The compelling story of the multi-billion-pound gamble to build the world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380. Provides insight into the unique challenges of building an airliner on such a large scale, and includes footage of its grand unveiling and its maiden voyage.
The compelling story of the multi-billion-pound gamble to build the world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380. Provides insight into the unique challenges of building an airliner on such a large scale, and includes footage of its grand unveiling and its maiden voyage.
2005-06-18
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An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports.
On an expedition through Latin America, Italian General Italo Balbo made the Atlantic crossing with his seaplane squadron, which left Boloma, entered Brazilian territory via Natal and now ended its journey in the capital Rio de Janeiro. Arrival of the fascist squadron at Enseada de Botafogo. People, many in boats, applaud the descent of the seaplanes. A group of officers searches the soldiers in profile. Italo Balbo, Ambassador Vittorio Cerrutti and Royal Consul Onorevole Mammalella watch the parade of troops. A group of officers with Col. Magdalena, "the intrepid hero of several aerial feats". At the Catete Palace, Balbo and Cerrutti are received by the President of the Provisional Government, Getúlio Vargas, and his ministers. The Italian delegation leaves the Catete Palace.
The De Havilland Comet was the world's first passenger jet airliner. But less than two years into service, two aircraft blew up in mid-air, killing all aboard. PM Winston Churchill ordered an assemblage of experts to discover what went wrong - in the process, inventing many of the air crash investigation techniques still used today.
On January 26, 1950, a US Airforce troop plane left Anchorage for Montana with 44 people on board. The crew of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster #2469 was supposed to check in every half hour along the route. As the aircraft crossed into Yukon, they radioed the tiny outpost of Snag to say that there was ice forming on the wings, but otherwise all was well. After that, the Skymaster disappeared. And to this day no sign of the aircraft or its passengers has ever been found. This fascinating Yukon-shot documentary tells the stories of the victim’s families and an intrepid group of Yukoners striving to give those families closure by searching every summer in hopes that the Skymaster will finally turn up.
For early aviators, conquering the forces of gravity was a daunting challenge. But black aviators had an additional challenge - conquering the forces of racism. Meet the men and women who took to the skies throughout the 20th century, proving to a segregated nation that skin color doesn't determine skill level. From biplanes to commercial jets, and from barnstormers to war fighters, meet the path-breaking pilots who opened the skies for all -- and contributed in countless ways to the development of aviation.
This 2004 documentary by Werner Herzog diaries the struggle of a passionate English inventor to design and test a unique airship during its maiden flight above the jungle canopy.
The final days of 617 Squadron based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. The famous Dambusters squadron faces an uncertain future as the plane they fly, the Avro Vulcan, is withdrawn from service.
Explorer Robert Ballard sets out to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance as he and a team of experts travel to the remote Pacific atoll named Nikumaroro in search of her final resting place.
Guy joins an ambitious engineering project to recover a crashed WW2 Lancaster Bomber – and the remains of its missing crew members – from the depths of the Dutch lake where it’s lain for 80 years.
On 28 November 1979, an Air New Zealand jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Within hours 11 ordinary police officers were called to duty to face the formidable Mount Erebus. As the police recovered the victims, an investigation team tried to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. Did the airline have a secret it wanted to bury? This film tells the story of four New Zealand police officers who went to Antarctica as part of the police operation to recover the victims of the crash. Set in the beautiful yet hostile environment of Antarctica, this is the emotional and compelling true story of an extraordinary police operation.
Go higher, faster and farther with the Smithsonian as they explore the dreams of flight.
Few aircraft have attracted more attention than the ominous black supersonic jet that for years has ranged the world on reconnaissance missions. This is the definitive tribute to an extraordinary peacekeeper, the SR-71 Blackbird. The History. The Technology. The Missions. The Pilots. And compelling, gripping footage of the Blackbird itself, on its "rocket ride" through the world's airspace.
Guy Martin joins the two-year restoration of a Spitfire that was buried in a French beach for decades, and tells the Boy's Own-style story of its pilot, Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson
Concorde: A Supersonic Story follows the story of the most glamorous aeroplane ever built - told by the people whose lives she touched. We uncover rare footage telling the forgotten row between the French and British governments over the spelling of Concorde which threatened to derail the whole project.
The 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick" continues the adventures of the ace fighter pilot made famous by Tom Cruise. But how true to life is the fictional story to the real Naval Fighter Weapons School? TOPGUN flight instructors take us inside the most famous and prestigious training program in the sky, where only the top 5% of U.S. naval aviators are accepted. We reveal the tactics and techniques taught in the classroom and in the air. We also examine how the real Navy TOPGUN came to be, an origin story that is truly stranger than fiction.
In 1916, while France was bogged down in trench wars, a young engineer named Marcel Bloch was inventing a revolutionary propeller, the Eclair propeller. It would prove very effective in air combat. Today, Dassault Aviation, named after the moniker its founder took on after the war, is among the jewels of the worldwide aeronautics industry. From astonishing growth to unexpected crises, the Dassault group's destiny is closely linked to the history of France and the saga of modern aviation. As it marks its first century of existence, the company continues to fly in civil and military aviation, still following the path of its founder's visionary spirit, Marcel Dassault.