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Passenger planes capable of hypersonic speeds, or five times the speed of sound, have been a dream of engineers for decades. Now, there's a real plan in place to build one. It's just going to take a long time. More »
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The dry climate of the southwest United States is a popular spot for airplane boneyards. When airlines need to stow away planes or lay them to rest, they will ship planes out to aviation boneyards in states like California and Arizona. And sometimes, photographers brave security patrols and barbed-wire fences to photograph these slumbering hulks. More »
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The Amelia Earhart disappearance hasn't actually been a mystery so much as a jumping-off point for as many fantastical theories as possible. Earhart had often been credited as a better self-promoter and daredevil than a pilot. Her last stunt, in 1937, was an attempt to make the record books as the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in an airplane. During the final leg of her journey she, her navigator, and her plane all vanished. More »
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Survival isn't just a matter of stockpiling food and water purification tablets. This guide is for situations more extreme than that. Find out how to defuse a nuclear bomb, survive a 3500 foot plunge, and surf down a lava wave. More »
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Now you can learn to make paper airplanes from a guy who has set world records with his planes. Ken Blackburn has a website with his preferred patterns for folding paper airplanes. More »
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In northeastern Ohio, there's a bucolic airplane graveyard filled with the decaying remains of old jets, like this Vought F7U Cutlass. Here's an eerie video of these rotting old birds. More »
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In the last couple years, amateur engineers from Africa have built DIY planes and helicopters out of recycled parts. These rigs look undeniably bad-ass, even if it's unclear whether they can get off the ground. More »
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What a difference giant volcanic ash makes. Watch the skies change completely in this time-lapse video, showing air traffic returning to normal after being grounded due to the volcano. It gets pretty busy up there. More »
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Looking for something you're sure you won't find? Even if the item you seek is close by, a doubtful attitude reduces your chances of finding it, claims a new study funded by the US Department of Homeland Security. More »
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In the early years of the airplane, a New York Tribune artist wondered if this amazing new technology might not inspire some supervillainous acts. In this retrofuturistic image, some daring thieves employ the wicked device. [Paleofuture via William Gibson] More »
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This is a real photograph of an FA-18, completely unblemished by Photoshop. What kind of atmospheric conditions would lead to such an apparition? National Geographic has the answer. More »
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The airplane of the future may be open-air, so you can actually feel the jetstream on your face. Think prom limo, with champagne and a sun roof, except it flies. The next-generation aircraft, from designers Andree Putman and Jaime Hayon, is a white gold mosaic hangar plane with a glass cabin, leather wings, and colored missiles with hearts on them, called Jet Set. More »
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This Canadian Vickers Velos airplane is infamous as the ugliest and most worthless plane in the world. Not only does it have the distinction of appearing in Popular Aviation's "Ugly Plane Gallery," but even the Royal Canadian Air Force (who commissioned it as an "Aeroplane for Photographic Surveying" in 1926) called it "most unsuitable for any operation." Only one was ever made, and it flew for part of the year in 1928. More »
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Yes, you are about to have your hypersonic space jet capable of going Mach 6 (that's six times the speed of sound). But first you'll want to check out this kickass hypersonic wind tunnel at Purdue University where the space jets of tomorrow are being tested. It's actually hard to find a hypersonic wind tunnel that doesn't blast your eardrums out. More »
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