Modern

When it comes to the question of the fastest fighter jet, you can choose to compare only those fighter jets that are still in service, or you can consider every last jet fighter that's ever graced the skies — and we've chosen to go with the latter.

By Marie Look

Air travel is far more than getting from point A to point B safely. How much do you know about the million little details that go into flying on airplanes?

By Alia Hoyt

HowStuffWorks explains how physics helps animals get airborne.

Since 1948, more than 100 aircraft have gone missing while aloft and never been found. How is this possible? We'll look at some of these unsolved mysteries, as well as other bizarre airline mishaps.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Flight has been a human dream for centuries. It wasn't until the dawn of the 20th century that man was finally able to leave the ground. This gallery highlights some of the milestones in aviation.

By Rick Mayda

Your luggage gets "mishandled" by an airline and favorite pieces of your wardrobe, souvenirs and toiletries disappear into a black abyss. Or do they? Actually, your wardrobe is hanging out in Scottsboro, Ala., and it has some interesting company.

By Sarah Dowdey

The first commercial jetliners had square windows. So why did engineers change the design to the rounded windows we know today?

By Sharise Cunningham

Afterburners allow a jet plane to take off from a short runway, such as the deck of an aircraft carrier. What, exactly, is an afterburner and how do they work? Learn the answer to this question in this article from HowStuffWorks.

Blimps combine the simple buoyancy of a hot air balloon with the technology of an airplane. Learn all about these lighter-than-air vehicles.

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

Hot air balloons are about as simple as flying can get — no engine, no moving parts really, and very little the pilot can do to control the vehicle. Find out what it's like to fly a hot air balloon!

By Tom Harris

Flying in a glider is about as close as you can get to soaring like a bird. Amazingly, these graceful machines manage their maneuvers without an engine. Learn how gliders fly without power.

By Marshall Brain & Brian Adkins

Black boxes help investigators determine what happened in an airplane accident. What's inside a black box and how does it record flight data?

By Kevin Bonsor & Nathan Chandler

Believe it or not, the marvel we know as the helicopter began as a Chinese top consisting of a shaft — a stick — adorned with feathers on one end.

By Tom Harris & Talon Homer

Going through airport security is the worst part of flying for most people. Now you may be asked to turn your cell phone on in the security line. Why do you have to do that? And does it really keep us safe?

By Beth Brindle

They're the stuff of headlines, often characterized as evil in the sky. But what are drones and how do they get off the ground and fly?

By Nathan Chandler

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an unmanned aerial vehicle traveling faster than the speed of sound!

By Chris Opfer

In the world of flight, it's a fine line between flying high and falling fast. Can you name 10 of the innovations that keep planes and their passengers airborne?

By William Harris

Length, height and wingspan are all popular ways to rank an aircraft, but truly giant planes are often judged by their maximum takeoff weight. Which plane outlifts them all?

By Julia Layton

For some in-flight routines and procedures, autopilots are even better than a pair of human hands. They don't just make flights smoother -- they make them safer and more efficient.

By William Harris

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was just named world's busiest airport, again. What lands the ATL in the No. 1 spot again and again?

By John Donovan

The words aren't arbitrary, so why do pilots and sailors call out 'Mayday!' rather than something else?

By Nathan Chandler

Before Yeager did it, people thought it was impossible to break the sound barrier in flight. But he proved them wrong, even flying the plane while nursing two cracked ribs.

By Nathan Chandler

Airlines are flying planes with no passengers, due in part to the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus, but also for economic reasons that have nothing to do with disease.

By Laurie L. Dove

Without the system that pumps unused air from an aircraft's engines into the cabin, passengers and crew would be unable to breathe at 30,000 feet. But how does that system work?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Measuring how fast an aircraft travels depends on whether you factor in the speed of the wind behind it.

By Patrick J. Kiger