Lincoln Beachey and the dive that silenced the man who owned the sky over San Francisco Bay
Lincoln Beachey, the most famous pilot of aviation's early era, died in a wing failure dive over San Francisco Bay in 1915.
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The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst and the thirty-seven seconds that ended the age of the airship on May sixth, nineteen thirty-seven
The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst on May 6, 1937 destroyed the world's largest airship in 37 seconds and ended rigid airship travel forever.
TaildraggerWrong Way Corrigan and the transatlantic flight nobody was supposed to believe
Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan flew from New York to Dublin in 1938, claiming he meant to go to California - and never admitted otherwise.
TaildraggerThe Tu-144 crash at the nineteen seventy-three Paris Air Show and the six seconds that destroyed the Soviet supersonic dream
The 1973 Tu-144 crash at the Paris Air Show killed 14 people and effectively ended the Soviet supersonic airliner program.
TaildraggerAlan Shepard and the fifteen minutes that put America in space on May fifth, nineteen sixty-one
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space during a 15-minute suborbital flight that changed the course of history.
TaildraggerWilliam Rankin and the forty-minute fall through a thunderstorm at forty-seven thousand feet
In 1959, Marine pilot William Rankin ejected at 47,000 feet and survived 40 minutes inside a thunderstorm.
TaildraggerThe XB-70 Valkyrie mid-air collision and the photo shoot that killed two pilots at Mach three's doorstep
The 1968 XB-70 Valkyrie mid-air collision killed two pilots during a routine GE publicity photo shoot over the Mojave Desert.
TaildraggerThe ghost of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 and the dead flight engineer who kept showing up in other airplanes
The true story of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, the crash that changed cockpit procedures forever, and the ghost sightings that followed.
TaildraggerThe Galloping Ghost and the Reno Air Race disaster of twenty eleven
The 2011 Galloping Ghost crash at Reno killed 11 people and ultimately ended unlimited air racing at Stead Airport.
TaildraggerEric Winkle Brown and the Royal Navy test pilot who flew more aircraft types than anyone in history
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown flew 487 aircraft types and made 2,407 carrier landings, records no pilot will likely ever break.
TaildraggerAmy Johnson and the solo flight from England to Australia that began on May fourth, nineteen thirty
On May 4, 1930, Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in a secondhand biplane with just 75 hours in her logbook.
TaildraggerPancho Barnes and the fastest woman alive who built a desert saloon for test pilots
Pancho Barnes broke speed records, organized Hollywood stunt pilots, and built the legendary bar where test pilots gathered after breaking the sound barrier.
TaildraggerJust Jane the Avro Lancaster and the two brothers who bought an airfield to honor the one who never came home
The story of Just Jane, the Avro Lancaster that two Lincolnshire brothers spent decades restoring to honor their brother lost over Nuremberg in 1944.
TaildraggerOakley Kelly and John Macready and the nonstop transcontinental flight that nearly killed them both on May third, nineteen twenty-three
On May 3, 1923, Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready completed the first nonstop transcontinental flight across the United States.
TaildraggerSaburo Sakai and the four-hour flight home with a bullet through his skull over Guadalcanal
How Saburo Sakai flew nearly five hours home with a bullet in his skull after being shot over Guadalcanal in 1942.
TaildraggerThe Douglas World Cruiser Seattle and the crash on April thirtieth, nineteen twenty-four that almost ended the first flight around the world
On April 30, 1924, the Douglas World Cruiser Seattle crashed into an Alaskan mountainside, nearly ending the first-ever flight around the world.
TaildraggerThe Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the seven-ton fighter they called the Jug
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was WWII's heaviest single-engine fighter, devastating in both air combat and ground attack roles.
TaildraggerThe nineteen forty-nine Cleveland Air Races disaster and the crash that ended the golden age of air racing
The 1949 Cleveland Air Races disaster killed a pilot, a mother, and her infant son, ending America's golden age of air racing forever.
TaildraggerDouglas Bader and the legless ace who fought the Battle of Britain on tin legs
Douglas Bader lost both legs in a 1931 crash, then became one of the RAF's greatest fighter aces in World War II.
TaildraggerThe Focke-Wulf Fw one ninety pulled from a Russian forest and restored to flight after sixty years in the dirt
How a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 crashed in a Russian forest in 1943 was recovered six decades later and restored to flying condition.
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