Airplanes

U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft fire chaff and flare countermeasures over the Nevada Test and Training Range Nov. 17, 2010.

The Woman Whose Invention Helped Win a War — and Still Baffles Weathermen

Her work long overlooked, physicist Joan Curran developed technology to conceal aircraft from radar during World War II

A time-lapse image showing the plane flying across a gymnasium.

MIT Flies Model Airplane Powered by the Blue Glow of Electric Fields and Ionic Winds

The model plane, with no moving parts, could pave the way for new flight technology that emits no pollutants

The 2000 crash of Flight 4590, says author Samme Chittum, was a perfect storm of chemistry gone wrong, a disaster as remarkable in its own way as the Concorde’s typical grace in flight.

This Freak Aviation Disaster Brought Supersonic Idealism Down in Flames

In a just-released Smithsonian Book, author Samme Chittum assesses the Concorde’s demise with the keen eye of a crime reporter

World War II Bombing Shockwaves Were Strong Enough to Reach Edge of Space

Analysis of radio records in the ionosphere showed that Allied Forces' bombing runs over Germany altered the upper atmosphere

In July 1942, the "Lost Squadron," a unit consisting of two B-17 bomber planes and six P-38 fighters, landed on a remote Greenlandic glacier

The Wreck of a WWII Fighter Plane Will Be Unearthed from a Greenland Glacier

The P-38 fighter is a member of the famed Lost Squadron, which landed on ice caps after running afoul of poor weather in July 1942

The Air Force's X-37B space plane.

The U.S. Military Has Been in Space From the Beginning

While the proposed branch of the armed forces may be controversial, the history of the so-called "Space Force" is longstanding

Sean D. Tucker says the Oracle Challenger III is "truly a magic carpet—just a dream to fly."

This One-of-a-Kind Biplane Embodies the Thrill of Airshow Flight

The Air and Space Museum’s new “We All Fly” gallery will encourage imaginations to soar

Remains of Tuskegee Airman Found in Austria

Researchers and archaeologists have recovered the remains of distinguished flyer Lawrence E. Dickson whose plane crashed during a mission in 1944

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When Air Traffic Control Realized a 9/11 Flight Was Gone

As news starts pouring in of an attack on the World Trade Center, concerned air traffic controllers begin to suspect the worst

This Sailor Got Sucked Inside a Fighter Jet Engine

From getting sucked into a fighter jet engine to a misjudged landing by an approaching jet fighter, an active flight deck is a minefield of danger

The Intricate Skill That Goes Into Landing a Fighter Jet

Landing on an aircraft carrier's 300-feet runway seems like an impossible task

Fifty Years Ago, Airline Diplomacy Sought to Bring the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Closer Together

Hopes for a Cold War détente were sky high when the first American and Soviet flights took off 50 years ago

Airbus and Zodiac Aerospace have teamed up on lower-deck modules like this one, with sleeping berths.

Seven Airplane Innovations That Could Change How We Travel

In-flight virtual reality entertainment? Bunk beds in the cargo hold? These innovations may be the future of flight.

A Curtiss "Jenny" biplane carrying mail for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before takeoff from the Polo Grounds in Washington, D.C.

Delivering the Mail Was Once One of the Riskiest Jobs in America

A new exhibition at the National Postal Museum honors the nation’s first airmail pilots

“Inverted Jennies” grew in notoriety; as one writer note, they “blossomed into the Taj Mahal of stamps."

How the Inverted Jenny, a 24-Cent Stamp, Came to Be Worth a Fortune

Mark the centennial of an epic mistake at the National Postal Museum where several of these world-famous stamps are on view

Your Summer Vacation Is a Carbon Emissions Nightmare

A new study of tourism supply chains shows that all those flights, zip-line tours and foie gras produce 8 percent of global carbon emissions

Would you be – or feel – safer if one of these people were a robot?

Would You Trust Drone Software to Pilot Your Flight?

Drones have already flown more hours than humans have. Now companies are looking to apply that data to commercial flight

Photographer Witnesses Final Moments Before Plane Crash

National Airlines Flight 102 took off from an airfield in northeastern Afghanistan. Minutes later, it would stall in midair before crashing to the ground

AirAsia Flight 8501 Plummets into Java Sea Mid-Flight

On December 28, 2014, 43 minutes into its flight, AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished from radar. With 162 people on board, it would go down

Ten Summer Camps For Little Innovators

Forget swimming and archery. These camps will have your kids building robots, pitching business ideas, even fighting zombies!

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