Warplane ambient background
CinebyCineby
Warplane backdrop

Warplane

Warplane

2006•54m•Documentary
Similars

A Century of Fight and Flight

The warplane has evolved over nearly a century to become what it is today, in 2004. This series is the story of how, through life-and-death necessity, invention, ingenuity and sheer hard work that warplane technology evolved. The Warplane series is not a history of every military plane but rather a look at the major stepping stones that advanced military aviation.

Tony Bulley · Director

StatusEnded
Runtime54m
LanguageEN
First Air DateNov 8, 2006

Episodes

E155m

Airplane to Air Force

World War I ushered in the airplane's first military roles: aerial reconnaissance and artillery spotting. With aviation still in its infancy, aerial combat took longer to develop, but the evolution of fighter tactics was inevitable as planes became more sky-worthy. The results transformed combat from fly-by pot-shots to fast, furious duels. By the end of the war, the airplane had been defined as an "eye in the sky" - a role that remains as vital over the deserts of the Middle East today as it was over the trenches of France in 1914. Every country recognized the potential of the warplane, and the growing necessity to take control of the skies.

Nov 8, 2006

E256m

Air Force to Air Power

World War II was where national air forces came of age, where individual planes coalesced into unstoppable squadrons, and where wartime tactics were dictated from the sky down. Germany rained shells down on London, the Allies executed precision bombing raids by day and frightful carpet bombing missions by night. Pathfinders led bomber squadrons to their targets, and fighters protected other planes as they flew. By the time America dropped the atomic bomb, each airplane had its own role.

Nov 8, 2006

E355m

Jet Age

On the heels of World War II, the jet airplane became a defining piece of mid-20th-century technology that would revolutionize existing airplane roles and create an entirely new generation of mission-specific machines. With the world in the grip of the Cold War, combat planes became faster and more agile, spy planes cruised over enemy territory at dizzying heights and dazzling speeds, and jet-powered helicopters entered military service. Designers, test pilots and combat crews took huge risks as they pushed the technological envelope, and within 58 years of Orville Wright's historic flight at Kitty Hawk, man had broken through the boundaries of both sound and space.

Nov 15, 2006

E456m

Age of Stealth

The computer age brought avionics - systems to control planes that humans could never fly. These systems, combined with new materials, designs and paints, as well as the unwavering commitment and singular vision of men like Skunk Works' Ben Rich, gave rise to the most recent revolution in military aviation - stealth planes that are all but invisible to enemy eyes. Like the jet engine before it, stealth technology has transformed warfare, and together with ever-advanced precision ordnance and purely autonomous planes, has positioned the world's most advanced air forces for a future where in-cockpit pilots may no longer be necessary.

Nov 18, 2006

Actors

Stacy Keach

Stacy Keach

Self - Narrator (voice)

Recommendations

World War II with Tom Hanks
Greatest Events of World War II in Colour
30 for 30
Eli Roth's History of Horror
World War II in Colour
Mysteries at the Museum
Civilisation
TYSON
Baseball
Biography
Doctor Who Confidential
American Experience
WWII in HD
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
History 101
The War
The World at War
How It's Made
The Nineties
Behind the Attraction

Similars

WWII Frontlines
Hitler's Secret Sex Life
Pioneers in Aviation
21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777
WWII Air Crash Detectives
How The Nazis Lost The War
Krigens terror
The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color
The Red Empire
Hitler vs Churchill: The Eagle and the Lion
The War
Nazi War Machines: Secrets Uncovered
My Grandparents' War
First Flights with Neil Armstrong
Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain
Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown
Nazi Megastructures: Battle Ready
Tony Robinson's World War 1
Architects of Darkness
Broken Arrows: The Lost Bombs of the Cold War