Over the past few decades, Aviation Week pilots have strapped into the left seat of almost every Western-built commercial jet transport. Aviation Week's digital archives went live earlier this month, allowing us to delve into in-depth pilot reports of some of the first jet and most recent airliners to be built. Take a look at our top picks.

Boeing is still on the hunt for a launch application for its unconventional Blended Wing Body concept, bolstered by positive results from more than two decades of testing at some of the U.S.’s premier research facilities.

NASA’s electric-propulsion X-plane program shows signs the agency is getting back to its aeronautical research roots in “learning by doing”.

Back-to-back landing tests mark rapid pace of private space sector achievements.

A look at some major technological accomplishments that propelled the growth of commercial air transport.

Unmanned aircraft in the news: UAV lands on car; Coyote prowls hurricanes; Black Hawk gives UGV a ride; DHL’s delivery drone evolves; Caterpillar teams up.

Fly-by-wire active gust-load alleviation minimizes the penalties of retrofitting drag-reducing winglets to existing aircraft.

Australian researchers pursue a different approach to cutting launch costs—a wing-borne, fly-back booster and a reusable, scramjet-powered second stage.