TV
Programs to Watch for July
2006
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B-2: #76.
At Whiteman Air Force
Base in Missouri, host R. Lee Ermey gets to do something only a few
hundred humans have done before him--take a ride in a B-2 Stealth
Bomber on a mock bomb run! The Gunny sets the stage for his historic
flight by giving us the facts and stats on what makes the B-2 the
greatest bomber in the history of aviation. Then, we go along on
Lee's pre-flight training as he prepares to get airborne. From the
cockpit, he shows viewers what it's like to fly in a stealth bomber.
The Whiteman crew the Gunny flies with are part of the 509th Bomber
Group, the same squadron that flew the first atomic bomb missions
back in World War II. In his tribute to the 509th, the Gunny shows
how the Enola Gay and other bombers got the mission done. TVPG L
Save
Our History
Apollo: The Race against Time.
What remains of the
spacecraft designed to propel American astronauts to the moon? How
are they being saved for future generations? Host Steve Thomas
focuses on the efforts by NASA, the Smithsonian Institution's
National Air and Space Museum, and the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space
Center to bring to life US space exploration through preservation of
historic spacecraft and equipment from Apollo missions of the 1960s.
We meet Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the moon during Apollo 11, the
first Apollo mission, and Gene Cernan, who, during Apollo 17, became
the last man to walk on the moon. We tour NASA's original Mission
Control with former Mission Director Gene Kranz, now a National
Historic Landmark, and we check out the spacesuit "morgue" with
conservator Mandy Young to see how spacesuits from the Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo projects (and even earlier) are stored, cleaned,
and preserved. TVPG
The F-15
Built to put U.S.
pilots back in charge of the skies, the F-15 Eagle proved its
superiority in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In a
dogfight, it can maneuver against the toughest fighters and climb to
Mt. Everest's height in 60 seconds. One of the toughest planes in
the world, one fortunate F-15 pilot flew back to base after losing a
wing! Featuring interviews with Operation Iraqi Freedom pilots and
footage that puts the viewer right in the cockpit of the world's
greatest fighter aircraft. TVPG
Airships
Forced Landing, Part 3.
With the world in
financial turmoil after Wall Street crashed in 1929, there was
little chance of raising the necessary money for a fleet of airships
for intercontinental travel. But in America, the joint German-US
company Goodyear Zeppelin won a contract to build two giant airships
for the US Navy. In August 1931, the USS Akron was launched amidst
great pomp and ceremony. Apart from its size, this was a vastly
different flying machine--the world's first flying aircraft carrier.
Graf Zeppelin continued to fly the world, and when Hitler came to
power in 1933, his propaganda machine saw great potential in the
German Zeppelins and backed building of a new airship, the
Hindenburg. But when it went down in flames over Lakehurst, New
Jersey in 1936, the era of passenger flights had ended. In this
episode, we also look to a bright new future being planned for
airships for passenger, commercial, and military use. TVPG
