Tex Johnston and the barrel roll over Lake Washington that nearly gave Boeing's president a heart attack
How test pilot Tex Johnston's barrel roll of Boeing's prototype jet airliner over Lake Washington changed aviation history.
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 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.
Ernest K. Gann and the airline pilot who wrote the greatest flying book ever put on paper
Ernest K. Gann flew the most dangerous era of airline aviation and wrote Fate is the Hunter, the greatest flying book ever published.
Igor Sikorsky and the four-engine giant that nobody believed could fly on May thirteenth, nineteen thirteen
On May 13, 1913, Igor Sikorsky flew the first four-engine airplane, defying experts who called multi-engine flight impossible.
Jackie Cochran and the orphan from Sawdust Road who became the fastest woman alive
Jackie Cochran rose from barefoot poverty to become the fastest woman alive, breaking the sound barrier and founding the WASP program.
Jimmy Stewart and the movie star who flew twenty combat missions over Nazi Germany in a B-twenty-four Liberator
Jimmy Stewart flew twenty combat missions over Nazi Germany in a B-24 Liberator, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross twice.
Kee Bird the B-twenty-nine Superfortress that burned on a frozen Greenland lake after a fifty-year rescue mission
The Kee Bird B-29 survived 48 years on a frozen Greenland lake only to burn during its rescue attempt moments before takeoff.
The Cornfield Bomber and the F-one oh six Delta Dart that landed itself in a Montana field after the pilot punched out
The true story of the F-106 Delta Dart that recovered from a flat spin and landed itself in a Montana field after its pilot ejected.
The Galloping Ghost and the Reno pylon that ended unlimited air racing as we knew it
The 2011 Galloping Ghost crash at Reno killed 11 people and set in motion the end of unlimited air racing.
Bob Timm and John Cook and the sixty-four day endurance flight over Las Vegas in a Cessna one seventy-two
In 1959, Bob Timm and John Cook set an unbroken world record by flying a Cessna 172 for 64 days straight over Las Vegas.
Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club where the greatest hangar flying stories were ever told
Pancho Barnes built the Happy Bottom Riding Club, where Cold War test pilots like Chuck Yeager turned hangar flying into an art form.
The Berlin Blockade lifts on May twelfth nineteen forty-nine and the airlift that moved two million tons on three-minute intervals
The Berlin Airlift delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies over 277,000 flights, ending when the Soviet blockade lifted on May 12, 1949.
The Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk found in the Egyptian Sahara seventy years after its pilot walked away and vanished
A Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk sat untouched in the Egyptian Sahara for 70 years after its pilot vanished, sparking a fierce restoration debate.
The de Havilland Mosquito and the wooden airplane that outran every fighter in the sky
The de Havilland Mosquito, built from wood and rejected by the Air Ministry, became WWII's most versatile combat aircraft.
The Ramstein airshow disaster of nineteen eighty-eight and the pierced heart maneuver that changed airshow safety forever
The 1988 Ramstein airshow disaster killed 67 spectators and three pilots, fundamentally rewriting airshow safety rules worldwide.
Art Scholl and the flat spin over the Pacific that silenced the greatest aerobatic showman of his generation
Art Scholl, the greatest aerobatic showman of his generation, died in an unrecoverable flat spin over the Pacific while filming Top Gun in 1985.
Bessie Coleman and the woman who crossed an ocean just to learn how to fly
Bessie Coleman crossed the Atlantic to earn her pilot's license after every U.S. flight school refused to teach a Black woman to fly.
Bob Timm and John Cook and the Cessna one seventy-two that stayed airborne for sixty-four days over Las Vegas
Bob Timm and John Cook flew a Cessna 172 for 64 days over Las Vegas in 1958-59, setting an endurance record that still stands.
The airship Norge and the first verified flight across the North Pole on May eleventh, nineteen twenty-six
On May 11, 1926, the airship Norge completed the first verified flight across the North Pole, crossing from Europe to Alaska.
The Doolittle Raid and the sixteen B-twenty-fives that launched from a carrier deck no one believed could hold them
The Doolittle Raid launched sixteen B-25 bombers from a carrier deck to strike Tokyo, changing the course of the Pacific War.