700Mb, 01:19:39, 512×384

Martin Maryland Baltimore

B-24 Liberator ditching

He-177 Greif

The film also gives some showtime to the nuclear strikes at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showing the beautiful B-29 Superfortress. It also focuses on less known theaters of war such as Greece, and shows rarely seen footage of the Martin Maryland Baltimore medium bomber. At the end, it gives a brief intro of the very interesting German heavy bomber, He-177 ‘Greif’.

700Mb, 01:08:28, 448 x336

This is a very well made documentary film which describes the development and operation of the earliest jets used by the British Royal Air Force from the Meteor to the Canberra and V-bombers.

Using footage taken at the time and film of surviving, flying examples as well as recent interviews held with some of the test pilots including Roland “Bee” Beamont, a comprehensive story is told of these early jets and their characteristics both good and bad.

Meteor jet fighter

The Vampire

John Cunningham hopping aboard the Vampire

The Swift

Canberra bomber

Many films which deal with older eras tend to show the same, tired flying sequences which have been repeated many times but the majority of the clips in this film  have been rarely seen making this particular documentary very watchable.

It is particularly interesting to compare the test pilots of the past with the professionals of today, we can see a test pilot getting into a prototype jet dressed in shirt and tie, no flying suit, no G-pants. Almost as if he’d been sat in his office when someone had phoned and said “if you aren’t too busy would you mind taking up the latest “kite” for a bit of a “spin” to see how it feels?”. This is by no means to imply that these early test pilots were any less professional than today’s test pilots, indeed one must respect the bravery required to fly an aircraft which was unknown and hadn’t been through countless computer simulations before it’s first flight.

Also interesting and sad is to see these early test pilots hopping onto the wing and jumping into a jet (complete with suit and tie) and then seeing the same man, now rather elderly, talking about that flight.

A very good film for anyone interested in early jets, highly recommended.

700Mb, 01:20:45, 464 x 352

Although not mentioned in the title this is a film purely about the cold war jets of the British Royal Air Force.

This film tells the story of the aircraft used by the RAF during the period of the cold war. Featuring the Hunter, Canberra, the V bombers, Valiant, Victor and Vulcan, the Lightning, Buccaneer, Phantom, Harrier and Nimrod.

Hunters T7s

Canbera bomber

English Electric Lightning

A welcome feature during the film is the recollections of pilots who flew the aircraft, these give interesting insights into what it was like to fly during the tensions of the period.

A little worrying though are the errors in the commentary from the huge error of stating the Hunter had two engines to the statement that the Victors were retired in 1991 when they flew until 1993 and the declaration that the Buccaneer was supersonic at sea level, the Buccaneer was one of the fastest and most stable aircraft at low level but it wasn`t supersonic.

All in all an interesting film, at one hour twenty minutes it is a little long but it does cover it`s subjects well although many of the sections contain parts which appear in other films.

Inside the high-tech, high-stakes competition to create America’s newest fighter plane. NOVA goes behind the doors of the world’s two largest aerospace companies to record classified meetings, climbs into cockpits to fly the most revolutionary planes, and examines the high-stakes battle waged between Boeing and Lockheed Martin to build the most capable and versatile fighter ever created—the Joint Strike Fighter. You’re on the front line as the two aerospace giants fight for a contract that will make aviation history and help protect America, and that could provide the winner total domination of the U.S. defense fighter industry. Marking the first time filmmakers have been allowed inside a major weapons competition, NOVA enters Boeing’s Phantom Works and Lockheed’s legendary Skunk Works, and travels to the flight test centers at Edwards Air Force Base and Patuxnet Naval Air Station to document key moments of the competition. Join military brass, aviation engineers, and test pilots as they race to create a single aircraft that meets three criteria—that the winning plane be stealthy, affordable, and adaptable to the widely varying needs of the Air Force, Navy, and Marines. Filmed over four years, Battle of the X-Planes reveals the breakthrough designs, heartbreaking setbacks, adrenaline-fueled test flights, and one final nail-biting decision—the winner of the most lucrative contract in military history-–the Joint Strike Fighter.

English language

English language

Pilots handbook of flight instructions for navy models F6F-3, F6F-3N, F6F-5, F6F-5N airplanes

English language

A-10 attack plane history of creation and combat usage.

English language

The famous Mosquito creation and usage movie.

English language

Number of original newsreels and news digests about Royal Air Forces activities in World War 2 and short term after - the period of 39-47.

Russian language

The movie from “Secret proving ground” series about Su-25 Frogfoot attack aicraft - it has popular name Grach (rook) in Russian.