Aviation History

An aerial salute during graveside services for U.S. Navy Captain Rosemary Mariner in Maynardville, Tenn., this past February marked a fitting departure for a modern-day pathfinder: For the first time, all those participating in what is traditionally

A few years ago, I wrote a book called Still Time to Live, a biography of Jack Belden, a Time-Life war correspondent who was retired and living in Paris when I was working as a foreign correspondent in the 1970s and ’80s. One of the finest war report

The warbird community celebrated a milestone on January 28 when Tom Reilly’s restored North American XP-82 Twin Mustang made its first official flight in 69 years. Highly experienced P-51 Mustang pilot Ray Fowler flew the XP-82 from the left cockpit.

On May 6, 1968, NASA astronaut and future first moonwalker Neil Armstrong hovered about 200 feet above the sun-scorched pavement at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas. Alone in his single-seat craft, peering down toward the ground, Armstrong

TRANSPORTATION Together with Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, Aerion is slated to deliver the AS2, the first supersonic business jet, in 2023. The AS2 12-passenger jet is designed to fly at speeds of up to Mach 1.4, or approximately 1,0

A half-century ago, on July 16, 1969, citizens of the earth collectively held their breath while three men embarked on humanity’s greatest adventure. Four days later, an estimated 600 million people watched TV screens as Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Arms

ACTRESS GLORIA SWANSON EMBODIED THE IDEAL OF A MOVIE STAR. BEAUTIFUL, MAGNETIC, TALENTED—SHE DEFINED HOLLYWOOD GLAMOR IN THE SILENT-FILM ERA. BY THE 1940S SWANSON HAD BEEN REPLACED AS A BOX OFFICE DRAW BY NEWER NAMES AND FACES, BUT SHE WAS STILL AN A

IN MAY 1944, NOT LONG AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND, B-24 LIBERATOR PILOT CAPTAIN GEORGE JOHNSON AND CREWS OF THE 788TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (HEAVY) WERE TOLD THEY COULD FORGET THEIR TRAINING IN HIGH-ALTITUDE STRATEGIC BOMBING. Lieutenant Colonel Ro

B-24 no. 42-52117’s full name was quite a mouthful: Two Ton Tessie from Nashville, Tenn. The Liberator sported colorful nose art of a well-padded blond in a long gown with one arm theatrically extended and her red lips open wide, perhaps in song. How

LINDBERGH, EARHART, DOOLITTLE, RICKENBACKER, ROSCOE TURNER, WILEY POST, BERNT BALCHEN, HAROLD GATTY, PAUL MANTZ… THE DEAN’S LIST OF 1920S AND ’30S PILOTS GOES ON, BUT RARELY WILL YOU FIND ALFORD J. WILLIAMS JR. ON IT. A Wikipedia search for “list of

ON THE EVE OF D-DAY 75 YEARS AGO, TWO U.S. ARMY COLONELS MADE A BET. LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG, 39-YEAR-OLD COMMANDER OF THE NINTH AIR FORCE’S 439TH TROOP CARRIER GROUP, WAS CONFIDENT THAT HE COULD PUT THE PARATROOPERS OF HIS “LIFT” WITHIN 300

Match the man to his association with B-24s. A. Lt. Gen. Frank M. AndrewsB. Horace S. Carswell Jr.C. Stoyan StoyanovD. John R. “Killer” KaneE. Rudi RademacherF. Arthur H. RogersG. Jimmy StewartH. George McGovernI. James BlackburnJ. David R. Davis 1.

The Biggest Air Battle of World War II by James Holland, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018, $28. In Big Week, James Holland contends that Operation Argument (aka “Big Week”), the Allied aerial campaign waged against the Third Reich from February 19 to 25,

Two 83 feet 8 inches 900 square feet 48 feet 3¾ inches 310 miles 110-125 mph 4,060 lbs., including 15 combat-loaded troops; seven casualty litters; one jeep; one 37mm M3A1 or British 6-pounder Mark II antitank gun; one 75mm M1A1 or 105mm M3 pack howi

SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS INTO THEIR TRAINING MISSION, MAJOR HOWARD RICHARDSON AND HIS BOEING B-47B STRATOJET FLIGHT CREW FINALLY BEGAN TO RELAX AFTER AN EVENING OF DEPLOYING ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES AND CHAFF TO EVADE PROWLING NORTH AMERICAN F-86 FIG