The Fairey Swordfish biplanes that attacked the Bismarck on the night of May twenty-fourth, nineteen forty-one
Nine obsolete Swordfish biplanes attacked the battleship Bismarck on May 24, 1941, and every one survived.
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 Navy Curtiss NC-4 and the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic, arriving in Lisbon on May twenty-second, nineteen nineteen
The Navy Curtiss NC-4 completed the first transatlantic flight on May 22, 1919, a milestone most people wrongly attribute to later aviators.
Hurricane R four one eighteen and the Battle of Britain veteran pulled from India and restored to fly again
Hurricane R4118, a Battle of Britain combat veteran with 49 sorties, was recovered from India and restored to airworthy condition.
Amelia Earhart lands in Ireland and becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic on May twenty-first, nineteen thirty-two
On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, landing in Ireland after nearly 15 harrowing hours.
Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of Saint Louis lifting off from Roosevelt Field on May twentieth, nineteen twenty-seven
On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field in the Spirit of Saint Louis for the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
Harry Hawker and Mackenzie-Grieve and the transatlantic attempt that ended in the North Atlantic on May nineteenth, nineteen nineteen
On May 19, 1919, Harry Hawker and Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve ditched in the North Atlantic, failing to cross but proving it could be done.
Wrong Way Corrigan and the nine-dollar airplane that accidentally crossed the Atlantic
Douglas Corrigan 'accidentally' flew from New York to Ireland in 1938 after being denied permission three times.
Bill Odom and the Labor Day crash that killed the Cleveland National Air Races
The 1949 Berea crash that killed pilot Bill Odom and two bystanders ended the Cleveland National Air Races and reshaped airshow safety forever.
The Bristol Blenheim and the twenty-year resurrection of Britain's forgotten bomber
The Bristol Blenheim flew Britain's first offensive mission of WWII, then vanished - until one man spent 31 years bringing her back.
The Mount Saint Helens eruption of May eighteenth nineteen eighty and the volcanic ash cloud that grounded the Northwest and changed aviation forever
The 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption exposed aviation's vulnerability to volcanic ash and sparked the global warning systems pilots rely on today.
Alcock and Brown and the sixteen hours that crossed the Atlantic for the very first time
Alcock and Brown completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight in June 1919, eight years before Lindbergh, in an open-cockpit biplane.
Robin Olds and the fighter ace who tricked North Vietnam's MiGs with Operation Bolo
Robin Olds scored 17 aerial victories across two wars and masterminded Operation Bolo, the most successful air-to-air mission of the Vietnam War.
The Ijmuiden disaster and the B-twenty-six Marauder crews who redeemed the Widow Maker
The B-26 Marauder went from the most feared bomber in the Army Air Forces to the lowest combat loss rate of any American bomber in Europe.
The Bermuda Sky Queen and the flying boat that landed in the middle of the Atlantic
The Bermuda Sky Queen's 1947 emergency ocean landing saved 69 lives but was overshadowed by Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier the same day.
Operation Chastise and the Dambusters who skipped bombs across German reservoirs at sixty feet on May sixteenth, nineteen forty-three
On May 16, 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers attacked Germany's Ruhr Valley dams using spinning bouncing bombs dropped at exactly sixty feet.
The Dornier Do seventeen pulled from the English Channel and the only surviving Bomber of its kind
The last surviving Dornier Do 17, a WWII German bomber, was recovered from the English Channel in 2013 after 73 years underwater.
The Gloster E twenty-eight thirty-nine and the secret jet that changed everything on May fifteenth, nineteen forty-one
On May 15, 1941, the Gloster E.28/39 made Britain's first jet-powered flight, proving Frank Whittle's revolutionary engine concept.
Max Conrad the Flying Grandfather who crossed oceans alone in a Piper Comanche
Max Conrad made over 200 solo ocean crossings in single-engine Pipers, earning the title Flying Grandfather.
The Schneider Trophy and the seaplane races that gave birth to the Spitfire
How the Schneider Trophy seaplane races of the 1920s and 1930s directly produced the Spitfire and its Merlin engine.
Charlie Furnas and the first airplane passenger who climbed aboard at Kill Devil Hills on May fourteenth, nineteen oh eight
On May 14, 1908, mechanic Charlie Furnas became the first airplane passenger in America at Kill Devil Hills, NC.