Time
Explore Air & Space articles by century or aviation era.The story of aviation from early flight to the modern era
Prairie Wind
In Nowheresville, Nebraska, the Air Force learned a thing or two about turbulence.
November 2009 |
By Dave Manoucheri
How the Spaceship Got Its Shape
In the 1950s Harvey Allen solved the problem of atmospheric entry. But first he had to convince his colleagues.
November 2009 |
By Andrew Chaikin
Sweet 17
When a Staggerwing casts its spell, it can surprise even Olive Ann Beech.
November 2009 |
By James Wynbrandt
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Blinding us with science: the next generation of stealth.
November 2009 |
By Damond Benningfield
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
Carrying the Fire
While there are still 105 days until the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, the Olympic Torch Relay has already begun.Some 12,000 people will participate in the relay, which runs from October 30, 2009 to February 12, 2010 (the longest relay in Olympic history). The relay part...
October 30, 2009 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Pilot Survey Was Flawed, Says Report
Two years ago, then-NASA Administrator Mike Griffin got into trouble by appearing to censor the results of a pilot survey that reportedly showed a higher than expected number of airplane accidents and near-accidents. Some accused NASA of squelching the truth to protect the airline industry. Congres...
October 29, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Boilerplate, the Mechanical Marvel
Remote-controlled drones are commonplace over today’s battlefields, playing an important role in U.S. air superiority. But one of the first military uses of a robot is almost completely forgotten—the story of “Boilerplate,” part of the U.S. Army’s 1st Aero Squadron.
Wait—you've never heard of Boil...
October 27, 2009 |
By Rebecca Maksel
The First U.S. Military Pilot
A hundred years ago today, the U.S. military got its first pilot. On October 26, 1909, Frederick E. Humphreys, a 26-year-old Lieutenant with the Army Signal Corps, soloed for the first time in a Wright Flyer at College Park, Maryland, under the watchful eye of no less an instructor than Wilbur Wrig...
October 26, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Are aft-facing airplane seats safer?
They may well be. But don't look for them anytime soon.
October 26, 2009 |
By Michael Klesius
Bad Hair Day
What was thought to be a lock of Amelia Earhart’s hair, on display at a Cleveland museum, is merely thread. In mid-September, the International Women’s Air and Space Museum included in its e-newsletter to IWASM members an explanation of the misunderstanding:
Last week we reported that a sample of h...
October 23, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Amelia's Astronaut Connection
The grandson of Amelia Earhart's photographer will carry her scarf higher than she ever did—into orbit.
October 23, 2009 |
By Jill Michaels
The Brevity Thing
What do you write in your logbook after you've just piloted a rocketplane past the "sound barrier" for the first time? If you're Chuck Yeager, you keep it short: "#1 ok"That's the notation (then) Captain Yeager made in the Flight and Engineering Report for Bell XS-1 Ship #1 (serial no. 6062), aka "...
October 14, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Richard Whitcomb (1921-2009)
If Richard Whitcomb wasn't the most important aerospace engineer of the past 50 years, he was certainly on the short list. The veteran of NASA's Langley Research Center died on Tuesday at the age of 88. Read about his contributions to aeronautics here, or watch a NASA-produced video at this link.By...
October 14, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Alfred Nobel's rocket camera
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish millionaire who originated the world's most prestigious science prizes, was also a compulsive tinkerer and filer of patents. Among the fields that caught his interest was rocketry, perhaps not surprising for the man who invented dynamite.Nobel wasn't the first to think of ...
October 05, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Who broke the sound barrier?
Was it really Chuck Yeager? Or did George Welch beat him to it? If so, it happened on this day in 1947.
October 01, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Steichen Sent Me
Led by famed fashion photographer Edward Steichen, a group of camera men captured the action of World War II naval aviation.
October 01, 2009 |
By Mark D. Faram
Is Winning Everything?
For an air racing legend named Rare Bear, yes.
September 29, 2009 |
By Diane Tedeschi
