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Stories from Rebecca Maksel

The Weird World of Folk Aviators

With his whimsical sculptures, Gregory Bryant celebrates early ideas about winged flight.

Lin Xu has copied dozens of U-2 images over the past four years, driving eight hours from his home near Boston, to the National Archives’ research facility in College Park, Maryland.

Lin Xu’s Obsession

It started with a search for images of his hometown in China. Hundreds of miles of film later, he can’t stop looking.

Crowds surround Howard Hughes' Lockheed Model 14-N2 Super Electra, after the aviator's 1938 round-the-world flight.

Howard Hughes’ Robot

On his record-setting flight in 1938, the billionaire had two navigators, only one of which was human

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Buzz Lightyear’s New Home

A well-traveled toy enters the Smithsonian collection.

The Cessna Skyhawk 172.

Airborne for 64 Days

In a Cessna 172, no less

The suspect B-17 bomber commander (Captain Werner Goering, far right) and the co-pilot who had orders to kill him (First Lieutenant Jack Rencher, far left).

Göring’s Nephew

A bizarre case of mistaken identity almost cost a World War II B-17 commander his life

The Gyrodyne QH-50 D.A.S.H. (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) was the first rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to enter service. A QH-50C is now on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

D.A.S.H. Goes to War

The first rotary-wing UAV entered military service in 1962—and remained in operation until 1997.

Flight of the Intruder

Their assignment, February 26, 1967: Drop mines over Vietnam, something no jet had ever done.

Braniff International's McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 "Flying Colors" in flight, 1973.

The End of the Plain Plane

When wild liveries and outrageous uniforms were the norm

An Apache helicopter pilot with the U.K. Army Air Corps in Afghanistan, May 2009.

Is This the Hardest of All Aircraft to Fly?

Piloting an Apache helicopter often requires hands and feet doing four different things at once

Art Greenfield with the Spirit of Freedom capsule in which Steve Fossett circled the globe alone in 2002.

The Witness

Want to set a record-breaking flight? You’ll need an observer from the National Aeronautic Association.

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Sunstorm? Been There, Done That

Solar tantrums of 1859, 1921, and 1989

Combat on Canvas

Art and artifacts from the Marine front lines, now on display in Washington.

Opening credits from the film.

Hollywood Air

The first Hollywood movie showcasing airline travel, Three Guys Named Mike, came out in 1951

A USMC McDonnell F-4 Phantom II on base, probably in Vietnam. Squadron VMFA-232.

The Battle of Key West

Phantoms v. MiGs over Florida in 1962

A B-2 Spirit being refueled by a KC-10 aircraft.

Thirty Hours, No Stops

The B-2 needs four fill-ups to keep flying

The Museum's Boeing 247-D is displayed with two sets of markings: The right side reflects its time with United Air Lines; the left, the aircraft's 1934 air racing history.

In the Museum: The Original Airliner

The Boeing 247 was the Dreamliner of its day.

A U.S. Army soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his military working dog jump off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during water training over the Gulf of Mexico, March 2011.

The Dogs of War

Man’s best friend on the front lines

John Gillespie Magee Jr.

70 Years of “Slipping the Surly Bonds”

Whether you love it or hate it, John Gillespie Magee’s “High Flight” remains the most enduring of aviation poems

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Where Were You?

In this 50th anniversary year of human spaceflight, we ask you to remember your own space milestones, and record where you were, and how you felt

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