The EMMY-nominated PBS documentary series Pioneers In Aviation profiles America’s legendary aerospace pioneers, whose achievements led the nation and the world from the era of open-cockpit biplanes to the very threshold of space.  A 3-hour/3-part series, Pioneers features newly-recovered archival footage in pristine High Definition, period music, and on-camera commentary by some of America’s foremost aviation scholars — among them, Dr. F. Robert van der Linden, Chairman of the Aeronuatics Department of the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum and Dr. Randolph Hennes, celebrated historian from the University of Washington.

The age-old wish to defy the law of gravity found its fruition in turn-of-the-century America.  The Wright Brothers and their immediate successors (William Boeing, Donald Douglas, Dutch Kindelberger, and James McDonnell) each came of age at this renaissance moment in the country’s history, and their achievements are infused with the indomitable spirit of their time.  Pioneers In Aviation celebrates a uniquely international heritage in documenting the lives of the men who founded the fledgling airplane industry and, together, forged the very history of flight.

Watch a clip here:
Eps I The Early Years
Eps II The War Years
Eps III The Race to the Moon

2014
The Race to the Moon LLC, USA 
 

Here’s what the critics have said about Pioneers In Aviation:

“(This) well-produced documentary provides a historical background and fascinating overview of what has been called one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. . . . Highly recommended for its exceptional quality and content.”
Library Journal

“Pioneers In Aviation is a pleasure to watch… (It) is an aviation buff’s dream, richly detailed with the sort of footage often missing from historical films.”
John Levesque – Seattle Post Intelligencer

"The film is rich with amazing archival film footage and photographs, including a recording of the famous 1924 ‘Round-the-World Flight’…and pictures of still unknown 19-year-old Marilyn Monroe. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what you’ll find in this terrific documentary. . . . I highly recommend Pioneers In Aviation.”
Crimson Celluloid