The B-24 Liberator was WWII's most-produced American warplane, and the Strawberry Bitch at Wright-Patterson is the last surviving B-24D combat veteran.
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 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was the most-produced American fighter of WWII, armed with eight .50-caliber guns and built to bring pilots home from missions other aircraft couldn't survive.
TaildraggerJacqueline Cochran earned her pilot's license in three weeks, commanded over 1,000 women pilots in WWII, and became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
TaildraggerOn April 18, 1943, sixteen P-38 Lightnings flew a 435-mile dead-reckoning intercept to kill Admiral Yamamoto, changing the course of the Pacific War.
TaildraggerThe Grumman F6F Hellcat achieved a 19-to-1 kill ratio in WWII, accounting for 75% of all U.S. Navy aerial victories in the Pacific theater.
TaildraggerOn April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the USS Hornet and struck Tokyo, cracking Japan's myth of invulnerability and setting in motion the chain of events that led to Midway.
TaildraggerThe Lady Be Good vanished into the Libyan desert in 1943 and sat undisturbed for 16 years - a navigation failure that still instructs pilots today.
TaildraggerThe Memphis Belle B-17F completed 25 combat missions over Nazi Germany in 1943, survived decades of outdoor neglect, and was fully restored at Wright-Patterson in 2018.
TaildraggerThe Bockscar nearly didn't survive its own mission on August 9, 1945 - a story of mechanical failure, a shielded city, and a crew running on fumes over the Pacific.
TaildraggerHow a retired Army captain's unconventional tactics turned 112 volunteer pilots and shark-mouthed P-40 Warhawks into the most effective fighter unit in Asia.
TaildraggerGregory 'Pappy' Boyington led VMF-214, a squadron assembled from castoffs, to 97 aerial victories in 84 days - and was shot down over Rabaul before learning he'd earned the Medal of Honor.
TaildraggerSlow, underpowered, and nearly obsolete, the SBD Dauntless sank three Japanese fleet carriers in five minutes at Midway on June 4, 1942.
TaildraggerOn August 1, 1943, five U.S. bomb groups flew a 50-foot attack on the Ploesti oil refineries, earning five Medals of Honor in a single afternoon.
TaildraggerThe F4U Corsair was rejected by the Navy for carrier use, given to the Marines, and became the most feared fighter in the Pacific - serving through two wars across 13 years of production.
TaildraggerThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning produced America's greatest ace, executed the killing of Admiral Yamamoto, and flew further than any Allied fighter of WWII.
TaildraggerThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning redefined American air power in WWII - from an impossible design brief to the mission that killed the architect of Pearl Harbor.
TaildraggerThe Memphis Belle B-17F completed 25 combat missions over occupied Europe in 1943 with all ten crew members surviving, then spent decades deteriorating outdoors before a 13-year restoration brought her to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
TaildraggerBefore Pearl Harbor, roughly 100 American pilots were already flying combat against Japan under Claire Chennault - the story of the Flying Tigers and how tactics beat technology.
TaildraggerThe Republic P-47 Thunderbolt ended WWII as America's most-produced fighter, with the 56th Fighter Group destroying more enemy aircraft than any other group in the Eighth Air Force.
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