/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/02/bc/02bc2642-12e5-4f81-aa55-5d3d2d25f736/u2_and_kelly_johnson.jpg)
In the early years of the cold war, enter Kelly Johnson and an clean sheet of paper—long enough to accommodate an 80-foot wingspan.
Some pilots want as little as possible between them and the sky.
Ernest Allison didn’t care about politics—he just wanted to run an airline.
If the Russians can’t supply the space station service module, the U.S. Navy has an off-the-shelf backup.
In the Arctic, the Royal Canadian Mounties swap their twin-engine de Havilland Otters for Pilatus PC-12s.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/gagarin-statute.jpg)
The Russians made their first cosmonaut a hero. Did they really know him?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/75/30/75301184-55b2-4921-9498-3be38fe9c2ec/shepard_s61-00220.jpg)
Alan Barlett Shepard Jr., 1923-1998
The U.S. Marine Corps’ sword gets a brand-new edge.
The airplane that hovers like a helicopter.
Whose Planes Are They, Anyway?
With so many parties lusting after the Navy’s old warbirds, custody battles are flaring up everywhere.
Designing a spacesuit for Mars begins with one small step for man—and a whole bunch of little steps for a guy in a spacesuit.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/28/b7/28b7d150-d8f9-4009-8d77-fc49904686d9/ravens.jpg)
In the remote highlands of Laos, U.S. Air Force pilots fought a secret war
What I Learned at Kitplane Camp
Forget leather wallets and potholders. At this camp, the crfts project is really a keeper.
Independence, Kansas, is growing a new crop: the light airplane.
The fierce temperatures and extreme pressures required of the space shuttle main engine gave its engineers it a devil of a time
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/counterpunch-388.jpg)
Flying Wild Weasel missions involved a variety of airframes but just one philosophy: Do unto SAMS before they do unto you.
What kind of scoops await TV reporters in the air over Manhattan?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/gusmobile-631.jpg)
It didn’t look remotely like a fighter plane. So why did astronauts who flew the Gemini spacecraft compare it to one?
Riding the tip of a 100-foot burning cylinder whose useful life is less than your average Marlboro is something you don’t forget, even after three and a half decades.
The de Havilland Chipmunk once trained British military pilots. Now its fan club includes civilians—and Americans—as well.
Page 314 of 320