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.
The former Air Force historian asks, "Can anyone dispute that I had the most interesting job in the entire Air Force?"
May 2010
| By Perry Turner
A small band of helicopter pilots risked their lives to rescue wounded soldiers during World War II.
July 2010
| By Roger Connor
The F-15C is the only dedicated dogfighter left in the U.S. military fleet. Why isn't the Air Force replacing it?
July 2010
| By Michael Behar
A reader tips us off to the restoration of a rare bird.
May 17, 2010
| By Rebecca Maksel
For one mission in Vietnam, the best aircraft for the job was a bomber from World War II.
July 2010
| By David Lande
The memoirs of legendary ace Robin Olds.
May 17, 2010
| By The Editors
![<b><i>Writer and photographer Ed Darack</b></i> spent time in December 2009 with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261) in southern Afghanistan. In addition to Darack’s story, “Osprey at War,” featured in our April / May issue, we offer a slideshow of images taking during his stay.
<br><br>“The pilots put the tip lights on for safety during nighttime and at dawn and dusk,” says Darack. “They just started this one up—you can see the plume of white smoke.”
<br><br>Many of the Osprey pilots used to fly the Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight, known colloquially to the Marines as the “Phrog.” “Basically, coming from the CH-46, I felt safe in the Phrog because it had two .50-caliber machine guns,” says Captain Chris Meixell of VMM-261, “but with this airframe, we have triple-redundant flight controls, and those controls are routed in different parts of the airframe. The engines are 46 feet apart, which decreases the chances of both of them getting shot out by enemy fire, and [the MV-22] can climb to 9,000 feet in airplane mode on one engine. The fuel system is a suction type system, and if you take a round, it is just going to suck air, it is not going to spray fuel. The greatest safety advantage is the performance of the aircraft itself, which allows us to climb quickly out of small-arms and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile range.”](http://media.airspacemag.com/images/145*96/Osprey--4.jpg)
Scenes of a Marine unit flying the incredible, versatile Osprey.
March 15, 2010
| By Rebecca Maksel
In this tables-turned scenario, the airplane shoots down the missile.
May 2010
| By Damond Benningfield
U.S. Marine aviators to Malaysian MiG pilots: Show us what you got.
March 2010
| By Ed Darack
One of the most versatile aircraft of the Vietnam War appears on the verge of a comeback.
March 2010
| By William E. Burrows
A loud thud. A shower of purple-white sparks. This can't be good.
December 14, 2009
| By Randy Gordon
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Air & Space Videos
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A Mosquito in FlightRestored from the hull up, a de Havilland Mosquito flies over New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf. |
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A New Way to NavigateGPS systems help pilots fly through rugged Alaskan terrain. |
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Need to Know
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Air & Space Interview
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Bobby BraunNASA's outgoing Chief Technologist talks about what's in the R&D pipeline |
In the Magazine
