The stories behind the skill.

"Before there was a space program, there was a laboratory in Virginia that figured out how airplanes actually work."

"The first airline flew lighter-than-air. It was German, luxurious, and occasionally on fire."

"The Comet flew first. The 707 flew longest. The reason was square windows."

"It killed novices and crowned legends—sometimes on the same day"

"An elegant fuselage wrapped around a wing that wanted to leave"

"Seventy-five confirmed, never wounded, and only one bullet hole in his kite"

"Fast, steady, and boring—which is exactly what a fighter pilot needs"

"Three DSOs, two MCs, and a VC earned by refusing to look away"

"Before GPS, pilots used stars, then radio beams, then guesswork. Now they use satellites."

"The first stealth aircraft was designed with slide rules and hope."

"The largest wooden airplane ever built. It flew once. For a mile."

"Mach 2.04 at 60,000 feet. Three and a half hours to New York."

"The most beautiful airliner ever built. And the noisiest cockpit."

"12 seconds that changed everything"

"33 hours. No radio. No sleep. One sandwich."

"80 kills. One color. Immortal."

"The most complex flying machine ever built. Two crews never came home."

"They had to be better to get the same chance."

"The Wright Flyer was fabric and wood. The B-2 is carbon fiber and stealth. The principle is the same: build light, build strong."

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

"Before 1956, 'B' and 'D' sounded the same on a static-filled radio. That was a problem."

"The pilot moves the stick. The computer decides what the control surfaces actually do."

"If you ever have to say it three times, you've already had the worst day of your flying career."

"Two Vickers, a Hispano-Suiza V-8, and the grip to survive any dive"