On October 14, 1962, USAF Major Richard Heyser's 14-minute U-2 flight over Cuba produced the photographs that triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis.
TaildraggerOn January 26, 1990, the SR-71 Blackbird set a transcontinental speed record of 2,124 mph on its final flight before retiring to the Smithsonian.
TaildraggerOn July 4, 1989, a pilotless Soviet MiG-23 flew itself across five countries before crashing into a Belgian home - a Cold War incident with lasting lessons for pilots.
TowerThe XB-70 Valkyrie - America's only Mach-3 strategic bomber - was cancelled by McNamara, lost one airframe in a midair collision, and survives today in Dayton.
TaildraggerOperation Vittles proved a blockaded city of 2.5 million could be sustained entirely by air - and produced one of aviation's most unlikely heroes.
TaildraggerThe XB-70 Valkyrie was America's Mach 3 nuclear bomber - a Cold War engineering triumph made strategically obsolete before its first prototype ever flew.
TaildraggerHow a Utah C-54 pilot's unauthorized candy drops over blockaded Berlin became Operation Little Vittles and helped the West win the Cold War's first standoff.
TaildraggerThe North American XB-70 Valkyrie flew at Mach 3 and rode its own shockwave over the Mojave, but strategic politics and a fatal midair collision ensured only one would survive to reach a museum.
TaildraggerOn September 1, 1983, KAL Flight 007 was shot down by a Soviet fighter after a single navigation mode error sent 269 people 300 miles off course - and directly triggered civilian GPS.
TaildraggerThe Convair B-36 Peacemaker was the largest combat aircraft ever mass-produced, holding nuclear deterrence watch from 1948 to 1959 with a 230-foot wingspan.
TaildraggerHow Lt. Gail Halvorsen turned two sticks of chewing gum into Operation Little Vittles, dropping over 23 tons of candy on blockaded West Berlin.
TaildraggerThe 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.
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