John Derry and the nineteen fifty-two Farnborough disaster that rewrote airshow safety forever
The 1952 Farnborough airshow disaster killed 31 people and fundamentally changed how every airshow in the world manages spectator safety.
Taildraggeraviation history
The Montgolfier brothers and the first public flight of a hot air balloon on June fourth, seventeen eighty-three
On June 4, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers launched the first public hot air balloon flight in Annonay, France, launching the age of human flight.
TaildraggerEddie Rickenbacker and the twenty-four days on a life raft that should have killed America's Ace of Aces
How Eddie Rickenbacker, America's WWI Ace of Aces, survived 24 days adrift in the Pacific in 1942.
TaildraggerAir France Flight zero zero seven at Orly and the Atlanta art patrons who never came home on June third, nineteen sixty-two
The 1962 crash of Air France Flight 007 at Orly killed 130 people, including 106 Atlanta art patrons, and reshaped a city's cultural identity.
TaildraggerCharles Rolls and the first nonstop double crossing of the English Channel on June second, nineteen ten
On June 2, 1910, Charles Rolls completed the first nonstop round-trip flight across the English Channel - and died flying 39 days later.
TaildraggerThe Focke-Wulf one ninety and the first flight of the Butcher Bird on June first, nineteen thirty-nine
The Focke-Wulf 190 first flew on June 1, 1939, and became one of WWII's most feared fighters thanks to Kurt Tank's radical radial-engine design.
TaildraggerWilbur Wright and the day aviation lost its quiet genius on May thirtieth, nineteen twelve
Wilbur Wright, the quiet genius behind powered flight, died of typhoid fever on May 30, 1912, at just forty-five years old.
TaildraggerCrashes, Groundings and Cover-Ups: Aviation's Most Controversial Aircraft
From the de Havilland Comet to the Boeing 737 MAX, these controversial aircraft exposed deadly flaws that reshaped aviation safety forever.
TowerFifi the B-twenty-nine Superfortress pulled from a Navy bombing range and restored to fly again
How volunteers rescued the B-29 Fifi from a Navy bombing range and restored her to flying condition against impossible odds.
TaildraggerThe Tupolev Tu one forty-four and the Soviet supersonic transport that hit Mach two on May twenty-sixth, nineteen seventy
On May 26, 1970, the Tupolev Tu-144 became the first commercial transport aircraft to reach Mach 2, a milestone in the Cold War supersonic race.
TaildraggerThe 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.
TaildraggerThe B-fifty-two Stratofortress and the bomber that refused to die
The B-52 Stratofortress has survived 15 retirement proposals and will fly past 2040 thanks to cost, versatility, and a massive upgrade program.
TowerAmelia 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.
TaildraggerCharles 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.
TaildraggerHarry 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.
TaildraggerWrong 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.
TaildraggerThe 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.
TaildraggerAlcock 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.
TaildraggerThe 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.
TaildraggerMax 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.
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