Reaching for the Skies

Season 1, Episode 7: Giants of the Air

Select Source

We take them - the jumbo jets - for granted today, yet overwhelming obstacles had to be overcome to first get these giants off the ground. The challenge to build larger aircraft has tantalized designers and pilots since the dawn of aviation. Meet the visionaries who overcame these obstacles: Sikorsky, Caprioni, Howard Hughes and others...the pioneers who forged ahead to find the mix of size and engine power necessary to fulfil their dreams - and the quest for yet larger and larger aircraft.