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 • You’ll find much more from Aviation History on the web’s leading history resource: historynet.com

Aviation History • SEPTEMBER 2021 / VOL. 32, NO. 1

MAILBAG

PIECING TOGETHER A CONDOR

ALPINE ANTEATER RETURNED TO FLIGHT

ONE-EYED PILOT COMPLETES WORLD FLIGHT

MILESTONES OFF TO THE RACES

2020 COLLIER TROPHY AWARDED

OLD NUMBER ONE • DURING A 38-YEAR CAREER ENCOMPASSING NEARLY 25,000 FLYING HOURS, “SLONNIE” SLONIGER GAINED THE RESPECT AND ADMIRATION OF HIS FELLOW AIRLINE PILOTS

AIR ZOO CAMEL • MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY IN THE MAKING, A METICULOUS REPRODUCTION OF ONE OF WORLD WAR I’S MOST FAMOUS FIGHTERS CAN BE VIEWED AT A MICHIGAN MUSEUM

LOST MOUNTAIN RANGE • THE NAKAJIMA G8N FOUR-ENGINE BOMBER ARRIVED TOO LATE IN WORLD WAR II, WHEN JAPAN HAD ALREADY GONE OVER TO THE DEFENSIVE

STYLE • Museums are reopening, welcoming visitors to impressive exhibits like the original “Spruce Goose” at Oregon’s Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

TINFOIL-HAT RUMINATIONS

Subscribe Now!

TOUGH TURKEY • GRUMMAN’S AVENGER TORPEDO BOMBER—THE BIGGEST SINGLE-ENGINE AIRPLANE OF WORLD WAR II AND THE LAST OF ITS BREED—MADE A HUGE CONTRIBUTION TO ALLIED VICTORY

THE SPANISH AIR WAR • IN A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR WORLD WAR II, GERMANS AND ITALIANS FOUGHT SOVIETS AND AMERICANS IN THE SKIES OVER SPAIN, EMPLOYING AN IMPRESSIVE VARIETY OF AIRCRAFT

BROKEN ARROW IN CALIFORNIA’S CENTRAL VALLEY • DURING A COLD WAR AIRBORNE ALERT MISSION, A COMBINATION OF MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS AND HUMAN ERRORS LED TO THE CRASH OF A B-52 WITH TWO H-BOMBS ONBOARD

OPERATION HIGHJUMP • IN A COMBINED EFFORT NOT LONG AFTER WORLD WAR II, THE U.S. NAVY EMPLOYED SHIPS, AIRPLANES AND HELICOPTERS TO EXPLORE AND MAP ANTARCTICA’S FROZEN REACHES

NO ALTERNATIVE • WITH LIMITED AIR ASSETS, THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE ARMED A SQUADRON OF TRAINERS AND PRESSED THEM INTO COMBAT IN THE GROUND-ATTACK ROLE DURING THE SIX-DAY WAR

TEST GODS • Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut

LEGION CONDOR 1936–39 • The Luftwaffe Develops Blitzkrieg in the Spanish Civil War

TIGER IN THE SEA • The Ditching of Flying Tiger 923 and the Desperate Struggle for Survival

THE BOMBER MAFIA

FLIGHTS FROM FASSBERG • How a German Town Built for War Became a Beacon of Peace

CLASSICS CARRYING THE FIRE • An Astronaut’s Journeys

THE FIESELER FI 156 STORCH • The First STOL Aircraft

MYSTERY SHIP

A SOPWITH MENAGERIE • Match the Sopwith design with its description.

FOUR-ENGINE ALSO-RANS

CLOSE CALL