All Stories

Anne Noggle (1922–2005) confronts themes of gender equality and aging through portraits of World War II women pilots in the United States and the Soviet Union. Her photographs convey their grit, defiance, femininity, and love of flying. Above all, they capture a spirit that bonds the rare group of aviation heroines together.

Explore all of the rich content about the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer that can be found on the Museum's website.

Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, hosted the Lindberghs for three weeks in the summer of 1933 and one of their stops was the southern town of Julianehaab, now known as Qaqortoq.

Amid all these aircraft maintenance manuals, engine overhaul manuals, and parts catalogs in the Museum, there exists a U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) manual that details the use of homing pigeons in combat zones during World War II.

In 1896, Ethiopians had turned back an Italian invasion at Adwa (Adowa), serving as an example of a Black-led country’s defiance of Europe. Taking inspiration from Ethiopia’s long history as an independent Black nation, two Black aviators—Hubert Julian and John C. Robinson—were drawn to Ethiopia by the events of 1935.

It took decades of research, lobbying, and litigation to prove the dangers of secondhand smoke, and a lot of that work happened at cruising altitude. In this episode, we’ll hear how flight attendants were instrumental in the fight to get smoking OUT of the skies, and how the lawsuit they brought against the tobacco companies had huge ripple effects in the smoke-free public places we enjoy today.

Right now COVID-19 vaccines are traveling across the country and around the world – and air travel is a critical component of this supply chain. On today’s episode we’re breaking down the history of the cold chain and how air safety plays a part (particularly with all that dry ice).

I had to hold back my emotions as I photographed the blue and gold F/A-18C Hornet aircraft approaching the Udvar-Hazy Center on November 18, 2020, by the realization that my photography career had, in some way, just come full circle. My journey began back in 1973 when I had the good fortune of being assigned as the photographer for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team.

In 2018, a peculiar condition phenomenon was observed on the helmet of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and it was removed from display for examination and conservation. An investigation into the cause of the condition issue is reviewed.

On December 17, 1950, the first known aerial combat between swept-wing jet fighters took place in the skies over Korea.