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Air & Space Magazine

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Mastering the Globe’s Airfields

A C-17 Globemaster III takes off from a dirt runway at the Nevada Test and Training Range to practice using unimproved landing strips.

It's 6:07 a.m. Do you know where your construction workers are?

Russia Installs Nanny Cam at Siberian Spaceport

Maybe public oversight can speed up construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome.

Artist's concept of a red dwarf star with a retinue of planets.

Earth-like Planets Might Be Rare After All

New computer simulations suggest that red dwarfs would give rise to desert planets or waterworlds.

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Arabian Flows

Astronaut Terry W. Virts, currently aboard the International Space Station, sent down this image of the Arabian desert, showing the difference in sand and water flows.

Each rubber balloon was filled with thousands of propaganda leaflets. The balloons, launched from Germany, were meant for Czechoslovakia (note the Czech word "Svoboda," or "freedom," lettered on each side of the balloon).

Balloons of the Cold War

Operation “Winds of Freedom” used leaflet-filled balloons to fight Communism.

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Bottom Up

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform a “Bottom Up Pass” during the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in Rome, Georgia.

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Inside the Cockpit

A gallery of interactive 360° views

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Weathering a Resupply

Canadian bush pilot Grant McConichie flew this Ford Tri-motor to deliver mail and supplies into the remote, harsh terrains of the Yukon and Northwest territories. ca. 1930s.

Slumbering giants

The New Silk Road

All paths lead back to the Middle East

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Quiet Time for Fighting Falcon

An F-16 Fighting Falcon, part of the U.S. Air Force 40th Flight Test Squadron, spends some time in an anechoic chamber (it absorbs all reflections of light and sound) so its new M-7 software can be tested.

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Ancient Life on the Moon — From Earth

The possibility that terrestrial fossils are preserved in Moon rocks makes lunar exploration even more appealing.

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The Making of an Alaskan Highway

This Boeing XB-15 and P-26 were part of a mission led by Paul Fedelchak, a U.S. Armed Air Corps photographer who helped with the creation of the 1,700 mile Alaska-Canada Highway by performing aerial surveys.

Getting Married On the Fly

Couples who wed in balloons and airplanes.

Artist's concept of a water vapor plume on Europa.

How Could We Detect Life in Europa’s Geysers?

Scientists consider how to sample the spray from Jupiter’s moon.

Recovery of ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle in the Pacific Ocean just west of the Galapagos islands.

European Spaceplane Test a Success

Reusable spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific.

★ North American T-6 Texan ★ The Texan served in the U.S. Army and Navy (as the SNJ) as an advanced trainer that taught pilots how to fly fighters with powerful engines and shoot while they were doing it. In service with Commonwealth countries as the Harvard, the T-6 is a favorite among warbird fans and has its own racing class at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada.

The Basics: Four Trainers

★ Curtiss P-40 Warhawk ★ An all-metal, 300 mph fighter, the P-40 was the frontline U.S. fighter when the war began. It was made famous by Claire Chennault’s Flying Tigers, who, among other squadrons, painted shark’s teeth on its nose.

P-40 Warhawks and Flying Tigers

★ North American B-25 Mitchell ★ The twin-engine, medium bomber that Jimmy Doolittle flew on the first U.S. raid on Tokyo, the B-25 served in every theater of the war.

B-25s Fly a Raid on Tokyo

★ Bell P-39 Aerocobra ★ P-39s did their best work on the Eastern front, where Soviet pilots did battle with the Luftwaffe at medium altitude. A decision not to equip the Allison engine in the P-39 with a two-stage supercharger left it gasping for air at high altitudes.

P-39s of the Cactus Air Force

★ SBD Dauntless ★ The Dauntless was a dive bomber whose pilots joked that the initials SBD stood not for “Scout Bomber—Douglas” but for “Slow But Deadly.” Its top speed was a mere 255 mph, and historians have noted that the pilot-gunner pairs who sat back-to-back in the SBD were the ones deserving the label “dauntless.” They destroyed more enemy ships in the war than any other pilots.

The Douglas Dauntless and Other Heroes of Midway

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