White Bird: The Disappearance of Charles Nungesser

Few people in aviation history were as colorful as the Frenchman Charles Nungesser. He began his flying career in the French military, became one of France’s highest-scoring aces in World War One with 43 confirmed air victories, but was arrested and grounded for insubordination several times. After the war, Nungesser flew in some Hollywood movies, then in 1927 he and a navigator took off in a plane he named “The White Bird”, attempting to cross the Atlantic nonstop two weeks before Charles Lindbergh. He was never seen again.

Milestones in Space Exploration: Surveyor

When President John Kennedy set the goal of landing a human safely on the Moon, the US had a grand total of fifteen minutes’ worth of manned spaceflight, and astronomers knew next to nothing about what the conditions on the Moon’s surface were like. Would a landing craft be swallowed up in a deep layer of lunar dust? No one knew.

A Surveyor moon lander, on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Icons of Aviation: Winnie Mae

The Lockheed Vega was one of the premiere aircraft of the 1930’s. Designed in 1927 as a long-distance passenger plane capable of carrying six passengers and a crew of two, the reliable and rugged Vega soon became a favorite with air explorers, many of who increased its range by removing the passenger seats and adding extra fuel tanks. Amelia Earhart used the Lockheed Vega in many of her flights. And Wiley Post, flying a Vega named “Winnie Mae”, set two around-the-world speed records.

The “Winnie Mae”, in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Who Really Shot Down the Red Baron?

According to the history books, the most famous air ace in history, Manfred von Richthofen, “The Red Baron”, was shot down near Amiens in France on April 21, 1918, by Canadian ace Roy Brown. But modern analysis shows that the history books are almost certainly wrong . . .

Manfred von Richthofen

Pierre Le Gloan: Ace for Both Sides

In one of the most unusual flying careers of the Second World War, French fighter pilot Pierre Le Gloan became an ace fighting against the Axis–and then became an ace fighting against the Allies.

French pilot Pierre Le Gloan and his Dewoitine D.520 fighter, in Vichy livery.

The Pfeil Fighter: Push-Me Pull-You

By 1943, it was becoming apparent that the standard propeller-driven piston-engine aircraft was reaching the limits of its potential speed. At the same time, though, Nazi Germany was facing daily raids by American and British bombers, and needed ever-faster planes with ever-higher altitudes to fight back. In the race to increase speed and power, unconventional designs were looked at, and one of the oddest was the Dornier Do335 “Pfeil” fighter, which had two propellers–one mounted in front and one at the back.

The Dornier Do 335 A “Pfeil” fighter, on display at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center

The Airphibian: The Car That Flies

Since the 1920’s, futuristic scifi novels and films depicted humans zipping around sky cities in flying cars. Several dreamers even produced designs for cars that could be converted into airplanes and vice versa. The first of these to be certified by the FAA was the “Airphibian”, the brainchild of an amateur designer who taught himself aeronautics from a book.

The Fulton FA-3-101 Airphibian, on display at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center.

Erich Hartmann: The Real Top Gun

The highest-scoring American ace in history was Richard Bong, who had 40 air victories flying P-38 Lightnings in the Pacific Theater during World War Two. The most famous of the  air aces, the “Red Baron” Manfred von Richthofen, had 80 air victories during the First World War. But the highest-scoring air ace of all time remains largely unknown to most Americans, perhaps because he flew for the Nazis. Erich Hartmann, flying a Messerschmitt Bf-109 on the Russian Front in the Second World War, scored an incredible 352 air victories, making him the most successful fighter pilot in history.

The Langley Aerodrome A: The Story of “Almost”

Everyone knows that the first manned airplane flight was made in December 1903, by two obscure bicycle manufacturers from Ohio named Wilbur and Orville Wright. But many people don’t know that the Wright Brothers had competition, and one of the most famous scientists in the country, with generous government financing, was also attempting to get into the air. His last attempt was on December 8, 1903–just nine days before the Wright Brothers . . .

The Langley Aerodrome A, on display at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center

Apollo-Soyuz: When the Cold War Thawed Just a Little Bit

The 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was billed as a scientific experiment to test the possibility of an emergency space rescue. In reality, it was a carefully planned political stunt, designed to bring two superpowers together and help prevent the end of the world.

The Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts, joined by their docking module. On display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

The Mobile Quarantine Facility: Protecting the Earth From Moon Bugs

It was a nightmare scenario for NASA’s moon mission planners–a human triumph turning into tragedy as space-borne moon germs, brought back by astronauts, swept the Earth and killed all terrestrial life with a lethal unstoppable disease. To prevent it, NASA developed a Space Age motor home trailer for astronauts called the Mobile Quarantine Facility.

The Mobile Quarantine facility, on display at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center

Japan’s WW2 Submarine Aircraft Carrier

In January 1942, Japan was riding high. It had control of most of the Pacific, and its attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor had been a severe blow. But Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy, knew that he had not won yet. He needed some way to take the battle to the American mainland, to terrorize the American people and convince them that negotiating a peace was preferable to a long and bloody war.

The method he chose to attack the US mainland was one of the oddest ships ever built–the aircraft-carrier submarine.

Seiran bomber on display at the Smithsonian collection.

The Beagle Hasn’t Landed: The Story of the British Mars Probe “Beagle 2”

Launched in June 2003, the Beagle 2 Mars probe was intended to put British science back onto the world’s scientific map, by searching Mars for signs of present or past life. But things didn’t quite turn out as planned . . .

The Mars probe Beagle 2, in the London Museum of Science.

World War One and the Birth of Aerial Warfare

On December 17, 1903, two bicycle manufacturers from Dayton, Ohio, stood on a windy beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and tossed a coin.  While the winner, Orville Wright, positioned himself inside a flimsy machine, made of wood and cloth, his brother Wilbur started up their homemade gasoline engine.  Moments later, the rickety contraption rolled along a metal guide rail, then, as it gained speed, it left the ground and flew about ten feet above the sand for twelve seconds, covering a distance of 120 feet.

The age of flight had begun.

A new type of combat had also been born, though the world’s leading military establishments were not quick to see it.

Roland Garros, the first fighter ace.

Ohka: The Only Airplane Deliberately Designed to Kill Its Pilot

By 1944, it was becoming clear to the military leaders of Japan that the war was lost, unless there was a miracle.  So, they decided to create a miracle–or, more accurately, to re-create one. In the 13th century, Mongol invasions of Japan were thwarted when a fierce typhoon struck and destroyed the Mongol fleet. In late 1944, the Japanese military turned to suicide air attacks to help beat back the US forces that were approaching Japan. The result was the Kamikaze (“Divine Wind”) forces. And the pinnacle of the Kamikaze forces was the MXY-7 “Ohka” piloted bomb, the only plane in the world that was deliberately designed to kill its pilot.

The Ohka piloted bomb, on display at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center