The Launchers - The first step in leaving the Earth’s surface must be made via the huge power and precision control of a rocket. It’s expensive to reach space but new technology is bringing the cost down. This episode examines the range of launchers available today.
From the very beginning, aviation's pioneers believed that the aircraft's future lay in its military uses. That was where the money lay and so that was where the pioneers pitched their products. The problem was that their designs could barely carry a man more than a few yards and so many military commanders were sceptical about aviation's real potential as a weapon of war. But, by 1918, aviation had proved itself and all countries has burgeoning air forces.
In 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and into the history books as the first of only twelve men to walk on the Moon. But in 1961 when Kennedy pledged to put a man on the Moon, NASA had barely put a man into orbit. They had less than 10 years to train a team of astronauts to overcome the unknown challenges of a mission to the Moon. What followed was a rigorous, intense training period that put America’s first astronauts through their paces.
The legendary Vietnam-era helicopter takes to the air in a pristine war-veteran example, and we learn the astonishing story of an aircraft blown up by its own missiles, and a wounded co-pilot went on to found a world-leading charity.
They say “the process of learning to fly makes you better at… everything.” So while the obvious goal seems to be getting a license, there are actually many other little goals you can achieve and benefit from along the way. Then we introduce a new host: a popular RVer who explores the curious overlap of those who long to explore in the air as well as on the road.
This film is about an encounter. An encounter between 2 worlds, they don’t know about each other, at least not enough. Is there anything more different than the air force and contemporary dance? An air force pilot and a ballerina? These preconceptions need to be squashed, knocked over, overthrown.
For over 40 years The Red Arrows have been thrilling crowds at air shows both across the UK and internationally. They are quite simply the best at what they do. The Red Arrows, officially the Royal Air Force Display Team, are the public face of the RAF, formally promoting recruitment, as well as providing inspiration to significant numbers of those who join the Royal Air Force.
When all other RAF squadrons are forced to turn back due to bad weather, will the iconic Red Arrows make it through to the Queen's birthday flypast? Meanwhile a nervous dye team watch during their lunch break, waiting for the smoke to turn into the vivid red, white and blue that the squad is known for.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight commemorates the 75th Anniversary with a special typhoon and spitfire synchro display and a mass flypast for veterans.
The team demonstrates the versatility of the Chinook with a unique insight into how they achieve one of their most dynamic manoeuvres.
The display teams prepare for the biggest seaside display of the season.
If you ever wanted to know more about the amazing feat of engineering that potentially changed the course of World War II, this is the programme for plane enthusiasts everywhere.
German Bomber in Liverpool: Suggs and WWII militaria expert Stephen Taylor unearth artefacts from former military sites - starting with a German bomber found in Liverpool.
Douglas Bader and the Duxford Fliers: Suggs and WWII expert Stephen hunt for souvenirs left by flying ace Douglas Bader and the legendary Duxford Fliers.
Tank in a Vineyard: Suggs and Stephen continue their hunt for buried WWII treasure, and discover a tank buried in a vineyard.
82nd Airborne and German POWs: Suggs and Stephen go in search of relics from the United States' elite 82nd airborne infantry division.
The film takes us around the entire world, as no region was spared : the free countries, such as those occupied by Axis forces, as well as Italy, Germany and Japan. Seen from the skies, the war is revealed in a new light. It began in 1937 when Guernica and the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Shanghai were devastated by bombs and ended in August 1945 when the Americans dropped the first atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The film takes us around the entire world, as no region was spared : the free countries, such as those occupied by Axis forces, as well as Italy, Germany and Japan. Seen from the skies, the war is revealed in a new light. It began in 1937 when Guernica and the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Shanghai were devastated by bombs and ended in August 1945 when the Americans dropped the first atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The film takes us around the entire world, as no region was spared : the free countries, such as those occupied by Axis forces, as well as Italy, Germany and Japan. Seen from the skies, the war is revealed in a new light. It began in 1937 when Guernica and the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Shanghai were devastated by bombs and ended in August 1945 when the Americans dropped the first atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The film takes us around the entire world, as no region was spared : the free countries, such as those occupied by Axis forces, as well as Italy, Germany and Japan. Seen from the skies, the war is revealed in a new light. It began in 1937 when Guernica and the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Shanghai were devastated by bombs and ended in August 1945 when the Americans dropped the first atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Unique access to the museum example of 'The Turkey' is combined with stunning archive footage and the heartbreaking story of a fatally wounded gunner.
Developed just too late for WW2, it was called an aerial anachronism - a piston engine warplane in a world of jets and missiles. However, it was to come into its own during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
A look at a beautifully restored example of the later, clipped-wing version of the legendary fighter-plane flown by Czech refugee pilots in the UK during wartime, featuring long-unseen test and operational footage.
The legendary Vietnam-era helicopter takes to the air in a pristine war-veteran example, and we learn the astonishing story of an aircraft blown up by its own missiles, and a wounded co-pilot went on to found a world-leading charity.
The ugliest combat veteran of Vietnam. Though never a fighter or a bomber, the sight of the Caribou above the jungle proved just as welcome for troops on the ground.
On the night of June 5th, 1944, a C-47 paratrooper aircraft, nicknamed That’s All, Brother took off from England, to drop Allied fighting men into Normandy, to clear a passage for the tens of thousands of troops lying off the coast. Despite surviving dozens more missions, post war she disappeared. The C-47 that led the invasion armada was either destroyed in Europe, shipped home and broken for parts, or worse still, scrapped and melted.
From the very beginning, aviation's pioneers believed that the aircraft's future lay in its military uses. That was where the money lay and so that was where the pioneers pitched their products. The problem was that their designs could barely carry a man more than a few yards and so many military commanders were sceptical about aviation's real potential as a weapon of war. But, by 1918, aviation had proved itself and all countries has burgeoning air forces.
The Greatest Air Race is presented and narrated by astronaut Andy Thomas as he embarks on a trans-continental journey to retell one of the world’s greatest aviation stories. In 1919, four Australians became the first men to fly across the globe. They flew from London to Darwin in a rudimentary plane made of canvas, wire and wood, sitting in open cockpits with only a compass for navigation. They completed the 11,000 mile journey in 28 days.
German Bomber in Liverpool: Suggs and WWII militaria expert Stephen Taylor unearth artefacts from former military sites - starting with a German bomber found in Liverpool.
The Launchers - The first step in leaving the Earth’s surface must be made via the huge power and precision control of a rocket. It’s expensive to reach space but new technology is bringing the cost down. This episode examines the range of launchers available today.
Mars is our nearest planetary neighbour and its environment resembles own more closely than any other member of our planetary family. Robotic probes have revealed that water once flowed on the surface. This episode follows the quest to find traces of life on Mars.
Saturn and its disc of rings has become more bewildering the more closely we are able to observe it. The dynamic system of moons, moonlets and orbiting dust are drawing scientific attention. This episode looks at the Saturnian system, its unique moons and the probes that have began penetrating this planetary mystery.
The International Space Station - Since the 1970 the space powers have been sending to orbit craft in which people could live and work for extended periods, but the expense and complexity has been daunting. This episode focuses on the international collaboration required to maintain a permanently crewed laboratory orbiting the Earth.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system but it’s only recently that we’ve been able to get a glimpse into the intricacies of this giant and the fascinating moons that orbit it. This episode looks at what we know about Jupiter and how we know it.
Spacesuits - Space is a hostile environment. For humans to live and work beyond the atmosphere requires a sophisticated suite of technology. This episode looks at the health effects of space on the human body and the techniques used to allow people to function in the micro-gravity vacuum.
Drawing on high quality animation, interviews with US, German and Russian engineers we describe the tools being built to get to Mars. NASA and the European Space Agency are collaborating on two Mars missions, using an Atlas rocket to propel a lander to the red planet and then a rover, ultimately to remotely control a return mission bringing soil sample back to Earth, by 2026.
The human factor in the Mars project is the most difficult aspect of the plan. There are three main problems with sending humans to Mars. One is the psychological impact of detention for 18 months. The second is physiological - to feed the human body for a year and a half only with dried food. The third is contamination: humans carry billions of germs that could contaminate returned samples and / or contaminate the Martian biosphere.
This episode looks at what we know about Mars, from the water (ice) concentrations, to the methane gas, to the ferrous earth and goes into the reason why Man might be interested in the planet at all as a possible colony supplying natural resources back to Earth. Interviewees include scientists and engineers plus the astronauts training for the Mars Mission – a mission that will have physical demands far beyond their own careers as astronauts.
The scientific community is convinced that within the next decades, we will finally unveil one of the greatest mysteries of the universe, and find life beyond Earth. We can’t know yet if the discovery of life will happen in our solar system or in another remote place in the universe, but it’s clear that the next generation will witness a finding that could challenge our whole understanding of the universe. These two documentaries form a stunning mini-series, or operate as stand alone programmes.
The scientific community is convinced that within the next decades, we will finally unveil one of the greatest mysteries of the universe, and find life beyond Earth. We can’t know yet if the discovery of life will happen in our solar system or in another remote place in the universe, but it’s clear that the next generation will witness a finding that could challenge our whole understanding of the universe. These two documentaries form a stunning mini-series, or operate as stand alone programmes.
One may decide to leave because one has never traveled or, on the contrary, one may choose to travel because one left too often. After traveling the world without seeing it, an airline pilot decides to ride his bicycle following the airway from the airport of Guangzhou (China) to Paris CDG (France).
Jerome Josserand is a professional snow kiter. In 2007 he set the world record for the highest kite flight. It was 450 m above the ground. Jerome is in love with wind and its power to use it to mount high mountains. His home is a place called Col du Lautaret which is also his playground. On his way he found Iceland. He noticed that there is snow and wind all the time. And he thought:”
In this episode of NOMADS, pilot Mike Castillo takes a one of a kind surf vessel, the Billabong Clipper, down the Baja coastline in search of ultimate waves bringing with him professional surfers-Shane Dorian, Andy Irons, Dave Rastovich and others.
Wayne tries to bring his show in on time while everything that can go wrong does; the fan-favorite, "Jet Truck" prepares for a grudge-match race against a rival pilot; and performer, Julie Clark may be forced to cancel her biggest show of the season.
Performer, Julie Clark's hopes for a make-up flight in Memphis and performances are jeopardized as bad weather threatens to shut down the last day of the air show.
What starts out as severe storm, preventing the arrival of the headlining US Navy Blue Angels, quickly turns into a worst-case-scenario as Sun 'N Fun braces itself for the arrival of a tornado.
In the wake of the worst storm Sun 'N Fun has ever experienced, Wayne and the air show volunteers must comb through the destruction and pick up the pieces in hopes of saving Sun 'N Fun from an untimely end.
Wayne and announcer, Rob Reider reflect on a year marked by tragedy as they prepare for the last show of the season, praying that it all comes to a safe conclusion.
Iconic pilot, John Mohr gets ready to take to the sky one last time this season, but with a tragic event still weighing heavily on his mind, the question of his safety quickly becomes too real for Wayne and Rob to ignore.
This film is about an encounter. An encounter between 2 worlds, they don’t know about each other, at least not enough. Is there anything more different than the air force and contemporary dance? An air force pilot and a ballerina? These preconceptions need to be squashed, knocked over, overthrown.
Britain has always played a very important role in the aeronautic industry, from Sir George Cayley who designed the first actual model of an aeroplane to Sir Frank Whittle who is credited with single handedly inventing the turbojet engine.
Mark Oremland had a dream - to own his own DC-3 aircraft and fly it from England to his home country New Zealand - recreating the famous flight by Jean Batten who in 1936 became the first person to fly this route. Several people join him on his adventure. The journey is fraught with bad weather, bureaucratic nightmares and engine breakdowns in remote places and towards the end of the journey near disaster strikes. Will Mark realise his dream or could this journey be the last of its kind?
By 2050, passenger planes could release three times more greenhouse gases than they do today. How can flying become more climate-friendly? We take a look at the latest developments in research.
Global disasters, the rising cost of flying and an over-indulgent leadership, Japan Airlines were destined to collapse. Enter a Buddhist monk - turned CEO, whose modest management style achieved sky-high profits.
The life and death battles of global businesses. The risks taken and the mistakes made. This series explores the struggles of four major global companies - LEGO, Garuda Airlines, Fujifilm and Nintendo - and how they were saved from the brink of collapse.
The progeny of billionaire Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines was expected to fly the good times forever. But in 2012, its operation permit was suspended. Inside The Storm: Lessons from the Boardroom talks to ex-employees and experts, revealing how a billion dollar company was brought to its knees.
They say “the process of learning to fly makes you better at… everything.” So while the obvious goal seems to be getting a license, there are actually many other little goals you can achieve and benefit from along the way. Then we introduce a new host: a popular RVer who explores the curious overlap of those who long to explore in the air as well as on the road.
To most people, the name “Cessna” has become synonymous with “small airplane.” And it’s no wonder. The Cessna 172 is the most produced aircraft in history and has almost certainly been flown by nearly every pilot! But there’s definitely more to Cessna – as the much larger and more capable 340 proves.
As a person, Matt Guthmiller is a fascinating mix genius, entrepreneur, and adventurer. When getting his pilot’s license at a young age wasn’t enough, he organized and executed an adventure that would make Lindbergh and Earhart proud as he became the youngest person ever to fly solo around the world!
Call them Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Pilotless Aircraft, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, or just plain ‘ol drones, they’re becoming increasingly commonplace and taking on some very important roles in everyday life. Well beyond the realm of toys, there are a number of career paths one can pursue flying them professionally.
Bringing back the wonderful Myers aircraft which is as much a marvel of aviation technology today as it was (stunningly) in the 1950s. The Twin Commander is a big and beefy general aviation aircraft that is loved by everyone that gets a chance to fly one.
Unique access to the museum example of 'The Turkey' is combined with stunning archive footage and the heartbreaking story of a fatally wounded gunner.
Developed just too late for WW2, it was called an aerial anachronism - a piston engine warplane in a world of jets and missiles. However, it was to come into its own during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
A look at a beautifully restored example of the later, clipped-wing version of the legendary fighter-plane flown by Czech refugee pilots in the UK during wartime, featuring long-unseen test and operational footage.
The legendary Vietnam-era helicopter takes to the air in a pristine war-veteran example, and we learn the astonishing story of an aircraft blown up by its own missiles, and a wounded co-pilot went on to found a world-leading charity.
The ugliest combat veteran of Vietnam. Though never a fighter or a bomber, the sight of the Caribou above the jungle proved just as welcome for troops on the ground.
On the night of June 5th, 1944, a C-47 paratrooper aircraft, nicknamed That’s All, Brother took off from England, to drop Allied fighting men into Normandy, to clear a passage for the tens of thousands of troops lying off the coast. Despite surviving dozens more missions, post war she disappeared. The C-47 that led the invasion armada was either destroyed in Europe, shipped home and broken for parts, or worse still, scrapped and melted.
