How NASA's wingless lifting body program - from a Pontiac-towed prototype to Bruce Peterson's 1967 crash - defined the aerodynamics behind all 133 Space Shuttle landings.
VectorDick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the first nonstop, unrefueled circumnavigation of Earth in December 1986, landing with just 18 gallons of fuel to spare.
TaildraggerThe Northrop YB-49 flying wing was canceled in 1949 amid political controversy, but its 172-foot wingspan and design principles survived forty years to become the B-2 Spirit.
TowerNASA quietly removed SR-71 Blackbird tail number 844 from static display at Armstrong Flight Research Center, fueling speculation about a possible return to flight.
TowerPancho Barnes built the Happy Bottom Riding Club near Edwards AFB, creating the human infrastructure behind the golden age of American flight test.
TaildraggerHow Pancho Barnes became the fastest woman in the world and built the desert club at the heart of the supersonic age.
TaildraggerHow Pancho Barnes, the fastest woman alive in 1930, built the desert club where test pilots gathered before breaking the sound barrier.
TaildraggerOn August 12, 1977, Space Shuttle Enterprise made its first free flight, proving a pilot could glide an orbiter to a landing.
TaildraggerThe story of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, the desert bar where sound-barrier test pilots learned to be human.
TaildraggerHow Pancho Barnes went from fastest woman alive to running the desert club where test pilots celebrated breaking the sound barrier.
TaildraggerHow Pancho Barnes became the fastest woman on earth and built the desert club where test pilots broke the sound barrier.
TaildraggerTest photos of the B-21 Raider reveal a speed brake design that appears decoupled from yaw control - a meaningful departure from the B-2 Spirit's approach.
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 1968 XB-70 Valkyrie mid-air collision killed two pilots during a routine GE publicity photo shoot over the Mojave Desert.
TaildraggerPancho Barnes broke speed records, organized Hollywood stunt pilots, and built the legendary bar where test pilots gathered after breaking the sound barrier.
TaildraggerThe five longest US military runways stretch over two miles each, built for space shuttles, nuclear bombers, and experimental aircraft.
TowerHow Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, with two broken ribs and a nine-inch piece of broom handle.
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