The View from Space

I found this article, discussing 'How the Airplane got its Shape', interesting by virtue of the fact that it comes at the topic from an unusual angle - the view of a space historian; and that it touches on some of the less acknowledged drives of this arena of design.

From the featured article, a NACA Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane with a model wing suspended beneath it. 1921. [NASA?]

People in aviation would have you believe that aviation is all about form from function, but it is far from so, most obviously from an examination of the more baroque aspects of aircraft design as exposed by the passing of time. There's an article about that, too, to be written.