Powered Flight: The Story of the Century

Starting with some archive from Edwardian Britain at the start of the 20th century, when even the wealthiest still used the horse (or maybe a tram with frilly curtains), we explore mankind's fascination with flight. From early ballooning in the 1830s (and some accompanying enthusiastic posters) through to steam-powered concepts for flight, or harness-strapped wings - you name it, the daftness of these ideas knew no bounds. It's Orville and Wilbur Wright who finally got powered flight up and away in 1903 in North Carolina. Then the focus shifted to France where an aircraft looking more like Chinese lantern took off over the Seine. Santos Dumont with his "motor cycle of the air" proved groundbreaking before Wilbur came across the ocean (on a boat) to demonstrate his new plane now capable of longer stints in the air. In 1909 the English Channel became the target, but soggy wreckage resulted as the engines didn't work. Next, Louis Blériot stepped up to that mark with his Italian designed engine and took 37 minutes to cross this famous stretch of water. His success ignited the public's imagination and once the basics of aerodynamics had been established, the sky was quite literally the limit - even if the wind could still wreak the odd bit of havoc. Competitions thrive, the kit becomes more advanced and confidence grows. Monoplanes, bi-planes, and then the de Havilland BE2 for military purposes for the newly formed Royal Flying Corps starts us off on exploring the increasingly joint approach taken by governments and businesses alike to develop both military and civilian uses for aircraft. By the time we reach the start of the Second World War, after decades of events like the Schneider Trophy that pushed the boundaries of speed and altitude as well as introducing us to new household names like R. J. Mitchell, it has all become about luxury commercial travelling, military potency, radar and radio locations. Once we got to this stage, I found this documentary tended a little too much to chronology and engineering and as that was all relatively well documented - especially by the Shell Film Unit - the fun and curiosity elements of the depictions of early flight were now largely subsumed into a story illustrating more of the scientific, military and long-haul commercial development which, though still interesting, isn't quite so revelatory or entertaining. I find it remarkable that many of these contraptions ever got (or get) into the air though, and this is an engaging collection of archive footage put to good use.