1. The Helicopter

24m

In the 1920's, early autogyros made breakthroughs in rotating wing design, and by the 1930's military interest propelled helicopter development. Advances in controls, and the availability of lightweight turbine engines finally made a practical helicopter.

2. Air Forts Of The War

24m

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The World War II bombers were capable of delivering an arsenal of destruction. Aerial warfare became a team effort that relied on coordination, accuracy and determination with up to 10 men in an aircraft, and sometimes 1,000 airplanes in a formation.

3. First Jets

24m

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When jet engines appeared, a whole new set of problems appeared with them. For pilots, the early jets were a nightmare. Trained to fly propeller aircraft, pilots found themselves in need of drastic changes in technique.

4. Airliners

24m

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WW2 aviation advances such as hard runways, large long range aircraft and cabin pressurization set the stage for growing passenger transport after the war. Soon jets slashed travel times and brought unheard of growth in mass transportation.

5. The Big Bombers

24m

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Development of jet engines and the tensions of the Cold War pushed development of long-range bombers that could fly around the world. While designers grappled with structural challenges, pilots struggled with the complexity of flying gigantic machines.

6. Jet Fighters

24m

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The U.S. and Russia rivalry developed jet fighters with fantastic speeds and high tech weapons. Computers were unseen co-pilot and some fighters only fired guided missiles. Before long a new generation of highly maneuverable dog-fighting jets was needed

First Flights with Neil Armstrong - Season 2

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First Flights with Neil Armstrong - Season 2

About

Related Subjects

Episodes

Extended DetailsExtended Details

Artists

Extended Details