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Editors' Picks

Printed in Space

If your star tracker breaks on the way to the moon, just hit Command P.

Area 51: Origins

America’s once-secret air base had humble beginnings.

Need for Speed

Airplanes with a mission: Fly faster.

The Invention of Flight

Inventors, dreamers, daredevils, charlatans: Aviation's early years had them all.

Vietnam Memoir

Stories from the war that shaped a generation.

Trending Topics

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History of Flight

Page 16 of 30

Viewport: See the World

November 2009 | By J.R. Dailey

A P-38J-5-LO (foreground), a late Lightning variant, flies with an F-5, a later photo-recon version of the P-38. Only a handful of P-38s are flying today. Duckypoo may one day join them, if not in the air, then perhaps on the ground.

Can This P-38 Be Saved?

Lockheed P-38 Lightnings brought many a pilot home. This pilot would like to return the favor.
November 2009 | By David F. Toomey

Tufts on the Jetwing fuselage and vertical stabilizer would reveal airflow patterns.

Oldies and Oddities: Blown Away

November 2009 | By Ken Scott

With highly trained engineers coming to the United States from abroad, chances are good that we’ll see more naturalized citizens in line for the Wright Trophy.

Moments and Milestones: The American Way

November 2009 | By George C. Larson, member, NAA

U.S. Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager circa 1947.

The Book of Hours

A peek into the logbooks of history’s notable pilots.
November 2009 | By Tom LeCompte

“Any intelligent person who can learn to drive a car will be able to fly a postwar helicopter after a few easy lessons,” Frank Piasecki confidently told the Los Angeles Times in 1944. Piasecki’s PV-2 is shown here on display at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, top.

In The Museum: A Helicopter in Every Garage

November 2009 | By Rebecca Maksel

The Bear has been hugging pylons at Reno since 1969.

The Bear Is Back

The winning-est Bearcat in air racing steps up once more to the starting gate.
November 2009 | By Preston Lerner

The Boeing X-48C blended wing-body, the last model tested in the full-scale tunnel, is shown on August 31, 2009. After its last day, September 4, engineers began dismantling the model, as NASA made plans to move forward with the demolition of the tunnel beginning in early 2010.

Last Breath

As NASA prepares to shut down a historic wind tunnel in Virginia, some hope for a stay of execution.
September 10, 2009 | By Michael Klesius

Accidental first

It's not absolutely certain when Blanche Stuart Scott became the first American woman to pilot an airplane (it may have been September 2, 1910, or September 4—Scott herself gave different dates). But either way, it was an accident.The 25-year-old Scott, who also went by the name of Betty, had won f...
September 02, 2009 | By Tony Reichhardt

A simulation of the Curtiss Reims Racer runs through its paces.

Replicating Reims

A virtual race to mark the 100th anniversary of the world’s first air meet
August 25, 2009 | By Tony Reichhardt

New York to Nome in 1920

In the early days of aviation, any wilderness was a challenge for propeller-driven airplanes made of wood and fabric. And in 1920, there was hardly a territory more rugged and fraught with danger than Alaska.So it was that Billy Mitchell of the Army Air Service, who was always anxious to show off t...
August 24, 2009 | By Tony Reichhardt

Rutan in his VariEze, back in the day.

The Magician of Mojave

Burt Rutan remembers the birth of the VariEze and names his favorite aircraft.
August 2009 | By Linda Shiner

The National Air and Space Museum

Last of its Kind

A look inside the Smithsonian's Stratoliner.
August 14, 2009 | By Paul Hoversten

In the May 25, 1909 issue of Britain’s The Aero, a caption referred to “The ailerons or small planes” (arrows) on Samuel Cody’s British Army Aeroplane.

Oldies and Oddities: Where Do Ailerons Come From?

September 2009 | By Tom Crouch

Test flights in Akron, Ohio, 1956 — the Inflatoplane’s brief moment in the sun.

The Department of Never Mind

A collection of six inventions that prompt a single question: What the…?
September 2009 | By The Editors

The F-14 was the first fighter to rely on a digital computer to optimize performance. Its microprocessor adjusted its wing sweep.

The Road to the Future… Is Paved With Good Inventions

We bring you 10 great ideas that made flying safer, easier, or just a whole lot more fun.
September 2009 | By The Editors

The Boeing 307 Stratoliner was the first airliner able to soar above the storms, thanks to a new cabin pressurization system.

Above It All

It took a maze of valves and venturis—and a trio of tycoons—to whisk passengers into the stratosphere.
September 2009 | By Nick D'Alto

Moments and Milestones: Unknown Unknowns

September 2009 | By The Editors

Viewport: Maverick Geniuses

September 2009 | By J.R. Dailey

The war to end all wars

Each year the ranks of surviving veterans of World War I—which began on this day 95 years ago—get thinner. Now just a handful are left. Henry Allingham, who joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a teenager in 1915, died on July 18 at the age of 113. He was the last British veteran of the war, and, ...
July 28, 2009 | By Tony Reichhardt

« Previous 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next »

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Air & Space Videos

A Mosquito in Flight

Restored from the hull up, a de Havilland Mosquito flies over New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf.

Flightseeing on Mount McKinley

A very close look at the mountaintops around North America’s highest peak.

A New Way to Navigate

GPS systems help pilots fly through rugged Alaskan terrain.

X-47B Carrier Launch

An unpiloted combat aircraft takes off from an aircraft carrier for the first time.

SpaceShipTwo Fires Up

Virgin Galactic sends its edge-of-space ship past Mach 1.

View All Videos »

Air & Space Interview

NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun talks about technology and innovation to attendees at the AARP "Orlando @50+" Conference in Orlando, Fl., Oct. 1, 2010.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Bobby Braun

NASA's outgoing Chief Technologist talks about what's in the R&D pipeline

Need to Know

Why do NASA launch times depend on lighting conditions?

It's all about the solar beta angle.

In the Magazine

July 2013

  • Where Have All the Shuttle Engineers Gone?
  • Panthers At Sea
  • Earth-Like Planets Could be Right Next Door
  • Alaska and the Airplane
  • The Pilots of Mount McKinley

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Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine has been delighting aerospace enthusiasts with the best writing about their favorite subject since April 1986. As an adjunct of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, Air & Space matches the grand scope of the Museum, encompassing every era of aviation and space exploration. With stories that range from the Wright Brothers to the design of NASA's next lunar lander, Air & Space emphasizes the human stories as well as the technology of aviation and spaceflight.

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