George C. Larson

George C. Larson served as editor of Air & Space from 1985 to 2005. He is currently an inactive pilot, but holds a commercial pilot's license, with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He is between airplanes at this time, but has owned or operated a Grumman American AA-5B Tiger and a Mooney 201. He has been writing about aviation since 1972, when he joined the staff of Flying Magazine.

Once a best-selling airliner, the 727 now hauls cargo rather than passengers (a Federal Express 727 approaches a runway in 2009).

The 727 Turns Fifty

Once a best-seller, the airliner’s pilots still swear by it.

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About Those Airliner Batteries

They're not the same as the AAs from your hardware store, or even your car battery

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Why Do Airliners Have Teething Problems?

If they're introducing new technology, problems are almost guaranteed

After six failures - success: Although Ranger 5 cartwheeled into solar orbit, Ranger 7 delivered the goods.

The Ranger Series of Space Probes Finally Succeeded — On the Seventh Try

Did President John F. Kennedy's speech in 1962 create a spark?

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Made in Mexico

Aerospace jobs south of the border? Yes, and it's been that way for a long time.

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Fly or Drive?

How far does a trip have to be to travel by air? Answer our poll.

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What Are You Wearing?

In the airplane business, clothes make the salesman.

The XC-35 (in flight near Wright Field in August 1937) earned the U.S. Army Air Corps the 1937 Collier Trophy for its substratospheric design.

Flying in Comfort

75 years ago, the Army Air Corps’ XC-35 launched the pressurized cabin.

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The Eye of the Beholder

For its innovation and emphasis on inner beauty, the Hondajet deserves a recent design award

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Ace of Clubs

Flying clubs can bring the costs of operating an airplane within the reach of mid-income pilots

Mathias Rust’s Skyhawk is on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin.

Moments and Milestones: The Bridge Builder

Twenty-five years ago, Mathias Rust decided to personally intervene in the cold war

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Security for Life

Is the TSA forever? We're interested in your opinion

The pioneers: Captain Carl Crane, who invented the autoland system, Captain George Holloman, and engineer Raymond Stout (left to right).

The First Autolanding

Two pilots won a trophy in 1937 for keeping their hands off the controls.

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The East is Red (or at Least a Kind of Pinkish Color)

China is making inroads in the aerospace business, but it’s difficult to think of an industry that’s harder to break into

Within months of its first flight, the Skyrocket II (designer August Bellanca with the prototype in Delaware, 2002) set five world speed records in its class.

Making a Smoother (and Speedier) Airplane

Within months of its first flight, August Bellanca's Skyrocket II set five world speed records.

Will Whiteside’s Yak-3U SteadFast, instrumented to send GPS-based data to a National Aeronautic Association ground station, climbs through 10,000 feet in pursuit of world records.

A New Time-to-Climb Record

A Yak 3U gets to 10,000 feet in 125 seconds.

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The Master of “Good Enough”

Pilots will always remember Ed King as the man who built their radios.

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Not Your Father’s Safety Board

Smart and experienced, the National Transportation Safety Board will delve into issues facing General Aviation in a forum to be held next week.

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F-22: The Other Shoe Drops

Not grounded, but close.

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Raptor in the Doghouse

The Air Force's most sophisticated fighter, the F-22, has a problem with its oxygen system, and increasingly, with its image.

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