Lieutenant Theodore Ellyson is in the pilot’s seat of A-1 as preparations are made for the cable test launch. The main cable ran in an inverted U-channel beneath the pontoon; thinner cables were strung near each wingtip for balance. The broad U-shaped tip guides are visible beneath the wings.

The Navy’s First

Practical flight was less than eight years old when the U.S. Navy made its first tentative commitment to put sailors aloft in heavier-than-air craft.

J. M. Caiella
June 2024
The NB-36H was the world’s first aircraft to fly with an operating nuclear reactor on board. The reactor did not power the plane but was used to obtain data on the effects of radiation on instruments, equipment, and the airframe. The NB-36H’s dark blue nose and orange radiation symbol on its tail distinguished it from a conventional B-36.

Atomic-Powered Aircraft

The program that developed the atomic bomb awarded a contract to the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Company to determine the feasibility of using nuclear energy to power an aircraft.

Norman Polmar
March 2024
A VH-60N White Hawk in flight. The aircraft was known as a “White Top” because of its livery.

The Presidential Helicopters

Helicopter transport has become a common, almost everyday means of travel for the President.

Norman Polmar
February 2024
A P-59 at rest. Note the tricycle landing gear common on Bell-produced piston-engine fighters—the P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra, both of which were in combat in World War II.

The First U.S. Jet

The first U.S. jet-propelled aircraft was the Bell P-59 Airacomet.

Norman Polmar
December 2023
An OL-2 showing the aircraft’s two open cockpits; it could be flown with a control wheel in the forward cockpit or a control stick in the rear cockpit.

A Plane for All Seasons

The Loening OL-series amphibians were among the most popular aircraft used by the U.S. military services between the world wars, being flown by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast ...

Norman Polmar
October 2023
XC-142A taking off

The Largest V/STOL Aircraft

One of the more unusual vertical/short-takeoff-and-landing (V/STOL) aircraft flown by the U.S. military services was the Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142.

August 2023
AD-3W Skyraider

The Electronic Skyraiders

One of the most versatile and durable naval aircraft was the Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider.

Norman Polmar
June 2023
A PB-1W Flying Fortress

A Bomber Without Bombs

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress—the most famous Allied bomber of World War II—was not the fastest bomber, nor did it have the largest bomb capacity, nor the longest range, nor ...

April 2023
The Shenandoah moored to the fleet oiler Patoka (AO-9)

Flying with Grace

During the 1920s and 1930s several large, graceful, rigid airships flew across the Atlantic and within the United States. Four of them were emblazoned “U.S. Navy.”

Norman Polmar
January 2023
VCS-7 pilots

A British Connection . . . Part 2

The second major U.S. Navy encounter with the Spitfire occurred during preparations for D-Day—the invasion of the Normandy coast of German-held France on 6 June 1944.

November 2022