Ben Rich succeeded Kelly Johnson at Lockheed’s Skunk Works and turned an idea most thought impossible — an aircraft invisible to radar — into the F-117 Nighthawk.
Why Airliners Are Made of Plastic Now
Modern airliners like the 787 and A350 are built from carbon fibre, not aluminium. Why “plastic” beats metal on weight, fatigue, corrosion — and fuel burn.
Trading Speed for a Kill
You are behind the enemy and closing too fast, about to overshoot. The high yo-yo is the elegant fix — trade speed for altitude, then convert it into a kill.
The Little Delta That Proved the Draken
Before Sweden bet a national fighter on its radical double-delta wing, Saab built a 70%-scale “Little Dragon” to prove it would fly. The Saab 210 story.
The Last of the Triple Aces
Bud Anderson flew a P-51 named “Old Crow” to 16 victories over Europe and was never hit by enemy fire. He died in 2024 as America’s last WWII triple ace.
The Invisible Wake That Can Flip an Airliner
Every aircraft trails two invisible tornadoes of spinning air. Here is how wingtip vortices form, why they can roll a following jet, and how the system keeps you safe.
The Navy’s Underpowered Trailblazer
The McDonnell F3H Demon was hobbled by one of aviation’s worst engines — but it taught McDonnell the lessons that produced the legendary F-4 Phantom II.
The Racer That Redrew the Airplane
In 1935 Howard Hughes built a single silver monoplane, the H-1 Racer, and flew it to a 352 mph world record — a drag-obsessed design that pointed to the fighters of WWII.
The Pilot Who Rewrote Air Combat
“Forty-Second Boyd” turned dogfighting into a science, gave designers Energy-Maneuverability theory and the OODA loop, and shaped the F-15, F-16 and A-10.
Ten Jets, One Sky
Italy’s Frecce Tricolori are the largest jet aerobatic team on Earth — nine MB-339s and a soloist trailing the green, white and red of the Italian flag.
America’s British Bomber
The Martin B-57 was a British Canberra built in America — the only foreign design adopted as a frontline US bomber of its era, and NASA still flies its descendants.
Why a Jet Engine Coughs
That cannon-like bang from a jet engine is usually a compressor stall, not an explosion. Here is what actually happens inside — and why it is rarely a disaster.
150 Holes and One Hell of a Landing
Hit by a missile over Baghdad in 2003, Capt. Kim “Killer Chick” Campbell flew her hydraulics-dead A-10 home on cables and cranks — and landed it.
The Bomber That Refuses to Die
China’s Xian H-6 is a 1950s Soviet design still rolling off the line — reborn as a cruise-missile and ballistic-missile truck at the heart of the PLA’s strike power.
The First Three Seconds of a Dogfight
When two fighters pass canopy to canopy, the dogfight begins. Inside “the merge” and the energy game that decides who ends up in the gunsight.
The Führer’s Favourite Test Pilot
Hanna Reitsch flew the first helicopter indoors, test-flew rocket planes and the piloted V-1, and served the Nazi regime to the end. A gifted, deeply compromised aviator.
The Interceptor the Sound Barrier Nearly Killed
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was built to be supersonic but at first couldn’t break Mach 1. The area rule saved it and made it the USAF’s first supersonic interceptor.