Wings: Flying Through Time

Mustangs and Spitfires

25 min

Two planes that standout in the history of flight shared a number of similarities. Both had a striking appearance. Both had a throaty roar from inline 12 cylinder motors. Both rightly or wrongly were credited for winning WWII Two of the most popular war birds from WWII are the Spitfire and the Mustang. Although both planes share similar styling, power plants and both were designated as fighter-bombers, that is where the similarity ends. In this episode we compare the two super fighters of WWII.

The Boeing Company Pt 1

25 min

Developing aircraft requires huge expenditure. One company has on a number of occasions bet more than it's entire net worth. The company was Boeing and its gambles have paid off making it an aviation giant. In 1952 Boeing developed a prototype transport plane. They invested 15 million dollars, which well exceeded the company's net worth - if the plane failed - it would have sunk the Company. The prototype was to become one of the greatest planes of the century - the Boeing 707

The Boeing Company Pt 2

25 min

During the early 1960's the US Air Force, asked for tenders to build and supply a large transporter. It was believed that Boeing had the edge over its competitors, Lockheed and Douglas. However, in 1965 the Air Force announced Lockheed had won the bid with their C5-Galaxy. Boeings misfortune, at losing the contract, became the factor that assisted the creation of the 747 Jumbo. The technology Boeing used to build the Jumbo plane was accumulated over many years - mainly from building bombers for the US Air Force during the war years, one example is the B- 29. This week we complete our tour of Boeings history.