All Stories

Cyrus K. Bettis was a leading US Army Air Service pilot in the 1920s that became the world’s fastest air racer in 1925. In July 2018, members of his family visited the Museum to donate artifacts and archival materials documenting his life near the airplane that he flew and the prizes that he won.

It took a certain amount of pure grit to be a pilot in the early days of aviation – and even more for the women who had to defy convention just to get up in the air.

For the past eight years, aerobatic aviator Sean D. Tucker has performed daring tricks in his Oracle Challenger III. Now, it’ll become part of the National Air and Space Museum collection.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, has a new addition: Nemesis NXT, a record-breaking Sport-class air racer.

Have you ever seen an airplane perform an inverted ribbon cut? You can “see” it at the Museum in DC (and online) in the form of Patty Wagstaff’s Extra 260 aircraft.

We have lost a great man and a legendary pilot. All the superlatives apply. For those not of the aviation world, it is hard to describe how much Robert A. “Bob” Hoover meant to us and how much he loved us in return.This biography will help explain his place in history but, most of all, day after day, Bob Hoover was a true gentleman.

This week the 53^rd National Championship Air Races will be taking place just outside Reno, Nevada. Besides the racers and teams that have made the event the world’s fastest motorsport, fans and spectators are an important part of the culture of air racing and we’ve been researching their place in that exciting history. If you’re a Reno air racing fan, we’re asking you to donate your most-loved t-shirt, jacket, hat, or buttons related to the races to our collection.  

On September 5, 1882, the Central Labor Union in New York City held a “monster labor festival” in Wendel’s Elm Park, an event that would become known as Labor Day.  On October 2, 1924, the Central Labor Union of Dayton sponsored their own trophy race at the International Air Races in Dayton, Ohio.

Art Scholl was a three-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, a racer at the Reno Air Races, an airshow pilot, and a fixed base operator with an aerobatic school. His dog Aileron often flew with him in his deHavilland Chipmunk, riding on the wing as Scholl taxied on the runway or perched on his shoulder in the aircraft.

On this day in 1909, some of the world's leading aviators met at a racetrack in Reims, France, to compete in the first organized international air meet.