Aviation History
![The U-2 "Dragon Lady" in flight on a reconnaisance mission.](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/u-2_0.jpg?v=1700155043&width=1222)
Gary Powers and the U-2 Program
The wreckage of the U-2 flown by Gary Powers over the Soviet Union an downed near Sverdlovsk The Aftermath Of The Downing The CIA's first indication that something was wrong with Power's mission oc...
Read more![A drawing of a 1930's era standard airway beacon installation.](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Standard_Airway_beacon_circa_1931.jpg?v=1697130726&width=432)
The Birth Of Instrument Flying
In the early days of aviation, navigating in bad weather presented a real challenge for pilots, resulting in the early demise of many pilots. There were no navigation aids to help pilots easily fin...
Read more![Jack Northrop's first flying wing aircraft called the N-1M.](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/N9MB_w_brdr.jpg?v=1696630366&width=639)
Early adoption of the Flying Wing occurred in 1908 but achieved some success in 1940 when Jack Northrop built the N-1M Flying Wing aircraft. Following that success Northrop Aircraft Company went on...
Read more![A map of the first US non-stop transcontinental flight in 1923](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Non-Stop_US_Transcontinental_Map.jpg?v=1695932909&width=2400)
The First Non-Stop US Transcontinental Flight
In early May of 1923 two Army Air Service lieutenants departed from Long Island, NY en route to San Diego, CA in a Fokker T-2 to complete the first non-stop transcontinental airplane flight. The 26...
Read more![A photograph of Lt. JG David S. Ingalls, USN pilot and the very first US Navy Fighter Ace in 1918](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Lt.-Ingalls.jpg?v=1695389335&width=600)
The U.S. Navy has traditionally had a lot of excellent fighter pilots who performed extremely well in World War I, World War II, and in the Vietnam War. But did you know who was the very first U.S....
Read more![A Blue Angles F11F 'Tiger" in flight](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/F11F-Blue-Angel-Aircraft-in-flight.jpg?v=1693010373&width=800)
Being a test pilot is a dangerous job sometimes, and unusual events occur on a regular basis. In this case a test pilot shoots himself down but survives.
Read more![The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the Second World War](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Spitfire.jpg?v=1692210357&width=914)
The Spitfire is the most famous and beloved aircraft of World War II. Its unique design and superior agility in dog fighting gave the British Royal Air Force a decisive advantage over the German Lu...
Read more![A Rolls-Royce Nene-powered Armstrong-Whitworth-A.W.52-TS363 installed in a British "Flying Wing" aircraft in 1949](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Armstrong-Whitworth-A.W.52-TS363.jpg?v=1691192511&width=625)
How To Exit An Aircraft Quickly
Until the closing days of the Second World War the only way to exit a fatally damaged aircraft was to jump through a door or hole, or after removing the canopy to roll the aircraft upside down and ...
Read more![Image of the seating in a Boeing RB-47H reconnaisance aircraft](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/RB-47H_Reconnaisance_Aircraft.jpg?v=1689713916&width=1050)
I had the honor of serving in the USAF from 1960 through 1965 as a Russian Linguist. This was during one of the most interesting periods in the history of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Most c...
Read more![An aerial shot of bombed out Berlin shortly after the end of World War II](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Berlin-after-World-War-II-15.jpg?v=1687987741&width=800)
The Berlin airlift of 1948-1949 was a test of the will of the Allies in the face of strong Soviet interference with the Marshall Plan and access to Berlin. Not to be intimidated nor deterred, the A...
Read more![Tupolev ANT-25RD N0251 in flight on March 1, 1934.](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/01.03.1934_-25_..jpg?v=1687471034&width=768)
The World's First Transpolar Flight
From June 18, 1937, through June 20, 1938, the first transpolar flight occurred when a Soviet-era ANT-25 aircraft, crewed by three Russians, flew from Moscow to Vancouver, WA, across the North Pole...
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