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Aviation History


CIVIL AVIATION HISTORY

Whitehouse_Landing
April 15, 2025

White House Lawn Landing

What kind of individual would purposely land an airplane on the White House lawn? In modern times, one interested in lengthy imprisonment – if they survive the landing at all.

boeing-747-factory
April 14, 2025

Boeing 747 Factory

First flown in 1969, some 1,574 examples of the 747 were manufactured over a span of 55 years. Comprised of some six million individual parts, the massive airliner required correspondingly large manufacturing facilities.

Pan-Am_Clipper.
March 28, 2025

Pan Am Clipper Preflight Preparation

In the late 1930s, few forms of travel were as luxurious or exclusive as intercontinental trips aboard Boeing 314 Clipper flying boats operated by Pan American World Airways.

Airplane-Waterski-Display
September 10, 2024

Airplane Waterski Display

U.S. water ski champion Bruce Parker wows the crowd as he’s pulled by a Luscombe Model 8 aircraft across Biscayne Bay near Miami, Florida, in 1946.

Tupolev_Tu-144
August 28, 2024

Tupolev Tu-144

A Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport jet lifts off the runway at Russia’s Zhukovsky Air Development Center in September 1998.

cessna_sitation_wind-tunnel
August 9, 2024

Cessna Citation X Wind Tunnel Testing

A wind tunnel model representing the Cessna Citation X is evaluated by NASA.

yuneec
July 6, 2024

Yuneec Electric Aircraft

A Yuneec E430 on display at EAA AirVenture in 2009.

The History of Gulfstream Aerospace
February 29, 2024

The History of Gulfstream Aerospace

An overview of the history of Gulfstream Aerospace and the various aircraft models that the company developed between the 1950s and the present day.

Beechcraft Staggerwing – Early Business Aviation Luxury
February 29, 2024

Beechcraft Staggerwing – Early Business Aviation Luxury

An overview of the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, an early single-engine biplane developed in the 1930s.

727 Takeoff
July 26, 2023

Boeing 727 Rocket Takeoff

For a time, Mexicana operated a small fleet of Boeing 727s with rockets. Known as rocket assisted takeoff, or “RATO”, these provided supplemental thrust in the event of an engine failure during takeoff. The combination of high-altitude and high temperatures at many of the airports serviced by Mexicana created conditions…