August 2015
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features

Brought to You by Drones
All around the world, the delivery guy is a quadcopter

How to Start a Hurricane
What makes one small eddy fizzle out, and another turn into the planet’s most destructive storm?

The Last American Aces
Members of an exclusive club tell what it takes to make ace

The Next World Speed Record
A Brazilian designer and the fastest shark in the air

Confessions of a Station Astronaut
Clayton C. Anderson talks about his new book, The Ordinary Spaceman

China Needs Pilots
A boom in Chinese air travel is sending hundreds of novices to flight school in Arizona.

Space $ouvenirs
Collectors compete for artifacts from the Apollo program

The Jumbo Flies an Airshow
The Boeing 747, like you’ve never seen it fly.

The Birdman of Topeka
By 1912, Albin Longren was building better airplanes than the Wrights and Curtiss.
Departments
Winds of Change
How Patricia Mawuli beat the odds to become an airplane builder and airport manager.