Aerial Vehicle Operations

Images of aircraft taking off and landing, showcasing various military and civilian aircraft in action, with an emphasis on flight operations and runway perspectives.

Airliner on approach to Landing
238 assets in this story
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A T-38 Talon with the 71st Fighter Training Squadron takes off during Exercise Agile Tiger, April 4, 2022, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. Exercise Agile Tiger advances our aircrews adaptability through joint force cooperation.
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Radial engine floatplane landing on Naknek Lake, Katmai National Park, Alaska.
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Swiss aircraft, HB-JHG, Airbus A330-300, departure in fog, Zürich Kloten, Switzerland
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Preparations are under way to lift space shuttle Discovery onto the back of this Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Designated NASA 905, the SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
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A right front view of Air Force One, a modified VC-747 aircraft, coming in for a landing at the international airport. Base: Jacksonville State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER, CA. - (EC05-0166-04_Dryden) Space Shuttle Discovery comes to a stop after a flawless landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The landing completes the successful Return to Flight mission STS-114 to the International Space Station. Landing time was 8 11 22 a.m. EDT. The landing was deferred from Kennedy Space Center due to weather concerns. Aboard Discovery was her crew of seven Mission Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly and Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Soichi Noguchi, who represents the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. This is the 50th Shuttle landing at Edwards and the sixth night landing.
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Dolphin Rescue - 26-HK-131-13. Hurricane Katrina
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Viewed over the scrub near Runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Discovery is slowed by a drag chute behind it as it lands. The landing completes the 15-day mission STS-120 to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was 1:01:16 p.m. Wheel stop was at 1:02:07 p.m. Mission elapsed time was 15 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 2 seconds. During the mission, the STS-120 crew continued the construction of the station with the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss.
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Anefo photo collection. Armored car guards aircraft from Lufthansa at Schiphol. September 20, 1972. Noord-Holland, Schiphol
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Businessman Walking on Tarmac in Rainy Weather
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Discovery's drag chute unfurls upon landing on Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility as the sun sets on the shortest day of the year, concluding mission STS-116. In the background are the runway's Air Traffic Control Tower (far right) and the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building. Aboard are Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot William Oefelein, and Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas Patrick and Christer Fuglesang, who represents the European Space Agency, as well as Thomas Reiter, who is returning from a 6-month stay on the International Space Station. During the mission, three spacewalks attached the P5 integrated truss structure to the station, and completed the rewiring of the orbiting laboratory's power system. A fourth spacewalk retracted a stubborn solar array. Main gear touchdown was at 5:32 p.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 5:32:12 p.m. and wheel stop was at 5:32:52 p.m. At t
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Aftermath - Aerial - 26-HK-296-234. Hurricane Katrina
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A new Airbus H135 (T3) helicopter arrives at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 30, 2020. A second H135 helicopter also was delivered on Sept. 30, and a third is expected to arrive in early 2021. The three H135 helicopters will replace the Bell Huey 2 security aircraft in service now, maintained by Kennedys Flight Operations team. These new helicopters provide a number of technological and safety advantages over the Hueys, such as more lifting power, greater stability in the air, and expanded medical capabilities. The team expects to fully transition to flying the two H135s later this year, and once the third arrives, the fleets upgrade will be complete.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 crew arrived on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard four T-38 jets. In the days leading up to their launch to the International Space Station, the crew members will check the fit of their launch-and-entry suits, review launch-day procedures, receive weather briefings and remain medically quarantined to prevent sickness. This will be the second launch attempt for Discovery's crew, following a scrub in November 2010 due to a hydrogen gas leak at the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) as well as modifications to the external fuel tank's intertank support beams, called stringers.Scheduled to lift off Feb. 24 at 4:50 p.m. EST, Discovery and its crew will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the orbiting outpost.
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A North Carolina Army National Guard Black Hawk Helicopter takes off from the North Carolina Air National Guard (NCANG) Base, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, towards relief efforts across the state Sept. 17, 2018. The Black Hawk was one of 3 helicopters stationed in the NCANG hangar since Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. The Black Hawk Helicopter took off with personnel and medical equipment they are prepared to use in disaster relief efforts against Hurricane Florence.
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SpaceX SWOT GSE Arrival . The ground service equipment for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 13, 2022. SWOT is the first mission that will observe nearly all water on Earths surface, measuring the height of water in the planets lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean. The satellite is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December from Vandenbergs Space Launch Center-4 East. NASAs Launch Services Program, based at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch service.
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040801-A-4686D-027. Base: Baghdad International Airport State: Baghdad Country: Iraq (IRQ)
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis approaches NASA Causeway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as it is transported on its 10-mile journey to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will be put on public display.As part of transition and retirement of the Space Shuttle Program, Atlantis is to be displayed at Kennedy's Visitor Complex beginning in the summer of 2013. Over the course of its 26-year career, Atlantis traveled 125,935,769 miles during 307 days in space over 33 missions.
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ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising
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Office of the Administrator (Stephen L. Johnson) - Locomotive Marine Diesel. Cleaner Shipping, Cleaner Air , Environmental Protection Agency
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Tora, Tora, Tora dazzle the audience during the Frontiers in Flight Air show at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, Sept. 25, 2022. The air show featured 12 performers including Tora Tora Tora, an A-10 demonstration, and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to name a few. An air show, also known as an open house, is a way for military members and installations to show appreciation to local communities as well as showcase Department of Defense and Air Force capabilities. Wichita, home to McConnell AFB, is known as the Air Capital of the World, the birthplace of some very famous airframes.
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istanbul yavuz sultan selim bridge above the clouds
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The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 55 crewmembers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch at 1:44 p.m. Eastern time (11:44 p.m. Baikonur time) on March 21 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Djambi. Two Dakotas at Djambi Airport. December 30, 1948. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
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An autonomous tractor traverses the flight line on Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, Aug. 17, 2022, during an operational demonstration given by Sabanto Agriculture to members of the 375th Civil Engineer Squadron. Elevate, Scotts innovation cell, partnered with Sabanto Agriculture in early 2021 with the goal of allowing vast sections of the nearly 2,400 acre installation to be mowed remotely.
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A big group of photographers in reflective jackets watching and shooting a plane take off. Spotting at night
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug. 22, 2015) U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, lead solo pilot Lt. Cmdr. Mark Tedrow, left, performs a Dirty Roll and opposing solo pilot Lt. Ryan Chamberlain performs a Low Transition/Split S on takeoff during the Kansas City Aviation Expo and Air Show. The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 68 demonstrations at 35 locations across the U.S. in 2015.
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NASA's X-38, a research vehicle developed as part of an effort to build an emergency Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station, descends toward the desert floor under its steerable parafoil on its second free flight. The X-38 was launched from NASA Dryden's B-52 Mothership on Saturday, February 6, 1999, from an altitude of approximately 23,000 feet.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Project Morpheus prototype lander begins to ascend after launching on its fourth free flight test at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 64-second test began at 1:15 p.m. EST with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending about 305 feet, significantly increasing the ascent velocity from the last test. The lander flew forward, covering about 358 feet in 25 seconds before descending and landing within 15 inches of its target on a dedicated pad inside the autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, hazard field. Project Morpheus tests NASAs ALHAT and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or green propellants, into a fully-operational lander that could deliver cargo to other planetary surfaces. The landing facility provides the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid.
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Finland, Rovaniemi. Rovaniemi airport. Finnair airline plane
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Airbus A320 aircraft of Spirit Airlines at Los Angeles Airport, USA, North America
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USA, Florida, New Smyrna Beach, Goodyear blimp (Large format sizes available)