The Lockheed Constellation was the first used as a military transporter during WWII but later became a passenger plane after the war ended.

 This is a photo of the Douglas World Cruiser single-engine biplane. It was the very first aircraft to circumnavigate the earth in 1924. the trip took 175 days and covered 27,500 miles, with 73 stops on the way.  

The Fighting Falcon was developed in the United States in the 1970's as a small agile fighter for close combat. It has a wing span of 31 feetand a top speed of 1320 mph.

The Eurofighter EFA 2000 is being developed by the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The pilot can select a target just by looking at it and activate a weapon by by talking to the plane's computer.

The world's fastest aircraft is the Lockheed  SR-71Blackbird. In 1976 it set a speed record of 2189 mph. It is so fast that no enemy aircraft or missile could shoot it down. It has a crew of two. A pilot flies the aircraft while a navigator who also operates the spying equipment sits behind him. 

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is being developed by the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, and the UK Royal Navy. The JSF will have short take off and vertical landing ability and will be able to climb to one mile in under ten seconds. It is expected to enter service in 2008.

The Northrop B-2 is more commonly known as the Stealth Bomber. It can deliver up to 80 bombs and 16 missiles. Numerous other planes have bombs and missiles guided by lasers. 

The crews of the high flying aircrafts such as the SR-71Blackbird must wear a helmet and a full pressure suit to protect themselves from the thin freezing atmosphere.

Helmets like this one track eye movements to allow pilots to aim weapons just by looking at the target. Information can also be projected onto the visor so that the pilot does not have to look down at the instrument panel.

Iron Ball Paint is one way of reducing radar reflections from an aircraft. Iron Ball Paint contains billions of microscopic iron balls that absorb radar signals. The balls allow the electric current to produced by the radar to flow through the paint so that less energy is reflected. The paint is black when cold but turns blue when heated up during flight. The DarkStar is an unpiloted reconnaissance aircraft flown by remote control. It can fly at a height of over eight miles and its shape makes it even more stealthy than the F-117 or the B-2.