Aviation History

Aviation History Magazine is an authoritative, in-depth history of world aviation from its origins to the Space Age. Aviation History offers air enthusiasts the most detailed coverage of the history of manned flight, with action-packed stories and illustrations that put the reader in the cockpit with pilots and military (army, navy, and marine)aviators to experience aviation’s greatest dramas.

AVIATION HISTORY ONLINE

Aviation History • MARCH 2021 / VOL. 31, NO. 4

MAILBAG

BURNELLI’S DEAD END

DEATH N’ DESTRUCTION REIGNS AGAIN

HAGERSTOWN AVIATION MUSEUM’S NEW HOME

LAST DOWN FOR A LEGEND

SUPER BLUES

RETURN OF THE BOEING 737 MAX

AN EARLY BIRDMAN • PIONEER AVIATOR BUD MARS THRILLED AIRSHOW CROWDS, NARROWLY ESCAPING DEATH ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AND WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO FLY AIRPLANES IN THE FAR EAST

FORGOTTEN X-PLANE • RESCUED FROM A SCRAP HEAP, THE BELL X-14 IS NOW A PRIZED MUSEUM PIECE AFTER A TWODECADE RESTORATION EFFORT BY RICK ROPKEY AND A TEAM OF DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS

TELESCOPING-WING AIRPLANES • BEFORE JETS SPORTED SWING WINGS, AN EARLY RUSSIAN DESIGNER TOOK A NOVEL APPROACH TO VARIABLE-GEOMETRY WINGSPANS IN A SERIES OF FRENCH-BUILT AIRCRAFT

STYLE • We marvel at the detail of illustrator Steve Karp’s cutaway art, and watch as Porsche takes to the skies.

AVIATION TO THE RESCUE

TOMCATTING • U.S. NAVY AIRCREWS AND RECRUITERS LOVED THE GRUMMAN F-14 TOMCAT, BUT A CAREFUL REVIEW OF ITS RECORD SUGGESTS THE TOP GUN MOUNT WASN’T ALL IT WAS CRANKED UP TO BE

ANGELS FROM ABOVE • ALLIED SPECIAL FORCES UNITS IN FAR-FLUNG THEATERS PIONEERED AIR EVACUATION OF WOUNDED IN WORLD WAR II, PROVIDING A NEEDED BOOST TO THE MEN’S MORALE

LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND • HAMPERED BY INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING, RESOURCEFUL AMERICAN AIRCREWS IMPROVISED COMBAT SEARCH-AND-RESCUE TECHNIQUES EARLY IN THE VIETNAM WAR

THE GREATEST FLIGHT • IN 1927, ON THE HEELS OF LINDBERGH’S TRANSATLANTIC SUCCESS, TWO MIDWESTERNERS ATTEMPTED TO FLY AROUND THE WORLD IN A SINGLE-ENGINE STINSON

INTO COLD AIR • OF THE MULTIPLE EARLY EXPLORERS WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE REACHED THE NORTH POLE, ONLY THE CREW OF THE AIRSHIP NORGE DEFINITIVELY ACHIEVED THEIR GOAL

TOMCAT RIO • A Topgun Instructor on the F-14 Tomcat and the Heroic Naval Aviators Who Flew It

“ABLE MABEL” Martin AM-1/-1Q Mauler

HAWKEYE • The Enthralling Autobiography of the Top-Scoring Israel Air Force Ace of Aces

MACARTHUR’S AIR FORCE • American Airpower Over the Pacific and the Far East 1941–51

VIDEO TOMCAT TALES

TAKING FLIGHT • The Nadine Ramsey Story

VIETNAM’S FINAL AIR CAMPAIGN • Operation Linebacker I & II May–December 1972

MYSTERY SHIP • Can you identify this swing-wing bomber? See the answer below.

LIFESAVER