CURRENT ISSUE
October/November 2013
Features
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Can a suborbital spaceship help XCOR reach orbit?
The Lynx’s Leap.
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The First Test Pilots
At old McCook Field, the art of flying became a science.
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When the Error Message Comes From 50 Million Miles Away
...spacecraft engineers have to get creative.
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The Making of a Joint Strike Fighter Pilot
Welcome to the fifth generation
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Why There Will Never Be Another Flying Pancake
The end of the Vought V-173.
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When art meets aviation
Still Life with Airplane
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For a few magical years, it looked like every family would own an airplane.
Buy Your Plane at Penney’s
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The Hunt for Houdini’s Airplane
Amateur detectives have found clues to the fate of the magician’s biplane.
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Departments
Above & Beyond
“The Client Wants to Land Where?”
Could we fly a bizjet into a remote strip in the Himalayas?
In the Museum
Some of the airplanes in the National Air and Space Museum stir personal memories.
Buz Carpenter tells us all about it.