Plane Facts: Landings

First successful helicopter landing: Paul Cornu, November 13, 1907, Lisieuz, France

First landing on a heavenly body: Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong, Sea of Tranquility, Earth's Moon, July 20, 1969.

First landing on inflated rubber aircraft tires: Goodyear tires, 1909

Average number of landings before first solo landing: 50-100

Typical number of landings on first solo: One

Definition of "cycle" with commercial aircraft: One takeoff and landing.

Reason for use of "cycles": Each landing completes a pressure vessel cycle.

Oldest pilot, first solo flight/landing: Cliff Garl, 91 years old, April 24, 2006

Why landings must be to full stop for night currency: safety and skill building

First touch and go landing: Unknown

British term for "touch and goes": Circuits and bumps.

Percentage of aircraft carrier fighter jet landings that are attempted touch and goes: 100

Reason: Need full power for touch and go if the wire is missed.

Nickname for missed wire go-arounds: Bolters

Approximate percentage of landings that are bolters: less than 10.

Max landing crosswind component, Boeing 747: 35 knots

With wet runway: 25 knots

Max crosswind component, Cessna 172: 15 knots

Max crosswind, Piper J-3 Cub: Not published. Estimated, 7 knots

Fastest landing speed any aircraft: North American X-15, 242 mph

Space Shuttle landing speed: 210 mph

Shortest landing ever, with a headwind: Zero feet and zero inches.

Most landings per day any airport: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, around 2,500

Most landings at a single-runway airport in a day: Maybe, Mumbai, 969 landings

But!typical number of landings at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh per hour: 123, most to a full stop

Most time between takeoff and landing: Rutan Voyager, 216 hours

Pilots: Jeana Yeager, Dick Rutan, first non-stop, unrefueled circumnavigation

Longest distance between takeoff and landing: Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer, 25,766 statute miles

Pilot of Global Flyer: Steve Fossett, first solo, non-stop circumnavigation

First successful landing on water, powered airplane: Henri Fabre's hydravion, March 28, 1910

First landing on a stationary ship: Eugene Ely, November, 1911, USS Birmingham

First successful carrier landing at sea: Commander Edwin Dunning, HMS Furious February 8, 1917 in a Sopwith Pup

Fate of Dunning: Died less than a week later attempting the same feat

First landing of a jet on a carrier: Eric "Winkle" Brown, December, 1945, de Havilland Sea Vampire, HMS Ocean

Most aircraft carrier landings ever: 2,271, Eric "Winkle" Brown

First fully automatic approach and landing: August 23, 1937, Dayton, Ohio, Fokker C-14B.

Monitoring pilots: Captains Carl Crane and G.V. Holloman

First commercial planes with autoland: 1965: Siddeley HS 121 Tridents