https://aviationweek.com/themes/custom/particle/dist/app-drupal/assets/awn-logo.svg
Skip to main content
  • Market Sector
    • Aerospace
    • Air Transport
    • MRO
    • Defense
    • Space
    • Business Aviation
  • Markets
    • Aerospace
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Connected Aerospace
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Manufacturing & Supply Chain
      • Advanced Air Mobility
      • Sustainability
    • Air Transport
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports & Networks
      • Airlines & Lessors
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
    • MRO
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Supply Chain
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Workforce & Training
      • Sustainability
    • Defense
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Sensors & Electronic Warfare
      • Missile Defense & Weapons
      • Supply Chain
      • Budget, Policy & Operations
      • Sustainability
    • Space
      • Launch Vehicles & Propulsion
      • Commercial Space
      • Space Exploration
      • Satellites
      • Budget, Policy & Regulation
      • Operations & Safety
    • Business Aviation
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports, FBOs & Suppliers
      • Flight Deck
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
  • Marketplace
  • Services
    • Services
      • Advertising
      • Marketing Services
      • Fleet, Data & APIs
      • Research & Consulting
      • Network and Route Planning
      • Marketplace
  • Store
    • Market Sector

      • Aerospace
      • Air Transport
      • MRO
      • Defense
      • Space
      • Business Aviation
    • Type View All Products
      • Intelligence Bundles
        • AWIN - Premium
        • AWIN - Aerospace and Defense
        • AWIN - Business Aviation
        • AWIN - Commercial Aviation
      • Market Briefings
        • Advanced Air Mobility Report
        • Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
        • Aviation Daily
        • SpeedNews
        • The Weekly of Business Aviation
      • Directories
        • Air Charter Guide
        • Aviation Week Marketplace
        • Route Exchange
        • The Engine Yearbook
      • Data Services
        • AC-U-KWIK
        • Aircraft Bluebook
        • Airportdata.com
        • Airport Strategy and Marketing (ASM)
        • CAPA – Centre for Aviation
        • Fleet Discovery Civil
        • Fleet Discovery Military
        • Fleet & MRO Forecast
        • MRO Prospector
      • Publications
        • Air Transport World
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology - Inside MRO
        • Business & Commercial Aviation
        • CAPA - Airline Leader
        • Routes magazine
        • ShowNews
      • Resources
        • Downloadable Reports
  • Events
    • Recent webinars
    • Events View All Events
      • MRO
        • MRO Americas
        • MRO Asia
        • MRO Australasia
        • MRO Baltics & Eastern Europe Region
        • MRO Europe
        • MRO Greater China
        • MRO Latin America
        • MRO Middle East
        • MRO Southeast Asia
        • MRO Systems Integration Symposium
        • Military Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Symposium (MALMS)
      • Commercial Aviation/A&D
        • Aero-Engines Americas
        • Aero-Engines Europe
        • Aero-Engines Asia-Pacific
        • Engine Leasing Trading & Finance Europe
        • Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Americas
      • Air Transport
        • Routes Americas
        • Routes Europe
        • Routes World
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Americas
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Latin America & Caribbean
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Australia Pacific
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia & Sustainability Awards
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World & Awards for Excellence
        • GAD Americas
        • GAD World
      • Aerospace and Defense
        • A&D Mergers and Acquisitions Conference (ADMA)
        • A&D Manufacturing Conference
        • Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference (RMC)
        • A&D Programs
      • Awards
        • Aviation Week 20 Twenties
        • Aviation Week Laureate Awards
        • ATW Airline Awards
        • Program Excellence Awards and Banquet
        • CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence
  • About
    • About Aviation Week Network
      • Our Story
      • Content and Data Team
      • Aviation Week & Space Technology 100-Year
    • Contact Us
      • Subscriber Services
      • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
      • Content Sales
      • Events
      • PR & Communications
      • Content Licensing and Reprints
      • FAQ
  • Log In
  • Register
  • My Account
    • Profile
    • Sign Out
  • AWIN Access
  • My cart
    Back to
  1. Aerospace

Share

Most Memorable Aviation Week Covers Of All Time

March 04, 2016

View From Flying Boat of New York Naval Militia Aviation Camp at Bay Shore, New York

An editorial in this inaugural issue of Aviation Week's predecessor Aviation, states: "The amounts necessary for the establishment of aviation on a proper scale in the Army, Navy, National Guard, Naval Militia and Coast Patrol will have to be compared with European Expenditures to show how imperative it is to appropriate millions on millions of dollars for this increasingly important service."

See this cover, dated Aug. 1, 1916, in our archives 

President Coolidge Decorates Col. Lindbergh With the Distinguished Flying Cross

U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve Col. Charles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris is described as the "greatest stimulus that aviation has received since the War" in an editorial in this issue. 

Lindbergh says he "only blazed the trail," but he showed the world that it could be done and that much hard work and experimentation must be done before a regular transatlantic air service would become an actuality.  

See the June 20, 1927, cover 

National Air Race Number

The editorial in this issue states: "National Air Races has ten years of history behind it. They did, to be sure, encourage the building of specialized racing machines." 

See the August 24, 1929, cover 

The Graf Zeppelin's Flight Around the World

Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot and photographer Capt. Hubert Wilkins writes in this issue: "A great lesson [to be] learned is that we must thoroughly develop the meteorological services of the world and arrange for greater co-operation."

See the Sept. 21, 1929, cover 

"United We Stand"

"War production is the theme of this issue," states the editorial in this issue. "The mass production of aircraft for war in this country is unquestionably the most stupendous accomplishment of the times."

See the July 1, 1942. cover 

Boeing Adapts Production 707 to Jet Age

"Boeing Airplane Co,. first out with a production American jet transport, has designed a family of airplanes in its 707 series aimed at re-establishing the company at the top of the commercial market in the jet age," writes Richard Sweeney in this issue.

See the Jan. 20, 1958. cover 

P1127 VTOL Takeoff Sequence

The Hawker P1127 strike fighter demonstrated a vertical takeoff captured in the photo essay about the Farnborough Airshow flying display. 

See the Sept. 17, 1962, cover

Learjet Executive Aircraft

The No.1 Learjet nine-place executive aircraft, powered by two General Electric CJ610-1 engines producing 2,850 lb. thrust each, is pictured in a new white-top fuselage paint scheme. The aircraft had made its first flight the previous month (AW Oct. 14, 1963, p. 35) and attained true air speed of 605 mph (Mach 0.845) on its fifth flight test from the company's Wichita plant.

See the Nov. 11, 1963, cover 

U.S. Air Force/North American XB-70A First Flight

A U.S. Air Force/North American XB-70A No.1 climbs out to begin its first flight seconds after leaving the runway at the company's Palmdale, California, facility. 

See the Oct. 5, 1964, cover

Rendezvous of Gemini 6A and Gemini 7

Gemini 6 astronaut Thomas P. Stafford photographed the Gemini 7 spacecraft during the orbital rendezvous in December 1965. 

The issue states that the halation of the Gemini 7 adapter section was still unexplained, although some National Aeronautics and Space Administration photo technicians believed it may have been a characteristic of the special emulsion used on the camera's film. 

See the Jan. 3, 1966, cover

Gemini 8 Inspects Agena at 45 ft. Prior to First Docking in Space

Astronaut David R. Scott photographed the Agena target vehicle as the Gemini 8 spacecraft approached to within 45 ft. before docking in space. 

See the April 4, 1966, cover  

First Boeing 737 Jet Transport

The first Boeing 737 short-medium-range jet was being readied at the company's Seattle facility for its first flight in early 1967.

See the Nov.14, 1966, cover 

U.S. Air Force/Lockheed YF-12A in Flight

The U.S. Air Force/Lockheed YF-12A interceptor over the Mojave Desert on a training mission.

See the March 4, 1968, cover

First Boeing 747 Giant Jet Transport

The rollout day crowd surges around the No.1 Boeing 747 giant jet—freshly decorated in red, white and blue that replaced the company's traditional yellow and brown livery—after it emerged from the final assembly facility in Seattle.

See the Oct. 28, 1968, cover 

Apollo 8's First Look at the Moon in Color

Earth rises above the lunar horizon as the Apollo 8 spacecraft emerges from behind the far side of the Moon for the first time Dec. 24, 1968, after the successful burn for lunar orbit insertion. 

See the Jan. 13, 1969, cover

First Concorde Takeoff

Spectators line the fence to watch the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport prototype 001 takeoff from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport on its first flight March 2, 1969. 

See the March 17, 1969, cover

Aldrin Descends to the Moon

Astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., stretches his left foot toward the landing pad of Apollo 11 as he descends to the Moon on July 20, 1969. Note the extensive thermal blanket on lunar module's descent stage and the landing probe bent along the surface between Aldrin's feet. Photo by Apollo 11 Cmdr. Neil A. Armstrong.

See the August 11, 1969 cover

Viking Color View of Mars With Calibration Test Strip

Color balancing of Viking 1 lander imagery with the aid of a test strip on a spacecraft-mounted color chart produced what experimenters consider authentic rustic-red Martian surface and peach-colored sky. 

See the Aug. 9, 1976, cover

Grumman Nutcracker V-STOL Model

A Grumman Nutcracker vertical/short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft model hovers in tethered vertical flight in a company hangar. 

See the Sept. 20, 1976, cover

Space Shuttle First Launch

The space shuttle Columbia, attached to its external liquid hydrogen/oxygen fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, accelerates away from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida following liftoff on its first test mission April 12, 1981. 

See the April 20, 1981, cover 

Challenger Viewed In Orbit from SPAS-01

The shuttle Challenger photographed from the German instrument package SPAS-01 deployed and recovered by the STS 7 shuttle mission.

See the July 11, 1983, cover 

Astronaut Flies Martin Manned Marietta MMU in Orbit

Astronaut and U.S. Navy Capt. Bruce McCandless flies the Martin Marietta Manned Maneuvering Unit untethered away from the shuttle Challenger while orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 150 nm and a speed of 17,500 mph. during STS 41-B.

See the Feb. 20, 1984, cover 

Crescent of Uranus Imaged by Voyager 2

Thin crescent of Uranus was visible as Voyager 2 passed behind the planet at a distance of 600,000 mi. on Jan. 25, 1986. The pale blue-green color of the atmosphere is due to the presence of methane gas, which absorbs red wavelengths of light and leaves a blue hue. Lighter shades at the extreme are the result of a high-altitude haze. 

See the March 3, 1986, cover 

B-2 Bomber Rolls Out

Rollout of the U.S. Air Force/Northrop B-2 stealth bomber at Northrop's production plant revealed a radical flying-wing design without vertical tail surfaces.

See the Nov. 28, 1988, cover

Unveiling the Stealth Fighter

This enlarged telephoto image of a U.S. Air Force/Lockheed 117A stealth fighter shows the aircraft's highly swept wings and distinctive V-shaped tail.

See the May 1, 1989, cover 

Flying the Shuttle Through 2030

Teh space shuttle Discovery orbits 158 nm above Earth. 

See the Nov. 29, 1993, cover 

U.S./Russian Space Suits: Aviation Week Comparison

U.S./Russian suits serve diverse extra-vehicular activity goals: Space suits reflect differences in engineering philosophies and program activities and reveal ideologies of the two nations. 

See the Jan. 16, 1995, cover

Missions to MIR: Prelude to ISS Era

U.S. and Russia hone space station skills: After two of seven joint shuttle flights, confidence builds for assembly of a new international space station in 1997, but Mir's future beyond that is unclear.  

See the Nov. 27, 1995, cover

Flying the U2

The first Lockheed Martin U-2S was delivered to the U.S. AIr Force in 1994, and all of the U-2Rs have been converted to U-2s with its General Electric F118-GE-101 engine. This high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is 40% larger than the initial U-2A of 1955.

See the April 12, 1999, cover

An Act of War: Sept. 11, 2001

In a horrific coordinated terrorist attack, a United Airlines Boeing 767 (Flight 175) banks steeply moments before crashing into the south tower of New York's World Trade Center. Smoke streams from the north tower, which minutes before had been struck by another hijacked 767, American Airlines Flight 11.    

See the Sept. 17, 2001, cover

The Columbia Tragedy

The space shuttle Columbia was imaged over the Owens Valley Radio Observatory as it reentered the atmosphere on its final flight. Small parts are probably coming off the orbiter in this picture, which was taken 1-2 min. after telemetry measurements began to fail. 

See the Feb. 10, 2003, cover

Top Performing Companies: A Tale of Two Industries

A Dassault Falcon 7X business jet and Rafale fighter fly near the Bay of Biscay in southern France. Dassault, the leader in its class, balances defense and commercial business to achieve exemplary results. 

See the May 27, 2013, cover

Son Of Blackbird

In an exclusive feature, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works revealed to Aviation Week the proposed SR-72, Mach 6 successor to its long-retired SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. Aviation Week dubbed it the "Son of Blackbird."

See the Nov. 4, 2013, cover 

Out of the Black: Meet the RQ-180

The U.S. Air Force RQ-180 unmanned aircraft is believed to be capable of penetrating the most advanced air defenses. We collaborated with an artist to create this conceptual illustration of the RQ-180 based on government and industry information, public documents and basic design principles.

See the Dec. 9, 2013, cover

Never Again: Fixing Global Flight Tracking After MH370

In the wake of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 vanishing, aviation worked to make global flight tracking a reality. 

See the Aug. 4, 2014, cover

Previous
Next

From the entirety of Aviation Week's 100-year archive, Aviation Week editors have selected the covers featured in this gallery as among the most remarkable. See what makes each cover 'memorable', and click here to vote for your favorite.

Aviation Week Intelligence Network
Monitor the market and connect your business to the people, programs and proprietary data driving the Aerospace & Defense market - only available with AWIN.

ASD_AWIN_thumbnail_270

Stay Connected.
Stay Informed
Grow Your Business.

Learn How

Follow us on

Markets

  • Aerospace
  • Air Transport
  • MRO
  • Defense
  • Space
  • Business Aviation

Products

  • AWIN Intelligence Bundles
  • Market Briefings
  • Publications
  • Data Services
  • Directories
  • Resources

Contact Us

  • Subscriber Services
  • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
  • Content Sales
  • Events
  • PR & Communications
  • Content Licensing and Reprints
  • FAQ

Other Resources

  • Aviation Week Marketplace
  • Knowledge Center
  • Newsletters
  • ShowNews
  • Advertising - Media Kits
  • Japanese 日本語
  • Korean 한국인
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC.
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use