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.
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Charles Lindbergh lived a life of absolutes, never doubting his own abilities or the altitude of his own moral high ground. His extraordinary character brought him unparalleled accomplishment but also public humiliation and lonely isolation, as his faith in genetic determinism could barely conceal his narrow, naive, and racist social and political views.
The Lockerbie Bombing (2013)
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.
People of Earth and Sky (1969)
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Comet: A Great British Air Disaster (2013)
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.
The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific (1983)
In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed vast distances using only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds to navigate. Anthropologist Sanford Low visits the Caroline Islands of Micronesia to meet Mau Piailug, the last navigator initiated on his island and one of few men still practicing this once-essential art. He demonstrates his skill by sailing a replica canoe 2500 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti with no modern navigational instruments.
Snow Fighters (1957)
A close-up of a snow-bound city, and the men, money and machinery it takes to dig it out.
Cold-Rodders (1970)
An amusing view of the machine that has taken the country by winter storm: the snowmobile, revving, raring, ready to go. What the motorboat was to the summer lake, this motorized sled now is to the snow-covered fields. This film shows it all--the pull of this sit-down sport, the eagerness of the trade to keep it booming, the daring rivalry of the racing crowd, and the bemused pleasure of the family outing.
Guy Martin's Lancaster Bomber (2021)
Guy Martin honours the Lancaster bomber crews of World War II, as he tries out several onboard roles including pilot, gunner and bomb aimer. Has he got what it takes to join Bomber Command?
Made for Play: Board Games and Modern Industry (2013)
Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games. This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game. Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!
Elizabethan Express (1954)
Originally intended as an advertising short, this film follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London to Edinburgh along the East Coast Main Line. A nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex-LNER Class A4.
Panair of Brazil (2007)
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.
Modern Marvels: American Steel: Built to Last (NaN)
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Blake (1969)
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Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022)
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Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (2016)
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Charles Lindbergh in Colour (2007)
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Aluminum on the March (1956)
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Let's Look at Water (1947)
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A Hundred Years Underground (1963)
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Research Project X-15 (1962)
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