Dassault

French designer Marcel Dassault, the creator of a long line of distinguished military aircraft, stands beside his Ouragan jet fighter prototype in 1949. His company, which was founded in 1946, became one of the leading developers and producers of aircraft in the Western world.

Prof. Theodore von Kármán

Hungarian-born Theodore von Kármán, whose research contributed greatly to the achievement of supersonic flight, makes an aerodynamic point on a blackboard. “High speed has its uses,” he once said. “For me personally I prefer a slower pace. I like nothing better than to think of myself riding through Paris as my parents did in old Budapest-in a fiacre with a coachman and two horses.”

First All Metal Wing

At the Junkers plant in Dessau, Germany, five factory employees stand on an experimental all-metal wing in 1915 to demonstrate its superior strength. The wing’s internally braced structure enabled it to support the plane’s weight without the need for drag-producing wires and struts.