Gee Bee Super Q.E.D. II
The Super Q.E.D. II first flew in September 2013, and made its public debut at Oshkosh in the summer of 2014.
View ArticleOriginal Air Force One
An L-749 Constellation is the first aircraft to carry the coveted call sign "Air Force One."
View ArticleTravel Air Type R Replica
The Travel Air Type R, popularly known as the “Mystery Ship,” was the first civilian air racer to beat military-backed modified fighters.
View ArticlePatuxent Crown Jewel
Since it's a non-flying replica, the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum's A-1 Triad was built with an emphasis on authenticity. (Courtesy of Hank Caruso) While the Wright brothers were supplying versions...
View ArticleKermit’s Curtiss-Wrights
The Curtiss-Wright CW-19 is a rare representative of the transitional days when U.S. aviation stepped fully into the mid-20th century.
View ArticleTwin Beech Takes Top NAHI
From left: George Scott, Matt Walker and Mike Kvasnik with their award-winning 1946 Beechcraft D-18S. Photo: Jim Dunn Each year the National Aviation Heritage Invitational (NAHI) brings together some...
View ArticleLearjet’s Golden Anniversary
Rat Pack stalwarts Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra lent Lear's private jet an invaluable aura of cool during the mid-1960s. John Bryson/Sygma/Corbis It wasn’t until the age of 50 that Frank Sinatra owned...
View ArticleFrom da Vinci to Voyager
In 1505-06, Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a day when humans would fly like birds. Biblioteca Reale, Turin; Inset, NASA “One can draw an imaginary line from the genius of the Renaissance Leonardo da...
View ArticleDouglas World Cruiser Redux
Beginning next spring, the World Cruiser replica "Seattle II" is poised to reprise the 1924 round-the-world flight made by its forebear. Image: Bob Dempster Any American who can fog a mirror will know...
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Germany Retires Its Last Phantom
On June 29 Germany became the latest—but by no means the last—country to retire its McDonnell-Douglas F-4F Phantom II fighter-bombers, after 41 years of service. Of the 263 Phantoms used by the...
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‘Flying Pencil’ Recovery
On August 26, 1940, German Dornier Do-17Zs of Kampfgeschwader 3 on a mission to bomb British airfields at Hornchurch and Debden were attacked by Boulton-Paul Defiants of No. 264 Squadron, Royal Air...
View ArticleDoolittle Raiders Drink a Final Toast
Edward Saylor, Dick Cole (Jimmy Doolittle's copilot) and David Thatcher drink to their comrades. Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force A milestone historical event took place on November 9, 2013, at the...
View ArticleAllen and Rutan Aim for Orbit
The Stratolaunch Systems production facility broke ground at Mojave Air and Space Port in January 2012.
View ArticleWaiting for the Candy Bomber
Spirit of Freedom is one of hundreds of aircraft that delivered more than 200,000 tons of food and fuel during the airlift.
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Living in the Age of Airplanes
Producer/director Brian Terwilliger’s love letter to aviation, Living in the Age of Airplanes reminds us of the myriad ways in which flying has transformed our lives and our world. At the film’s April...
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Storied C-130E Goes to USAF Museum
The Hercules suffered a close call during the Siege of An Loc in 1972.
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Bata Lockheed Electra
Many of us assume that corporate flying was developed by Texas oil barons and Midwestern entrepreneurs during the 1930s, but it was a Czech shoe company, Bata, that pioneered a particularly productive...
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F2G Racer Returns
Once in a junkyard, a Navy Corsair is now restored and ready to race.
View ArticleAviation History Briefing- November 2009
Two Harpoon Twins The PV-2 Harpoon was the last in a long line of Lockheed double-fin twins that started in 1934 with the Model 10 Electra (Amelia Earhart’s mythic airplane) and included the RAF’s...
View ArticleAviation History Briefing- September 2009
Scrapyard Spitfire There are more Spitfires flying today than have been airworthy since the early 1950s: at least 50, some sources say, with as many as 150 more in various stages of rebuilding and...
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