Flying Through Time

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.

Two planes that standout in the history of flight shared a number of similarities. Both had a striking appearance. Both had a throaty roar from inline 12 cylinder motors. Both rightly or wrongly were credited for winning WWII. Two of the most popular war birds from WWII are the Spitfire and the Mustang.

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.

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.

VTOL stands for vertical take off and landing. If you are thinking helicopters you are correct. However in this episode, we review the development of a plane that has the abilities of a helicopter as well as being a front line fighter plane. The Harrier Jump Jet is the only VTOL with a fighting history and the only VTOL in service today.

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.

The Thunderbolt was the most famous of the Republic Aircraft Company's planes built during WWII. First flown on 6 May 1941, the P-47 was designed as a large, high-performance fighter/bomber. We also pay tribute to one of the worlds most greatest woman aviators and investigate the fast exciting competition of Pylon Racing.

We look at one of the many legendary planes designed by one of the worlds most awarded Aviation designers - Kelly Johnson. We follow the path of the much maligned but equally inspiring F104 Lockheed Star Fighter, from Kelly's initial concepts in 1952, through the painstaking development and to the last F104 made in 1983, a production run that lasted over 30 years.

We'll continue with the design concepts of the Lockheed company and Kelly Johnson. These designs set the company and the man so far apart from their contemporaries at that time, that to this day in one design alone that gap has still not been breached.