How ‘Speedy Pete’ Piloted the Fastest Flight Ever Made by a Manned Aircraft
Piloting X-15s to a record Mach 6.7 and the fringes of space, U.S. Air Force Major Pete Knight earned the Harmon Trophy and nickname “Speedy Pete”
Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee: ‘Do While You Can’
Charles McGee never thought much of flying until he started training at Tuskegee. When he finally left the U.S. Air Force, he had 30 years and three wars behind him.
Dive Bomber That Lost Out to the Celebrated Stuka
The Blohm & Voss Ha-137 lost out to the famous Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber.
The CIA’s Cuban Air Force Battles Communists in the Congo
Engines warming on the ramp, bombed up, guns and rockets loaded, the Cuban Liberation Air Force was raring to fly top cover over the Bay of Pigs on April 16, 1961, when the United States lost its nerve.
Aviation History Book Review: Lockheed XF-90
The period from 1945 through 1960 saw a proliferation of diverse and exotic aircraft designs.
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?
Flying on the Edge: Alaska’s Legendary Bush Pilots
Legends are sparked by unbelievable deeds. So it was for Alaskan bush pilot Bob Reeve when he asked a group of mountaineers to push his airplane into position so he could take off from a cliff.
America’s First Black Fighter Pilot Fought for the French
Facing incredible odds and racial obstacles in 1916, Eugene Jacques Bullard excelled and rose as the world's first black pilot
Surprising Story of the Forgotten Soviet Space Shuttle
The Buran spaceplane never lived up to its potential after it was overcome by political and economic forces beyond its designers’ control.
Why Convair’s Speedy 990 Lost Out to the Boeing 707
Convair’s 880 and 990 airliners demonstrated that faster wasn’t always better when it came to passenger transport.
Building Wildcat Wade’s Spitfire Vb
As the Battle of Britain raged, Reichsmarchall Hermann Göring reportedly asked Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland if there was anything he needed to make the Nazi campaign go more smoothly. Major Galland is said to have responded, “Give me a squadron of Spitfires.”
The P-47 “Jug” Hit the Germans Hard in the Air and on the Ground
World War II saw three U.S. Army Air Forces fighters of consequence: everybody’s favorite, the North American P-51; the remarkable Lockheed P-38; and the absurdly large Republic P-47.
Sabre Ace Race: Deadly Contest in Korea’s Skies
A dangerous contest developed over Korea to determine who would emerge from the war as America’s top fighter pilot.
Create Your Own M*A*S*H Chopper
To faithful viewers, the helicopter that swooped in with wounded GIs in Korea was known as a M*A*S*H chopper.
Operation Linebacker II: The 11-Day War
The so-called Christmas Bombings in 1972 brought the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table, but at a high cost
