Aircraft carrier development started as soon as the Wright brothers took to the air. However, it wasn't until WWII that the practice of using planes off floating platforms was tested in combat conditions. In this episode we explore the early development of the Aircraft Carrier. We also look at the Grumman Hellcat whose military record stands alone. This plane was one of history's best ever fighters - it had speed and manoeuvrability and it was extremely sturdy.
The Grumman F14a Tomcat is amongst today's ultimate weapons. It is considered a large fighter and stands at 63 foot long, 16 foot high and has a maximum wingspan of 64' 1". The F14's cruise speed is approximately 610 mph and it has a maximum speed of 1544 mph or nearly mach 2 - twice the speed of sound.
In this episode we travel along the evelopment path of the Giants. The Antonov 124 is a giant among giants. On it's maiden fight in December 1982, it was the largest powered craft to fly. The Antonov is still the world's largest heavy lift aircraft. Surprisingly the largest aircraft ever built would dwarf the 124 Antonov. Airships took to the skies around 1900, when the aeroplane was a very basic contraption. After reviewing many types of giants we end this episode with a look at a plane that was deigned with the sole purpose of moving people and making air travel affordable to the masses. Seventy-five thousand engineering drawings were used to produce the first 747.
Developing aircraft requires huge expenditure. One company has on a number of occasions bet more than it's entire net worth. The company was Boeing and its gambles have paid off making it an aviation giant. In 1952 Boeing developed a prototype transport plane. They invested 15 million dollars, which well exceeded the company's net worth - if the plane failed - it would have sunk the Company. The prototype was to become one of the greatest planes of the century - the Boeing 707
During the early 1960's the US Air Force, asked for tenders to build and supply a large transporter. It was believed that Boeing had the edge over its competitors, Lockheed and Douglas. However, in 1965 the Air Force announced Lockheed had won the bid with their C5-Galaxy. Boeings misfortune, at losing the contract, became the factor that assisted the creation of the 747 Jumbo. The technology Boeing used to build the Jumbo plane was accumulated over many years - mainly from building bombers for the US Air Force during the war years, one example is the B- 29. This week we complete our tour of Boeings history.
The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely manoeuvrable, tactical fighter which many believe was the best in the lead up to the turn of this century. It was not developed from a line of planes previous to it. This aircraft was built from the ground up for a very specific purpose.
We explore the development of one of the fastest planes ever built, the Valkyrie. We also trace the history of this aircrafts manufacturer to get an insight of how far we have come in aviation since WWII. But this journey would not be complete if we didn't pay tribute to a brave group of elite aviators who dared to test the untested - they are the test pilots.
The very first and the very last, perhaps ultimate of the US Navy's propeller driven fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair were supplied by the one company. These planes for their time represented the pinnacle of their technologies. We look at the lineage and contempories of the plane that would win the Pacific War.
After the hectic development period of world war 2 and the ensuing rush into jet engine development, a successive series of fighter aircraft emerged that made their mark in aviation history. These planes epitomised the shape of the supersonic jet fighter; they were the Century Fighters.
In the early days of flight, most planes were flying boats. Lakes, rivers, bays and oceans provided ready made run ways. But by the time WWII started these runways were not always located where runways were needed. So a shift to made runways and planes with landing gear became the usual configuration for aircraft. However there was one seaplane that continued through out the war and excelled in areas that other aircraft simply could not operate. Even though the plane was dated before the war started - it overcame it's age to go on to be one of the most famous WWII planes in history.
Flying through Time we'll take a flying trip through the years of the development of the American Heavy bomber.These planes were the big stick wielded by the US offensive forces, and became the tools of choice in the brinkmanship of the cold war.Today they're the platforms for launching military surgery and the embodiment of US airpower.
In the annals of aeronautic history the plane that takes the place between Republics classic attack fighters, the P47 thunderbolt of the Second World War and their outstanding F105 Thunderchief in the skies of Vietnam, is often skipped over. This period of expansion marked the first ventures into jet aircraft and many of the lessons learnt during the development of this series of planes have sired today's generations of fighter aircraft.
Aircraft carrier development started as soon as the Wright brothers took to the air. However, it wasn't until WWII that the practice of using planes off floating platforms was tested in combat conditions. In this episode we explore the early development of the Aircraft Carrier. We also look at the Grumman Hellcat whose military record stands alone. This plane was one of history's best ever fighters - it had speed and maneuverability and it was extremely sturdy.
The Grumman F14a Tomcat is amongst today's ultimate weapons. It is considered a large fighter and stands at 63 foot long, 16 foot high and has a maximum wingspan of 64' 1". The F14's cruise speed is approximately 610 mph and it has a maximum speed of 1544 mph or nearly mach 2 – twice the speed of sound.
In this episode we travel along the development path of the Giants. The Antonov 124 is a giant among giants. On it's maiden fight in December 1982, it was the largest powered craft to fly. The Antonov is still the world's largest heavy lift aircraft. Surprisingly the largest aircraft ever built would dwarf the 124 Antonov. Airships took to the skies around 1900, when the aeroplane was a very basic contraption. After reviewing many types of giants we end this episode with a look at a plane that was deigned with the sole purpose of moving people and making air travel affordable to the masses. Seventy-five thousand engineering drawings were used to produce the first 747.
Developing aircraft requires huge expenditure. One company has on a number of occasions bet more than it's entire net worth. The company was Boeing and its gambles have paid off making it an aviation giant. In 1952 Boeing developed a prototype transport plane. They invested 15 million dollars, which well exceeded the company's net worth – if the plane failed – it would have sunk the Company. The prototype was to become one of the greatest planes of the century - the Boeing 707
During the early 1960's the US Air Force, asked for tenders to build and supply a large transporter. It was believed that Boeing had the edge over its competitors, Lockheed and Douglas. However, in 1965 the Air Force announced Lockheed had won the bid with their C5-Galaxy. Boeings misfortune, at losing the contract, became the factor that assisted the creation of the 747 Jumbo. The technology Boeing used to build the Jumbo plane was accumulated over many years - mainly from building bombers for the US Air Force during the war years, one example is the B- 29. This week we complete our tour of Boeings history.
The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter which many believe was the best in the lead up to the turn of this century. It was not developed from a line of planes previous to it. This aircraft was built from the ground up for a very specific purpose.
We explore the development of one of the fastest planes ever built, the Valkyrie. We also trace the history of this aircraft's manufacturer to get an insight of how far we have come in aviation since WWII. But this journey would not be complete if we didn’t pay tribute to a brave group of elite aviators who dared to test the untested – they are the test pilots.
The very first and the very last, perhaps ultimate of the US Navy's propeller driven fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair were supplied by the one company. These planes for their time represented the pinnacle of their technologies. We look at the lineage and contemporaries of the plane that would win the Pacific War.
After the hectic development period of World War 2 and the ensuing rush into jet engine development, a successive series of fighter aircraft emerged that made their mark in aviation history. These planes epitomized the shape of the supersonic jet fighter; they were the Century Fighters.
In the early days of flight, most planes were flying boats. Lakes, rivers, bays and oceans provided ready made run ways. But by the time WWII started these runways were not always located where runways were needed. So a shift to made runways and planes with landing gear became the usual configuration for aircraft. However there was one seaplane that continued through out the war and excelled in areas that other aircraft simply could not operate. Even though the plane was dated before the war started – it overcame it's age to go on to be one of the most famous WWII planes in history.
Flying through Time we'll take a flying trip through the years of the development of the American Heavy bomber.These planes were the big stick wielded by the US offensive forces, and became the tools of choice in the brinkmanship of the cold war.Today they're the platforms for launching military surgery and the embodiment of US air power.
In the annals of aeronautic history the plane that takes the place between Republics classic attack fighters, the P47 thunderbolt of the Second World War and their outstanding F105 Thunderchief in the skies of Vietnam, is often skipped over. This period of expansion marked the first ventures into jet aircraft and many of the lessons learned during the development of this series of planes have sired today's generations of fighter aircraft.
