Aviation Articles by Steve Ruffin
Here are just a few of my articles that have appeared in various publications over the years. I enjoyed doing the research for them and am proud of how they turned out. I'll try to post more soon, but in the meantime, feel free to browse. If you have any questions or comments, click on the button below and write me a note.
A Time for Laws - The Creation of the FAA
The governmental control of America's airways did not just happen, it evolved over many decades of trial and error...
The Iconic Convair XC-99
Only one XC-99 was ever built, but it paved the way for today's super transports. This one-of-a-kind transport variation of the B-36 bomber became one of the most famous aircraft of the 1950s...
In the Line of Duty
On the Sunday afternoon of 16 June 1918, a fatal airplane crash occurred. This is the little-known story of an American nurse serving in France during World War I who met with tragedy during an ill-advised aircraft joyride...
Major Harry Brown and his 'Lost Flight' of the 96th Aero Squadron
The tragic story of an American World War I squadron commander who made a single mistake that lost him his squadron, destroyed his career and altered his life...
The Great Air Races
The air races of the 1920s and 1930s were exciting and dangerous. More importantly, they advanced aviation technology like nothing else could have...
Explorer Over Dakota
The high-altitude balloon flights of the 1930s launched from Rapid City, South Dakota, gathered scientific information that was later used in the US Space Program...
Curtis Arrives on the Scene
Glenn Curtiss, one of Aviation's earliest and most important pioneers, clashed with the Wright brothers but made significant contributions to aviation technology...
Aces of WWII
Within only days after World War II had begun, its first flying aces began to emerge. There would be thousands more...
Air Classics of the Roaring Twenties
The 1920s were a lean time for aviation development, but some of history's most memorable aircraft and significant innovations emerged during this period...