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blockade

(Encyclopedia)blockade, use of naval forces to cut off maritime communication and supply. Blockades may be used to prevent shipping from reaching enemy ports, or they may serve purposes of coercion. The term is rar...

Yeager, Chuck

(Encyclopedia)Yeager, Chuck (Charles Elwood Yeager) yāˈgər [key], 1923–2020, American aviator, b. Myra, W.Va. An ace fighter pilot during World War II, he was a military test pilot during the early postwar yea...

radiosonde

(Encyclopedia)radiosonde rāˈdēōsŏnd [key], group of instruments for simultaneous measurement and radio transmission of meteorological data, including temperature, pressure, and humidity of the atmosphere. The ...

Santos-Dumont, Alberto

(Encyclopedia)Santos-Dumont, Alberto älbĕrˈto͝o sänˈto͝ozh-dümôNˈ [key], 1873–1932, Brazilian aeronaut. The son of a wealthy coffee grower, he was a flamboyant bon vivant and lived in France from 1891 t...

airplane

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Side view of jet-propelled airplane B. Top view airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight thro...

noise pollution

(Encyclopedia)noise pollution, human-created noise harmful to health or welfare. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders, with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles, and motorcycles all produ...

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

(Encyclopedia)Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). It was established in 1958, in reaction ...

compass

(Encyclopedia)compass. 1 In mathematics, an instrument for making circles and measuring distances. Frequently called a pair of compasses, it consists of two metal legs with one end of each attached to a pivot to fo...

Whitehead, Gustave Albin

(Encyclopedia)Whitehead, Gustave Albin, 1874–1927, German inventor and airplane pioneer, b. Gustav Albin Weisskopf. He immigrated to the United States in 1893 and later Americanized his name, but never became a c...

skywriting

(Encyclopedia)skywriting, advertising medium in which aircraft spell out trade names and sales slogans in the sky by means of the controlled emission of thick smoke. The technique was first developed (1922) by J. C...