Incredible Pilot

‘Red Baron’ went from cavalry to one of the greatest fighter pilots of all time.

Former barnstormer partnered to create a world-class flight training school.

Late EAA founder spent much of his career promoting homebuilt aircraft.

Airshow performer and aviation author was
considered a stalwart for aerobatics safety.

Peers considered aviation legend the
‘greatest stick-and-rudder pilot who ever lived.’

Member of the famous ‘Mercury 13’
finally reached space at age 82.

‘Fate Is the Hunter’ author made an indelible mark on aviation, film, and literature.

It was like “wrestling a cobra in a hurricane,” Helen Richey said. After nearly 10 days in the skies over Miami in December 1933, Richey, alongside fellow aviatrix Frances Marsalis, set the women’s in-flight fueling endurance record of 237 hours and 42 minutes. It was only one of Richey’s major accomplishments, yet it perfectly showcased […]

Jimmy Doolittle was a man of firsts. First flight across the country. First flight solely by reference to instruments. First successful outside loop. In fact, it could be said that he is, in many ways, responsible for flying as we know it. Yet it was the U.S. air raid of Tokyo on April 18, 1942, […]

If only airplanes could talk. The white and two-toned blue Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae residing in the Smithsonian Institution’s Udvar-Hazy Center, outside of Washington, D.C., would have more than a few stories to share. This particular Vega has been up to the stratosphere and around the world. And all at the capable hands of one […]