Articles

Explore in-depth articles on aviation history, featuring stories about legendary aircraft, historic missions, pioneering pilots, and the evolution of military and civilian aviation. Dive into the rich legacy of flight through expertly researched warbird features and historical retrospectives.

AirCorps Restorations
Alan Armstrong 729
Gosshawk 729
Gary Velasco 729

Flight Test Files: B-29 Mothership – The Aircraft That Launched Supersonic Flight

NASA’s modified B-29 Mothership launched the X-1 and D-558, enabling the first Mach 1 and…

Kapil Kajal

Aces of the Great War: Geoffrey Hilton Bowman – The 32 Victories of S.E.5 Master

WWI ace Geoffrey Hilton Bowman scored 32 victories and later served again in WWII, combining…

Kapil Kajal

Grounded Dreams: ATG Javelin – The Mach 0.8 Dream That Ran Out of Fuel

ATG Javelin MK-10 aimed to bring fighter-like performance to personal jets, but funding failure and…

Kapil Kajal

Today In Aviation History: First Flight of the Gloster F.9/37

April 3, 1939 marked the first flight of the Gloster F.9/37, a fast and agile…

Austin Hancock

Grounded Dreams: Yakovlev Yak-36 – The Soviet Jump Jet That Defied Gravity

Yak-36 was the Soviet Union’s first VTOL jet, proving vertical flight concepts but cancelled due…

Kapil Kajal

Snuffy Smith: The Irascible, Unforgettable Hero

Explore the story of Medal of Honor recipient Maynard “Snuffy” Smith, a difficult yet heroic…

Michael W. Michelsen Jr.

Today In Aviation History: First Flight of the Partenavia Oscar

Marking April 2, 1965, the first flight of the Partenavia Oscar, a versatile Italian light…

Austin Hancock

Boneyard Files: Grumman S-2 Tracker – From Carrier Deck to the Desert Floor

Grumman S-2 Tracker, the US Navy’s first single-aircraft anti-submarine hunter-killer platform, served globally before retirement…

Kapil Kajal

Flight Test Files: Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – Managing the Expansion of the Titanium Skin

NASA used the SR-71 Blackbird in the 1990s to study high-speed flight, propulsion, sonic booms…

Kapil Kajal

Aces of the Great War: Bruno Loerzer: The Fokker D.VII Master of 1918

WWI ace Bruno Loerzer scored 44 victories and later rose to Generaloberst in WWII, linking…

Kapil Kajal

Randy’s Vintage Profiles: Travel Air 2000 NC2937

A detailed look at Travel Air 2000 NC2937, a restored 1927 biplane with a remarkable…

Adam Estes

Grounded Dreams: Ryan XV-5 Vertifan: The High Speed Hovercraft That Time Forgot

Ryan XV-5 Vertifan tested ducted-fan VTOL flight in the 1960s, proving key concepts but failing…

Kapil Kajal

Today In Aviation History: Last Operational Flight by an RAF Supermarine Spitfire

Discover the final operational flight of the RAF Supermarine Spitfire on April 1, 1954, marking…

Austin Hancock

Grounded Dreams: KB SAT SR-10 – The Forward Swept Future That Vanished

Russia’s SR-10 forward-swept-wing jet trainer showed strong performance but lost funding and competition, ending as…

Kapil Kajal