Aviation Eras
Periods of innovation in the history of aviation from early flight to the modern age
How Things Work: Self-Healing Airplanes
Several technologies that could put mechanics out of work.
July 2009 |
By Tom LeCompte
Why do NASA launch times depend on lighting conditions?
It's all about the solar beta angle.
July 14, 2009 |
By Michael Klesius
Recreating Frank Tinker's 1937 dogfight
While a group of well-wishers recently marked the 100th birthday of Spanish Civil War pilot Frank Tinker, one aficionado took it a step further by simulating one of the American-born aviator's most famous victories, a shoot-down of a Messerschmitt Bf-109 in July 1937. See the video here:
July 13, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Shuttle in a Different Light
The space shuttle glows in photographs taken by one of its own technicians.
July 13, 2009 |
By The Editors
The hunt for Flight 447's black box
Hope is running out that searchers will locate the flight data recorder from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic for reasons unknown on June 1. The black box is only made to send out signals for 30 days; four ships equipped with acoustic sensors have been searching the ocean nor...
July 08, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Good news for flying-phobes
It’s often said that flying is one of the safest ways to travel, and the numbers bear it out. According to the most recent statistics from the International Air Transport Association, there were only 0.13 fatalities per million airplane passengers last year.That means air travel was about eight tim...
July 06, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Celebrating a Spanish Civil War hero
Frank Tinker, the Arkansas-born pilot who became the most famous American mercenary in the Spanish Civil War, will be honored on the centennial of his birth at a ceremony in De Witt, Arkansas, on July 11. The event is being organized by Tinker's niece, Marcia Tinker Morrison, and the Grand Prair...
July 02, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Ploughshares Into Swords
Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, a legend-in-its-own-time builder of cropdusters, or agricultural aircraft, has converted its popular AT-802 Air Truck into a counter-insurgency, close-air support, and surveillance warbird-wannabee. The armored AT-802U, which debuted at the June Paris Air Show, was arme...
July 01, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Where the Wild Things Are
We’re about to get a peek at the solar system’s
final frontier.
July 2009 |
By Guy Gugliotta
Travels with Churchill
A World War II flight engineer dishes on the most “I” of the VIPs he flew with.
July 2009 |
By Graham Chandler
Fire Hazard
Where there’s smoke, there’s pollution. How can airport firefighters green it up?
July 2009 |
By Sam Goldberg
Unmanned Traffic Jam
To the Federal Aviation Administration, civilian
UAVs are the new barbarians at the gate.
July 2009 |
By Douglas Gantenbein
Fear of Floating
Diagnosis: Collective Panic Attack. Cause: Count von Zeppelin.
July 2009 |
By Dan Vergano
Too Much, Too Soon
July 2009 | By General Robert L. Cardenas, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) As told to James P. Busha
Flight Over the Hudson
Wilbur Wright was a prudent man. Before flying over New York City’s harbor on the morning of September 29, 1909, Wright fastened a red canoe to the underside of his Model A biplane, figuring the canoe would transform the Model A into a makeshift floatplane should he need to make a water landing.
Wr...
June 29, 2009 |
By Diane Tedeschi
