Discovery Channel - Great Planes

Great Planes looks into the stories behind the most influential, innovative and intriguing machines that ever took flight.



General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
The story of the fighter that became a bomber. The F-111 set new standards of design, but had to wrestle with adapting high technology.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Breaking records in speed and sustained altitude, the SR-71 spy plane was one of the airforces best kept secrets of the 1960's. Its technology and achievements astounded even the experts of the day.

Catalina PBY
The epitome of the flying boat, some thought the Catalina was too old to go to war in the 40's, yet over a hundred are still flying today.

Vought F-4U Corsair
The Corsair F-4U with its perculiar folding wing was the scourge of the Japanese in WWII. Its pilots shot down over 2000 Japanese planes, fewer than 200 Corsairs were lost.

Vought.A7.Corsair.II
So durable that NATO forces are still flying them today, the A-7 was the Navy's answer to the aging A4 Skyhawk in Vietnam. It was affectionately known as the SFUB, "short, fat, ugly bastard.



McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
From the Zero to the F-86 and beyond, fighters have won the battle for air superiority. Sparring with the formidable MiG over Vietnam, America developed the F-15 Eagle arguably the best fighter.

Boeing B17 Flying Fortress
Seizing the new found role of the long range bombing like no other plane, the B17 are a cornerstone of WWII History

Grumman F4F Wildcat - F6F Hellcat
After entering service with the US Navy in 1942, the Grumman F-6F Hellcat quickly conquered the skies over the Pacific

Lockheed C-130 Hercules
It may look like a wide-mouth frog, but the C-130 Hercules ranks as one of the most durable and reliable airplanes ever built. This airtruck is still used today, carrying supplies all around the globe.

McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet
In the late 70's the US Navy needed a lightweight fighter to replace its aging A7 Corsair. McDonnell-Douglas's bid for the contract came in the form of the F-18



Rockwell B-1B Lancer
The US Air Force B-1B took off at the end of a long line of American stategic bombers. This sleek stealth based aircraft flies low and fast to avoid enemy radar.

Consolidated B24 Liberator
The long range and versatile airframe of the B24 made it one of WWII's great workhorses.

North American P-51 Mustang
The P-51 Mustang is one of the central reasons the Allies won WWII. Its performance and firepower superiority struck fear into both German and Japanese pilots and ensured the safety of bombers over Berlin

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom
The F-4 Phantom entered service with the US Navy in 1960 and was later adopted by the Air Force and armed forces of 10 other countries.

North American F-86 Sabre
With its swept wing design and powerful jet engine, the F-86 arrived just in time to meet the threat of the MiG 15 in the skies over Korea.

Boeing B52 Stratofortess
Designed to Drop nuclear bombs on targets anywhere in the world, the B52 was the stategic air commands key weapon for over a decade. First deployed in 1952, it is still in service decades later.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
Roughly twice the weight of other WWII fighters, the Jug's cumbersome apperance belied its speed and firepower. As frontline fighters, escorts for heavy bombers and fighter bombers, the sturdy planes saw action in both Europe and The Pacific.

Grumman F-14 Tomcat
Defending the US Navy's Aircraft Carriers the F-14 Tomcat has become as well known for its productiondeadlines as for the skill of its pilots, whose mettle was tested at the Gulf Of Sidra and celebrated in the film Top Gun.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Though mainly known as the plane that dropped the atomic bombs, the B-29 had a post war career in the “X” plane program and Korea.

Technical Specs :

Video Codec: Xvid
Video Bitrate: 732 KB/s
Video Resolution: 640 x 480
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Fullscreen
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3)
Audio BitRate: 103 KB/s
Audio Channels: 2 Ch
RunTime: 00:50
Number Of Parts: 18
Part Size: 350mb