The Machines That Built America: Season 1, Episode 2

1 - 2: Plane Pioneers

In 1910, airplanes are a novelty, fragile wooden concoctions that float in the air--and crash. But that doesn't stop two young dreamers with a passion for this newfangled machine from imagining a very different future: one in which planes carry millions of passengers across the country, even across the seas. To realize that vision and create a lucrative new market, William Boeing and Donald Douglas take on automobile titan Henry Ford, infamous Dutch aviation giant Anthony Fokker--and each other. It's a high stakes battle involving courage, risk taking, bold innovation,  even industrial espionage... and not every business will last. But for the surprising survivors, the prize is worth it: the joy of flight and astonishing profit.