After 25 missions, the crew and the <i>Belle</i> went on a War Bonds tour, stopping at Patterson Field in Ohio. Recalling the tour decades later, Commander Robert Morgan wrote: "In todays lingo, our uniforms were dazzling chick magnets."

Military Aviation

Restoration: The Memphis Belle

For this famous B-17, surviving 25 missions in World War II was the easy part.

Also see: The Two Memphis Belles

Dressed in drone livery, QF-4s are targeted during weapons testing. The testing is done at two Air Force bases, Tyndall in Florida and Holloman in New Mexico. F-4s replaced converted F-106s as the military’s drone of choice. Also droned in their time: F-86 and F-100 fighters and F-102 interceptors.

Where Have All the Phantoms Gone?

How a fighter-bomber-recon-attack superstar ended up as fodder for target practice.

Because France and Spain would not grant the United States overfly rights, the 1986 F-111 raid on Libya required a lengthy detour.

Above & Beyond: Take a Left at Portugal

Heir to the P-47, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is a purpose-built CAS aircraft, one of many types Marines can call on in a jam.

Control the Air

On the ground with Marines in Afghanistan, the author sees a different side of close air support.

Tomcat Photo Gallery

The kids sent me letters.

Letter From Bagram

Occasional dispatches from our man in Afghanistan.

At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, a study subject is wired for a spin in the Dynamic Environment Simulator, a centrifuge that excels in <br />inducing spatial disorientation.

The Disorient Express

Despite the best training and technology, why do pilots still die from not knowing which end is up?

The <i>Intrepid</i> took part in every major Pacific battle in the last two years of World War II.

Restoration: USS Intrepid

Cleaning up an aircraft carrier.

One of only two XF-90s ever built.

Nukes vs. Airplanes

Between the F-80 and the F-104, a supersonic pioneer fought the Cold War...in its own way.

From A UH-1N Huey helicopter, Corporal Andy Vistrand, a "Gunrunner" in Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, scans the countryside of Anbar province from behind a .50-caliber machine gun.

Air War Iraq

From Al Asad Air Base, portraits of U.S. aircraft and crews in the fourth year of fighting.

The Quiet One had a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera on its belly that helped the pilots navigate at night.

Air America's Black Helicopter

The secret aircraft that helped the CIA tap phones in North Vietnam.

A gaggle of Hawkeyes operating out of the Naval Air Facility in Atsugi, Japan, takes to the air during a training mission.

Detect and Direct

The Navy's newest Hawkeye gets closer to the fight.

Iranian F-14 pilots were part of an air force that endured 12-hour combat air patrols, a brutal regime, and a ruthless enemy.

Persian Cats

How Iranian air crews, cut off from U.S. technical support, used the F-14 against Iraqi attackers.

Above & Beyond: I Have a Flameout

Brooks Bash (center) oversees the training of Iraqi pilots and ground crew.

A & S Interview: Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash

A talk with the commander of the Air Force transition team in Iraq.

The book that robbed the enemy of his secrets. A key to shapes shows a circle can be a haystack or a gun emplacement.

Portrait of the Enemy

Photographs taken from the world’s first warplanes changed the course of battle.

The P-47D carried eight guns and, on some models, rocket launchers.

Book Excerpt: Hell Hawks!

How P-47s became the tank busters of World War II

Tales of the F-14

More recollections of the fabled fighter.

Debuting in 1915, the petite French Nieuport 11 fighter was based on the design of several pre-war racers.

The Great Warplanes

Portraits of military aviation's first fleet.

A Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia.

Hurricane Walkaround

Aviation historian Ron Dick takes a closer look at an old warbird.

The three X-15s shared a hangar with lifting bodies (first three on left) at Edwards Air Force Base during the golden age of flight research.

The Real X-Men

Life came at you fast when you flew the X-15.

The FAA classifies the Osprey as a "powered lift" aircraft-neither airplane nor rotorcraft.

Tilters

You might say that Osprey pilots are neither fish nor fowl.

In a typical two-ship formation, B-1Bs fly a 1998 training mission near Meteor Crater in Arizona, one of the few holes in the ground bigger than a B-1 could make.

The Bone is Back

Too trouble-prone for nuclear alert and sidelined in the first Gulf War, the B-1 is today the busiest bomber in the fleet.

Staff Sergeant Robin Walker (left) reports no foreign objects in the inlets to Staff Sergeant Greg Slavik piror to takeoff from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Unconventional Weapon

What we learned about stealth technology from the combat career of the F-117.

Before flying on a B-32, Marchione (front, second from right) had been on a B-24 Liberator crew that included his buddies Rudy Nudo and Frank Pallone (front, second and third from left, respectively).

The Last to Die

The war in the Pacific ended as it began, with a surprise attack by Japanese warplanes.

Jugs in fearsome formation.

Cold Front

Meet the men who kept the Thunderbolts flying.

Above & Beyond: Milk Run

How a milk run from an aircraft carrier nearly killed me.

An Iraqi Air Force C-130 gets a thumbs-up from a U.S. Air Force crew chief during a July 2005 mission from Ali Air Base.

Iraq Air Force One

New pilots, new government.

INA the Macon Belle will roar through the skies over Columbus, Ohio, along with dozens of other Mustang beauties.

Calling All Mustangs

This September a super-size squadron of P-51s will relive the legend.

Putting away a ScanEagle after a flight over the Al Anbar Province of Iraq in August 2006.

Flocking ScanEagles

When it comes to operating UAVs, six heads aren't better than one.

William Holloman during his World War II flying days.

Tuskegee Memories

This World War II veteran loved flying all airplanes, but especially the Mustang.

A & S Interview: Dick Anderegg

A talk with the Air Force historian.

Above & Beyond: Mission Unaccomplished

Memorable flights, and other adventures.

Airman Timothy Johnson (at left) and Lieutenant Alan Proctor update the "ouija board" after a launch from the USS <i>Dwight D. Eisenhower</i>.

How Things Work: The Ouija Board

Think of a shipboard chess game with airplanes instead of pawns.

Sea Harrier landing. THATS gotta hurt.

Oldies & Oddities: The Alraigo Incident

Birth of the Kulbit

Not just maneuverability. Supermaneuverability.

A Short (Very Short) History of the F-19

What airplane came in a little box and never flew?

Police helicopters and ambulances at the Pentagon, September 11, 2001.

9/11: The Saga of the Skies

Chaos and control over Washington, while the Pentagon burned.

Operation Hot Wheels

Far away in the Middle East, soapbox racing flies the hearts of military persons back home.

The B-17 Memphis Belle.

WWII: A Reader's Guide to the Air War

Our pick of the best books and memoirs on World War II aviation.

Reader Scrapbook

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Air & Space Videos

In the Magazine

January 2009

View Table of Contents

Air & Space Interview

John H. Hill

A brief history of airline passenger seats

New Worlds

Confidence Booster

This little known Apollo artifact caused astronauts to rest a little easier.