Tex Johnston, the Dash Eighty, and the Barrel Roll Over Lake Washington That Sold the World on the Jet Airliner
Radio Hangar explores Tex Johnston, the Dash Eighty, and the Barrel Roll Over Lake Washington That Sold the World on the Jet Airliner.
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.
The Piper J Three Cub, Lock Haven Yellow, and the Little Yellow Airplane That Taught More Americans to Fly Than Anything Before or Since
How the Piper J-3 Cub - 65 horsepower, Lock Haven Yellow, and endlessly forgiving - taught more Americans to fly than any aircraft in history.
The Schneider Trophy, R J Mitchell's Supermarine S Six B, and the Little Silver Seaplane That Broke Four Hundred Miles an Hour and Fathered the Spitfire
How R J Mitchell's Supermarine S.6B won the Schneider Trophy and broke 400 mph in 1931, laying the groundwork for the Spitfire.
Glamorous Glennis, the Bell X-1 That Broke the Sound Barrier, and the Little Orange Bullet Now Hanging in the Rafters of the Smithsonian
How Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis on October 14, 1947 - and why she now hangs in the Smithsonian.
Harold Gillam, Thrill Em Chill Em Spill Em, and the Alaska Bush Pilot Who Could Fly Weather Nobody Else Dared Until the Storm That Finally Caught Him
How Alaska legend Harold Gillam pioneered instrument flying, never lost a passenger for 15 years, and died in a 1943 crash.
Operation Tidal Wave, the Low-Level Ploesti Raid of August First, Nineteen Forty-Three, and the Day the Liberators Came in Under the Treetops
Operation Tidal Wave was the daring August 1, 1943 low-level B-24 raid on Ploesti's oil refineries - costly, heroic, and strategically incomplete.
Swamp Ghost, the B Seventeen E Flying Fortress That Sat Sixty-Four Years in a New Guinea Swamp Before Anybody Could Get Her Out
Radio Hangar explores Swamp Ghost, the B Seventeen E Flying Fortress That Sat Sixty-Four Years in a New Guinea Swamp Before Anybody Could Get Her Out.
The Douglas World Cruisers of Nineteen Twenty-Four, Chicago and New Orleans, and the First Airplanes Ever to Fly All the Way Around the World
In 1924, four US Army Douglas World Cruisers set out to circle the globe - and the Chicago and New Orleans became the first aircraft ever to fly around the world.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Fork-Tailed Devil With Two Booms and Two Engines That Outran Everything and Brought Its Pilots Home
Radio Hangar explores The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Fork-Tailed Devil With Two Booms and Two Engines That Outran Everything and Brought Its Pilots Home.
The Question Mark, the Fokker That Stayed Up for a Hundred and Fifty Hours Over Los Angeles, and the Army Fliers Who Invented Aerial Refueling One Dangling Hose at a Time
In 1929 the Army's Question Mark stayed aloft 150 hours over Los Angeles, proving aerial refueling and changing airpower forever.
The Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes, and the One Mile Over Long Beach Harbor That Silenced Every Man Who Said She'd Never Fly
On November 2, 1947, Howard Hughes flew the wooden Spruce Goose one mile over Long Beach Harbor, proving critics wrong.
Wiley Post, the Winnie Mae, and the One-Eyed Oklahoman Who Flew Around the World Alone and Went Looking for the River of Wind in the Sky
How one-eyed pilot Wiley Post flew solo around the world, discovered the jet stream, and invented the pressure suit.
Adlertag, Eagle Day, August Thirteenth, Nineteen Forty, and the Morning Hermann Goering Promised to Wipe the RAF From the Sky in Four Days
Adlertag (Eagle Day), August 13, 1940, was the Luftwaffe's failed knockout blow against the RAF at the start of the Battle of Britain.
Bessie Coleman, Queen Bess, and the Chicago Manicurist Who Sailed to France to Earn the Wings Nobody in America Would Give Her
How Bessie Coleman, a Chicago manicurist, sailed to France in 1920 to become the first Black woman in the world to earn a pilot's license.
Bob Reeve, the Valdez Mudflats, and the Stainless-Steel Skis That Turned a Tidal Bog Into the Only Runway a Glacier Pilot Needed
Radio Hangar explores Bob Reeve, the Valdez Mudflats, and the Stainless-Steel Skis That Turned a Tidal Bog Into the Only Runway a Glacier Pilot Needed.
Flak-Bait, the Martin B Twenty-Six Marauder That Flew Two Hundred Seven Missions and Refused to Die, and the Smithsonian Restoration Piecing Her Back Together One Riveted Panel at a Time
Flak-Bait, the B-26 Marauder that flew a record 207 combat missions, is being conserved at the Smithsonian exactly as she came home.
Ivan Gates, Clyde Pangborn, and the Gates Flying Circus, the Barnstorming Outfit That Sold a Million Dollar Rides at a Dollar a Head
How Ivan Gates and Clyde Pangborn built the Gates Flying Circus, sold dollar airplane rides, and flew the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific.
Operation Chastise, the Dambusters, and the Bouncing Bomb That Skipped Across a Reservoir to Break the Dams of the Ruhr
How the RAF's 1943 Dambusters raid used Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb to breach the Ruhr dams - and what it cost.
Roscoe Turner, Gilmore the Flying Lion, and the Powder-Blue Showman Who Won the Thompson Trophy Three Times
Roscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times, flew with a lion named Gilmore, and helped drive early aviation technology.
The Cornfield Bomber, the F One Oh Six Delta Dart That Recovered From a Flat Spin, Landed Itself in a Montana Field, and Sat There Idling While Its Pilot Floated Down Under a Parachute
The Cornfield Bomber: how an F-106 recovered from a flat spin, landed itself in a Montana field, and flew again for years.