Chasing the Sun

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This 4-part documentary mini-series traces the development of commercial passenger aviation in the 20th century, from the Wright Brothers to the Concorde and beyond. In episode 1, "Heroes and Daredevils" rule the skies after the Wrights invent the first controllable powered airplane. Air travel is expensive, dangerous, and slow. Air mail becomes the big money-maker for the fledgling airlines after World War I. Passengers are not a priority--if there is room, they sit among the bags of mail. The public's interest in air travel is piqued by the adventures of Charles Lindbergh and the writings of his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, perhaps the most well-known airplane passenger. In episode 2, "The Visionaries" develop new aircraft and build the infrastructure for worldwide air travel. Designers and engineers such as Donald Douglas, the Lockheed brothers, Jack Northrop, and William Boeing construct larger, faster, and safer airplanes, while airline executives such as Juan Trippe of Pan American and Jack Frye of TWA put together an expanding network of air routes, often with monopolies granted by the U.S. government. Traveling by air becomes an option for more and more people. Episode 3, "Into the Jet Age", profiles Frank Whittle's invention of the gas turbine (jet) engine and the resulting revolution in passenger aviation. Large jets such as the Boeing 707 bring air travel to the masses, although ticket prices are still relatively high. The supersonic Concorde is built by Britain and France, but fails to make money for the airlines--the future does not lie in that direction. Episode 4, "All Aboard", charts the final evolution of air travel from the province of the rich to affordable mass transportation, and looks at the problems that lie ahead. New jumbo jets help to relieve airport congestion and enable more and more people to fly. The U.S. government de-regulates the airline business in 1978, allowing airlines to set their own routes and prices. This brings about much lower airfares, but many airlines are unable to compete and go out of business. The airplane manufacturers, too, fall into difficult economic times--today only two companies make large passenger jets: Boeing and Airbus. And with the great increase in flights, the antiquated air traffic control system again struggles to keep up.