Aviation History
![A UH-1 helicopter on a landing pad in Vietnam](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/A_UH-1_helicopter_on_a_landing_pad_in_Vietnam.jpg?v=1722463736&width=396)
On Novmber 9, 1967, a rescue helicopter crew heard a call for help while on their way back to base. Tired, weary, and heading home, the crew decided it was more important to help their fellow soldi...
Read more![A photo of Bessie Coleman standing on the wing of her Jenny in 1922](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Bessie-Coleman-and-her-Jenny-1922.jpg?v=1711117051&width=578)
Bessie Coleman Soars Across the Sky
The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday of early aviation, but African Americans were excluded from all of the fun. That is, until a smart, attractive African American girl decided she just wouldn't ac...
Read more![The B-24D, Liberator, Serial Number 41-11819, named "Raunchy", landing at Benghazi, Libya 1943](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/B-24D_Liberator_41-11819_Raunchy.jpg?v=1713360900&width=960)
The Disappearance of the "Lady Be Good"
On April 4, 1943, a Consolidated B-24D Liberator with a crew of 9 departed an airfield in Libya on a night mission to bomb Naples, Italy. Discover the story of how the aircraft and crew disappeared...
Read more![Operation Baby Lift Lockheed C-5A Galaxy 68-0218 lifts off from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, 4 00 p.m., Friday, 4 April 1975.](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Lockheed_C-5A_Galaxy_68-0218_lifts_off_from_Tan_Son_Nhut_Air_Base_South_Vietnam_4_00_p.m._Friday_4_April_1975..jpg?v=1712774059&width=604)
Operation Baby Lift was a humanitarian effort undertaken by the US government to save South Vietnamese orphans from the North Vietnamese. Like so many other government programs, this one did not en...
Read more![A Boeing 707 sitting on the tarmac belonging to SABENA Airlines in 1961](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Boeing_707-329_OO-SJB_Sabena_Flight_548._Guy_Van_de_Merckt.jpg?v=1708697310&width=800)
The Boeing 707 was one of the first jet powered intercontinental aircraft, it had four engines and one of the most interesting features of the aircraft were it's swept wings and tail surfaces. Spec...
Read more![Buffalo Airways Lockheed L188 Electra aircraft in flight](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Buffalo_Airways_Lockheed_L188_Electra_aircraft.jpg?v=1704987719&width=640)
This is an interesting story about an aircraft accident that occurred over the Amazon jungle and the sole survivor of that accident. The aircraft involved was a Peruvian airline Lockheed Electra L1...
Read more![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 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![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![Flying the SR-71 and setting world speed records. Example: New York to London, a distance of 3,470 Miles, average speed of 1,817 mph, 1:55:32 time enroute](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/SR71_record.jpg?v=1685754191&width=853)
Can You Safely Eject From An SR-71 At Speed And Altitude And Survive?
Flying the SR-71 was not only a lot of fun for the pilots but presented them with some real danger should something go wrong. So, could they survive ejecting from an SR-71 at 85,000 feet plus and M...
Read more![Photo of Space Shuttle Columbia launch on January 16, 2003](http://aviator-sunglasses.net/cdn/shop/articles/Space_Shuttle_Columbia.jpg?v=1677855921&width=1968)
STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
On January 16, 2003, seven astronauts climbed aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and launched into space for a seventeen-day mission. Those brave astronauts are pictured and identified below: Front ...
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