Ormer Locklear, the First Wing Walker, and the Hollywood Film That Screened His Fatal Dive
Ormer Locklear invented wing walking in 1917, became America's most famous aviator, and died on film in 1920 when a director's promised light cue never came.
The Hangar
Aviation history and storytelling with Taildragger. Warbird restorations, legendary pilots, famous flights, and the stories that shaped aviation from the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle.
The Curtiss NC-4, the First Transatlantic Flight, and the Flying Boat That History Left at Pensacola
The Curtiss NC-4 completed the first transatlantic flight on May 27, 1919 - eight years before Lindbergh - yet its crew remains largely forgotten.
The de Havilland Comet, the Square Windows That Grounded the World's First Jet Airliner, and the Metal Fatigue Discovery That Changed Every Pressurized Aircraft That Came After
The 1954 Comet disasters near Elba revealed the hidden mechanics of metal fatigue and permanently transformed how every pressurized airliner is designed and certified.
The Gee Bee Racers, the Granville Brothers of Springfield, and the Flying Barrel That Could Win the Thompson Trophy and Break Your Heart on the Same Afternoon
The Gee Bee R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252 mph, outpacing military fighters by nearly a decade - and claimed the lives of nearly everyone who flew it.
The Hawker Hurricane, the Battle of Britain's Forgotten Workhorse, and the Fighter That Shot Down More of the Luftwaffe Than Any Other Aircraft in the Sky
The Hawker Hurricane shot down 55% of Luftwaffe losses in the Battle of Britain, outnumbered the Spitfire two to one, and saved England - then history forgot it.
The Supermarine Spitfire, R.J. Mitchell's Race Against Time, and the Elliptical Wing That Defined a Generation
R.J. Mitchell designed the Supermarine Spitfire's revolutionary elliptical wing while dying of cancer at 42 - and the aircraft outlived him to define the Battle of Britain.
Wiley Post, the Winnie Mae, and the Solo Flight Around the World That Nobody Thought One Man Could Fly
Wiley Post flew solo around the world in 1933 - one-eyed, in a plywood monoplane - and in doing so helped discover the jet stream.
Bob Hoover, Stalag Luft One, and the Focke-Wulf He Stole to Fly Himself Home
Bob Hoover escaped a German POW camp in spring 1945 by stealing a Focke-Wulf 190 he had never flown - launching one of aviation's greatest careers.
Chuck Yeager, the Bell X-1, and the Morning at Muroc Nobody Was Supposed to Talk About
How Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947 - with two broken ribs, a broomstick, and the calm of a man built for exactly that moment.
Clyde Cessna, the Rago Wheat Field, and the Twelve Crashes That Built the Most Recognized Name in General Aviation
Clyde Cessna taught himself to fly through a dozen crashes in a Kansas wheat field - and those failures built the most recognized name in general aviation.
Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, Voyager, and the Nine Days That Proved the World Could Be Circled Without a Drop of Fuel
On December 14, 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager flew Voyager nonstop around the world in nine days without refueling, completing one of aviation's last great firsts.
Gail Halvorsen, Operation Little Vittles, and the C-54 Pilot Who Dropped Candy Over a Blockaded Berlin One Wiggling Wing at a Time
How a Utah C-54 pilot's unauthorized candy drops over blockaded Berlin became Operation Little Vittles and helped the West win the Cold War's first standoff.
Jacqueline Cochran, the Sound Barrier, and the Woman Who Held More Aviation Records Than Any Pilot in the World
Jacqueline Cochran rose from a shoeless Depression-era childhood to hold more aviation records than any pilot in history, male or female.
Operation Vengeance, the P-38 Lightning Intercept, and the Mission That Shot Down the Architect of Pearl Harbor
On April 18, 1943, eighteen P-38 Lightnings flew 435 miles at wave-top height in radio silence to intercept and kill Japan's top naval commander using decoded communications.
Roscoe Turner, the Lion in the Cockpit, and the Three Thompson Trophies That Made the Most Outrageous Racer of the Golden Age
Roscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times between 1934 and 1939, making him the most decorated and most theatrical pilot of aviation's golden age.
The Douglas SBD Dauntless, the Five-Minute Strike at Midway, and the Dive Bomber That Changed the Course of the Pacific War
On June 4, 1942, the Douglas SBD Dauntless destroyed three Japanese fleet carriers in roughly five minutes at Midway, ending Japan's naval dominance in the Pacific.
The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, Mach Three Over the Mojave, and the One Airplane at Dayton That Stops Everyone Cold
The North American XB-70 Valkyrie flew at Mach 3 and rode its own shockwave over the Mojave, but strategic politics and a fatal midair collision ensured only one would survive to reach a museum.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the Jug, and the Fighter That Could Take Everything the Enemy Threw and Still Bring You Home
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was WWII's heaviest single-engine fighter - renowned not for elegance but for absorbing punishment that should have killed it.
Wop May, the Fort Vermilion Mercy Flight, and the January Run Through the Alberta Wilderness That Saved a Town from Diphtheria
In January 1929, WWI ace Wop May flew 250 miles through subarctic Alberta to deliver diphtheria antitoxin and save children in isolated Fort Vermilion.
Flak Bait, the Martin B-26 Marauder, and the Smithsonian Restoration of the Last Surviving Medium Bomber from the European Air War
Flak Bait, the last surviving Martin B-26 Marauder, flew 202 missions over Europe and is now being preserved at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center.