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National Air and Space Museum

Ground crew servicing a group of Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks. Presumed to be No. 1 Fighter Maintenance Unit at Kukum Field, Guadalcanal. (Photograph Courtesy of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum)

The Cactus Air Force’s Forgotten Spine: The Royal New Zealand Air Force at Guadalcanal

Often overlooked in the histories of the battle is the Cactus Air Forces’ forgotten spine, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) that fought a desperate battle over the skies of the Solomon Islands.

Portrait of science fiction author Ray Bradbury. (Copyright © V. Tony Hauser, Courtesy The Ray Bradbury Literary Works, LLC.)

Gaining Inspiration from The Martian Chronicles

August 22, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of science fiction author Ray Bradbury’s birth. To honor the centennial, Museum geologist John Grant reflects on Bradbury’s impact on his career studying Mars.

US Navy blimp L-8 in flight to drop off supplies to the Doolittle Raiders off the coast of California. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

A Special Delivery for the Doolittle Raiders

On April 2, 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Hornet was part of a secret plan to strike back at Japan. With no room for aditional airplanes to land on the flight deck filled with B-25 Mitchell bombers, the US Navy turned to the Navy blimp L-8 for a specialy delivery.

Audrey Flack, Spitfire, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 73 x 110.5 inches, Gift of Stuart M. Speiser from the Stuart M. Speiser Photorealist Collection, National Air and Space Museum.

Beneath the Surface: Audrey Flack’s Photorealism

Viewing the painting Spitfire, 1973, by photorealist painter Audrey Flack is like looking at a plane spotting puzzle.

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver: The “Big-Tailed Beast”

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver could have been the U.S. Navy’s frontline carrier-based dive bomber for much of World War II, but problems with its development delayed its introduction and saddled it with a bad reputation.

Ruth Law stands in front of her Wright Model B biplane at the New York State Fair, Yonkers, 1913.

Women's Suffrage Stories in the Archives

On August 18, 2020, the United States celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that the right to vote "shall not be denied...on account of sex." Several collections in the National Air and Space Museum Archives provide short stories along the long path of the women’s suffrage movement and the 19th Amendment.

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