Planes

An artist's rendering of the X-37B conducting an aerobraking maneuver using the drag of Earth's atmosphere, with the bottom of the craft glowing red as it heats up.

The Secretive Spaceplane of the U.S. Space Force Conducts First-of-Its-Kind Maneuvers

Called aerobraking, the technique allows the highly classified craft to change orbit without using propellant—and some are wondering why the agency has let us in on this news

The blast left a large crater in the taxiway at Miyazaki Airport.

An American Bomb Left Over From World War II Explodes at an Airport Taxiway in Japan

No one was injured in the blast, and authorities are investigating why the ordnance detonated after so many years underground

An artist's rendering of gamma-ray glows observed during the research, with gamma rays colored purple for emphasis

Scientists Use Cold War-Era Spy Plane to Find Unexpected Gamma Rays in Thunderstorms

The new findings bring storm researchers one step closer to solving the mystery of how lightning forms

A lead canister carrying the fuel rods from the U.S. Army’s Camp Century nuclear reactor in Greenland, during decommissioning in 1960s.

The Odd Arctic Military Projects Spawned by the Cold War

Many offbeat research efforts were doomed to fail, from atomic subways to a city under the ice.

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Tired of Diplomacy as Usual, This Congressman Flew Solo to Promote World Peace

Representative Peter F. Mack’s soaring diplomatic ambitions made aviation history as he traveled through Europe, South Asia, Japan and then across the vast Pacific Ocean

From 1979 to 2020, severe turbulence in some locations increased by as much as 55 percent, according to a 2023 study.

Climate Change Is Making Airplane Turbulence More Common and Severe, Scientists Say

Following turbulence on a flight last week that led to one death and dozens of injuries, researchers, flight attendants and transportation officials alike are warning about links between warmer air and turbulence

Two X-wing CAVs flew over the opening ceremony of an attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort in December 2019. 

How Engineers Created a Flying 'Star Wars' X-Wing

The starfighter-outfitted drone was the first remotely piloted aircraft of its kind and size approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for public demonstration

Hazel Ying Lee (right) and fellow pilot Virginia Wong (left)

This Chinese American Aviatrix Overcame Racism to Fly for the U.S. During World War II

A second-generation immigrant, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to receive her pilot's license

The propeller blade was discovered wrapped in a potato sack in Coire a’Bhradain on the isle of Arran in Scotland.

Mysterious World War II Plane Propeller Found in Scottish Peat Bog

The object likely broke off a doomed plane during a crash on the isle of Arran

Mabel Boll, nicknamed the "Queen of Diamonds" (left), failed to cross the Atlantic before Amelia Earhart (right).

When Amelia Earhart and the 'Queen of Diamonds' Raced to Become the First Woman to Fly Across the Atlantic

Mabel Boll, a wealthy New York socialite, dreamed of making aviation history. But Earhart beat her to the finish line, completing the trans-Atlantic journey as a passenger in June 1928

Flights typically soar above the clouds, which means passengers should have an unobstructed view of the total solar eclipse on April 8—regardless of the weather on the ground.

You Can Watch the Solar Eclipse From These Flights Through the Path of Totality

Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are operating flights on April 8 that could give passengers unobstructed views of the rare celestial spectacle

A diver prepares to enter the water of Malakal Harbor in Palau, where the plane flown by U.S. Navy pilot Jay Ross Manown Jr. was shot down in September 1944.

Recovering the Lost Aviators of World War II

Inside the search for a plane shot down over the Pacific—and the new effort to bring its fallen heroes home

An expedition last fall captured a sonar image of a roughly plane-shaped object near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, which the team suggests could be Amelia Earhart's vehicle.

Have Researchers Found Amelia Earhart's Long-Lost Plane?

A new sonar image shows an airplane-shaped object resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not far from where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937

Flight attendants pose in front of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Troll Airfield in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

First Boeing 787 Dreamliner Lands on Icy Runway in Antarctica

The large plane, which can accommodate roughly 300 passengers, delivered 45 scientists and 12 tons of equipment to a research station in Queen Maud Land

The "Inverted Jenny," 1918, one of the rarest and most valuable stamps in the world, celebrates the first air mail in the U.S.—by depicting an inadvertently upside-down airplane.

Why Collectors Fall Head Over Heels for the 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp

One of the rare 24-cent misprints sold at auction this week for a record-breaking $2 million

The statue of the Little Prince outside Villa Albertine’s Fifth Avenue headquarters

New 'Little Prince' Statue Sits Near Central Park and Gazes Up at the Stars

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote and illustrated much of the beloved novella while living in the city in the 1940s

Divers from the University of Malta began exploring the sunken plane in 2018.

Divers Recover Remains of WWII Airman, 80 Years After He Crashed in the Mediterranean

Underwater archeologists in Malta worked with the U.S. government to identify the 22-year-old from California

Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Mary Welsh, on a trip to Kenya in 1952

Ernest Hemingway and His Wife Survived Two Plane Crashes Just One Day Apart

The novelist recounted the harrowing ordeal in a letter, which just sold for $237,055 at auction

Researchers study wreckage from Moody's P-39 aircraft, which lies in pieces on the floor of Lake Huron.

Divers Pull Wreckage of Tuskegee Airman's Plane From the Depths of Lake Huron

During World War II, a young pilot named Frank Moody died while training in Michigan

Braille signage will be added to rows and individual seats, as well as lavatories.

United Will Be the First U.S. Airline to Add Braille to Its Plane Interiors

The carrier announced that it will update its entire mainline fleet over the next three years

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