The Dole Derby: The Race to Hawaii That Swallowed the Pacific
The 1927 Dole Derby offered $35,000 in prize money for a nonstop flight from Oakland to Honolulu, but the race became one of aviation's most sobering disasters.
Taildraggeraviation history
The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil: The Fastest Piston Fighter Nobody Got to Fight
The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil was the fastest piston-engined fighter of WWII, reaching ~475 mph - but only around 40 were ever built.
TaildraggerThe North American P-51 Mustang: The Fighter That Saved the Eighth Air Force
How the P-51 Mustang's Merlin engine and 1,100-mile range broke the Luftwaffe and rescued Allied strategic bombing from catastrophic failure in 1944.
TaildraggerThe SR-71 Blackbird's New York to London Record: One Hour and Fifty-Four Minutes at Mach Three
On September 1, 1974, the SR-71 Blackbird crossed the Atlantic in 1 hour 54 minutes - a record no aircraft has broken in over 50 years.
TaildraggerAlcock and Brown: The Sixteen Hours That Crossed the Atlantic First
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight on June 14–15, 1919 - eight years before Lindbergh - in an open-cockpit WWI bomber.
TaildraggerTex Johnston and the Barrel Roll That Sold the Jet Age
On August 7, 1955, Boeing test pilot Tex Johnston rolled a prototype jet airliner twice over Lake Washington, executing one of the most consequential demonstrations in aviation history.
TaildraggerThe Hughes H Four Hercules at the Evergreen Aviation Museum: The Largest Wingspan That Ever Left the Water
The Hughes H-4 Hercules holds the record for the largest wingspan of any aircraft ever flown at 320 feet, and has called Oregon's Evergreen Aviation Museum home since 2001.
TaildraggerThe Republic P-47 Thunderbolt: The Jug That Flew Too Fast for Its Own Controls
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt outscored every Allied fighter group in the European theater - here's why the heaviest single-engine fighter of WWII remains underappreciated.
Taildraggerbush flying story
Harold Gillam was Alaska's most technically disciplined bush pilot - and his final flight in January 1943 became one of the territory's most haunting stories.
TaildraggerDoc's Homecoming: The B-29 Superfortress Rescued From the California Desert
How Doc's Friends spent 16 years and 300,000 volunteer hours rescuing a B-29 Superfortress from the Mojave Desert and returning it to Wichita's skies.
TaildraggerThe Curtiss NC-4: The Flying Boat That Crossed the Atlantic Before Lindbergh
The Curtiss NC-4 crossed the North Atlantic in May 1919 - eight years before Lindbergh - carrying six Navy men 1,500 miles by dead reckoning alone.
TaildraggerThe Night Witches and the Five Eighty-Eighth Night Bomber Regiment
The Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment - the Night Witches - flew 23,000 WWII combat sorties in fabric biplanes, navigating at night by compass and clock alone.
TaildraggerThe Rutan Voyager: Nine Days, No Fuel Stops, and the Last Great Aviation First
On December 14, 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in the Rutan Voyager, covering 25,000 miles in nine days.
TaildraggerThe Vought F4U Corsair: The Bent-Wing Bird the Navy Rejected and the Marines Made Famous
The F4U Corsair went from Navy reject to one of WWII's most feared fighters - built around a massive engine, refined by Marines, and flying combat missions into 1969.
TaildraggerWiley Post and the Winnie Mae - The One-Eyed Pilot Who Flew Around the World Alone
Wiley Post used a $1,800 workers' comp settlement to learn to fly, then circled the globe twice, discovered the jet stream, and invented the pressure suit.
TaildraggerWrong Way Corrigan and the Flight Nobody Could Prove Was On Purpose
On July 17, 1938, Douglas Corrigan flew from New York to Ireland on a flight plan filed for Los Angeles - and spent 57 years insisting it was a compass error.
TaildraggerSix Two One Zero Kilohertz: The Last Hours of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan
On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific during their final approach to Howland Island - a radio failure that aviation still learns from today.
TaildraggerQatar's Boeing Seven Forty-Seven and the Bridge to a New Air Force One
Qatar's donated Boeing 747-8 has now carried President Trump, serving as a bridge aircraft while Boeing completes the long-delayed VC-25B replacement.
TowerCount Zeppelin and the LZ-One - The Day the Age of Giant Aircraft Was Born
On July 2, 1900, Ferdinand von Zeppelin's LZ-1 made its first flight over Lake Constance - predating the Wright Brothers by three years and launching the world's first commercial airline.
TaildraggerThe Lockheed Constellation - The Most Beautiful Airliner Ever Built
The Lockheed Constellation revolutionized transatlantic travel with its pressurized cabin, 300+ mph cruise speed, and unmistakable triple-tail silhouette - and a design story that's as compelling as the aircraft itself.
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