Stories of daring, stories of technological feats, stories of prevailing against the odds ... these are the stories we tell at the National Air and Space Museum. Dive in to the stories below to discover, learn, and be inspired. 

Showing 1 - 10 of 11

December 20, 2023 Unbroken Story | Air & Space Quarterly

The Air and Space Quarterly Interview with F-4 aviator Porter Halyburton about his time as a POW in Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

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March 22, 2023 The MiG Hunters Story | Air & Space Quarterly

Navy pilots recall the final, frenetic days of the air war over Vietnam.

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March 22, 2023 Guerrilla Aircraft Story | Air & Space Quarterly

MiG-17 performance in Veitnam

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February 16, 2023 Charles Bolden: Pilot, Astronaut, and NASA Administrator Story

Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden was NASA's first African American Administrator. He also served in the military and logged over 680 hours in space.

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September 21, 2022 The Smoke Ship Story | Air & Space Quarterly

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the Huey, remains a powerful symbol of the Vietnam War.

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June 21, 2022 Phantom Flyers: Aerial Victory over North Vietnam Story

For the crews of US Navy Fighter Squadron 31 (VF-31, the “Tomcatters”), June 21, 1972, was the last day of their first line period of sustained operations onboard the USS Saratoga before a scheduled week off. That day proved to be one of the most significant in the squadron’s history. Discover why.

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March 18, 2022 Robert C. “Bob” Mikesh Story | Air and Space Photos

Maj. Robert C. “Bob” Mikesh, United States Air Force (ret.), died in February 2022, less than two weeks short of his 94th birthday. Bob was a combat pilot, Smithsonian curator, accomplished author, and a builder of museum-quality aircraft models.

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January 18, 2022 A Life of Dedicated Service: Remembering Brigadier General Charles McGee Story

Brig. Gen. Charles E. McGee, the eldest of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen, passed away on January 16, 2022. His life of dedicated service included flying combat aircraft in three major wars—a feat that was unthinkable before his career began, when the US military banned African Americans from combat flying roles.

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December 08, 2020 Remembering Chuck Yeager, a Pilot with the Right Stuff Story

The greatest pilot of the Greatest Generation has passed. Seventy-nine years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, famed test pilot, World War II ace, and the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, died at the age of 97.

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January 30, 2018 Super Sabre’s Service in South Vietnam Story | Air and Space Photos

In the quiet of the Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia sits the U.S. Air Force F-100D “Super Sabre,” serial number 56-3440. 440 was in Vietnam from June 1965 until July 1970, but its most intense combat was seen 50 years ago, during the Tet Offensive.

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