The 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick" continues the adventures of the ace fighter pilot made famous by Tom Cruise. But how true to life is the fictional story to the real Naval Fighter Weapons School? TOPGUN flight instructors take us inside the most famous and prestigious training program in the sky, where only the top 5% of U.S. naval aviators are accepted. We reveal the tactics and techniques taught in the classroom and in the air. We also examine how the real Navy TOPGUN came to be, an origin story that is truly stranger than fiction.
An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports.
Go higher, faster and farther with the Smithsonian as they explore the dreams of flight.
Take the ultimate guided tour of the most famous plane in the world, and meet the tireless crew charged with operating this global command center in the sky.
An exceptional documentary which presents, for the first time colorized archives, on Charles Lindbergh's life, the hero of the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on May 21, 1927.
The X-15 was the last in a line of manned rocket-powered research airplanes built during the 1950s to explore ever-faster and higher flight regimes. Nineteen years before Space Shuttle, the X-15 showed it was possible to fly into, and out of, space. Launched from the wing of a modified B-52 bomber, the ship rocketed higher and faster than any manned aircraft of the time. There had never been anything like the X-15; it had a million-horsepower engine and could fly twice as fast as a rifle bullet. In the joint X-15 hypersonic research program that NASA conducted with the Air Force, the Navy, and North American Aviation the aircraft flew over a period of nearly 10 years and set unofficial speed and altitude records, in a program to investigate all aspects of piloted hypersonic flight. Information gained from the highly successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo piloted spaceflight programs as well as the Space Shuttle program.
Panair do Brasil revives the story of the most important commercial aviation company in Brazil, between 1930 and 1965, with its commercial daring in establishing routes to the four corners of a continental country, taking the adventure of air transport to never-before imagined places, as well as the first international routes. Four decades after it closed its doors, it still retains a marked presence in the country's collective imagination for its pioneering spirit and stories of heroic deeds and for the bewilderment which was aroused by the facts surrounding its closure during the military regime.
At any given moment hundreds of people are soaring above us in a 747. From the moment the very first jumbo jet took off in 1969, it has been the aircraft against which all others are judged. But its 45-year journey has been anything but smooth. This is the definitive story of the Boeing 747, from its milestones and triumphs to its turning points and disasters. Witness its history through rare archival footage and tales from pilots, engineers, designers, and passengers who were there when it all began.
Fred Davis introduces us to Canadian Air Force operations in Zweibrucken, West Germany. Follow Green Section as they perform drills and explain what it takes to be a fighter pilot.
Meet Brian Boland—the beloved, eccentric hot air balloonist and artist from the rural Upper Valley of Vermont.
There was a time when the DC-3 was the world's most successful aircraft and an indispensable tool: its military version became a crucial factor in achieving peace in various wars and helped many people rise from the ashes during the inevitable humanitarian crises that follow every conflict. But now the Basler factory located in Oshkosh, near Chicago, in the United States, seems to have become a sinister airplane boneyard.
Two modern Red Arrows pilots take on the challenges faced by World War I pilots by performing photo reconnaissance, artillery ranging, and bombing missions in period aircraft - culminating in a classic dogfight.
The De Havilland Comet was the world's first passenger jet airliner. But less than two years into service, two aircraft blew up in mid-air, killing all aboard. PM Winston Churchill ordered an assemblage of experts to discover what went wrong - in the process, inventing many of the air crash investigation techniques still used today.
On 21 December 1988 a Pan Am 747 jet exploded over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie. On the 25th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on British soil, this is the story.
Guy joins an ambitious engineering project to recover a crashed WW2 Lancaster Bomber – and the remains of its missing crew members – from the depths of the Dutch lake where it’s lain for 80 years.
Avions de chasse : Une technologie XXL
This early, influential propaganda film blends documentary and studio footage to show the valiant efforts of the Royal Air Force to defend the British people against the Nazis.
On 28 November 1979, an Air New Zealand jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Within hours 11 ordinary police officers were called to duty to face the formidable Mount Erebus. As the police recovered the victims, an investigation team tried to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. Did the airline have a secret it wanted to bury? This film tells the story of four New Zealand police officers who went to Antarctica as part of the police operation to recover the victims of the crash. Set in the beautiful yet hostile environment of Antarctica, this is the emotional and compelling true story of an extraordinary police operation.
The story of U.S. fighter pilots shot down over North Vietnam who became POWs for up to 8 and a half years.
During the Vietnam War, the main threat to the strike packages was the V-750 (S-75) Dvina, the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM). Better known by the NATO designation SA-2 Guideline To suppress and destroy this threat, the U.S. Air Force countered with the courage and skill of the Wild Weasels, who not only flew some of the most dangerous missions in Southeast Asia but also became pioneers in Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) operations. This documentary tells the story of the Wild Weasel program.