The 1983 Soviet shoot-down of KAL Flight 007 killed 269 people and directly led to President Reagan opening GPS to civilian aircraft worldwide.
TaildraggerHow pilot Gail Halvorsen became the Candy Bomber, dropping chocolate on parachutes to children during the 1948 Berlin Airlift.
TaildraggerOn 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.
TaildraggerThe North American XB-70 Valkyrie was America's most technically advanced Cold War bomber - capable of Mach 3 at 70,000 feet but cancelled before entering service.
TaildraggerThe SR-71 Blackbird flew over 3,500 Cold War missions at Mach 3.2 and was never once shot down - here's the full story of how it was built and why it worked.
TaildraggerXH558 was the last airworthy Avro Vulcan, restored by volunteers and public donations after 14 years on the ground to fly again for eight seasons.
TaildraggerSoviet bombers featured glass noses because the USSR lacked compact radar technology, placing human navigators where Western jets mounted radar.
TowerThe F-100 Super Sabre became the first production fighter to exceed Mach 1 in level flight on May 25, 1953, changing military aviation forever.
TaildraggerThe Berlin Airlift delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies over 277,000 flights, ending when the Soviet blockade lifted on May 12, 1949.
TaildraggerHow a band of American test pilots raced across defeated Germany to seize Hitler's secret jets before the Soviets could claim them.
TaildraggerTen ambitious aircraft programs that were cancelled before production, from nuclear-powered bombers to forward-swept wing fighters.
TowerIn 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.
TaildraggerThe 1973 Tu-144 crash at the Paris Air Show killed 14 people and effectively ended the Soviet supersonic airliner program.
TaildraggerHow pilot Gail Halvorsen's unauthorized candy drops over Berlin transformed Cold War relations and became aviation's greatest humanitarian story.
TaildraggerThe 1949 Easter Parade delivered nearly 13,000 tons of supplies to blockaded Berlin in 24 hours, breaking Soviet resolve.
TaildraggerThe Berlin Airlift sustained a city of 2.5 million by air for 15 months - and one pilot's act of kindness became its most enduring legacy.
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