The Publicity Photo That Killed the Valkyrie

The Publicity Photo That Killed the Valkyrie

It was supposed to be a photograph. Five gleaming aircraft, all powered by the same company’s engines, tucked into tight formation over the California desert for a publicity shot. Twenty minutes later, two of them were falling out of the sky, and two of...
Concordski: The Day the Soviet SST Fell

Concordski: The Day the Soviet SST Fell

The West called it “Concordski,” half in mockery. It flew two months before Concorde, looked almost identical, and carried the pride of the entire Soviet aerospace industry on its needle nose. On 3 June 1973, in front of a quarter of a million people at...
Colonel Toon: The Ace Who Never Was

Colonel Toon: The Ace Who Never Was

He had thirteen American kills, a colonel’s rank, and a name that made young U.S. pilots go quiet: Colonel Toon. He was North Vietnam’s deadliest ace, the ghost every Navy flier feared meeting over Haiphong. There was only one problem with the legend of...