All Stories

Historian Thomas Paone explores the important role played by K-ships in hunting German U-Boats during World War II.

Curator Russell Lee explores a lesser-known form of World War II aviation: the fighting glider.

Curator Michael Hankins examines the history of the World War II fighter plane P-38 Lightning and its connections with the fan-favorite SR-71 Blackbird.

Naval aviation curator Laurence Burke explores a lesser known type of naval aviation — spotter planes, a role mainly filled by Vought OS2U Kingfishers.

Few American fighter pilots on their own survived a turning, twisting, close-in dogfight against a capable Japanese pilot flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero during World War II. Curator Russell Lee explores in a new blog.

In the latest blog about the preservation of Flak-Bait, conservator Lauren Horelick describes the work being done on the overpaint of the aircraft.

On April 17, 1945, 75 years ago to this day, Flak-Bait's Army Air Forces crew led it on its 200th mission.

Curator Bob van der Linden looks at the history of the flying boat, and how infrastructure investments during World War II changed commercial aviation. 

The Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery, home of the Lindberghs, Earhart, Doolittle, and Piper, among many other pioneers, closes on October 7 as part of the transformation of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, but it will be back in 2022. We explore the many versions of Pioneers of Flight.

A museum staff photographer reflects on photographing in black and white and learning to see in shades of grey.