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.

Since the earliest days of flight, Hispanic men and women have shaped aviation—breaking records, exploring the farthest reaches of our world, and shaping what’s possible in the aerospace field.  

At age 30, Afghan-American pilot Shaesta Waiz became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo in a single-engine aircraft. (She managed to snap a photo or two along the way.) Waiz shared some of her favorite images from her record-breaking journey.

Jeannie M. Leavitt became the Air Force’s first female fighter pilot in 1993.

At Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on December 10, 1954, the Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled let loose 40,000 pounds of thrust and propelled United States Air Force flight surgeon Col. John Stapp more than 3,000 feet in a few seconds. The benefits of Stapp’s research are evident every time a driver pulls on a seatbelt or a jet pilot safely ejects from a damaged aircraft.

The Museum’s She Can STEM summer camp is aimed at introducing aviation to 60 underrepresented middle school girls in the DC metro area.

In honor of the 75^th anniversary of the WASP founding in August 1943, we are excited to bring you some original, newly digitized images from the National Archives. 

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.

Seventy-five years ago, on August 5, 1943, a remarkable group of women stepped into roles as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Their story is one of courage, and their legacy is crucial to understanding the role of women as aviators within the United States Military.

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.