Early Flight
The first decades of aviation, marked by the Wright brothers’ first powered flight in 1903
Artifacts on the Road
A gallery of traveling air- and spacecraft loaned out by the Smithsonian.
September 18, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
The Weird World of Folk Aviators
With his whimsical sculptures, Gregory Bryant celebrates early ideas about winged flight.
May 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Finley Hunt’s Flying Machine
Designs for a fanciful Civil War airplane fetch big bucks at auction.
September 30, 2011 |
By Mary Paltzer
The First Across the Continent
A 100th anniversary remembrance of Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz.
September 2011 |
By Charles Wiggin, As Told To Howard Eisenberg
Wings Over Washington
In more innocent times, it was okay to buzz the Capitol.
July 01, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Stealing the Wright Flyer
Back in 1951, sci-fi author Jack Finney had a few questions for the Smithsonian, like: How exactly would someone break in?
March 24, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
The Unrecognized First
Emory Malick, the first African-American pilot, wasn't known to historians until recently.
March 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Moments and Milestones: Can You Hear Me Now?
When radio communication took to the air.
March 2011 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
The Daring Mr. Moisant
The most celebrated American aviator of 1910 took up flying as an act of revenge.
December 30, 2010 |
By Gavin Mortimer
Coanda’s Claim
The story of a jet flight in 1910, just seven years after Kitty Hawk, may be too good to be true.
December 06, 2010 |
By Frank H. Winter
Glamour Boy
The day Claude Grahame-White thrilled the crowd at the Boston-Harvard meet.
September 08, 2010 |
By Gavin Mortimer
The Curious Case of Edgar Mix
The celebrated aeronaut found Earth-bound life difficult to navigate.
September 2010 |
By Rebecca Maksel
The 1907 Gordon Bennett Race—In Stereo!
3-D photos of early balloons and aero meets, from the Smithsonian vaults.
August 17, 2010 |
By The Editors
The Big Race of 1910
How the first U.S. air race launched an aviation tradition.
January 2010 |
By Don Berliner
A Glimpse of Things to Come
A hundred years ago, the International Air Meet gave spectators a look into the future.
November 17, 2009 |
By Paul Hoversten
