynamics , which deals with

703-475: The filling process. The Montgolfier designs had several shortcomings, not least the need for dry weather and a tendency for sparks from the fire to set light to the paper balloon. The manned design had a gallery around the base of the balloon rather than the hanging basket of the first, unmanned design, which brought the paper closer to the fire. On their free flight, De Rozier and d'Arlandes took buckets of water and sponges to douse these fires as they arose. On

740-413: The first scientific statement of the problem, "The whole problem is confined within these limits, viz. to make a surface support a given weight by the application of power to the resistance of air." He identified the four vector forces that influence an aircraft: thrust , lift , drag and weight and distinguished stability and control in his designs. He developed the modern conventional form of

777-476: The fixed-wing aeroplane having a stabilising tail with both horizontal and vertical surfaces, flying gliders both unmanned and manned. He introduced the use of the whirling arm test rig to investigate the aerodynamics of flight, using it to discover the benefits of the curved or cambered aerofoil over the flat wing he had used for his first glider. He also identified and described the importance of dihedral , diagonal bracing and drag reduction, and contributed to

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814-490: The flapping-wing ornithopter and the rotating-wing helicopter . Although his designs were rational, they were not based on particularly good science. Many of his designs, such as a four-person screw-type helicopter, have severe flaws. He did at least understand that "An object offers as much resistance to the air as the air does to the object." ( Newton would not publish the Third law of motion until 1687.) His analysis led to

851-400: The gas contained in a second, inner ballonet. On 19 September 1784, it completed the first flight of over 100 km, between Paris and Beuvry , despite the man-powered propulsive devices proving useless. In an attempt the next year to provide both endurance and controllability, de Rozier developed a balloon having both hot air and hydrogen gas bags, a design which was soon named after him as

888-645: The ground or fly some of them. Museums that do not fly their aircraft may have decided not to do so either because the aircraft are not in condition to fly or because they are considered too rare or valuable. Museums may fly their aircraft in air shows or other aviation related events, accepting the risk that flying them entails. Some museums have sets of periodicals, technical manuals, photographs and personal archives. These are often made available to aviation researchers for use in writing articles or books or to aircraft restoration specialists working on restoring an aircraft. This aerospace museum–related article

925-519: The history and artifacts of space exploration as well, illustrating the close association between aeronautics and astronautics . Many aviation museums concentrate on military or civil aviation, or on aviation history of a particular era, such as pioneer aviation or the succeeding "golden age" between the World Wars, aircraft of World War II or a specific type of aviation, such as gliding . Aviation museums may display their aircraft only on

962-522: The lifting containers to lose height. In practice de Terzi's spheres would have collapsed under air pressure, and further developments had to wait for more practicable lifting gases. From the mid-18th century the Montgolfier brothers in France began experimenting with balloons. Their balloons were made of paper, and early experiments using steam as the lifting gas were short-lived due to its effect on

999-760: The modern wing. His flight attempts in Berlin in the year 1891 are seen as the beginning of human flight and the " Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat " is considered to be the first air plane in series production, making the Maschinenfabrik Otto Lilienthal in Berlin the first air plane production company in the world. Otto Lilienthal is often referred to as either the "father of aviation" or "father of flight". Other important investigators included Horatio Phillips . Aeronautics may be divided into three main branches, Aviation , Aeronautical science and Aeronautical engineering . Aviation

1036-541: The motion of air and the way that it interacts with objects in motion, such as an aircraft. Attempts to fly without any real aeronautical understanding have been made from the earliest times, typically by constructing wings and jumping from a tower with crippling or lethal results. Wiser investigators sought to gain some rational understanding through the study of bird flight. Medieval Islamic Golden Age scientists such as Abbas ibn Firnas also made such studies. The founders of modern aeronautics, Leonardo da Vinci in

1073-536: The other hand, the manned design of Charles was essentially modern. As a result of these exploits, the hot air balloon became known as the Montgolfière type and the gas balloon the Charlière . Charles and the Robert brothers' next balloon, La Caroline , was a Charlière that followed Jean Baptiste Meusnier 's proposals for an elongated dirigible balloon, and was notable for having an outer envelope with

1110-500: The paper as it condensed. Mistaking smoke for a kind of steam, they began filling their balloons with hot smoky air which they called "electric smoke" and, despite not fully understanding the principles at work, made some successful launches and in 1783 were invited to give a demonstration to the French Académie des Sciences . Meanwhile, the discovery of hydrogen led Joseph Black in c.  1780 to propose its use as

1147-594: The principle of ascent using a substance (dew) he supposed to be lighter than air, and descending by releasing a controlled amount of the substance. Francesco Lana de Terzi measured the pressure of air at sea level and in 1670 proposed the first scientifically credible lifting medium in the form of hollow metal spheres from which all the air had been pumped out. These would be lighter than the displaced air and able to lift an airship . His proposed methods of controlling height are still in use today; by carrying ballast which may be dropped overboard to gain height, and by venting

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1184-499: The realisation that manpower alone was not sufficient for sustained flight, and his later designs included a mechanical power source such as a spring. Da Vinci's work was lost after his death and did not reappear until it had been overtaken by the work of George Cayley . The modern era of lighter-than-air flight began early in the 17th century with Galileo 's experiments in which he showed that air has weight. Around 1650 Cyrano de Bergerac wrote some fantasy novels in which he described

1221-410: The understanding and design of ornithopters and parachutes . Another significant invention was the tension-spoked wheel, which he devised in order to create a light, strong wheel for aircraft undercarriage. During the 19th century Cayley's ideas were refined, proved and expanded on, culminating in the works of Otto Lilienthal . Lilienthal was a German engineer and businessman who became known as

1258-427: The use of reverse thrust . The flight had been postponed twice because of bad weather. The 747SP, registered ZS-SPC, named "Maluti" was delivered on 30 September 2006 and also landed on runway 11. As of 2020, the museum has a collection of static display aircraft that includes a Lockheed Lodestar , a de Havilland Dove , a Vickers Viking , a Lockheed Starliner , a Douglas C-54 , a Boeing 707-320C forward fuselage,

1295-422: Was Roger Bacon , who described principles of operation for the lighter-than-air balloon and the flapping-wing ornithopter , which he envisaged would be constructed in the future. The lifting medium for his balloon would be an "aether" whose composition he did not know. In the late fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci followed up his study of birds with designs for some of the earliest flying machines, including

1332-402: Was officially founded in 1986 by individuals working at South African Airways (SAA) and other parties who were interested in the preservation of SAA history and South African civil aviation. The interest in starting a museum began when SAA bought a Junkers Ju 52 in 1981, the museum restored the aircraft to flying condition and have been active in preserving SAA history ever since. In March 2002

1369-586: Was the enabling technology of the Space Age , including setting foot on the Moon . Rockets are used for fireworks , weaponry, ejection seats , launch vehicles for artificial satellites , human spaceflight and exploration of other planets. While comparatively inefficient for low speed use, they are very lightweight and powerful, capable of generating large accelerations and of attaining extremely high speeds with reasonable efficiency. Chemical rockets are

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