The Fort Myer Trials, the Wright Military Flyer, and the Summer the U.S. Army Finally Bought an Airplane
In August 1909 the U.S. Army bought its first airplane, the Wright Military Flyer, for $30,000 after the deadly Fort Myer trials.
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 Gee Bee R One, the Flying Barrel the Granville Brothers Built Around an Engine, and the Day Jimmy Doolittle Rode It to Victory in the 1932 Thompson Trophy
How the Granville Brothers built the deadly Gee Bee R-1 around a huge engine, and how Jimmy Doolittle rode it to win the 1932 Thompson Trophy.
The Night Witches, the 588th Night Bomber Regiment and the Wood-and-Canvas Biplanes Soviet Women Flew With the Engine Cut
Radio Hangar explores The Night Witches, the 588th Night Bomber Regiment and the Wood-and-Canvas Biplanes Soviet Women Flew With the Engine Cut.
Wrong Way Corrigan, the Curtiss Robin That Flew to Ireland by 'Mistake,' and the Twenty-Eight Hours That Made Him a Folk Hero
How Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan flew a $310 Curtiss Robin across the Atlantic in 1938 and blamed a backwards compass.
Bessie Coleman, Queen Bess, and the Ticket to France She Bought Because No School in America Would Teach a Black Woman to Fly
How Bessie Coleman became the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license - by learning French and sailing to France when no U.S. school would teach her.
Bob Reeve, the Valdez Glacier Pilot, and the 1937 Landing on the Walsh Glacier That Put Two Climbers Under Mount Lucania and Nearly Left His Airplane There Forever
How bush pilot Bob Reeve pioneered glacier flying and made the 1937 Walsh Glacier landing that nearly cost him his life and his airplane.
Doc, the B-29 Superfortress That Sat in the Mojave as a Missile Target for Forty Years, and the Wichita Volunteers Who Spent Sixteen Years Bringing Her Back to the Sky
How Doc, a B-29 that sat 40 years as a desert missile target, was restored to flight by Wichita volunteers over 16 years.
Douglas Bader, the Legless Ace Who Flew Spitfires on Two Tin Legs and Got His Spares Parachuted In by the Enemy
How RAF ace Douglas Bader lost both legs, flew Spitfires on tin legs, and had the enemy parachute him a spare.
Operation Black Buck, the Single Avro Vulcan and the Eleven Tankers That Flew Eight Thousand Miles to Drop One Stick of Bombs on a Falklands Runway
How the RAF sent one aging Avro Vulcan and eleven tankers nearly 8,000 miles to bomb Port Stanley in the longest raid ever flown.
Ormer Locklear, the Army Instructor Who Climbed Out of the Cockpit to Fix a Radiator and Invented Wing-Walking, Then Died Chasing One More Shot for Hollywood
How Army instructor Ormer Locklear invented wing-walking in 1918 and died filming a Hollywood stunt in 1920, shaping modern aviation.
The Cornfield Bomber, the F One Oh Six Delta Dart That Flew Itself Down to a Gentle Landing in a Montana Field After the Pilot Had Already Punched Out
The Cornfield Bomber is an F-106 that recovered from a flat spin and belly-landed itself in Montana in 1970 after its pilot ejected.
The de Havilland Mosquito, the Wooden Wonder Built by Furniture Makers That Outran Every Fighter in the Sky
Radio Hangar explores The de Havilland Mosquito, the Wooden Wonder Built by Furniture Makers That Outran Every Fighter in the Sky.
The Gossamer Albatross, Bryan Allen, and the Human-Powered Flight Across the English Channel on Nothing but Two Legs and a Twenty-Two-Foot Propeller
How Bryan Allen pedaled the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel in 1979, achieving the first human-powered crossing.
The Question Mark, the Fokker That Stayed Airborne for a Hundred and Fifty Hours in Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Taught the World to Refuel in Flight
In 1929 the Fokker 'Question Mark' stayed aloft 150 hours using in-flight refueling, proving aerial refueling was possible and reshaping aviation.
The Schneider Trophy, the Supermarine S Six B, and the Seaplane Races That Gave the World the Spitfire
How the Schneider Trophy seaplane races and the Supermarine S.6B gave birth to the Spitfire that saved Britain in 1940.
The X B Seventy Valkyrie, the Six-Engine Mach-Three Giant That Only Flew as Two, Lost One in a Photo Shoot, and Now Fills a Hangar in Dayton
The XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach-3 bomber that flew only twice, lost one aircraft in a 1966 photo-shoot crash, and survives in Dayton, Ohio.
Voyager, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, and the Nine Days Around the World Without a Single Drop of Fuel Taken On
How Voyager and its crew flew nonstop around the world in 1986 - no landings, no refueling, and 18 gallons to spare.
Alcock and Brown, the Vickers Vimy, and the First Nonstop Flight Across the Atlantic Into a Bog in Ireland
In June 1919, Alcock and Brown flew the first nonstop transatlantic flight, eight years before Lindbergh.
Flak-Bait, the Martin B-26 Marauder That Flew Two Hundred and Seven Missions and Came Home, Now Being Pieced Back Together at the Smithsonian
Flak-Bait, the B-26 Marauder that survived 207 combat missions, is being conserved - not restored - at the Smithsonian with every scar intact.
Jacqueline Cochran, the Orphan From the Florida Panhandle Who Outran Every Man in the Sky and Became the First Woman Through the Sound Barrier
How Jacqueline Cochran rose from a Florida sawmill camp to set more aviation records than any pilot in history.