Air & Space Magazine: September 2012
Features
How Reno Racers Keep Their Cool
At the Reno air races, pilots know that to go fast, you have to stay cool. That’s where Pete Law comes in.
By Preston Lerner
The Astronaut Question
How long will humans remain better than robots at exploration?
By James R. Chiles
Cancelled: Princess, Dethroned
A British aircraft company could not give up the ship.
By Stephan Wilkinson
How Things Work: Space Station Steering
How do you maneuver a million-pound spacecraft?
By Roger Mola and Tony Reichhardt
Burt Rutan's Favorite Ride
The Boomerang could be the safest twin ever built.
By Steve Schapiro
I Was There: "The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry"
Jimmy Doolittle remembers the birth of the U.S. space program.
By William D. Putman and Eugene M. Emme
Airman Down
Rescue aircraft are different today, but "surrender" is still a dirty word.
By Stephen Joiner
Glenn Curtiss Was Here
A 1920s hangar still stands at a Connecticut airport.
By Richard Mallory Allnutt
Last of Their Kind
Airplanes without equal at the National Air and Space Museum.
By Patricia Trenner
In the Museum: Painting History
Restoring the sole surviving Heinkel He 219.
By Rebecca Maksel
“We’ve Been Hit”
F/A-18 vs. surface-to-air missile: Guess who won.
By John Scanlan
Interoffice Launch
How do a bunch of bored aerospace engineers kill time? Shoot down rubber-band ornithopters, of course.
By William H. Dye
Moments & Milestones: The Bridge Builder
Twenty-five years ago, Mathias Rust decided to personally intervene in the cold war.
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
