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August 2011

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Features

Patty Wagstaff’s latest mission: use the discipline of aerobatics to combat the chaos of California wildfires (photo-composite).

Patty Wagstaff’s Second Act

A Dassault Falcon 2000, a Maybach luxury auto, and freshly swept stairs: NetJets set up this publicity shot in Switzerland, but for fractional jet owners, such fantasy is the reality.

Ride-Sharing With the Rich

Michael Silvestro

The Competition

Possibly the world’s pointiest jet

Loser X-Planes

Located in Sweden’s isolated far north, the tiny town of Kiruna, with its Esrange rocket range, hopes to become a major space tourism attraction.

Spaceport at the Top of the World

Eight spoilers on each wing add aerodynamic brakes to the A380’s mechanical ones

How Things Work: Stopping the A380

In a joking nod to George Abbey's power over manned spaceflight, astronauts (like STS-5's Bob Overmyer) sometimes carried his photo into orbit.

Mr. Inside

The flight and ground crews for the DC-8 supersonic run included flight test engineer Richard H. Edwards

I Was There: When the DC-8 Went Supersonic

Giuseppe Genchi, who found a trove of engine parts at the University of Palermo, spent countless hours restoring an 11-cylinder rotary engine from World War I.

Genchi’s Obsession

Just past the standing figure, a chamber with movable sidewalls controls the Mach number of air entering the diffuser.

The Perfect Wind Storm

An cutaway of the supersonic wind tunnel.

Know Which Way the Wind Blows

Departments

Viewport

Viewport: Power Hungry

J.R. Dailey
In the Museum

In the Museum: My Vostok Is Bigger Than Your Mercury

Above & Beyond

Above & Beyond: Mantz Versus the Volcano

James Morrison
Flights & Fancy

Flights & Fancy: How I Bagged an F-4J

Michael Barton
Moments and Milestones

Last One Out, Shut off the Helium