Rebecca Maksel

Rebecca Maksel is a senior associate editor at Air & Space.

Aline Rhonie with her Luscombe Phantom. She told the New York "Mirror" in 1940: "I hit a man once. Socked him in the nose...and it bled. He said that women weren't good for anything but having babies...."

Artist Aline Rhonie Tried to Capture All of Early Aviation in a Single Painting

The pilot/painter’s 126-foot mural includes 600 pilots and 268 types of aircraft.

Pigeons fly alongside DHL's parcelcopter during trials in 2013.

Delivery by Drone

Around the world, quadcopters are turning into mail carriers.

There are only 300,000 African elephants left, down from 1.3 million just 20 years ago. About 100 elephants are killed each day. Here, two elephants enjoy a watering hole in the Serengeti, in September 2009.

Pilots vs. Poachers

The future of elephant survival may depend, in part, on aerial patrols.

An artist's concept of Geoffrey Pyke's proposed aircraft carrier made of ice.

An Aircraft Carrier Worthy of a Superhero

Geoffrey Pyke’s ingenious carrier made of ice was like something out of a comic strip.

A Blériot XI Racer, piloted by Roland Garros, during the Paris - Madrid Air Race, 1911.

A Spyplane in 1914

Its mission included two pit stops and an “excellent lunch.”

This Parker Brothers game features a Vickers Vimy on the "Lindy" game box and board—the aircraft in which British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown made their non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919. Perhaps a similar game existed before Lindbergh's solo flight in his Ryan monoplane.

Lindbergh’s 1927 Flight Set Off a Mini-Craze of Board Games

“Lindy Hop-Off” and “Captain Hop Across Junior” were just two of the titles inspired by the first transatlantic solo flight.

This experimental scramjet vehicle can be yours...with enough cash.

You, Too, Can Own A Hypersonic Flying Laboratory

For a mere $60,000 or so. Plus shipping and handling.

UC-123B aircraft on a defoliant run, part of Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam war.

Stateside Reservists Exposed to Agent Orange Will Get Benefits After All

The Veterans Administration follows up on a finding by the Institute of Medicine.

The first inflight movie was shown during Chicago's Pageant of Progress in August 1921.

Bringing Inflight Movies to Airlines Was Harder Than It Sounds

Starting in 1961, passengers battled boredom with Hollywood films.

The Biro ballpoint pen aided pilots and navigators during World War II.

If You Like Ballpoint Pens, Thank the R.A.F.

A story for National Ballpoint Pen Day

Ok for Virginia, but not Florida: The U.S. Army Airship "Signal Corps No. 1" in 1908 trials at Fort Myer. Should an airship violate any of Kissimmee, Florida's regulations, the pilot would be fined up to $500 and imprisoned "in the town calaboose for not more than ninety days."

The First U.S. Air Law Was In a Town Without Airplanes

In 1908, a nervous Florida town prepared for an aerial onslaught.

For the first time in 22 years, the Spirit of St. Louis is lowered to the floor. In addition to minor preservation of the aircraft, staff are documenting all previous repairs.

The <i>Spirit of St. Louis</i> Lands Again

Charles Lindbergh’s iconic aircraft undergoes restoration.

This loggerhead sea turtle was the 746th rescued last winter and brought to the New England Aquarium. The aquarium normally treats about 90 hypothermic sea turtles each season.

How Do You Airlift 500 Sea Turtles?

One Piper Cub at a time

The three present-day variations of the Medal of Honor, from left: Army; Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps; Air Force.

For Service Above and Beyond

Pilots who won the Medal of Honor, from WWI to Vietnam.

Each rubber balloon was filled with thousands of propaganda leaflets. The balloons, launched from Germany, were meant for Czechoslovakia (note the Czech word "Svoboda," or "freedom," lettered on each side of the balloon).

Balloons of the Cold War

Operation “Winds of Freedom” used leaflet-filled balloons to fight Communism.

Getting Married On the Fly

Couples who wed in balloons and airplanes.

★ North American B-25 Mitchell ★ The twin-engine, medium bomber that Jimmy Doolittle flew on the first U.S. raid on Tokyo, the B-25 served in every theater of the war.

B-25s Fly a Raid on Tokyo

Amelia Earhart's pilot's license (dated May 16, 1923), only the 16th issued by the FAA to a female pilot.

Why Are There So Few Female Pilots?

Identifying the barriers that stop women from flying.

Aero Meets Hero: A Cartoonist’s Take on WW2

Introducing Victory, the spiritual heir of Captain America.

Using a “Top Secret” Situation Report, visitors in a new role-playing game use the vast collections at the Steven F. Udvar‑Hazy Center to locate a missing aircraft, and propose a rescue plan for the pilots and their technology.

A Game For Your Inner Spy

Visitors learn about the cold war in a new role-playing game

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