The Forgotten Story of Midway’s Marine Defenders
Outnumbered and outgunned, the Marine pilots of VMF-221 paid a heavy price for their heroic efforts to stem the Japanese onslaught on Midway Atoll.
Combat Veteran BUFF: Restoring a Vietnam War Bomber
Some of the volunteers working to restore a historic B-52D Stratofortress at the Yankee Air Museum serviced the very same aircraft during the Vietnam War.
Poll Triplane: What Happened to This German Giant?
The Poll Giant would have been World War I’s biggest bomber—had it actually been completed.
Lindbergh’s Path to Glory and Everlasting Fame
Before he gained a worldwide reputation as "Lucky Lindy," Charles A. Lindbergh developed a solid repertoire of aviation skills.
Why Did This Crazy Kitplane Kill So Many Pilots?
Jim Bede aimed high with his little homebuilt BD-5 bullet, but engine woes and questionable financial moves caused him to overshoot the target.
What Happened to the Soviet Supersonic Transport?
Dubbed the “Concordski” by Western journalists, the Tupolev Tu-144 never achieved the success of its Anglo-French counterpart.
Why Britain’s World War II Turret Fighters Failed
Arming a fighter plane with nothing more than a four-gun turret proved unique—but not brilliantly successful.
Building a Boulton Paul Defiant Mk. I
The Boulton Paul Defiant was a curious sort of fighter. The British airplane was designed around a single motorized turret with a mean-looking set of four .303-inch Browning machine guns.
Danger and Death in the Air: The King of Hollywood Stunt Pilots
Stunt pilot and air racer Paul Mantz flew in more than 250 movies and once owned the world’s seventh largest air force.
Why Did the French Air Force Fail in 1940?
Shortages of aircraft and pilots are often cited, but a lack of leadership and misunderstanding of how best to employ air power were the root causes.
Giving the Machine Gun Wings
On April 1, 1915, Roland Garros took off in a Morane-Saulnier L from an airfield in northern France, planning to play an April Fool’s Day trick on the Germans.
Build Your Own Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
During Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944, Observation Fighter Squadron 1 (VOF-1) pilots Ensign Alfred Wood and Lt. (j.g.) Edward Olszewski took turns flying the same Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, shooting down a total of four German aircraft.
Perfect Trap: The Godfather of Naval Aviation
Remarkable career of naval aviation pioneer Frederick “Trap” Trapnell encompassed biplanes, airships, WWII fighters, research planes and early carrier jets.
Jesse L. Brown: The U.S. Navy’s First Black Aviator
The son of a sharecropper, Mississippi-born Jesse Leroy Brown would do whatever it took to become a pilot and break the navy's color barrier
Mystery of the Tuskegee Top Guns’ Missing Trophy
After a group of Tuskegee pilots win a 1949 Air Force competition, their trophy mysteriously goes missing. Was it a military screw-up or racial animus?
