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In 1972, two pilots--one a federal career engineer, the other the pastor of a prominent church in Washington, D.C.--discovered a common passion for flying airplanes and serving people. One day over lunch, the men conceived a flight plan, one that would undergo many changes before becoming Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic, as it is known today. Ed Boyer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Louis Evans, pastor of the National Presbyterian Church, discussed how to pool their interests and qualifications. From its beginnings as a charitable shuttle service for religious leaders and dignitaries, to full-scale charitable air ambulance operations, to Angel Flights for ambulatory patients, the initial vision has grown into a network of over 1,500 volunteer pilots in the Mid-Atlantic region who use their private planes to fly people in need to specialized treatment. Angel Flight coordinates missions of mercy from its offices in Virginia Beach, helping patients to find "the shortest distance between home and hope."

Virginia has one of the oldest and richest aeronautical legacies in the country. Beginning with the use of balloons in the Civil War, the commonwealth was at the forefront of aerospace innovation, particularly in military aviation. Langley Field and Quantico were key development centers in the maturation of aerial warfare for the Army Air Service, its successors, and the Marine Corps. Norfolk witnessed the birth of the American carrier force and was on the front line in the Battle of the Atlantic. The state is also home to a legacy of civil and commercial activity. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laboratory at Langley Field established numerous foundational principles of modern aerodynamics, supported the development of many of the most significant aircraft of the 20th century, and paved the way for travel beyond Earth. Commercial airfields, including Richmond, Roanoke, and Washington's Hoover and National, were at the cutting edge of modern air travel and played host to aviation's elite. These images from local, state, and national archives--nearly all previously unpublished--depict a rich technological heritage.