Articles by Roger Connor
This Rescue Truck Was the First Foam Truck to Respond to the Pentagon on 9/11. It Is Now on Display at the National Air and Space Museum
Foam 331 is one of two Oshkosh T-3000 foam-carrying rescue trucks that arrived at the Pentagon shortly after American Airlines Flight 77 had impacted the site on September 11, 2001.
Fred Whipple Figured Out How to Hide Airplanes From Enemy Radar
How chaff was invented in World War II. In the summer of 2004, I met one of the great astronomers of the 20th century at his Boston home. I was there to help him clean out his front hall closet. Let me explain. Fred Whipple has long been recognized as a major contributor to our understanding of space and spaceflight—with contributions ranging from determining the makeup of comets to developing the particulate shielding for spacecraft that still bears his name (the Whipple shield).
World War II in Color
Thousands of photographs in government archives bring the war to life. Some photos show intimate moments: At a remote base in the Aleutian Islands, U.S. Navy aircrew amuse themselves with cribbage—and posters of pin-up girls. (National Archives) Air & Space Magazine | Subscribe April 2021 World War II is one of the most documented conflicts in history.
In the 1920s, Only One Man Held the Key to Aerial Navigation
In the year following his historic transatlantic flight to Paris, Charles Lindbergh, flying again in the Spirit of St. Louis, lost his way somewhere between Havana, Cuba, and the southwest coast of Florida. It happened in the middle of the night, and it alarmed Lindbergh enough that years later he recalled the incident in his memoir The Autobiography of Values: Over the Straits of Florida my magnetic compass rotated without stopping….
One of the World’s First Delivery Drones Is Now a Museum Piece
The first to deliver coffee, clothes, and medicine takes its place in history. A Wing 7000 drone makes a delivery to a Christiansburg home from its designated 23-foot hover altitude, where it will lower the up to three-pound package on a breakaway tether. It flies 130 feet above ground level.
Inside a Flying Fortress
Look inside one of the only surviving B-17Gs with a combat record (Eric Long and Mark Avino) By Roger Connor and Christopher Moore May 26, 2011 The B-17 Flying Fortress shaped the air war over Western Europe like no other World War II aircraft. From the outset of fighting, it provided a strategic bombing capability that the Axis could never match.
Medevac From Luzon
Louis Carle thought his helicopter was small enough to land in a clearing on a jungle hilltop in Luzon. It was June 1945, the waning days of the Pacific war, and Carle, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces, was trying to evacuate a wounded American soldier from the main island in the Philippines. Carle began a cautious descent in his Sikorsky R-4B, but a rotor tip hit a tree, and with an abrupt jerk, the helicopter began thrashing itself to pieces.
The Lies of Elmo Pickerill
Visitors looking at the Early Flight display case at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will see a checkerboard “Early Bird” cap belonging to Elmo Neale Pickerill, an early aviator recognized as the pioneer of aircraft radio. For years it was believed that on August 4, 1910, Pickerill made the first radio-telegraphic communication between the air and the ground while flying solo in a Curtiss pusher from Mineola, Long Island, to Manhattan Beach and back.
The Predator, a Drone That Transformed Military Combat
Today, the United States Air Force is retiring the Predator—a military unmanned aerial vehicle that was used in attacks against al Qaeda during the war on terrorism. The Museum’s Predator, on display at our building in Washington, DC, was one of the first three UAVs to fly operational missions over Afghanistan after September 11th. Here, we take a look at the history and impact of the Predator on military aerial combat.
60 Years Ago: First US Presidential Helicopter Takes Off - Rotor & Wing
On this day 60 years ago, the first U.S. president took the sky, en route to Camp David, according to Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum. The institute’s article, written by Roger Connor, said that Dwight D. Eisenhower flew in a Bell Helicopter Ranger July 12, 1957.
We've Come a Long Way
A look back at R&WI’s birth year of 1967 makes clear that its origin at that moment was not mere coincidence. The helicopter was at a tipping point, both technologically and operationally. The year was one of important first flights, changing commercial environments, and, above all, conflict. The Vietnam War continued to ramp up with several thousand helicopters in theater at any given time (more than 12,000 helicopters served in Southeast Asia in a 10-year period).
Remembering Wiley Post and Will Rogers
On August 15, 1935, in a plane crash near Point Barrow Alaska, famed aviator Wiley Post perished alongside his close friend, the renowned humorist and popular culture icon Will Rogers. With the exception of Charles Lindbergh, no American aviator of the time was as celebrated as Post, while Rogers was widely considered as the nation’s most gifted commentator on American society.
Ike and the First Presidential Helicopters
Ike and the First Presidential Helicopters Jul 12, 2010 By Roger Connor Related Topics Helicopters Military aviation Vertical flight Society and Culture Twitter Comments? Contact Us You may also like Plans for the Little Known Confederate Helicopter Support the Museum We rely on the generous support of donors, sponsors, members, and other benefactors to share the history and impact of aviation and spaceflight, educate the public, and inspire future generations.
Foam 331-First Responder to the Nation’s Worst Aviation Crisis
Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in Washington, DC. Passes are not required at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. One museum, two locations Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.
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