When the Fw 190 appeared over the English Channel in 1941, it outclassed Britain's best fighters - until a German pilot's wrong turn handed the RAF an intact example.
TaildraggerThe Dornier Do 335 Pfeil was the fastest piston fighter of World War II, and the only complete example survives at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center.
TaildraggerThe Me 262 was the world's first operational jet fighter - and Hitler's decision to redesign it as a bomber may have cost Germany air superiority.
TaildraggerThe Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was Germany's finest piston fighter - how it shocked the RAF in 1941, how Britain accidentally captured one intact, and why fewer than a dozen fly today.
TaildraggerThe Me 262 was the world's first operational jet fighter - 100 mph faster than any Allied aircraft - yet Hitler's bomber obsession delayed its deployment long enough to neutralize its potential.
TaildraggerThe de Havilland Mosquito was a twin-engine unarmed wooden bomber the Air Ministry rejected - then feared losing to its own speed.
TaildraggerThe Dornier Do 335 Pfeil was the fastest piston-engine fighter of World War Two, and the only surviving example is on display at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.
TaildraggerHow a single German navigation error on August 24, 1940 triggered the chain of decisions that redirected the Luftwaffe away from the RAF's airfields - and saved Britain.
TaildraggerTwo retired Luftwaffe Transall C-160D airlifters are being converted into armored aerial firefighting aircraft for a demanding second career.
TowerAdlertag (Eagle Day), August 13, 1940, was the Luftwaffe's failed knockout blow against the RAF at the start of the Battle of Britain.
TaildraggerOn December 20, 1943, German ace Franz Stigler escorted a crippled B-17 to safety instead of shooting it down - the true story behind A Higher Call.
Taildragger