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.
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Rudolf Hess and the solo Messerschmitt flight to Scotland that nobody ordered on May tenth, nineteen forty-one
On May 10, 1941, Rudolf Hess flew a Messerschmitt Bf 110 solo from Germany to Scotland in one of aviation's most bizarre unauthorized missions.
TaildraggerThe Travel Air Mystery Ship and the civilian racer that humiliated every military fighter at the nineteen twenty-nine Cleveland Air Races
How a secret civilian racer from Wichita humiliated every military fighter at the 1929 Cleveland Air Races and changed American aviation.
TaildraggerRichard Byrd and Floyd Bennett and the North Pole flight that history still argues about on May eighth, nineteen twenty-six
The 1926 Byrd-Bennett North Pole flight remains aviation's most debated claim - here's what happened and why historians still argue.
TaildraggerTen scrapped aircraft programs that ambition built and history buried
Ten ambitious aircraft programs that were cancelled before production, from nuclear-powered bombers to forward-swept wing fighters.
TowerMathias Rust and the teenage Cessna pilot who landed in Red Square
In 1987, 19-year-old Mathias Rust flew a rented Cessna 172 from Helsinki to Moscow's Red Square, exposing Soviet air defense failures and reshaping Cold War politics.
TaildraggerLincoln Beachey and the dive that silenced the man who owned the sky over San Francisco Bay
Lincoln Beachey, the most famous pilot of aviation's early era, died in a wing failure dive over San Francisco Bay in 1915.
TaildraggerThe Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst and the thirty-seven seconds that ended the age of the airship on May sixth, nineteen thirty-seven
The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst on May 6, 1937 destroyed the world's largest airship in 37 seconds and ended rigid airship travel forever.
TaildraggerWrong Way Corrigan and the transatlantic flight nobody was supposed to believe
Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan flew from New York to Dublin in 1938, claiming he meant to go to California - and never admitted otherwise.
TaildraggerWilliam Rankin and the forty-minute fall through a thunderstorm at forty-seven thousand feet
In 1959, Marine pilot William Rankin ejected at 47,000 feet and survived 40 minutes inside a thunderstorm.
TaildraggerThirty Years of the Boeing Triple Seven and why the best-selling widebody is still the airplane airlines reach for first
The Boeing 777 marks 30 years as the best-selling long-haul widebody in commercial aviation history, with over 2,000 deliveries.
TowerEric Winkle Brown and the Royal Navy test pilot who flew more aircraft types than anyone in history
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown flew 487 aircraft types and made 2,407 carrier landings, records no pilot will likely ever break.
TaildraggerAmy Johnson and the solo flight from England to Australia that began on May fourth, nineteen thirty
On May 4, 1930, Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in a secondhand biplane with just 75 hours in her logbook.
TaildraggerPancho Barnes and the fastest woman alive who built a desert saloon for test pilots
Pancho Barnes broke speed records, organized Hollywood stunt pilots, and built the legendary bar where test pilots gathered after breaking the sound barrier.
TaildraggerOakley Kelly and John Macready and the nonstop transcontinental flight that nearly killed them both on May third, nineteen twenty-three
On May 3, 1923, Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready completed the first nonstop transcontinental flight across the United States.
TaildraggerSaburo Sakai and the four-hour flight home with a bullet through his skull over Guadalcanal
How Saburo Sakai flew nearly five hours home with a bullet in his skull after being shot over Guadalcanal in 1942.
TaildraggerThe five oldest airports in Canada still flying after a century
Five Canadian airports dating back to the 1920s are still operating today, from Winnipeg's 1920 grass strip to Vancouver International.
TowerThe five oldest airports in California still operating in twenty twenty-six
California's five oldest airports still operating in 2026 span from 1923 to 1930, each with deep roots in American aviation history.
TowerThe Phantom Fortress and the B-seventeen that landed itself with nobody on board
A crewless B-17 Flying Fortress landed itself in a Belgian field in 1944 after all nine crew members bailed out.
TaildraggerThe Boeing two seven oh seven, America's supersonic dream that Congress grounded forever
The Boeing 2707 was America's audacious supersonic airliner program, killed by Congress in 1971 after a billion dollars and zero flying prototypes.
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