Past Events

Aviation Adventures Lecture Series

The Aviation Adventures series is the National Air and Space Museum's longest-running sponsored program, spotlighting everything from icons of aviation like Sikorsky helicopters and the Navy’s TOPGUN school, to modern-day advancements in aviation like sustainability efforts and the future of supersonic flight.

This lecture series is made possible by the generous support of GE Aerospace.

Showing 1-10 of 10

Lecture Views from the Cockpit of the F-35 National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Lt. Col. Christine Mau is no stranger to making history. She is the first and only woman to pilot the Department of Defense's newest fighter, the F-35. In this lecture, Lt. Col. Mau will discuss her journey accumulating more than 2,300 hours in the F-15E and F-35A. This lecture is free, but tickets are required. 
Lecture Going the Distance and Breaking Records as a Boeing Test Pilot National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
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Join us for the first lecture in the GE Aviation Lecture Series to hear from Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann about how airplanes are certified, view Flight Test Footage, and learn why, when flight testing, test pilots should never wear pearls.
Lecture Sikorsky - Father and Son on Helicopters National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Lecture Coast Guard Aviation: Search and Rescue and more National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Lecture Red Bull Stratos: Mission to the Edge of Space National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Join record-holding parachutist Felix Baumgartner, previous high-altitude descent record-holder Joseph Kittinger, and technical project director Art Thompson for their thrilling first-person accounts of Baumgartner’s dramatic jump over Roswell, New Mexico.
Lecture Air Racing Champions: It Runs in the Family National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Experience the fast-paced world of air racing through the eyes of these two extraordinary pilots.
Lecture The Red Eagles: America's Secret MiG Squadron National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Find out the details of this Cold War covert operation, declassified in 2006, from one of its masterminds and the first commander, Col. Gaillard Peck, Jr.
Lecture GPS for Humanity - The Stealth Utility National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become a ubiquitous, but often invisible, part of modern life. 
Lecture Fly Marines: Observations from the Cockpit National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Join Marine Corps aviator and National Air and Space Museum Director Jack Dailey for a discussion about the sacrifice, study, and decisions that defined the Marine Corps mission of battlefield mobility and responsiveness.
Lecture He Overcame More than Gravity: The First African American Marine Aviator National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

General Frank Petersen will reflect on his accomplishments and the challenges he faced as the U.S. Navy's first African American marine aviator.