Plot Synopsis

Using archival footage, CGI and re-enactments, PLANES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD chronicles the stories behind three aircraft: A380 Superjumbo, DC-3 and SR-71 Blackbird. These extraordinary planes have extraordinary stories to match, including big gambles, brilliant minds, maverick figures, and life-threatening challenges. From planning to building to the first big test, success faced engineering and logistical challenges on a scale never seen before. Each one-hour episode focuses on a different plane: the A380 Superjumbo, which began with a mission to take on Boeing's queen of the skies, the mighty 747, and made engineers wonder if a plane this size could ever get off the ground; the DC-3, a masterpiece of engineering that went against all aviation wisdom when it was created in the 1930s, which helped boost an economy still reeling from the Depression, played the lead role in the D-Day invasion, and continues to have an effect on design today; and the SR-71 Blackbird, a plane that can travel at three times the speed of sound and at heights of 80,000 feet at the very edge of space, which counts its greatest legacy as helping maintain peace when the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Smithsonian Channel aired the U.S. premiere of this series on Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT.