The five most powerful US Navy aircraft carriers ever built
A ranked look at the five most powerful US Navy aircraft carriers ever built, from the postwar Midway class to the electromagnetic-launch Ford class.
Towermilitary aviation history
From the Bell X one to Mach six, the machines that punched through the sound barrier
Eight aircraft defined supersonic flight from Chuck Yeager's Mach 1 in 1947 to the X-15's Mach 6.7 record that still stands today.
TowerThe McDonnell F-four Phantom and the first flight of the jet that owned every mission in every service on May twenty-seventh, nineteen fifty-eight
On May 27, 1958, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom made its first flight — an unwanted jet that became the defining fighter of a generation.
TaildraggerRobin Olds and the Bolo mission that tricked every MiG over Hanoi
How Robin Olds masterminded Operation Bolo, the brilliant 1967 ambush that destroyed half of North Vietnam's MiG-21 fleet in twelve minutes.
TaildraggerDick Bong and America's Ace of Aces who never wanted to be famous
Major Richard 'Dick' Bong scored 40 aerial victories in WWII, becoming America's all-time Ace of Aces.
TaildraggerOperation Vengeance and the P thirty-eight Lightnings that killed Admiral Yamamoto
How 16 P-38 Lightnings flew 435 miles at wave-top height to intercept and kill Admiral Yamamoto in April 1943.
TaildraggerOperation Eagle Claw and the desert disaster that rebuilt American special operations aviation
Operation Eagle Claw's 1980 desert failure killed eight Americans and reshaped U.S. special operations aviation forever.
TaildraggerThe Lafayette Escadrille forms on this day in nineteen sixteen
On April 20, 1916, the Lafayette Escadrille formed as American volunteer pilots joined France's air war a full year before the U.S. entered WWI.
TaildraggerWomen Airforce Service Pilots of World War Two
The Women Airforce Service Pilots flew 77 military aircraft types in WWII, yet waited 33 years for veterans' status.
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