In Seattle: the Right Stuff, with Paper and Glue

The pilot hurled his rakish craft into a steep and punishing climb, high above the cheering audience and the aeronautics engineers busily jotting notes on clipboards. The plane almost stalled, but it managed to pull level before it swooped back home, scattering the judges as it buzzed their table, ducked under a chalkboard and finally slammed into the bleachers. The scene was not Edwards Air Force Base but Seattle's Kingdome, where fans usually cheer the flight of baseballs and footballs. The prototype was only 10 in. long, and its sortie of 16.26 seconds had just won the time-aloft event, professional division,...