Pioneers in Aviation

Details the birth of American aviation-from the Wright Brothers' earliest flights, through the turbulent era of the 1920s. "The Early Years" documents the captains of the Aviation Industry as young men as they design and construct planes for America's effort in World War I, begin flying the mail in the 1920s, and develop the first passenger airlines. Episode I concludes with the dramatic head-to-head rivalry between the Boeing 247 and the Douglas DC-3 for command of the newly born commercial aviation industry

Documents the 1930s and 40s, as the clouds of war once again began to gather over Europe. With all of Western Europe a German stronghold by the summer of 1940, and England under attack, President Roosevelt calls upon the captains of his Aviation Industry-declaring that America must become "the Arsenal of Democracy. " Under Donald Douglas's leadership, and Dutch Kindelberger's guidance, the U.S. aviation industry unites to tackle the biggest production job in industrial history. With Boeing, Douglas, and North American Aviation factories working around the clock, they produce some of the most legendary aircraft in American history-giving the Allies air supremacy in both the European and Pacific theaters and, ultimately, victory in World War II.

Documents the era of the 1950s and 1960s, as post-war America finds itself locked in an ideological struggle with the Soviet Union-an adversary whose philosophy promised the destruction of capitalism. In 1957, the Soviet launch of Sputnik suddenly shifted the Cold War battlefield to space and heralded the decade-long Race to the Moon. As did his predecessors, President Kennedy turns to the captains of his Aviation Industry-now in the autumn of their years-with the century's greatest aerospace challenge.