This story was discussed earlier this week on a popular morning talk show on radio in Washington. Two points emerged:

1 — French attorneys were saying that the couple had a solid legal case.

2 — The couple is lucky that the matter concerns a telephoto lens, not a telescopic sight……

My understanding is that these kits were first issued in fifties by Lindberg (and/or Strombecker) and were based on proposed designs by Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Chesley Bonestell. These designs appeared in magazine articles, books, Walt Disney films, and the television series Men Into Space (1959-60). The kits were later reissued under a variety of different names.

As far as I know, none of the designs were actually built. For one, the giant fins on the boosters were rendered unnecessary by improved guidance systems and were structurally untenable anyway.

An appreciation:

http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/08/25/first-man-neil-armstrong-1930-2012/?singlepage=true

Among other things, it reminds one of how much aerial real estate that the X-15 used. At one point, we was slated to fly the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar.

Just picking up where Uncle Andy left off. He was the subject of photographic full disclosure, as well tales of exploits with the improbably named Katie Rabbit and the aptly named Koo Stark.

Another case in which the crash site was known, but recovery efforts were deemed too dangerous:

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7820

The search for this missing plane in similar terrain claimed five more lives:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/one-319237-patty-flight.html

I’m fairly certain that a single Japanese aircraft-carrying submarine carried-out at least one attack on the US mainland; the aircraft in question was successfully recovered by the submarine.

Twice, in fact:

http://www.offbeatoregon.com/o1101e-Japanese-submarine-blasted-its-way-into-Oregon-history.html

A landmark indeed and some reflections on it:

http://pjmedia.com/blog/what-does-the-success-of-the-dragon-mean/?singlepage=true

Maybe this thread should be in Commercial Aviation — and maybe that will be renamed Commercial Aerospace someday.