Aviation Eras
Periods of innovation in the history of aviation from early flight to the modern age
Tiltrotors for the Rest of Us
An Osprey for commuters? Bring it on. Can we get a quiet car too?
September 2009 |
By Mark Wolverton
Block That Star!
How can we find other Earths if their suns keep blinding us?
September 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Perfect Airplane
Fast, green, and quiet. Come on, brainiacs, you can do it.
September 2009 |
By Ed Regis
A&S Interview: Esther Dyson
Handicapping the space tourism market.
September 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Back across the water
Weather permitting, a World War II-era B25D Mitchell bomber nicknamed "Grumpy" will take off tomorrow from Duxford, England and retrace (in reverse) the historic lend-lease route by which U.S. airplanes were delivered to Europe in the 1940s. The airplane, which saw its first duty with the Royal ...
August 28, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
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
Virtual Blue Yonder
You might have the right stuff to be a Blue Angel pilot: a computer and a broadband connection. That's what the Virtual Blue Angels use to fly formation and dazzle online crowds.Established five years ago by former (and real) Marine Corps pilot Bob "Kato" Tyler, currently the number four (slot) vir...
August 20, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Let's Fly the Hudson Corridor
After the August 8 mid-air collision of a sightseeing helicopter and a Piper Lance over New York City that killed nine people, politicians have been calling for a shut-down or at least a vigorous revamping of the Hudson Corridor, the Visual Flight Rules scenic route up and down the Hudson River. Wh...
August 13, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Dog Is My Co-pilot
Debi Boies had finally found the perfect Doberman. Unfortunately, the rescue dog was in Florida, and Boies couldn’t figure out an easy way to get him to her home in South Carolina. Based on her experience with a Doberman rescue group, she knew the animal would have to be transported by car, chang...
August 04, 2009 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Costly photos of Air Force One
Back in April, the White House thought it would be a good idea to take new photos of the President's airplane, Air Force One (actually a backup), flying over New York city. The photo-op backfired, though, when some New Yorkers were spooked by the sight of what looked like a passenger jet being e...
August 03, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Electric Airplane
Quiet, smooth, dependable—shouldn’t we be flying these by now?
August 2009 |
By Peter Garrison
Secret Space Shuttles
When you’re 200 miles up, it’s easy to hide what you’re up to.
August 2009 |
By Michael Cassutt
A&S Interview: Brig. Gen. Iftach Spector
Israeli Air Force Ace, teacher, author
August 2009 |
By Peter Mersky
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
