AAC Lt. Ben Kelsey attempts to break the transcontinental speed record in the Lockheed XP-38 Lightning prototype, even though it has less than five hours of flight time . Flying from March Field, Calif., he records ground speeds of 420 mph and takes only seven hours to reach New York, but crashes on approach to Mitchel Field. The flight, however, convinces the Army Air Corps to order the type into production.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.