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4 Episodes 2019 - 0
Episode 1
Mon, Jul 2, 2001 60 mins
"Heroes and Daredevils" (Part 1 of four) begins, not surprisingly, with the Wright brothers, and charts aviation's first three decades. Also profiled: English Channel crossers (including "American birdwoman" Harriet Quimby, who did it in 1912), barnstormers, World War I "aces," air-mail pilots and, of course, Charles Lindbergh. But for aviation to "change everything," says narrator Howard, "it would have to become a way for people to get from here to there."
Episode 2
Mon, Jul 9, 2001 60 mins
Part 2 recalls the visionaries who transformed aviation "from a curiosity to a part of the fabric of life" during the 1920s and '30s, says narrator Ken Howard. Among them: Pan-Am founder Juan Trippe, who pioneered international flight; Lockheed designer Jack Northrup, whose Vega was the first plane to fly around the world; plane builder William Boeing, who also founded United Airlines; William Douglas, whose DC-3 was "the first plane to make money flying only passengers"; and Ellen Church, who devised a revolutionary solution to the fear of flying: stewardesses.
Episode 3
Mon, Jul 16, 2001 60 mins
Part 3 follows aviation into the jet age, courtesy of Frank Whittle, the RAF engineer who began to seek a faster alternative to propeller-driven aircraft in the late1930s. Whittle got his jet into the air in time for World War II, but his commercial ambitions were grounded by large aircraft manufacturers after the war. The hour also recalls Howard Hughes' contributions to aviation in the '30s and '40s (principally the TWA stalwart the Constellation); and the takeoff of passenger jets in the '50s and '60s on the wings of Boeing's 707. Ken Howard narrates.
Episode 4
Mon, Jul 23, 2001 60 mins
The series concludes by following today's "ocean liners of the air" through increasingly crowded skies into an uncertain (but likely to be no less congested) future. The hour begins with the introduction of Boeing's 747 in 1968. Then years later came something even more revolutionary: government deregulation, which led to lower fares, more passengers and considerable corporate turbulence. One victim: Pam Am, whose legendary founder, Juan Trippe, was in good measure responsible for the 747. Ken Howard narrates.