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August 24, 2009 |
In flight
Just over 100 years since the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight, flying machines are now commonplace, used for transport, freight, warfare, rescue and pleasure just for starters. Aerospace technology is still the realm of both big business and entrepreneurs - Moscow recently hosted an airshow in which contracts totaling $10 billion were signed, and Virgin Galactic is still working toward a private spaceliner business. Collected here are recent photographs of various flying machines in action or on display around the world. (40 photos total)

The Virgin Galactic WhiteKnight2 mothership "Eve" makes its first public debut at the world's largest air show at Oshkosh, Wisconsin July 27, 2009. WhiteKnight2 is the largest composite aircraft ever built and will be the aircraft that ferries the first commercial SpaceShip2 aloft for passenger flight to space. (REUTERS/Mark Greenberg/Virgin Galactic) #

Farmer Wu Zhongyuan, 22, sits in his self-made helicopter in Jiuxian county, Henan province, China on August 1, 2009. The local government later halted Wu's plan to fly the helicopter out of safety concerns. The aircraft, powered by a 150cc engine, took Wu two months to build and cost more than 10,000 yuan ($1,460), China Daily reported. (REUTERS/China Daily) #

In this Wednesday Aug. 19, 2009 photo, Spc. Paul Pickett, 22, of Minden La., right, of the U.S. Army's Apache Company, 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, covers an injured U.S. soldier as a helicopter lands to evacuate the wounded after their armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the Tangi Valley of Afghanistan's Wardak Province. (AP Photo/David Goldman) #

A firefighting helicopter flies over the village of Marathon, Greece on August 22, 2009. A raging forest fire threatened homes near Athens, causing authorities to declare a state of emergency and ordering residents to evacuate, as they worked to bring the blaze under control. (LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

The passenger plane carrying Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi home to Libya, takes off from Glasgow airport on August 20, 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland. Abdelbaset ali al-Megrahi had been serving a life sentence for the 1988 Pan-AM flight 103 Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people, and had been released on compassionate grounds due to his health - he is terminally ill with prostate cancer. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) #

A badly damaged Su-27 jet from the Russian air force elite aerobatic team Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights), dives toward the ground just seconds after the aircraft collided with a two-seat Su-27 (not seen) near Zhukovsky airfield on Aug. 16, 2009. The two Russian air force jets collided Sunday, killing one pilot and sending one fighter crashing into nearby vacation homes, a military official said. One pilot and a civilian on the ground were killed. (AP Photo/Dmitry Karpov) #

An army helicopter flies over a bombarded area in Cano Cabra during a media trip organised by the Colombian military on July 25, 2009. Colombian forces killed at least 18 leftist guerrillas of the 27th Front of the FARC on Saturday in an aerial bombardment in the southern jungle province of Meta, the country's military command said. (REUTERS/Fredy Builes) #
More links and information
MAKS - Official air show site