The Modern Age • 2009 • episode "10/13" • The Amazing World Of Aviation

Category: Technology

The Boeing 737 twin-engine jetliner was to become Boeing's greatest success. It had one of the lowest approach speeds of any jet transport, a great asset when landing at smaller airports with shorter runways. It also required minimum equipment for use in refueling. However, despite all its advantages, the 737 was soon overshadowed by the new, improved 747 Jumbo Jet.

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The Amazing World Of Aviation • 2009 • 12 episodes •

Take Off, The Beginning of Flight

Take Off, The Beginning of Flight

This program looks at the beginnings of flight, with innovators such as Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo DaVinci coming up with new ways to give man wings, and chronicles the invention of hot air balloons, Zeppelins, box kites, and of course the story of the most influential aviation inventors of all - Wilbur and Orville Wright.

2009 • Technology

Barnstormers & Record Breakers

Barnstormers & Record Breakers

To fly an early airplane required skill, courage and a sense of adventure. The advent of the movie camera meant that their exploits could be broadcast to every corner of the globe, and recorded for posterity. The pilots of Germany, France and Britain who were able to master combat flying in time to prevent an early death were known as "Air Aces".

2009 • Technology

Bi Plane To Monoplane

Bi Plane To Monoplane

The decades following the First World War saw aircraft designers pushing the boundaries of aeronautical technology, moving the industry forward at a rapid pace. With new commercial markets opening up, it was the visionaries who held the key to success. Each invention promising a future filled with endless possibilities.

2009 • Technology

The Airliner

The years following the First World War saw flying take off as serious business. Previously unimagined opportunities opened up, among them, skywriting and sightseeing tours. Flying became a bigger feature of life all around the world, not just as a novelty "adventure" for rich people but as a mode of transport available to just about anyone.

2009 • Technology

The Seaplane

Seaplanes saw the dawn of the aviation industry as they could accommodate large numbers of passengers between continents, and only required a smooth body of water to land. Since the 1920's, advances in floatplane technology saw metal hulls introduced, a cantilevered design and single engine. Seaplanes continue to be an extremely popular mode of transportation.

2009 • Technology

Highways In The Sky

Highways In The Sky

Airlines began to spring up everywhere, catering to the demands of passengers wanting to go just about anywhere, but the flights were only domestic at the time. Pre-war travel was sold as a luxury experience afforded only by the rich, but post war, the emphasis was on comfort and customer service for both the rich and middle class.

2009 • Technology

Airports & Flight Attendants

Airports & Flight Attendants

In the early years, air fields were more concerned with utility than comfort with the first passengers becoming used to enduring the elements as they walked out to their flight. As the popularity of air transport increased, cities recognized the need to provide better service to passengers, and airports grew in design, to become the hub of activity and convenience they are today.

2009 • Technology

Supersonic Flight

Supersonic Flight

Britain and France collaborated to build the world's first Concorde, a jet that could traverse the Atlantic in just 3 hours, at twice the speed of sound. The all-metal Trident jet was a popular choice for airlines but couldn't compete with the glamour and allure of the Concorde

2009 • Technology

The Modern Age

The Boeing 737 twin-engine jetliner was to become Boeing's greatest success. It had one of the lowest approach speeds of any jet transport, a great asset when landing at smaller airports with shorter runways. It also required minimum equipment for use in refueling. However, despite all its advantages, the 737 was soon overshadowed by the new, improved 747 Jumbo Jet.

2009 • Technology

Long Haul Aircraft

Long Haul Aircraft

Traditionally, regulators had insisted that all passenger aircraft be powered by at least three engines. But the development of more sophisticated airplanes eventually made twin-engine, long-distance travel feasible. A new standard was introduced, known as Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards, or ETOPS.

2009 • Technology

The Giants Of The Sky

The Giants Of The Sky

The Boeing 787 according to its manufacturers is a revolution in air travel. Similar to the Airbus A380, the plane is made from carbon fiber reinforced plastics and aluminum glass fiber materials which are lighter and more resistant to fatigue. It is one of many planes that have been developed to reduce the carbon footprint while improving space, comfort and entertainment for its passengers.

2009 • Technology

Air Travel Tomorrow

Air Travel Tomorrow

The buzzword in the space industry now is tourism. Private companies have moved into space research, with the philosophy that the best way to extend man's reach into space is to promote it as a tourist destination.

2009 • Technology

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The Launchers

The development of reliable, high-powered boosters has enabled researchers to send probes to distant planets. Without these workhorses, our science would remain tied to the Earth. This episode examines a range of launchers that are integral to space research.

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World's Tallest Buildings

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Dubai's Burj Khalifa is over 2,700 feet high and the tallest building in the world, and as engineers race to top this record-setting height with cutting-edge tech, a new 3,200-foot-tall building in Saudi Arabia is poised to take the crown.

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Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb

Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb

Documentary which follows the construction of a trailblazing 36,000-tonne steel structure to entomb the ruins of the nuclear power plant destroyed in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It films close up with the team of international engineers as they race to build the new structure before Chernobyl's original concrete sarcophagus - the hastily built structure that covers the reactor - collapses. Built to last just thirty years, the temporary sarcophagus is now crumbling, putting the world at risk of another release of radioactive dust. Radiation levels make it impossible for workers to build the new shelter directly over the old reactor, so engineers are erecting the new megastructure - taller than the tower of Big Ben and three times heavier than the Eiffel Tower - to one side and will then face the challenge of sliding the largest object ever moved on land into place over the old reactor.

2016 • Technology

Venice The Technological Challenge

Venice The Technological Challenge

The sea level in Venice has increased drastically in the last century or so, threatening the very existence of the city. Global warming and the harmful effects of tourism have amplified the phenomenon of acqua alta (sudden rise in sea level), rendering the traditional responses of inhabitants obsolete. It is urgent to act today. Projects conceived in laboratories across the globe are joining forces to save the city. These include RAMSES, a 3D modelization of the lagoon produced using lasers, which analyzes rises in water level; and MOSE, a series of movable dams costing over 4 billion euros, intended to block the sea in case of acqua alta. The film will take us on this extraordinary journey, the technological and scientific struggle for the survival of Venice, a survival that has been in doubt from its very construction.

2018 • Technology