American aviation pioneer Wally Funk
© Blue Origin

After training for 60 years, Wally Funk finally arrived in space this summer. Once a trainee of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLAT’s) program run by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) physician back in 1961, Funk passed all the tests and training before the program ended. Although these women, later known as the Mercury 13, were not permitted to become astronauts, Funk never forgot her dream of going to space. She had a distinguished career as a pilot, logging thousands of miles or kilometers in the air and teaching thousands of other pilots, not staying on the ground for too long.

On July 20, 2021, Funk flew on the New Shepard rocket built by the company Blue Origin, founded by American businessman Jeff Bezos. She rode with Jeff Bezos, Bezos’s brother Mark, and 18-year-old physics student Oliver Daemen. The rocket rose more than 100 miles (61 kilometers) straight into the air to the boundary of space. The booster separated from the capsule and landed using its engines. The capsule floated back down to the ground on parachutes. The whole flight lasted about 10 minutes.

The American businessman Jeff Bezos poses with the other passengers on the first crewed flight into space of Blue Origin’s craft New Shepard: (left to right) Mark Bezos, American executive; Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin; Oliver Daemen, Dutch student; and Wally Funk, American aviation pioneer.
© Blue Origin

At age 82, Funk was at that time the oldest person to travel to space. She surpassed the American astronaut and senator John Glenn, who returned to space in 1998 at the age of 77 aboard the space shuttle. Wally Funk held the record for 85 days. Since then, Candian-born actor William Shatner, 90, traveled to space on Blue Origin’s second suborbital flight on October 13, 2021, claiming the record.

Mary Wallace Funk was born Feb. 1, 1939, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, near Santa Fe. She began her first flying lessons at the age of nine. Funk graduated first in her flying class at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and earned her pilot’s license in 1958. Funk earned her Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from Oklahoma State University. There, she joined the school aviation team, the Flying Aggies. In 1960, at the age of 21, she was named a flight instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, becoming the first woman flight instructor at a U.S. military base.

After the FLAT’s program ended, Funk continued her career as a pilot and flight instructor. She became the first woman inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1971. In 1974, she became the first woman air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, investigating plane crashes. NASA began accepting women as astronauts in 1978, and Funk applied four times to the agency for astronaut training. She was denied, despite her experience, because she did not have an engineering degree. Undeterred, Funk pursued opportunities for private space travel, purchasing a ticket for a future suborbital flight with space tourism company Virgin Galactic. Earlier this year, Bezos surprised Funk with a seat on Blue Origin’s inaugural crewed flight, fulfilling Funk’s lifelong dream.

Madeline Swegle, the United States Navy’s first Black female tactical air pilot, stands in front of a T-45C Goshawk jet trainer aircraft at the Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas.
Credit: Michelle Tucker, U.S. Navy

This summer, the American jet pilot Madeline Swegle became the United States Navy’s first Black woman tactical air pilot. Tactical air pilots support military units on the ground and at sea, attacking enemy fighters and striking targets. Swegle earned the “wings of gold” insignia as a naval aviator. As a tactical air pilot, Swegle can fly such fighter jets as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Madeline Manhertz was born on Jul. 29, 1995, in Monterey, California. Her family later moved to Burke, Virginia, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Washington, D.C. Manhertz became interested in planes at a young age, after seeing an aircraft presentation by the Navy precision flying team the Blue Angels. Manhertz graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2017.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, Manhertz continued her training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. She then went on to the Naval Aviation Schools Command in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 2020, Manhertz married Naval aviator Scott Swegle. Months later, she finished her training at the Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas.

Bessie Coleman, a pioneering aviator, became the first Black woman to be licensed as a pilot. Coleman, shown wearing an aviator’s cap in this black-and-white photograph, earned her license in 1921.
Credit: © Underwood & Underwood/Corbis

Swegle is the latest in a long line of Black aviation pioneers. Another was Bessie Coleman, who, in 1921, became the first Black woman licensed as a pilot. In her 20′s, Coleman became interested in flying. In the United States, flight schools refused to teach her because she was Black and a woman. Robert S. Abbott, a Black newspaper publisher, encouraged Coleman to go to France for flight instruction. After studying French, she went there and earned her license. In 1922, Coleman began touring with air shows in the United States as a stunt pilot. Her performances and speaking engagements made her a celebrity.

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of Black pilots, crew, and support staff that served in the Army Air Corps during World War II (1939-1945). This photograph, taken in Ramitelli, Italy, in 1945, shows airmen at a tactical meeting.
Credit: Library of Congress

Two decades later, the Tuskegee Airmen broke new ground for Black aviators. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of Black Americans who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II (1939-1945). The name Tuskegee Airmen is used most often to refer to combat aviators, but the group also included bombardiers, navigators, maintenance crews, and support staff.

The men were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Base, near Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), a historically Black college in Alabama. Members of the Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black Americans to qualify as military pilots in any branch of the armed forces. Many became decorated war heroes. The success of the Tuskegee aviators helped lead to a decision by the United States government calling for an end to racial discrimination in the military. In 2007, the United States awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by Congress.

March 1, 2019

On March 2, 1949, 70 years ago tomorrow, a United States Air Force bomber called Lucky Lady II landed at Carswell Air Force Base in Texas, completing the first nonstop flight around the world. The achievement took 94 hours and 1 minute and covered 23,452 miles (37,742 kilometers). The bomber, a Boeing B-50 Superfortress, took off from Carswell on February 26, and was refueled in flight four times—a tricky technique that had only recently been developed.

A KB-29M tanker refuels Lucky Lady II (below in the foreground) during a flight in 1948. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The B-50 was a modified version of the famous Boeing B-29 Superfortress that saw extensive action during World War II (1939-1945). The B-50 used powerful Pratt and Whitney piston engines and was the last Boeing propeller bomber built for the Air Force. Later bombers flew with jet engines. Lucky Lady II was specially outfitted with an extra fuel tank and a larger than normal crew of 14 people (including 3 pilots). Captain James Gallagher commanded the mission.

Lucky Lady II flew east from Texas and was refueled over the Azores, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Hawaii. The aerial refueling technique involved pairs of KB-29 tankers (modified B-29′s). The KB-29′s flew above and forward of the B-50, and each unreeled a long refueling hose. The hoses were attached one at a time to the B-50, the fuel tanks were filled, and the hoses were released. The round-the-world flight of Lucky Lady II took place at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet (3,000 to 6,100 meters), with an average ground speed of 249 miles per hour (401 kilometers per hour).

After completing the much-publicized mission, the crew of Lucky Lady II received numerous awards and decorations. The success of the mission demonstrated the ever-increasing range of military aircraft, as well as the capability of striking anywhere in the world in a matter of hours.

A B-50 named Global Queen attempted the nonstop round-the-world flight at the same time as Lucky Lady II, but an engine fire forced the plane to land in the Azores. Lucky Lady II followed Lucky Lady I, a B-29 that completed a round-the-world flight—with eight stops—in 103 hours and 50 minutes of flight time in 1948. Lucky Lady III, a jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, completed the nonstop round-the-world flight in 45 hours and 19 minutes in 1957. The fuselage (body) of Lucky Lady II can be seen at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.

December 17, 2018

On Dec. 17, 1903, 115 years ago today, Ohioan brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the world’s first controlled flight in a machine that was piloted, power driven, and heavier than air. They flew this airplane—called the Flyer—near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. With Orville at the controls, the plane flew 120 feet (37 meters) on the first flight. It stayed in the air 12 seconds. The brothers made three more flights that day. The longest, by Wilbur, was 852 feet (260 meters) in length and lasted 59 seconds.

The American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright built the first successful airplane. In this photograph, Wilbur looks on as Orville pilots their plane, called the Flyer, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, marking the world’s first flight in a heavier-than-air vehicle. Credit: © Classic Image/Alamy Images

After years of research and experimentation, and by studying the attempts of other would-be pilots, the Wright brothers knew that heavier-than-air flight was possible. They corresponded frequently with American engineer Octave Chanute, a friend and supporter of their work. The brothers built the Flyer in sections in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. The airplane was assembled and tested on the coastal dunes of North Carolina, where their creation could, like a kite, take advantage of high winds—as well as soft sands for potential crashes.

Orville Wright. Credit: Library of Congress

After that first flight, the Wrights continued their experiments at Huffman Prairie near Dayton in 1904 and 1905. The site of their Ohio flights became Wilbur Wright Field, which evolved into the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1948. The Wright brothers continued as aviation pioneers, building new airplanes, setting flight records, and developing aircraft for the U.S. military as well as for governments in other countries. Wilbur died of typhoid fever on May 30, 1912. Orville retired in 1915 but continued to work privately on aviation development until his death on Jan. 30, 1948.

Wilbur Wright. Credit: Library of Congress

Wilbur was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in New York City in 1955. Orville was elected in 1965. They were the first two individuals named to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1962. Their first airplane, the Flyer, is displayed in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

April 20, 2018

On April 21, 1918, 100 years ago tomorrow, famed German fighter pilot Baron Manfred von Richthofen <<RIHKT hoh fuhn>>, known as the Red Baron, was shot down and killed during World War I (1914-1918). Richthofen shot down 80 enemy planes before he died, making him the war’s “highest scoring” flying ace. He also trained and led his own fighter squadron. Richthofen became a celebrated hero during the war, and was known as the Red Baron because of his red-painted planes.

Baron Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot during World War I (1914-1918). He was killed in action 100 years ago on April 21, 1918. Credit: © Everett Historical/Shutterstock

Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen was born into an aristocratic family on May 2, 1892, in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). He was educated at military schools and became a cavalry officer in the German army. In 1915, Richthofen transferred to the air service. He began flying as an observer, gathering intelligence while a pilot flew the plane, but he soon took flying lessons and became a pilot himself.

In 1916, Richthofen joined the squadron of Oswald Boelcke, an accomplished fighter pilot who had developed successful air battle strategies. In 1917, Richthofen was given command of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG1, or Fighter Wing 1), famously known as “The Flying Circus” for the unit’s fantastically painted fighter planes and because of its reputation for showing up in many different locations like a traveling circus.

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The Fokker D. VII, a 1918 German fighter plane used in World War I, was known for its fast climbing ability. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration by Tom Morgan

In April 1917, a month known as “Bloody April” to Allied airmen suffering heavy losses in northern France, Richthofen shot down an astounding 21 enemy planes. In July, he received a bullet wound to the head but managed to land his plane. He returned to combat in August as JG1 was outfitted with the famous Fokker Dr.1 triplane (a plane with three pairs of wings). The Dr.1 was infamously hard to fly, and Richthofen more often flew Albatros biplane fighters , which had the standard two pairs of wings. It was in a Dr.1, however, that the Red Baron was killed. JG1 later switched to the Fokker D.VII biplane, a plane which Richthofen helped to develop but never flew in combat. The D.VII proved to be Germany’s most effective fighter plane of the war.

During the 1918 Battles of Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, Richthofen was killed as he pursued an enemy plane far into hostile territory. He was shot through the chest, and his plane crash-landed. It is unclear whether Richthofen was brought down by Australian troops on the ground or by a Canadian pilot coming to the aid of the other plane. Richthofen’s 1917 autobiography, Der Rote Kampfflieger (The Red Air Fighter), became a German best-seller (he was 25 when it was published). Richthofen’s brother Lothar and his cousin Wolfram von Richthofen also served as a fighter pilots in JG1 (and both survived the war).

July 5, 2017

In the first week of July 1937, 80 years ago, American aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean as she tried to become the first woman to fly around world. At the time of her disappearance, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were flying the longest leg of their journey, a 2,600-mile (4,200-kilometer) flight over open sea. No trace was ever found of Earhart, Noonan, or the modified Lockheed Electra transport plane they were flying.

American aviator Amelia Earhart set many speed and distance records in aviation. In July 1937, 80 years ago this week, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world. Credit: Library of Congress

Earhart’s attempted flight around the world—done at the longest possible distance, along the equator—captured international attention. The New York Herald Tribune relayed updates of Earhart’s progress to thousands of other newspapers as readers followed her roughly 27,000-mile (43,500-kilometer) journey. Her eventual disappearance over the Pacific Ocean shocked and saddened readers around the world.

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Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, began their around-the-world journey in Oakland, California, on May 20, 1937. Their route took them to Miami, Florida, across the Caribbean Sea and the northern edge of South America, over Africa and Asia to New Guinea. Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean after taking off from Lea, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Amelia Mary Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. Growing up, she lived in several Midwestern cities, eventually graduating from high school in Chicago. During World War I (1914-1918), she served as a volunteer nurse in Toronto, Ontario. In 1920, Earhart moved to California. While there, she became fascinated by aviation. Flying was a new and dangerous sport at that time. Earhart took flying lessons from an instructor named Neta Snook. Snook was one of only a few women pilots in the 1920′s. Earhart soon purchased her first airplane, a bright yellow biplane she called “The Canary.” In 1924, she moved to the East Coast. Earhart became a social worker in 1926, but she continued to fly. In 1928, Earhart rode as an observer on a transatlantic flight from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to Burry Port, Wales. The flight made her famous as the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane.

In 1929, Earhart helped found the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots. In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (American aviator Charles Lindbergh was the first pilot to cross the Atlantic alone, in 1927). Earhart went on to set other speed and distance records, and she became an important figure in the development of commercial aviation.

Amelia Earhart, a pioneering American aviator, became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. Earhart, shown here in the cockpit of an airplane, undertook the flight in 1932. Credit: © Corbis/Bettmann

In 1936, Earhart acquired a specially built Lockheed Electra transport that included such features as extra gas tanks, an automatic pilot, deicing equipment, a radio homing device, and a two-way radio. She called the plane her “flying laboratory.” Earhart then started planning a voyage that, if successful, would make her the first woman to fly around world (American aviator Wiley Post had done it alone in 1933).

In March 1937, Earhart made her first attempt to fly around the world from east to west, starting in Oakland, California. But she changed plans after crashing her plane in Hawaii. The plane was shipped back to California for repairs and adjustments. On May 20, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off again from Oakland, but this time they headed east to Miami, Florida. On June 1, with much fanfare, Earhart and Noonan left Miami to circle the globe. Their first stop was Puerto Rico. Their flight plan then took them to South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the island of New Guinea. At that point, they had completed about three-fourths of their planned flight around the world.

On July 2, Earhart and Noonan left New Guinea bound for Howland Island, a tiny atoll located almost halfway between Australia and Hawaii. The next morning, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel picked up radio messages from Earhart saying she was low on fuel and “running north and south” (searching for the island). No further contact was made. An extensive search found no trace of the plane or crew, and they were reported lost at sea. There have since been many theories and wild guesses at what happened to Earhart and Noonan, but the most probable explanation is that they simply ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.

August 2, 2016

Solar Impulse 2 flies over Abu Dhabi during test flights before the start of the plane’s record-setting journey around the world.
Credit: © Solar Impulse

Last week, on July 26, the solar-powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 landed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, completing the first-ever zero-fuel flight around Earth. Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard flew the final leg from Cairo, Egypt, to Abu Dhabi’s Al-Bateen Executive Airport, a grueling 48½-hour journey buffeted by hot desert air-driven turbulence. Speaking from the runway tarmac, a tired Piccard commented: “I hope people will understand that it is not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy… These [clean] technologies now can make the world much better and we have to use them, not only for the environment, but also because they are profitable and create jobs.” Piccard has made aviation news before. In 1999, he completed the world’s first non-stop balloon flight around the world.

Piccard thanked the large Solar Impulse ground team as well as fellow Swiss pilot André Borschberg, who was the first to greet Piccard out of the cockpit. Piccard and Borschberg took turns at the controls during the long legs of the round-the-world flight. The cockpit of Solar Impulse 2 is large enough for just one person at a time. The circumnavigation, which began in Abu Dhabi in March 2015, was completed in 17 legs covering some 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers) and more than 500 flight hours. Along the way, Solar Impulse 2 set numerous solar-powered flight records, but it also set the general aviation record for longest solo flight—a brutal 4-day, 21-hour, and 51-minute journey made by Borschberg from Japan to Hawaii.

Solar Impulse 2 was built in Switzerland and first flew in 2014. The aircraft flies at an average speed of 44 miles (70 kilometers) per hour. Lithium batteries charged by more than 17,000 solar cells power the plane’s four propeller engines. The cells are located in the aircraft’s 236-foot- (72-meter-) wide wings. The carbon fiber plane weighs about as much as a car, some 5,000 pounds (2.3 metric tons). The cockpit measures just 41 square feet (3.8 square meters) and snugly fits the pilot and reclining chair (which includes a toilet feature), along with flight instruments, computers, food, water, and other supplies. There is no automatic pilot, but a rudimentary electronic co-pilot keeps the plane steady enough for catnaps. Flashing lights in the pilot’s goggles and other alarms wake the aviator if the plane suddenly changes course.

The first Solar Impulse, a smaller demonstration aircraft meant to test the technology, flew safely from 2010 to 2013. It is in storage at Dübendorf Air Base near Zurich.

December 31, 2014

The first two bodies from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash today arrived back in the Indonesian city of Surabaya. Relatives are providing DNA samples to help identify the victims as they are returned. Flight QZ8501, en route from Surabaya to Singapore, disappeared on December 28. On board were 137 adult passengers, 18 children, including an infant, along with 2 pilots and 5 crew members.

Officials believe the crash was caused by turbulent weather. Around 40 minutes after takeoff, the pilot requested permission to change course due to stormy conditions. There was no further contact with air traffic controllers, and the AirAsia pilots sent no distress signal.

Bodies and debris were first discovered yesterday in the Java Sea off Borneo. There has been no confirmed sightings of the Airbus A320-200 fuselage, and bad weather continues to hamper further salvage efforts.

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea on December 28. Over the last decade, the death rate in airplane crashes across Indonesia has been 25 times higher than that in the United States. UN Auditors determined that Indonesian authorities have not kept up with the ever-growing popularity of air travel as flying replaces ferry journeys in a nation made up of many islands. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

In May, a team of United Nations auditors visited Indonesia to rate the country’s aviation safety record. They came to a troubling conclusion: Indonesia had chronic aviation safety problems; and it has not kept up with the ever-growing popularity of air travel as flying replaces the ferry journeys that Indonesians use to take across a country consisting of 17,000 islands. Arnold Barnett—a Massachusetts Institute of Technology statistician specializing in aviation—has noted that the death rate in airplane crashes across Indonesia during the past decade was 25 times higher than that in the United States. “To assert that the disparity is only a coincidence or manifestation of bad luck would be preposterous,” stated Barnett.