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00:00We take off in them every two seconds.
00:07Part of a global business worth over 700 billion dollars.
00:13Serving more than three and a half billion passengers every single year.
00:21The ability to fly anywhere in the world really makes us a global civilization.
00:29But one century ago, the passenger airplane is a far-fetched notion.
00:34I want a small cabin for passengers.
00:38With deadly implications.
00:40Now not only did people come to see them fly, they also came to see them crash.
00:47In the 1920s and 30s, four men raced to make passenger travel a reality.
00:53Aviation maverick Bill Boeing.
00:55Master engineer Donald Douglas.
00:58Enemy warplane builder Anthony Fokker.
01:01And a living legend out to conquer yet another industry.
01:05Henry Ford was an all-in guy.
01:08What do you want for the whole company?
01:10Fortunes will be won.
01:12She was born to fly.
01:16And lost.
01:17You're a cheat and you're a thief.
01:21Only one will emerge victorious.
01:25This is Plane Pioneers.
01:28It's 1910.
01:29And Americans are living in the U.S.
01:30In the U.S.
01:31In the U.S.
01:33age of transportation wonders few could have imagined decades earlier.
01:40It's 1910, and Americans are living in an age of transportation wonders
02:00few could have imagined decades earlier.
02:03If you want to get from place to place in the United States,
02:06you would have thought you had died and gone to heaven compared to your grandparents.
02:12Once you have the automobile, you're in charge.
02:16You can go, well, frankly, wherever there's a road.
02:24There's another transportation technology still in its infancy.
02:29But nearly a decade after Orville and Wilbur Wright took their first flight,
02:33progress on the revolutionary airplane is painfully slow.
02:39There are early planes, but they look more like a kid's science experiment.
02:44They're made out of wood and wire, and they're really unsafe at the time.
02:52The history of aviation is really a life-and-death story.
02:56If you get something wrong in the design of your airplane, people die.
03:00Often the inventors themselves were the ones who died.
03:03Airplanes seldom carry passengers, and if they do, it's a terrifying experience.
03:12You're exposed.
03:14You're not really strapped down very well.
03:17You don't have a parachute.
03:18So if something goes wrong, you are going to die.
03:21But that doesn't stop some Americans from dreaming of what could be.
03:25In January 1910, 250,000 attend America's first major air show, the Los Angeles International Air Meet.
03:41Well, in 1910, airplanes are a novelty, something very strange, something very fearsome, as well as something quite exciting.
03:49And it seemed like such a miracle, these machines just taking off and floating in the air.
03:56In the crowd is a wealthy 28-year-old visionary from Seattle who's traveled 1,100 miles to be here.
04:03He's never seen an airplane fly in person, but he's obsessed with the new invention.
04:14Excuse me.
04:16Excuse me.
04:17I'd like to inquire about taking a ride in your airplane.
04:20And you are?
04:22Boeing.
04:23Bill Boeing.
04:24Bill Boeing.
04:24One of the things to know about Bill Boeing is that he's a man of science.
04:33This is a must-see event for him.
04:35A few years earlier, Boeing shocked his wealthy family when he dropped out of college,
04:40moved to Washington State, and launched a timber business.
04:46Bill Boeing was a well-known figure in Seattle,
04:49and actually one of the richest people in the state of Washington.
04:52But no one else really knew who he was.
04:55He was a bit of a nobody.
05:00Mr. Hurst, you ready for your ride?
05:03Absolutely.
05:04Right this way.
05:05All right.
05:09After trying for three days to get a ride,
05:12Boeing goes home disappointed.
05:15But that frustration will light a fire.
05:22One day, the Boeing name will be synonymous with passenger aircraft,
05:28including the most legendary of all, the 747.
05:34The company will be worth nearly a quarter trillion dollars.
05:38Its factory, the single largest building by volume on the planet.
05:42It all starts with a snub he'll never forget.
05:54He gets his pilot's license, and in 1916, forms his own airplane company.
06:00In those articles from Corporation, he did note that he would build airplanes to carry passengers,
06:08to carry freight.
06:09It really does help to understand what a visionary he was.
06:14Aviation wasn't really an industry.
06:17It was more like an invention looking for a market.
06:20By 1917, it has won.
06:28Not passengers, but World War.
06:33When the U.S. joins the conflict,
06:35Boeing wins a $575,000 contract,
06:3911 million today,
06:41to build planes for the Navy.
06:43His operation grows 20-fold to 300 employees.
06:47But the end of World War I brings it all crashing down.
06:53There's no contracts for his airplanes.
06:56And so then he's left with,
06:58I just built all of these, I've got all this stuff,
07:00but now there's not a market.
07:02What am I going to do?
07:11We can't make payroll.
07:17Over the next two years,
07:23Boeing will lose today's equivalent of $6 million,
07:26and he'll do anything to keep the doors open.
07:30So they turned to making furniture.
07:32They did bedroom sets, headboards, dressers.
07:37But it's not enough.
07:38Boeing uses his own money to keep the company afloat,
07:45but he's on borrowed time.
07:571,100 miles away,
07:59a 28-year-old aviation engineer
08:01is desperate to open his own airplane design firm.
08:04But the only office he can afford
08:07is in the back of a barbershop.
08:10His name is Donald Douglas.
08:15Donald Douglas is very deliberate in his approach.
08:19He's very conservative.
08:21He doesn't take many risks.
08:24The story goes that Donald Douglas
08:25had the same meal every day.
08:28It was chopped steak, an ice cream sundae, and coffee.
08:30An engineering savant,
08:36Douglas graduated MIT's four-year aeronautics program
08:39in just two.
08:41He designed planes for the military during the war,
08:44but hated working for others.
08:47People would do strange things
08:49to determine if their plane was structurally sound,
08:52you know, like maybe run over it with a tractor tire.
08:54This bothered Donald Douglas?
08:57Right now, most people are terrified of flying,
08:59but Douglas sees possibility.
09:03To build enthusiasm,
09:06he publishes an article
09:07touting the benefits of passenger travel
09:09and gets to work on his new designs.
09:16He's even convinced a few like-minded engineers
09:19to join his operation.
09:22Are you serious?
09:24What?
09:24This is just temporary.
09:29Listen,
09:30this is a chance
09:31to build airplanes
09:33the way we want to.
09:36The smart way.
09:40One day,
09:42Douglas will create
09:42some of the most iconic aircraft in history
09:45and a company worth $13.3 billion,
09:50McDonnell Douglas.
09:53But with no orders in sight,
09:55now he's forced to moonlight
09:57on a potato farm.
10:00Unless business picks up,
10:02this could be
10:03Donald Douglas'
10:03permanent occupation.
10:08Coming up,
10:10a world-famous
10:11Dutch plane maker
10:12escapes Europe
10:13and takes on
10:15an American titan.
10:17Let's get ready for the competition.
10:19It'll be a friendly one.
10:21I promise.
10:22As Boeing and Douglas fight
10:24to keep their companies alive.
10:27We're going to give them something so good
10:29they can't say no.
10:30Four years after World War I,
10:43Bill Boeing's airplane company
10:45is in big trouble.
10:47We need to try something different.
10:49Different?
10:50How?
10:51To stay in business,
10:52he needs a Hail Mary.
10:54I don't have to tell you,
10:55we need orders
10:56or we're not going to last much longer.
10:58Here's what we're going to do.
11:01The DH-4 fighter plane.
11:02We're going to redesign it
11:04for the Army.
11:05But they didn't request that.
11:06No, I know.
11:07I know they didn't.
11:10But we're going to give them
11:10something so good
11:11they can't say no.
11:17Boeing wants to try
11:18something revolutionary.
11:19Remake a wooden military plane
11:21using metal.
11:23Everybody is still utilizing
11:25wood, ash, and poplar
11:27and all these different
11:28lightweight woods.
11:30Metal is much heavier
11:31so it's a problem
11:32in aircraft construction.
11:33But as planes started going faster,
11:35they had to be stronger.
11:37It's a huge gamble.
11:39I think being a pioneer
11:40is all about just
11:41having the guts
11:42to really invent the future
11:44when the future
11:45isn't even obvious
11:48for anyone out there.
11:50And he's about to face competition
11:51from a brand new player.
11:53One of the most powerful men
11:55in America.
12:012,000 miles away,
12:04Henry Ford
12:05is looking for new industries
12:07to dominate.
12:07In the 1920s,
12:10Henry Ford is riding high.
12:12He's churning out
12:13Model Ts left and right,
12:151,000 of them a day.
12:16He's the third largest employer
12:18in the United States.
12:20Ford believes conditions
12:21are right for air travel,
12:23an idea planted
12:24by his 30-year-old son.
12:27Edsel Ford has been
12:28an aviation fanatic
12:30since he was a teen
12:31when he and his father
12:32built a crude plane
12:33from spare parts.
12:36Henry Ford recognizes
12:37that a whole new economy
12:39is going to build up
12:40around the airplane
12:41the same way that it did
12:42around the automobile.
12:44But there are obstacles,
12:47starting with public perception.
12:51For the average person,
12:53what the airplane is
12:54is it's a source
12:55of entertainment.
12:56A barnstormer
12:57would come through town
12:58and everybody would go out
13:00to see this person fly.
13:02But they were more interested
13:03to see if the person
13:04would crash.
13:07What's not exciting
13:09in a very dark way
13:11about witnessing
13:13an airplane crash?
13:15Now, a lot of times,
13:16sadly, these gentlemen
13:18did perish in the crash.
13:22But a lot of times,
13:24they were close enough
13:25to the ground
13:26that they could at least
13:27pancake in and walk away.
13:30You get to see the crash,
13:31but the hero lives.
13:32It's what everybody wants
13:34in a movie.
13:39Henry Ford believes
13:41the public will see
13:41a Ford plane as safe.
13:43But he needs a design
13:45that can back that up.
13:49You know a plane builder
13:50named William Stout?
13:53Never heard of him.
13:54He wants us to invest.
13:56Listen to this.
14:01For your $1,000,
14:03you will get
14:03one definite promise.
14:05You will never
14:06get your money back.
14:11Now that's the man
14:12we should meet.
14:17Stout sells the Fords
14:19on a breakthrough design.
14:21Not part metal,
14:23but all metal
14:24with a new wonder material.
14:27Duralumin.
14:28One third the weight of steel.
14:32Duralumin.
14:33Basically stood
14:33for durable aluminum.
14:36If we take this amount
14:37of aluminum
14:37and we pair it
14:39with this particular type
14:41of metal,
14:42we come up with something
14:43that's still very light,
14:45but quite a bit stronger.
14:49Well, Mr. Stout,
14:50you have my $1,000.
14:54What do you want
14:55for the whole company?
14:58If Duralumin works,
15:00it could be a game changer.
15:05Meanwhile,
15:06Donald Douglas
15:07still dreams
15:08of passenger travel,
15:09but needs military work
15:11to survive.
15:12The Army is planning
15:14an around-the-world flight
15:15and wants a plane
15:17that can fly thousands
15:18of miles
15:18without refueling.
15:20These bombers
15:21have 100-gallon capacity.
15:24I want 600.
15:26How?
15:31We rip out the bomb bays.
15:34Replace them
15:35with fuel tanks.
15:38Fuel is king.
15:40Douglas' design,
15:43completed in just 45 days,
15:46wins the contract.
15:48Its 2,200-mile range
15:49is 10 times
15:50what an average plane
15:52can do.
15:53He calls it
15:54the world cruiser.
15:56This is one of the first
15:58advantages and leaps
16:00in the technology
16:00that you'll need
16:01in order to have
16:02commercial air traffic
16:03that goes across a country
16:05as large as the United States.
16:07I mean,
16:07that's just inspirational,
16:08right?
16:09Potentially, like,
16:10executing on a flight
16:11around the world.
16:11If we can do this
16:13under these circumstances,
16:14imagine all the other things
16:16that are potentially possible.
16:17His tiny company
16:20is now on the industry's radar
16:22as the mission
16:24becomes a national story.
16:26But most believe
16:28his planes will never make it.
16:30He was competing
16:32in a very public arena.
16:34The whole world
16:35would be watching this.
16:36If something went wrong,
16:38the blame wouldn't be
16:38on the U.S. Army.
16:39It would be on the company
16:41that built the aircraft.
16:47Six months later,
16:49on April 6th, 1924,
16:51four world cruisers
16:53set out from Washington State.
16:55Douglas knows the stakes.
16:57If his planes beat the odds,
17:00he'll be a hero.
17:01If they fail,
17:03it means the end of his company
17:04and his dream
17:06of passenger travel.
17:08Army's on the phone.
17:13This is Donald Douglas.
17:17What?
17:19Where?
17:22Thanks.
17:24Keep me posted.
17:29One of the planes fell behind.
17:32Two pilots are missing.
17:47Donald Douglas's world cruiser airplanes
18:12are attempting
18:13an around-the-world flight.
18:14but one plane
18:16and its two-man crew
18:17have been missing
18:18for ten days.
18:23Donald Douglas?
18:25Yeah?
18:28Oh, no.
18:32Okay.
18:35Okay.
18:40They crash into a mountain.
18:42They survived.
18:46They made it to a local town.
18:49Oh, we're lucky.
18:57The crew is rescued.
18:59And on September 28th, 1924,
19:02after 175 days
19:04and over 24,000 miles,
19:06the remaining three crews
19:08touch down in Los Angeles
19:10was victorious.
19:12So this is huge.
19:14This is all over the newspapers,
19:16first around the world.
19:20The world flight
19:21is the leading aviation story
19:23of the early 1920s,
19:25putting Douglas's name
19:26on the map.
19:28His triumph wins him
19:29a fresh contract
19:30to build 50 more army planes.
19:34Douglas is now
19:35one step closer
19:36to his dream
19:37of passenger air travel.
19:39And his achievement
19:40is not lost
19:42on Bill Boeing.
19:44Boeing, his competitor,
19:45his rival,
19:47ended up taking out
19:48full-page ads
19:49in the papers
19:49to congratulate him.
19:51It was Boeing
19:52trying to build
19:54his brand equity
19:54by building
19:56on top of his rivals.
19:57With his business failing
20:06and a hot new competitor
20:07in Douglas,
20:08Boeing is taking a gamble
20:10to score his own
20:11military contract.
20:13He's redesigned
20:14a wooden plane
20:15for the army
20:15using metal.
20:18This is a highly risky move
20:19by Bill Boeing
20:20because there are
20:21no guarantees
20:21that all of the money
20:23that he's spending
20:23is really going to pay off.
20:25We didn't ask for this.
20:29Just take a look
20:29at the comparison.
20:31It's 14% lighter.
20:40It can't be strong enough.
20:42It is.
20:43It is.
20:43We tested a load
20:44seven times
20:45the plane's weight.
20:47It held up.
20:55How can I say no?
21:01That's the idea.
21:03Boeing was willing
21:04to gamble.
21:05He gambled again
21:06and again
21:06on big, expensive ideas,
21:08especially at a time
21:09when the aircraft industry
21:11wasn't doing that well.
21:12It was just typical
21:13of his boldness.
21:15But Boeing
21:16won't be celebrating long.
21:18By 1924,
21:24Henry Ford
21:25has leaped past
21:26Boeing and Douglas
21:27to create America's
21:29first all-metal
21:30passenger plane,
21:32the Air Pullman.
21:33This was an aircraft
21:35built of metal,
21:36not wood,
21:37not fabric.
21:38Inside,
21:38more like a Pullman car
21:40of a train.
21:41That was what
21:42they were going for
21:43in the design
21:43of the interior.
21:45Americans are still
21:46reluctant to fly,
21:47so Ford begins
21:48by transporting
21:49employees around
21:50the Midwest.
21:52Henry Ford
21:52was an all-in guy.
21:54Not only am I getting
21:55in the airline businesses,
21:56I'm going deep.
21:58Nobody played
21:59harder than Henry Ford.
22:00His plan is simple.
22:03Use the Air Pullman
22:04to show flying is safe.
22:06One of our Pullmans
22:07that was coming back
22:11from Dayton.
22:12It came down.
22:13Passengers?
22:18Not sure.
22:22One deadly crash
22:23could ruin Ford's strategy.
22:35Fire in engine.
22:38Went down in farm field.
22:40Crashed through fence.
22:43Down ditch.
22:45Across road.
22:47Through second ditch.
22:50Second fence.
22:52Came to rest
22:52on farm field.
22:55All aboard.
23:00Okay.
23:00Okay.
23:04Pilot believes
23:05the plane saved them.
23:06But there was
23:08one casualty
23:09on the ground.
23:10Farmer lost a chicken.
23:17Tell the farmer
23:18I'll pay for the chicken.
23:22Ironically,
23:23the crash
23:24has proven the safety
23:25of Ford's
23:26all-metal plane.
23:27But he won't risk
23:28another engine failure.
23:30He secretly commissions
23:31the Ford Tri-Motor,
23:34a plane with three engines
23:35instead of one,
23:37and launches
23:38the Ford Reliability Tour,
23:40a series of air shows
23:42designed to show the public
23:43that flying is safe.
23:45Anytime that Henry Ford
23:47would put his name
23:47on something,
23:48it brought with it
23:49a certain panache,
23:51a certain sort of vision
23:52in the American mind,
23:54that it was something
23:54reliable and dependable,
23:56and in many ways,
23:58on the cutting edge.
23:59There's not a lot
24:01of folks in the world
24:02that say,
24:03I'm going to take on
24:03a totally separate industry
24:05in a totally different
24:07literal stratosphere.
24:09Ford's so confident
24:11he'll dominate the skies
24:12like he does the car market
24:13that he even lets
24:15other plane makers
24:15enter his Reliability Tour.
24:18But he's in
24:19for a surprise.
24:20In 1924,
24:30Dutch-born plane maker
24:31Anthony Fokker
24:32arrives in America.
24:36He's world famous
24:38for building an airplane
24:39that allowed World War I
24:40flying ace Manfred von Richthofen,
24:43the Red Baron,
24:44to terrorize Allied pilots.
24:46Anthony Fokker
24:51is a very interesting character.
24:53He is very global,
24:54very cosmopolitan,
24:55and he is very much
24:56committed to entering
24:58the United States market.
25:00Fokker is renowned.
25:02He wasn't a great individual.
25:04He was not very nice
25:05to his employees.
25:08Fokker was brilliant
25:09in many ways,
25:10but he was also
25:11undisciplined, impetuous,
25:13kind of childlike.
25:14He was addicted to candy
25:16and kept gorging on candy.
25:18Not sweet enough.
25:22Fokker will try anything
25:24to get a leg up
25:25in the American market.
25:27He learns from a source
25:28that Ford is producing
25:29a tri-motor
25:30and quickly designs his own,
25:32entering it in Ford's tour
25:34before the mogul
25:35has even finished his.
25:37He was liberal in borrowing.
25:40He borrowed heavily
25:43from other people's work.
25:54Mr. Fokker.
25:56Mr. Ford.
25:57Such a pleasure to meet you.
25:58Welcome to the reliability tour.
26:01You'll be flying a tri-motor,
26:02I understand.
26:03Yes, it's new.
26:05Very safe.
26:07Interesting.
26:07Mr. Fokker says,
26:09hey, uh, Ford,
26:11I'm gonna show you guys
26:12how you really design airplanes.
26:14There's an awful lot
26:16of stealing of ideas
26:18going back and forth
26:20during this era
26:21of early aviation.
26:22Well, I'll let you
26:24get on with your work.
26:26Must get ready
26:27for the competition.
26:27It'll be a friendly one.
26:29I promise.
26:33But Henry Ford
26:34is not about
26:36to be outmaneuvered.
26:38Get somebody over
26:38to the hangar tonight.
26:40I need something done.
26:52It's 1926,
26:54and Titan Henry Ford
26:56is playing a game
26:57of corporate espionage
26:58with aviation giant
27:00Anthony Fokker
27:01as they battle
27:02to launch
27:02a new game-changing plane
27:04with three motors.
27:08There's something
27:09I need done.
27:11The Fokker plane.
27:12I want every inch
27:14of it measured.
27:15Take photographs.
27:17I want to know
27:17everything there is
27:18to know about that plane.
27:20Fokker brought over
27:21his new tri-motor plane,
27:23and it sounds like
27:24the Ford engineers
27:25got to take
27:26a very, very close
27:28look at it.
27:28Both Fokker and Ford
27:30know there's
27:31a potential fortune
27:32to be made
27:32on commercial air travel.
27:34But they need
27:35to build a safer plane
27:37that the public
27:38will trust,
27:39and they'll do
27:40whatever it takes
27:40to be the first.
27:46Bill Boeing
27:47is also determined
27:48to build
27:49a successful passenger plane.
27:51For now,
27:52military contracts
27:53are keeping
27:54his business going.
27:55But he knows
27:56from experience
27:57not to depend
27:58on them for long.
27:59Luckily,
28:00he gets a lifeline
28:01from a surprising place.
28:04Aviation was still
28:05kind of looking
28:06for its market,
28:07and one way
28:08the government helped
28:09was by encouraging
28:10the post office
28:11to launch
28:13air mail delivery.
28:15It was a really
28:16smart decision
28:16that encouraged
28:17a lot of companies
28:19to get into
28:20the business
28:21of flying mail.
28:22All of a sudden,
28:23you had aviation companies,
28:25you had airlines,
28:25and these were springing
28:26up all over the country.
28:33Boeing,
28:34unlike his rivals,
28:36plans to manufacture planes
28:37and operate
28:38his own airline,
28:40delivering mail.
28:41He calls it
28:42Boeing Air Transport.
28:45In 1926,
28:46Boeing bids
28:47on the lucrative
28:48Chicago to San Francisco route,
28:49but he has bigger plans.
28:51I want a small cabin
28:54for passengers.
28:57Less space for mail.
28:59Oh,
29:00it's worth it.
29:01The genius in that
29:07was he basically
29:07double-dipped.
29:09Right?
29:10So he's using one
29:11to launch the other.
29:12He just adds
29:13two chairs
29:14that he ends up
29:15just drilling
29:16into the plane.
29:17I mean,
29:17these were not
29:18specific aviation chairs.
29:19He's like,
29:20we'll just put
29:20some chairs in here.
29:21This was brilliant.
29:23Bill Boeing
29:23was essentially
29:24beta testing
29:25a new market.
29:26It was a way
29:27for him to dip
29:28his toe
29:28into a market
29:29while you're
29:30reducing potential risk.
29:32In early 1927,
29:34he wins the contract
29:35and plans
29:36to carry
29:37two passengers
29:38plus mail
29:39each flight.
29:41His timing
29:42couldn't be better.
29:45Along comes
29:46Charles Lindbergh,
29:47and he's gonna
29:48challenge
29:49this thing
29:50that has never
29:51happened before,
29:51flying nonstop
29:52across the Atlantic Ocean.
29:5433 hours
29:59after leaving
29:59New York,
30:00Lindbergh's
30:01spirit of St. Louis
30:02lands in Paris
30:04and is mobbed
30:05by thousands.
30:07It changed aviation
30:09for the rest
30:10of all time
30:11for humanity.
30:12It showed us
30:12that the airplane
30:13might be a viable
30:14mechanism
30:15for global travel.
30:18And the whole country
30:20went airplane crazy.
30:21And anybody
30:22that had the money
30:23wanted to fly.
30:25By 1929,
30:27the airplane
30:27manufacturing business
30:28triples.
30:30And the annual number
30:31of passengers
30:32rises from a few
30:33thousand
30:33to 173,000.
30:38Looking to capitalize
30:39on the booming
30:40air travel market,
30:42Henry Ford launches
30:43his now-completed
30:44trimotor.
30:45It quickly becomes
30:47the passenger plane
30:48everyone's talking
30:49about.
30:53Ah,
31:04Mr. Falker,
31:06to what do I owe
31:07this pleasure?
31:09You know why
31:10I'm calling.
31:11You took my plane
31:12and you copied it.
31:13Well,
31:14I hardly think
31:15that's true.
31:16How bet you told
31:16your engineers
31:17to make my plane,
31:19but just do it
31:20in metal.
31:20Well,
31:21I didn't know
31:21such thing.
31:23You know
31:23who you are,
31:24Ford?
31:25You're a cheat
31:26and you're a thief.
31:30But...
31:31as the 1920s draw
31:39to a close,
31:40competitors look
31:41to dominate
31:42the growing
31:42passenger plane market.
31:44But soon,
31:46two will find
31:47themselves suddenly
31:48out of the game.
31:49in the end.
32:16In October 1929, U.S. stock prices plunge,
32:25a crash that will ultimately wipe away 80% of the market value.
32:31The stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting depression
32:34has a devastating effect on the nation as a whole.
32:38Factories are shuttered. Nearly a quarter of Americans are out of work.
32:46Among the major aviation players, Henry Ford feels it first.
32:52His annual sales plunge from over 90 planes to just two.
32:57Remember when we built that monoplane?
33:00Of course. It was a monstrosity.
33:02It sure was.
33:08We're going to wind down the aviation business.
33:11Why?
33:13We've had a bad year, but we can turn it around.
33:15We've done our part.
33:19It's a rude awakening for Henry Ford, but it's a realistic one.
33:24Rather than let his automobile industry wither on the vine,
33:27he doubles back down on autos.
33:29Henry Ford, he is not one like Boeing or Douglas
33:33who are very much enraptured with aviation.
33:37To him, it is another opportunity,
33:39which again explains why he can walk away.
33:41Things are much worse for another aviation executive.
33:54On March 31st, 1931,
33:57a 12-seat commercial airliner loses a wing
34:00and nosedives into a farm field.
34:04One of the eight dead
34:06is celebrated Notre Dame football coach Newt Rockne.
34:11The plane?
34:14A Fokker trimotor.
34:16The press is calling.
34:18They're asking about the plane.
34:19You don't want to be the guy that built the plane
34:23that killed America's beloved football coach.
34:28Fokker's trimotor has a metal body,
34:30but to save money,
34:32he's continued to use wooden wings.
34:35Investigators find the wings were structurally unsound,
34:39causing one to break off in flight.
34:41As planes got bigger and heavier and faster,
34:46the limitations of wood were coming to the surface.
34:52It was hard for them to get inside the wing
34:54and inspect all those wooden joints,
34:57so you couldn't really tell, like, is it still good?
35:00All of Fokker's planes are grounded.
35:04His U.S. operation will collapse
35:06and later be sold.
35:15With two rivals fading fast,
35:18Bill Boeing sees an opening.
35:21It's important to remember,
35:23wealthy folks rode out the Depression
35:25in pretty good style.
35:26If you wanted to fly off on vacation
35:28and somebody had a way for you to get there,
35:31you could do it.
35:32Airline ridership is exploding
35:34and will double over the next five years.
35:38In late 1931,
35:40Boeing gives his booming business a new name,
35:44United Airlines.
35:45And to take it over the top,
35:47he builds a new airliner,
35:50the Boeing 247.
35:52Its top speed of 200 miles per hour
35:55will be 50 miles per hour faster
35:57than any other commercial airliner on Earth.
36:00It was clearly the most modern plane
36:04built up to that time
36:05and perhaps the safest plane built up to that time.
36:08And one of the things
36:09that you hear people say about it most,
36:11even at the time,
36:12is it just looks right.
36:16But the 247 has another innovation,
36:19one that has nothing to do with its design.
36:23So during these beginning days of the airlines,
36:25flying was,
36:27today we would look at it
36:28as a very miserable experience.
36:33It was very rough.
36:34You flew low,
36:35flew through the weather,
36:37lots of turbulence.
36:40There's a pilot and co-pilot
36:41in the front of the airplane,
36:42but they don't come back and talk to you.
36:43The airplane begins to fly through a storm,
36:45begins to buck.
36:46What's happening?
36:47Are we safe?
36:48Are we going to crash?
36:48So this gave a young lady an idea.
36:52Her name was Ellen Church,
36:53and she was a nurse.
36:55If you have a young lady on the flight
36:57who's a registered nurse,
36:59her presence will help to calm the passengers.
37:02Boeing is the first to deploy
37:04what are then known as stewardesses,
37:07the first modern-day flight attendants.
37:09Soon, every airline copies the idea.
37:14Boeing starts producing a fleet of 247s
37:16for his United Airlines,
37:18and it quickly becomes
37:19the new must-have airplane.
37:22But when rival TWA tries to order some,
37:25Boeing makes a surprising decision.
37:29Boeing said, we're sorry.
37:31Maybe after the first 20 are delivered,
37:33we might be able to get you in,
37:34and that's not acceptable.
37:40What Boeing doesn't know
37:41is that TWA will turn to a rival planemaker
37:45and commission one of the most iconic aircrafts
37:49of all time.
37:56In 1933,
37:58TWA is looking to build a passenger plane
38:01to compete with Bill Boeing's 247,
38:04the pride of United Airlines.
38:06And TWA is banking on Donald Douglas.
38:10You've heard the story
38:11of the tortoise and the hare.
38:12Bill Boeing's the hare.
38:14Donald Douglas is very much the tortoise.
38:17The TWA job is the opening
38:19Douglas has been waiting years for.
38:22He calls his two-engine plane
38:24the Douglas Commercial,
38:26or the DC-1.
38:28It's faster than Boeing's 247
38:30and can carry two more passengers,
38:33but it's 3,000 pounds heavier.
38:37And TWA has one non-negotiable demand.
38:43It was almost mind-blowing
38:45in how advanced it was.
38:47They wanted to be sure
38:48that that plane could take off
38:50with one engine and fly.
38:54We're going to need one hell of an engine.
38:56The test is set for September 12, 1933.
39:06Winslow, Arizona is chosen
39:08for its high altitude and thin air,
39:11which makes takeoff even harder.
39:13Could you survive on takeoff
39:16if one of your engines fail?
39:17It's going to tend to cause the plane to crab,
39:20maybe even roll.
39:21The pilot has no idea
39:23how he's supposed to react.
39:24If you react the wrong way,
39:26you're going to crash the plane
39:27and probably die.
39:33Can't you do it?
39:37We're about to find out.
39:54At takeoff,
39:59the pilot cuts one of the two engines,
40:01causing the giant plane to struggle.
40:06Come on, girl.
40:08Come on.
40:10Come on.
40:12Come on.
40:14Yes.
40:15Yes!
40:16Yes!
40:16TWA just got itself
40:25one hell of a plane.
40:27It's said that the propellers
40:29almost scraped the runway,
40:30but it did get into the air.
40:32It proved its point.
40:34And the DC-1
40:35went on to become
40:36one of the most iconic aircraft
40:38in aviation history.
40:40The airplane was so much better,
40:48better than anything.
40:49The 247,
40:50anything that was out there,
40:52that Douglas dominated
40:53the market.
40:55Within three years,
40:57DC planes,
40:58most commonly the DC-3,
41:00carry over 90%
41:01of US commercial air traffic.
41:03By 1940,
41:06Douglas is raking in
41:07$61 million a year
41:09from DC orders,
41:11$1.1 billion today.
41:13If you've ever looked at
41:15what built America
41:17from an aviation perspective,
41:18it was the DC-3.
41:21I was in Antarctica
41:23about 16, 17 months ago,
41:25and you see DC-3 aircraft.
41:27So, like, we're talking aircraft
41:28that are, like,
41:2875 years old.
41:31They're flying scientists
41:32all around
41:32in the harshest climates
41:34in the world
41:34where other aircraft can't go.
41:3613,000 DC-3s
41:38will be built
41:39compared to only 75
41:41of Boeing's 247.
41:44This is an important
41:45business lesson
41:46that the Boeing company,
41:47Boeing Airplane Company,
41:48learned the hard way.
41:52Two decades later,
41:54Boeing launches
41:54a new airplane
41:55that will dominate the market
41:57for years to come,
41:59the 707.
42:00sadly, Boeing dies
42:04a year later,
42:05having never seen
42:07the dominance
42:07of the 707
42:08and its iconic successors,
42:11the 747
42:12and the 737,
42:14which will become
42:14the best-selling aircraft
42:16of all time.
42:18If you get on an airplane,
42:19the odds are very high
42:21that you're getting
42:22into an airplane
42:23built by the company
42:24that Bill Boeing built.
42:25In 1996,
42:29Boeing buys
42:30rival McDonnell Douglas
42:31in a deal worth
42:32more than $13 billion.
42:38It's hard to quantify
42:40the passion
42:40of these individuals.
42:42Getting involved
42:43in this industry
42:44is a gamble.
42:45So they were all risk-takers.
42:46Each of them,
42:47they made their own imprint.
42:48These guys were brave
42:53and a little bit crazy
42:55to try and fly
42:57some of these things,
42:58but they pushed forward
43:00our civilization
43:01to what we are today.
43:03She was born to fly.
43:06She might just fly on forever.
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