Aviation

Two pilots dressed in military uniform sit in the cockpit of a small war plane. Both are looking out the window the right of the picture

"England is invincible": How the Luftwaffe lost the Battle of Britain.

Aeronauts James Glaisher (left) and Henry Coxwell (right) pose in the basket of their hot air balloon

The balloon-riding Victorians who courted disaster: the true story behind The Aeronauts

Video podcastEric 'Winkle' Brown: Britain's most extraordinary pilot.

Amelia Earhart in 1928, standing in front of her biplane 'Friendship'

Amelia Earhart's disappearance: who was American aviator, and what happened to her?

The race across the Atlantic.

American aviator Bessie Coleman pictured in c1922, around the time she made her debut flight. Her astonishing aerial stunts would earn her the monikers ‘Queen Bess’ and ‘Brave Bessie’ (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Bessie Coleman: a boundary-breaking pilot who fought for her dream

Pioneering women pilots: from ballooning spectacles to flying escapades.

A drawing depicting a German monoplane dropping bombs on Paris during the First World War

First World War

Creating fake Paris: how one man built a mock city to fool WW1 German bombers

War in the air: everything you wanted to know.

The first controlled, powered and sustained human flight on 17 December 1903 by the Wright Brothers. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Flying into history: the Wright Brothers' Flyer and the world's first flight

Stuka dive bombers fly in formation over France in May 1940

Second World War

The making and breaking of the Luftwaffe

A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, 1940. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

6 Battle of Britain myths.

Da Vinci's sketch 'The Vitruvian Man'. Da Vinci's talents ranged from anatomy to military engineering, and many of his innovations were not explored further for several centuries. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

Your guide to Leonardo da Vinci: his life, inventions and milestones in his career

Spitfires under construction at the Vickers Supermarine works in Southampton, around 1940

The difficult birth of the Spitfire – and how the WW2 fighter almost missed the battle of Britain.

Ed Caesar on the HistoryExtra podcast.

An extraordinary Everest adventure.

The Falklands War in the air.

London burns behind Tower Bridge on 7 September 1940

Second World War

Days of destiny: 5 key dates in the Battle of Britain

A Hawker Hurricane in flight over Britain

Second World War

Your guide to the Battle of Britain: how the RAF turned back the Luftwaffe

German Heinkel HE-111 bombers fly over Britain during a mission in September 1940

8 reasons why the Luftwaffe didn’t stand a chance of beating the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

A group of fighter pilots of No. 32 Squadron relax beside their Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters at RAF Hawkinge in July 1940

The Few: who exactly were the heroes of the Battle of Britain?.

The Lancaster.

Members of 617 squadron, known as the Dambusters

Second World War

How successful was the Dambusters raid?

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), holding a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow Airport, 17 March 1969. (Photo by Jim Gray/Keystone/Getty Images)

In pictures: the history of London’s Heathrow Airport