Aviation History

Paul Tibbets flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima, led the first US heavy bomber raid on Europe, and later ran the jet company that became NetJets.

Richard E. Byrd claimed the first flights over both poles. Who he was, the North Pole flight his diary undercuts, and the South Pole flight that holds up.

Barry Seal went from TWA 707 captain to Medellín cartel pilot to DEA informant. The C-123 sting, the Reagan photo, his murder and what the films got wrong.

Bessie Coleman earned her pilot’s license in France on June 15, 1921, because no US school would train her. What she flew, how she died, and her real firsts.

Charles Lindbergh flew solo from New York to Paris in 33.5 hours in 1927. Who he was, his plane with no front window, the kidnapping and the war years.

Howard Hughes was a record-breaking pilot long before he was a recluse: the H-1 speed record, a 91-hour flight around the world and the Spruce Goose.

A U-2 took 928 photos of Cuba in about six minutes in October 1962. Eleven days after JFK saw them, a Soviet SA-2 shot down Maj. Rudolf Anderson.

Saint-Exupéry vanished in a P-38 on July 31, 1944. A trawler netted a bracelet with his name in 1998, then divers found the wreck. Why it fell is unknown.

Chuck Yeager was a WWII ace, the first pilot to fly faster than sound and the man who trained astronauts he could never join. His full flying life.

Famous female pilots in history, ranked by a year of Wikipedia readership: Amelia Earhart draws 7 times Bessie Coleman, and Jerrie Cobb comes third.