The 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.
The Hangar
Aviation history and storytelling with Taildragger. Warbird restorations, legendary pilots, famous flights, and the stories that shaped aviation from the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle.
Douglas 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.
The 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.
Operation Frequent Wind and the helicopter evacuation of Saigon on April twenty-ninth, nineteen seventy-five
Operation Frequent Wind on April 29, 1975 was the largest helicopter evacuation in history, airlifting over 7,000 people from Saigon in 18 hours.
The Phantom Fortress and the B-seventeen that landed itself with nobody on board
A crewless B-17 Flying Fortress landed itself in a Belgian field in 1944 after all nine crew members bailed out.
The Farnborough disaster of nineteen fifty-two and the day the DH one ten broke apart over the crowd
The 1952 Farnborough airshow disaster killed 31 people and transformed airshow safety regulations worldwide.
Wiley Post and the one-eyed Oklahoma farm boy who flew around the world twice and discovered the jet stream
Wiley Post lost an eye in an oilfield accident, bought his first airplane with the insurance money, and changed aviation forever.
Leslie Irvin and the first intentional free-fall parachute jump on April twenty-eighth, nineteen nineteen
On April 28, 1919, Leslie Irvin made the first intentional free-fall parachute jump, proving humans stay conscious in free fall.
Gail Halvorsen and the Candy Bomber who turned a C fifty-four into a candy store over Berlin
How pilot Gail Halvorsen's unauthorized candy drops over Berlin transformed Cold War relations and became aviation's greatest humanitarian story.
Operation Vengeance and the P thirty-eight Lightnings that killed Admiral Yamamoto
How 16 P-38 Lightnings flew 435 miles at wave-top height to intercept and kill Admiral Yamamoto in April 1943.
Ernie Gann and Fate is the Hunter, the pilot who wrote the truth about luck
Ernest K. Gann's Fate is the Hunter remains the finest aviation memoir ever written, a brutally honest account of luck, skill, and survival.
The nineteen ten Los Angeles Air Meet at Dominguez Field and the week that made America fall in love with flight
The 1910 Los Angeles Air Meet at Dominguez Field drew half a million spectators and ignited America's love affair with flight.
Jackie Cochran and the orphan girl who became the fastest woman alive
Jackie Cochran rose from barefoot orphan to the fastest woman alive, breaking the sound barrier and holding over 200 flight records.
The Hawker Hurricane restorations and the Battle of Britain fighter that had to be rescued from obscurity
The Hawker Hurricane scored 60% of Battle of Britain kills yet nearly vanished - here's how restorers are saving it.
The first flight of the Airbus A three eighty on April twenty-seventh, two thousand five
On April 27, 2005, the Airbus A380 - the largest commercial airplane ever built - made its maiden flight from Toulouse, France.
Tom Reilly and the XP-82 Twin Mustang that took twenty years to fly again
How Tom Reilly spent two decades restoring the world's only flyable XP-82 Twin Mustang from a rusted hulk in an Ohio field.
The bombing of Guernica on April twenty-sixth, nineteen thirty-seven and the afternoon that changed aerial warfare forever
On April 26, 1937, the Condor Legion bombed the Basque town of Guernica in a three-hour attack that changed aerial warfare forever.
Eugene Bullard, the first Black combat pilot who flew for France because America wouldn't let him
Eugene Bullard, born in Georgia in 1895, became the first Black combat pilot in history, flying for France because America refused him.
The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik pulled from a Russian lake and the quest to fly the most-produced warplane in history
The story of how the most-produced military aircraft in history was pulled from a Russian lake and restored to flight.
The Eighth Air Force's last bombing mission over Europe on April twenty-fifth, nineteen forty-five
On April 25, 1945, the Eighth Air Force flew its final bombing mission over Europe, striking the Skoda works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.