THE GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION · AIRLINER HISTORY The Airliner That Made Flying a Practical Way to Travel Discover how the Douglas DC-3 combined speed, reliability, passenger comfort, and operating efficiency to reshape commercial aviation. 1935FIRST FLIGHT 2PISTON ENGINES 1936AIRLINE SERVICE In the early 1930s, passenger aviation was still developing into a dependable transportation industry. … Read more

Aeronautical Historical Dispatch: The Zenith of Supersonic Passenger Aviation On January 21, 1976, commercial aviation crossed into a breathtaking new frontier when the Anglo-French Concorde entered simultaneous scheduled passenger service with British Airways and Air France. Cruising at twice the speed of sound—Mach 2.04—at sixty thousand feet on the edge of space, Concorde reduced the … Read more

Aeronautical Historical Dispatch: The Aircraft That Made the World Fly Profitably In the comprehensive history of global transportation, few machines have transformed human geography as profoundly as the Douglas DC-3. Entering commercial service in June 1936 with American Airlines, the DC-3 was the first airliner capable of operating profitably on passenger revenue alone without government … Read more

Aeronautical Historical Dispatch: The Definitive Heavy Daylight Strategic Bomber Throughout the titanic struggle of the Second World War in Europe, no aircraft embodied American industrial might and doctrinal conviction more completely than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Designed in the mid-1930s by Boeing chief engineer Claire Egtvedt, the four-engine heavy bomber was conceived as a … Read more

Aeronautical Historical Dispatch: The Definitive Battle of Britain Interceptor Few military aircraft have captured the collective imagination of civilization like the Supermarine Spitfire. Designed by the visionary British aerodynamicist Reginald Joseph Mitchell and powered by the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 engine, the Spitfire was a masterpiece of aerodynamic grace and industrial lethality. Along with the … Read more