A scene from the Army Signal Corps film "Aviation Training in the United States," shot in 1917-1918.

How They Trained

Rare archival footage shows Army pilots learning to fly Jennies in 1917.

Inconel X, a ferociously strong nickel alloy, gives the X-15 its gun-metal black color. Inconel was chosen for the airplanes skin because it retained its strength up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature the X-15 would routinely experience at high speeds.

Why We Miss the X-15

Not only was it the fastest. It may have been the best flight research program ever.

Captain Donald S. Lopez, jet pilot with the Far East Air Forces 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing in Korea, watches his Lockheed F-86 "Sabre" in the final stages of refueling and rearming in December 1950.

Don Lopez (1923-2008)

World War II ace, test pilot, engineer, historian, Deputy Director of the National Air and Space Museum—in his 84 years this legendary aviator did it all.

Cromwell Dixon in his Curtiss biplane at the Helena fairgounds on September 30, 1911.

Across the Divide in 1911

A new biography details the exploits of teenage aviation pioneer Cromwell Dixon.

Sleeping Beauty

A last, longing look at the Concorde.

Amercan idol: Earhart first crossed the Atlantic in 1928, as a passenger. Four years later, she flew solo from Newfoundland to Ireland in a Lockheed Vega. Here, the beaming villagers of Culmore, North Ireland, pay homage to the rising star.

An American Obsession

When she vanished-70 years ago this July-she was as big a star as Greta Garbo. Is that why some are still driven to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart?

“After every 100 hours of flight time we’d have a post-flight inspection that would take five days to complete,” says former crew chief Bob DeVore.

I Remember Connie

A tribute to the National Air and Space Museum’s Super Constellation, by those who flew it.

Steve Fossett at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in 2006.

Steve Fossett (1944-2007)

His adventurous spirit was a throwback to aviation’s Golden Age.

When the twin-engine America proved underpowered, Curtiss added a third engine. It worked on Keuka Lake, but fuel consumption proved too high for an Atlantic crossing.

America the Cruisable

The seaplane Glenn Curtiss designed in 1914 may have had trouble on the ocean, but its reproduction is delighting a whole town on a lake.

Wilbur (holding onto the tail boom, suit wrinkled by prop blast) and Orville Wright (standing at front, cap backward) had high hopes that the <i>Baby Grand</i> would win the speed contest at Belmont. But the little racer never made it to the final event.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Aeroplane!

In 1910, showmen flew death-defying stunts in Wright airplanes. Sometimes, death won.

The gum wrapper is modern, but the medallion, scraps of paper, and builders plate (with the aircrafts serial number) go back to the Hawker Hurricanes years of operation in World War II.

Stowaways

The strange things restorers find in old aircraft.

Curtiss on Curtiss

The aviation pioneer chronicled his life and work in a once rare (but now freely downloadable) 1912 book.

This colorful Bede BD-J5 takes a break from the action at an airshow in Sion, Switzerland in June 1989.

The Elusive Dream

The Minijet, the Weejet, and other good ideas that went nowhere.

The winner of the first Schneider Trophy race was France with a Deperdussin. The replica can float; the original won the race in 1913 with a speed of about 46 mph.

Racing Planes of Fame

A visit to the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California is a tour through the history of air racing.

Charlie Kulp, 82, flew this Piper Cub (and wore those overalls) in more than 800 performances since 1973.

Goodbye, Silas Hicks

Charlie Kulp bids farewell to his alter ego, the "Flying Farmer."

A pilot waits somewhere in the south Pacific for a rescue plane in April 1944.

The Smithsonian Survival Guide

Tales of downed pilots led to one of the Institution's most important contributions to World War II.

A historically accurate reproduction of the Wright Model B, built by the Wright Experience, is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Premier Performer

For their first airshows, the Wright exhibition team relied on the Model B.

Here, the Spitfire leads; World War II statistics say otherwise.

Best of the Battle of Britain

In this corner, the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire; across the ring, the Hawker Hurricane. Which is the more valuable restoration?

Among the first to see the historical value of aircraft, Ed Maloney opened a museum in 1957 and has been adding airplanes ever since, like the Hawker Hurricane. What makes the Planes of Fame Air Museum especially thrilling to airplane fans is aircraft that fly.

Ed Maloney's Mission

The man behind, beside, and all over, the Planes of Fame Air Museum.

Eleven years after restoration began, it’s now a regular at fly-ins throughout the Midwest (above, the Blakesburg, Iowa antique aircraft fly-in).

Restoration: Fleet Model 8

Three brothers, an inspiring teacher, and the airplane in the barn.

The Air France Concorde on display at the National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Where to See a Concorde

There are just three on display in the United States. Here's where to find them.

Finding Fred McConnell

Aviation in the heartland has fewer than six degrees of separation.

Pilots of the Sopwith Camel complained that the engine, guns, fuel tank, and pilot were clustered too close. They didnt know the airplanes very shape generated drag that hampered its performance.

What the Red Baron Never Knew

Computer analysis of World War I aircraft shows precisely why some were deadly and others, death traps.

The X-15 that hangs in the Smithsonian Institutions National Air Space Museum is the first of three built by North American Aviation. It was rolled out on October 15, 1958, 15 days after its original sponsor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, became NASA. Half of its 51-foot fuselage is devoted to propellant tanks for its rocket motor. X-15 number 56-6670 flew 81 missions, including the last eight of the program. It reached a speed of 4,104 mph (Mach 6.06), and an altitude of 266,500 feet.

X-15 Walkaround

A short guide to the fastest airplane ever.

Jimmy Doolittle had a doctorate in aeronautical engineering.

10 Great Pilots

Machines alone could not have pushed the airplane forward.

In a flash, military aircraft adopted the turbojet, and propellers were out. Favorites like the North American T-6 trainer were retired.

Defining Moments

The inventions, institutions, gadgets, and lucky breaks that have shaped the story of the airplane.

A 1942 Fairchild PT-19 Army Air Forces trainer, now owned by Wayne Boggs in Plant City, Florida, wears a Sensenich wood prop, model W86RA-61, for authenticity, and the prop even has original Sensenich decals.

Good Wood

Wooden propellers are like Louisville Sluggers: The distance.

Prop, swept wings, a huge T-tail—the XF-84H was one of a kind.

ZWRRWWWBRZR

That's the sound of the prop-driven XF-84H, and it brought grown men to their knees. It didn't fly all that great either.

Even with careful area ruling, Whitcombs supersonic transport design would never break the design-stage barrier: Supersonic flight inevitably incurred drag penalties.

The Man Who Could See Air

Richard Whitcomb changed the shape of wings to come.

The first circumnavigators were the Douglas World Cruisers.

Moments & Milestones: The Greatest Great Circle

Over the years, the familys property in Newbury, Ohio, became the stuff of legends.

The Soplata Airplane Sanctuary

Of the 20 stray aircraft his father rescued, the author remembers that first bomber best.

The 1935 Explorer II mission was a daring ascent into the stratosphere by Captain Albert Stevens (second from left). Edward Dawson Cochley of Wabash, Indiana, sent this photo of his grandfather, great-grandmother, grandmother, and uncle, who was involved with the flight.

Photos from the Attic

From the collections of Air & Space readers, personal moments in the history of flight.

Bell XS-1

The Need for Speed

How six X-planes took aviation to 7,000 mph.

Only four letters with covers were carried by Lindbergh on his historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927, including this one to James F. Prince, Treasurer of Wright Aeronautical Corporation.

Artifacts Online

The National Air and Space Museum's collection is now easier to view than ever.

Space Tourism's First Small Steps

Forty years ago, Pan American was taking reservations for the moon.

X-15: The Hollywood Version

Charles Bronson starred. The Pentagon had a few minor corrections.

An airplane-dependent Colorado ranch profiled in a 1952 Look magazine article.

An Airplane in Every Barn

A once-thriving organization of rural pilots is struggling to survive.

Pat McNerney flies the Kreider-Reisner as its 28th owner.

Popularity Contest

Which one of six past champions would have gotten your vote?

Airplanes, not automobiles, cruised the Malecon on parade day in 1953 to mark the 40th anniversary of Parlas historic flight.

The Country Where Nobody Flies

Did Cuba abandon its private pilots or did they abandon Cuba?

Viewport: A Visit to Remember

Reader Scrapbook

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July 2008

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Air & Space Interview

Brian Norris

A talk with an airshow operations coordinator.

New Worlds

An Eye on Mercury

MESSENGER's pictures were taken by a very used camera.