ESPRESSO T.V.

The Plane Facts

52 x 30'

(The first 26 episodes are available now)

This series uses a relatively new format for aircraft programming. Most aircraft shows use the traditional documentary style consisting of 30 or 60-minute programs covering a particular aircraft or event. Interesting and absorbing facts seem to get lost in the traditional format: they are too in-depth, difficult to include, or they make a traditional documentary disjointed.

'The Plane Facts' is simply that: a series of half-hour programmes consisting of four or five segments each, full of amazing aviation stories and facts. 

Here is just one example segment from 'The Plane Facts': The first Jumbo Jet was built from a total of 75,000 technical drawings. The public and media did not comprehend the sheer size of the Jumbo until it was wheeled out of the hanger for its debut press release.

Many doubted that such a large aircraft could fly – and they were right. The first Jumbo was 250,000 pounds overweight and it had no hope of getting airborne.  It had only been created so that Boeing's designers could see where the technical drawings differed from reality – and the weight was a big miscalculation. We close this segment with the A380 Airbus, which has nearly twice the capacity of the Jumbo. We show how every component of the plane is weighed by the computer, as the plane is drawn and modelled. 

This is just one amongst hundreds of great plane facts that are explored in a five-minute segment. The series is made up of archive material that ranges from old bi-planes to the latest footage from today’s international aerospace companies. 

A production of Australia’s Pandora’s Box Television, this is a fascinating, fast-paced series of excellent technical quality.