Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Robert Bernier

Robert Bernier is a former naval aviator and commercial pilot now working as an aircraft restoration volunteer at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

Stories from this author

Standing among the used books in Peterborough’s Toadstool Bookshop, Bill Johnson contemplates his creations, constructed over his lifetime.

This New Hampshire Bookstore Has Its Own Air Force

You never know what you’ll find on—make that above—the shelves.

The replica arrived in pieces at the USS Midway Museum and required more than 2,000 hours to assemble.

This Film Replica of the Douglas Devastator Could Pass for the Real Thing

Made for the movie Midway, it looks like it could have flown the historic mission.

The F-111B was designed to defend the fleet, but only one landed aboard an aircraft carrier, the Coral Sea, in 1968, after the program was cancelled.

Was the Navy’s F-111 Really That Bad?

Pentagon leaders insisted that an Air Force fighter-bomber would make a great Navy interceptor. They should have asked the Navy.

A Republic Seabee, the ideal sportplane, climbs over a Wisconsin lake.

The Seabee Keepers

With a devoted international following, an exceptional amphibian still creates buzz.

Two Bell UH-1Bs, flown by the Navy’s lone helicopter attack unit in Vietnam, patrol the country’s south on a 1967 mission to support Navy SEALs.

Scramble Seawolves!

When Navy SEALs in the Mekong Delta needed help, salvation came from a pair of beat-up Hueys.

At its November 4, 1954 public debut, an R3Y Tradewind draws a crowd to Convair’s plant in San Diego.

Last of the Great Flying Boats

Why the Convair Tradewind was a beautiful, versatile, fast failure.

The PA-48 was an almost-all-new airplane, but it bore a strong resemblance to its heroic ancestor, the P-51 Mustang.

The Cub’s Badass Big Brother

The Piper PA-48 Enforcer may have been called the “Super Mustang,” but it never found its mission.

Panorama Air Tours’ twin Beeches flew islanders and tourists alike throughout the Hawaiian chain.

Captain Dave and his Ukulele

Flying around Hawaii for tips.

With sophisticated radar, the Douglas Skyknight flew night escort missions, giving Navy and Marine aviators the ability to follow the cardinal rule of fighter pilots: See the enemy before he sees you.

The Deadliest Night Fighter in Korea

Why Douglas Skyknight crews weren’t afraid of the dark.

Jimmy Doolittle is dwarfed by the monstrous, menacing Gee Bee R-1 Super Sportster.

Bring Back the Brute

A GeeBee racer in flyable condition? Don’t do it.