First Flights with Neil Armstrong
GenreDocumentary[1][2]
Directed byNeil Hollander
Presented byNeil Armstrong
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39
Production
Executive producersMark H. Tuttle
Peter Maris
Running time30 minutes per episode
Production companiesPMT, Ltd.
Original release
NetworkA&E
ReleaseSeptember 1991 (1991-09)
Armstrong, 26, as a test pilot

First Flights was a half-hour televised aviation history documentary series. The series premiered on September 25, 1991, on A&E Networks and ran for three seasons.[3][4] It was hosted by former test pilot and astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon.[5][6][7][8]

The series initially aired Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on A&E in the U.S. The series focused on the technological history of aviation, from early balloons and gliders through war-time and mass commercial aviation, to experimental hypersonic flight at the edge of space.[9] In the series, Neil Armstrong interviewed pilots and aerospace engineers. Archival footage and vintage aircraft were used to recreate historic takeoffs.[10]

Episodes

Episodes of First Flights with Neil Armstrong are listed below in the original A&E Networks broadcast order. Season 1 traces the development of aviation technology from balloons to early post-WWII jet aircraft. Season 2 continues the story of atmospheric flight to the edge of space in the 1990s. Neil Armstrong had previously flown several aircraft featured in Season 2 during his long career as a NASA experimental test pilot in Edwards, CA.[11] Season 3 focuses on the development of particular technologies within the broader field of aviation.

Season 1

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air date
11"By The Seat of Their Pants"September 25, 1991 (1991-09-25)
This episode focuses on public spectacles and the development of improved fly machines during the pioneer era of aviation. Several of these early aircraft are demonstrated by Cole Palen at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome.
More ...
22"Every Day a Better Design"October 2, 1991 (1991-10-02)
This episode examines the separation of aviators into two groups: engineers who designed and built aircraft and pilots who tried to fly them. Aviation during this period mostly offered sport for the rich and air shows for the public.
More ...
33"Flying Aces, War in the Air"October 9, 1991 (1991-10-09)
During the First World War airplanes were used first for reconnaissance, later as a weapon.
More ...
44"Flying Entrepreneurs"October 16, 1991 (1991-10-16)
After the First World War, veteran pilots performed dogfighting aerobatics for spectators and barnstormers became went into business carrying mail and passengers.
More ...

Fokker T-2, Curtiss Jenny, Standard, DH-4

55"Bigger is Better"October 23, 1991 (1991-10-23)
This episode follows the inter-war development of commercial passenger travel, when luxurious flying boats were used at a time of few runways. Aircraft like the DC-3 helped to make commercial passenger travel viable.
More ...
66"Fighters Between the War"October 30, 1991 (1991-10-30)
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan changed aerial warfare with new aircraft designs.
More ...
77"Testing Under Fire"November 6, 1991 (1991-11-06)
This episode looks at the German Luftwaffe with its Messerschmitt 109, the British Spitfire and the Battle of Britain, and the U.S. entry into the Second World War with its P-38 Lightning.
More ...
88"New Generation of Flyers"November 13, 1991 (1991-11-13)
This episode looks at developments leading up to the invasion of France, and how the P-51 Mustang and the P-47 Thunderbolt helped to change how people fought.
More ...
99"Air Battles at Sea"November 20, 1991 (1991-11-20)
This episode examines carrier-based aircraft during the Second World War by following the development of the Japanese Zero, the Grumman Hellcat, and the Corsair, and discusses how designers, separated by oceans, weighed weight, range, and maneuverability in their efforts to respond to each other's developments.
More ...
1010"Air Forts of the War"November 27, 1991 (1991-11-27)
This episode looks at different approaches to bombing. The British Lancaster flew bombing missions at night to evade enemy fire. Americans added armor plating and 13 machine guns to the B-17 in order to fly in daylight, which reduced the craft's payload but afforded greater accuracy.
More ...
1111"First Jets"December 4, 1991 (1991-12-04)
Germany and England developed jet-engine craft in the 1940s. The British Meteor was used to intercept Germany’s V-1 flying bombs, Germany’s Messerschmitt Me 262 had a limited range, and the American Shooting Star had an alarming accident rate until it was equipped with the British Goblin engine.
More ...
1212"First to Fly"December 11, 1991 (1991-12-11)
Hot air balloons grew in size, culminating in huge pre-war dirigibles that remain the largest aircraft ever built.
More ...
1313"Workhorse of the Sky: The Turboprop"December 18, 1991 (1991-12-18)
A turboprop is a gas turbine engine, but instead of using the jet exhaust to push the aircraft, the turboprop engine drives propellers. Turboprops can make short take off and landings, and have been used for passenger transportation and long range air cargo and military transport.
More ...

Season 2

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air date
141"The Helicopter: From Dreams to Reality"March 4, 1992 (1992-03-04)
The development of helicopters is chronicled from Da Vinci’s drawings, through Cierva and Pitcairn’s autogyros, to Sikorsky, Bell, and others whose post war helicopters vied for the civilian market. As a crop duster during an agricultural crisis, and in the Korean War, the helicopter proved to be a practical flying machine.
152"Airlines: Passengers Join the Jet Age"March 11, 1992 (1992-03-11)
After World War II, jet aircraft technology used for bombing and military transport was quickly applied to large passenger aircraft. Spared the wartime devastation of the aviation industry in Europe, Americans soon dominated the skies.
163"The Big Bombers"March 18, 1992 (1992-03-18)
Born of a fear of communism and a vision to keep the peace with massive nuclear deterrence, the American Strategic Air Command possessed the largest, fastest piston engine bombers of the period. While designers and engineers struggled with structural challenges, pilots and crews struggled with the increasing complexity of flying these gigantic machines.
174"Jet Fighters: Wings of Lightning"March 25, 1992 (1992-03-25)
The U.S. and Russia channeled massive funding into the development of fighters with fantastic speeds and high tech weapons, in which computers became crucial flying aids. Fighters were developed without guns, since they would be firing guided missiles beyond visual range. But before long a new generation of highly maneuverable dog-fighting jets was needed.
185"General Aviation: Barnstormers to Businessmen"April 1, 1992 (1992-04-01)
Flying for sport, business, agriculture and photographic survey, a fleet of mostly single engine light aircraft comprised a fast growing segment of aviation. The technological inventions in general aviation are usually not state of the art, but rather clever ways of using existing technology to make affordable aircraft for private owners.
196"Supersonic Bombers: The Elusive Search"April 8, 1992 (1992-04-08)
At the height of the cold war in the 1960s, the U.S. and Soviet Union raced to build huge supersonic bombers capable of delivering nuclear payloads. High costs and the accuracy of high speed cruise missiles changed priorities, and the U.S. bombers developed in the 1980s were subsonic: the low-flying, radar evading B-1B and the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
207"Locusts of War"April 15, 1992 (1992-04-15)
Already proven effective in transport and rescue, the helicopter took on an offensive role in Vietnam. Modern helicopter gunships are equipped with high-tech systems including night vision and anti-tank weapons.
218"Mass Transit in the Skies"April 29, 1992 (1992-04-29)
During the 1960s, the general population embraced air travel and larger aircraft were needed for the growing airlines. While jumbo jets ruled long-haul passenger transport, a whole spectrum of narrow body jets competed for the smaller routes.
229"Flying Lite: Gliders and Ultralights"May 6, 1992 (1992-05-06)
Space age materials and modern aerodynamic designs come together in aircraft for those who find exhilaration flying low and slow – whether powered by small engines or sailing on air currents alone.
2310"Attack Aircraft"May 13, 1992 (1992-05-13)
When a fighter or bomber strikes ground forces, it is acting as an attack aircraft. Many fighters can play this role, but recent wars have shown the value of dedicated attack aircraft, designed to hit hard and survive extensive battle damage.
2411"Higher than the Sky and Faster than the Eye"May 20, 1992 (1992-05-20)
From the earliest days of flight the military used aircraft to look behind enemy lines. After the top secret U-2 was shot down over Russia, Lockheed developed the SR-71. Flying at Mach 3 near the edge of space, it could outfly missiles.
2512"Experiments in Flight"June 3, 1992 (1992-06-03)
Chuck Yeager’s flight through the “sound barrier” in the X-1 set the stage for the U.S. experimental X-program, a systematic exploration of new ideas and obstacles in aviation. Pilots flew at the edge of technical knowledge in untried, untested aircraft.
2613"Rocket Aircraft"June 10, 1992 (1992-06-10)
In the 1920s, aircraft designers began searching for ways to incorporate the powerful propulsion of rockets into their flying machines. Efforts to harness and control rocket propulsion resulted in many failures but also some dramatic successes.

Season 3

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air date
271"Whirling Wings: Evolution of the Rotorhead"September 8, 1993 (1993-09-08)
From Cierva's breakthrough in autogyro design, to the state-of-the-art BK-117, the heart of the helicopter story has been the rotorhead. Early helicopters were complex, dangerous flying machines, prone to failure. For the men and women who took the controls, concentration and daring were essential.
282"Water Birds: Floatplanes and Flying Boats"September 15, 1993 (1993-09-15)
By the 1930s, flying boats – massive, airborne ocean liners – opened up global routes for passenger service, while the floatplanes entering the Schneider Trophy races were the fastest, most innovative flying machines in existence.
293"Jump to the Sky: Jet VTOL"September 22, 1993 (1993-09-22)
Conventional airplanes need large runways for takeoff and landing, a limitation that worried defense planners. As turbine engines became lighter, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft became possible. These craft could take off and land vertically, yet fly with the speed of jets.
304"Tail First Flying: the Canard"September 29, 1993 (1993-09-29)
When the small tail surface wings which enable an airplane to go up or down are moved to the front, they are called canards. It is a technology as old as crewed flight — the Wrights used canards on their early airplanes. Canards were rarely used after the first World War until computer technology provided the control needed to make the technology feasible.
315"First Around The World"October 6, 1993 (1993-10-06)
Many times in aviation history the ultimate test of aircraft and pilot was to fly around the world. Competition and showmanship always played a part, but in the end it was the mental and physical endurance of the men and women who climbed into the cockpit that made success possible.
326"Flying Blind"October 20, 1993 (1993-10-20)
In the early days of flying, instrumentation was crude. A weighted silk stocking tied to a strut could help the pilot gauge his airspeed. Wartime challenged pilots to learn the techniques of blind flying. Today, pilots use orbiting satellites to pinpoint their position, and complex autopilots enable an aircraft to fly itself.
337"Flying Wings"October 27, 1993 (1993-10-27)
In their quest for flight efficiency, some designers thought the ideal shape would be just a wing, nothing else, flying through the air. Though successful development of flying wings has often proved illusive, Northrop's designs proved feasibility, and the B-2 Stealth Bomber brought the configuration into production.
348"Flight Control: Wing Warping to Fly-by-Wire"November 3, 1993 (1993-11-03)
Two years after the first crewed flight, the Wrights mastered control sufficiently to fly the first circle – a major aviation advance that went almost unnoticed. By World War II, the first hydraulically boosted controls were invented, enabling pilots to fly aircraft weighing more than 100,000 pounds without the muscles of a co pilot. Once digital signals succeeded in maneuvering spacecraft, computerized fly-by-wire technology for aircraft was not far behind.
359"Flash Of Glory: Aerial Combat Enters The Jet Age"November 10, 1993 (1993-11-10)
During WWII, the Germans introduced the Messerschmitt 262, and the British the Gloster Meteor. With these first operational jet fighters, a new era in aerial combat had begun. As jet met jet in the skies over Korea, the MiG-15 proved Russia to be a major power in jet aircraft development.
3610"Flying The Mail"November 17, 1993 (1993-11-17)
Airmail pioneers demonstrated to a public already infatuated with flying, that airplanes had a bright commercial future. They led the way for the great commercial ventures that would one day span the globe. The variety of aircraft was dazzling, but conditions were harsh and pilots had to be hardy and brave to risk flying the mail.
3711"Backyard Fliers: An Airplane In Every Garage"November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24)
In the 1920s when just about anyone could afford a car, interest grew in a safe, inexpensive airplane that anyone could fly. Convenience went a step further in roadable aircraft – vehicles that could travel the highways, then convert to an airplane for the rest of the journey. The airplane has never attained the practicality of the automobile for family travel, but modern aviation offers exciting opportunities for the amateur flyer.
3812"First In Speed: Air Racing"December 1, 1993 (1993-12-01)
From the early years of flight until the late 1930s, air racing was the single most important testing ground for engineering advancements. It provided a breathtaking combination of daredevil risk taking and technological innovation.
3913"Propellers: Wings With A Twist"December 8, 1993 (1993-12-08)
The Wright brothers realized that a propeller was a rotating wing – giving it a twist made it practical. By the mid 1930s, variable pitch and NACA research revolutionized propeller design. With the coming of the jet age, propellers fell out of favor for large aircraft. But designers soon realized that a fast turboprop with an advanced propeller could be more efficient than the best jetliners.
  • Featured Aircraft: Wright Flyer, scimitar prop Stiletto, NASA Gulfstream 2 propfan testbed

Production

During pre-production, the series was titled Test Pilot and the actor Cliff Robertson, who had portrayed the astronaut Buzz Aldrin in Return to Earth, was cast to host the show. Robertson backed out after the filming of flying sequences and pilot interviews had begun in England, the Netherlands, and the United States.[12][13] A&E agreed to allow the host to be changed, "as long as it was someone of at least the stature of Cliff Robertson."[13] The show's producer obtained a list of astronauts and pilots from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and being "naive enough to ... start at the top," approached Armstrong, asking if he would be interested.[13] "The fact that [the show's producer] ran his company out of a small Pennsylvania town and not New York or L.A. may have appealed to the wary Armstrong," Michael Cascio, who supervised the show at A&E, later recalled; Armstrong accepted.[12] Amstrong disapproved of the show's title and, after considering other possibilities, including Thumbs Up!, the producers settled on First Flights.[13]

When the show premiered in the fall of 1991, a television reviewer criticized Armstrong's limited involvement onscreen,[14] and Armstrong agreed to a larger role, conducting discussions with pilots and historians, and flying the aircraft.[13]

Release

The series aired during prime time on A&E until 1993. After subsequently running on the History Channel,[15] First Flights was syndicated to PBS stations across the United States and Canada.[16] The series also appeared on Bridges TV. The series has been broadcast globally, including in the United Kingdom on Discovery Europe, the Netherlands on Evangelische Omroep,[17] and various channels throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Columbia House and A&E Home Video marketed selected episodes on VHS.[18] The complete series has been released by Amazon, where it is available to customers with an Amazon Prime subscription.[19][20]

Reception

Reviews for pre-released "advanced look" episodes were mixed. Jay Sharbutt, the senior television writer for The Associated Press, called the series "disappointing" because it did not give enough time to Armstrong.[14] Reviews of subsequent episodes and the second season were positive. Brian Taves (fr) described the series as "an exemplary history of aviation. ...The selection and use of the historical footage is ideal and edited with unusual skill."[21] "The show was an immersive experience with Armstrong looking at — and ultimately trying out — historic aircraft that were risky to fly," Michael Cascio, who supervised the show at A&E, later wrote. "It had the same appeal, in a milder form, as later docureality shows [and] helped establish and embellish a programming template that populated Discovery, History and National Geographic in the years to come."[12]

References

  1. ↑ Taves, Brian (Winter 1997). "Review: The History Channel". The Public Historian. 19 (1): 137–141. doi:10.2307/3379009. JSTOR 3379009.
  2. ↑ Shriver, Linda J. "First Flights". AllMovie. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ Shapiro, Michael E (2012). Cable Television Prime Time Programming 1990–2010. McFarland & Co. pp. 9, 267, 268.
  4. ↑ Taves, Brian (Winter 1997). "Review: The History Channel". The Public Historian. 19 (1): 137–141. doi:10.2307/3379009. JSTOR 3379009.
  5. ↑ Clark, Kenneth (September 22, 1991). "Cable Heavy On Original Fare For 1991–92". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  6. ↑ Dubner, Stephen (Sep 30, 1991). "Television Highlights". New York Magazine. 24 (38): 106.
  7. ↑ "Neil Armstrong Hosts New Flying Series". Ellensburg Daily Record. September 27, 1991. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ Neil McAleer (July 17, 1994). "Neil Armstrong, Reluctant Hero". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  9. ↑ Peterson, Margie (September 30, 1991). "Armstrong Plugs New Tv Series On Flight". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  10. ↑ King, Susan (September 8, 1991). "Cable's schedule includes comedy on HBO and a dose of documentaries". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  11. ↑ Paur, Jason (August 29, 2012). "The Aircraft and Spacecraft of Neil Armstrong's Career". Wired. wired.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 Cascio, Michael (July 18, 2019). "Viewpoint: Neil Armstrong, unscripted TV star". Realscreen. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Tuttle, Mark (May 12, 2014). OFF-SCREEN with Neil Armstrong: The Making of First Flights (Speech). Colloquium presentation (#10827). NASA's Neil A Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  14. 1 2 Sharbutt, Jay (September 24, 1991). "'Flights' Can't Get off the Ground". AP Wire. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ Hanania, Joseph (April 28, 1995). "History Is Searching to Find Its Place". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  16. ↑ Bawden, Jim (September 7, 1991). "The Specialty Channels 1991 Fall Preview". The Toronto Star.
  17. ↑ "Programma's RTV: Testpiloot (First Flights)". Leidsch Dagblad. February 17, 1993. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  18. ↑ First flights. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. OCLC 32387245.
  19. ↑ "First Flights, Season 1". www.amazon.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Acclaimed TV Series First Flights with Neil Armstrong Re-mastered in HD and Released on VOD Platforms after 25 Years (Press Release)". www.24-7pressrelease.com. February 2, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  21. ↑ Taves, Brian (2015), "The History Channel and the Challenge of Historical Programming.", in Peter C. Rollins and Gary R. Edgerton (ed.), Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age, Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, pp. 261–281

Further reading

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