CURRENT ISSUE

May 2012

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Features

The day <i>Discovery</i> completed its 39th and final flight

Orbiter Autopsies

What NASA will learn from dissecting Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour

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Diary of a Spy

Events that made the U-2 the world's most famous player in the game of espionage.

The driver tailing the U-2 is himself a U-2 pilot.

Wingman in a Pontiac

It takes two to land the dragon lady.

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Lin Xu’s Obsession

It started with a search for images of his hometown in China. Hundreds of miles of film later, he can't stop looking.

A pilot takes a self-portrait aboard the U-2.

Killer at 70,000 Feet

The occupational hazards of flying the U-2

Han Decai (among many others) would find that only a missile could down the high-altitude spyplane.

Bring Down the Spyplane

MIG-17 vs. Lockheed U-2

Alaska’s Denali National Park

Air Rangers

The wild flights of Park Service pilots.

Just one Brabazon made it off the assembly line.

Cancelled: Design by Committee

The Bristol Brabazon was big and it flew. Much more can’t be said.

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The Women’s RAF

In World War II Britain, a new group of pilots answered the call to serve.

Departments

Viewport

Viewport: Cold War and Conversation

Viewport: Cold War and Conversation

J.R. Dailey
In the Museum

The Katzenjammer Kids Take to the Air

It took a cartoonist to paint the first serious depiction of aircraft flight.

Above & Beyond

Radar Love

Before instrument landing systems, military pilots relied on controllers to steer them right to the runway.

Robert P. Mark
Uncategorized

Lindbergh Ate Here

The young airmail pilot logged plenty of time at the local diner.

Greg Bailey
Moments and Milestones

The Pressure’s On

The ingenious—and goofy—modifications of endurance flights.