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Air & Space Magazine

Seen through the nose of a restored PBJ bomber, Camarillo Airport is tucked between two cities: Camarillo and Oxnard. Flying in, pilots are greeted by strawberry fields and residential blocks.

California’s Camarillo Airport Is Nirvana for Small Airplanes

Just about any day is a good day at CMA.

The Culebra Cut, backbone of the Panama Canal, could be devastated with just "a few well placed bombs," argued Sunset magazine.

In 1914, Photographing the Panama Canal From the Air Could Get You Arrested

How a sensational article about the defense of the Canal got its author, photographer, and editor in hot water.

Colonel Roy A. Knight Jr. went MIA after his A-1E was shot down during a strike mission over northern Laos on May 19, 1967.

This Southwest Airlines Pilot Flew His Father’s Remains Home—52 Years After He Was Shot Down

A discovery at a crash site in Laos leads to a final ceremony, and the end of a mystery.

After 36 years of service, American Airlines has retired the remaining 26 MD-80s in its fleet. The iconic single-aisle jet was built in Long Beach by McDonnell Douglas.

Having Carried More Than 87 Million Passengers, the MD-80 Heads Into Retirement

The McDonnell Douglas passenger liner once made up 44 percent of the American Airlines fleet.

Not a toy: The Shapeshifter robot, going for a roll in the robotics yard at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is in development as a transformational vehicle to explore hazardous moonscapes.

Shapeshifter, NASA’s Mighty Morphing Robot

It rolls! (And swims! And flies!)

High school students in central Texas build an RV-12. Tango Flight now has programs in six cities across the country.

From Texas to New Hampshire, Tango Flight Turns High Schoolers Into Airplane Builders

The program’s founders hope this challenging school project can jump-start careers in aviation.

Mission co-pilot Peter O’Hare delivered medical supplies to the Bahamas and brought home evacuees.

A Korean War Cargo Plane Finds a New Mission of Mercy

After a hurricane hit the Bahamas, a C-45 shows it can still do the job it was built for.

TRW, which built the first seven Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, donated this replica of the TDRS spacecraft to the National Air and Space Museum in 1986.First-generation TDRS satellites were built with a 10-year design life but most remained in service much longer.

How a Network of Orbiting Antennas Helped NASA’s Astronauts Stay in Touch

Three (plus) spacecraft circling 22,000 miles overhead are better than dozens on the ground.

The fastest piloted aircraft ever flown, the North American X-15 will be displayed in one of the new galleries at the National Air and Space Museum.

Celebrating Innovation, From Kitty Hawk to Hypersonic Flight

A new gallery at the National Air and Space Museum will be dedicated to the spirit of invention.

Tammie Jo Shults during her days as a Navy pilot.

The Day Tammie Jo Shults Stepped Up

When disaster occurred at 32,000 feet, a veteran airline pilot knew exactly what to do.

Kenyeta Clements: “The goal of this image [centered on the SR-71 Blackbird] was simply to allow the viewer to witness the strong demand for attention this aircraft still holds when viewed from a different angle.”

One Museum, 70 Photographers, One Night Only

A special event at the National Air and Space Museum gave photography enthusiasts a chance to take their best shot.

The Mach 2, 25-ton F-105 could create an enormous sonic boom. During the Vietnam War, the fighter-bomber flew dangerous missions and suffered heavy losses.

With a Loud KABOOM, an F-105 Upstaged Our Air Force Graduation

No one from the Cadet Class of 1968 will forget the day.

Staff remove the touchable moon rock’s mount while curator Priscilla Strain, second from right, looks on.

How the Museum Got Its Moon Rock

One of the Smithsonian’s rarest and most popular treasures was the inspiration of an Egyptian-born geologist.

During a 2015 training flight, a C-5M Super Galaxy on final approach prepares to slam 28 tires on the runway at Dover Air Force Base. The freighter is the largest operational aircraft flown by the Air Force.

How Many Airmen Does It Take to Fix a Flat Tire on a C-5?

Fewer, thanks to an invention by an Air Force lab.

Outside Spaceport America’s hangar surrounded by the New Mexico desert, a ground crew salutes Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier ship. The aircraft, VMS Eve, flew in last August from its original home in Mojave, California.

Will Space Tourists Finally Get a Ride?

Virgin Galactic has moved into its New Mexico Spaceport. Let the flights begin.

At Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Maryland, engineers Joe Norris (left) and Jon Lafferty conduct basic research on Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-1. HTV-1 did not fly, but its successor, HTV-2, did, boosted to Mach 20 in 2010 and 2011.

Today’s Hypersonic Weapons Could Lead to Tomorrow’s Mach 5 Airliners

Into the future at 6,000 MPH

Voyagers 1 and 2 are humanity's outer edge.

Voyager, Still Going After All These Years

Low on power and billions of miles from Earth, NASA’s twin spacecraft keep exploring—with a little TLC from home.

Waco vermillion with a gold-edged black stripe and silver wings: The airplane Chris Galloway flew in California last October wears the colors it did when Continental pilots flew it in Detroit in 1931.

Meet Betsy, Air & Space Magazine’s Airplane of the Year

We tallied the votes from our online poll and on-site ballots, and this restored 1931 Waco is the winner.

A Dornier Do X flying boat parked on its launch ramp circa 1929—the year the 56-ton transatlantic luxury craft set a passenger-carrying record (169 souls) that stood for two decades. Only three of the type were ever built.

When Giant Airplanes Ruled the Sky

The Great War triggered a trend toward big flying machines. Really big.

Nick Jonas as Bruno Gaido, an aviation machinist's mate aboard the USS Enterprise who shot down a Japanese bomber that was attempting to crash into the ship on February 1, 1942.

Midway vs. Midway vs. The Battle of Midway: How the New Movie Stacks Up to Past Film Versions

The famed WW2 battle has been the subject of several films. The new retelling keeps its focus on men of history.

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