The 1973 Tu-144 crash at the Paris Air Show killed 14 people and exposed the fatal costs of Cold War rivalry in aviation.
TaildraggerOn May 28, 1987, teenager Mathias Rust flew a rented Cessna 172 over 550 miles of Soviet airspace and landed in Red Square.
TaildraggerThe F-100 Super Sabre became the first production fighter to exceed Mach 1 in level flight on May 25, 1953, changing military aviation forever.
TaildraggerIn 1987, 19-year-old Mathias Rust flew a rented Cessna 172 through Soviet airspace and landed near the Kremlin, changing Cold War history.
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.
TaildraggerGail Halvorsen, the Berlin Airlift's Candy Bomber, turned two sticks of gum into Operation Little Vittles and gave a besieged city hope.
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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