Wings (Discovery Channel TV series)

Wings was an educational television program aired on the Discovery Channel.

Episodes were one hour long, minus commercials. Each episode consisted of a documentary about one airplane model or closely related series of models, typically an American airplane or helicopter built in large numbers and relevant to aviation history or to the abilities of the American armed forces. For example, some aircraft discussed in Wings episodes have included the DC-3, B-25, P-51, F-84, 707/KC-135, M/K/C-130, F-4, T-38/F-5/F-20, UH-1, A-4, A-12/SR-71, Harrier, 747/VC-25/E-4, F-15, and YF-17/FA-18, to name a few. A few non-American planes, such as the Concorde, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, and the Supermarine Spitfire were profiled as well. They were usually referred to as the "Great Planes". Other episodes would focus on the history or operations of a particular foreign air force, such as the Israeli Air Force, a foreign aviation company or design bureau such as France's Dassault or Russia's Mikoyan, or the aircraft of a particular conflict such as the Korean War or the Afghan-Soviet War. There also were epiusodes that focused on the Luftwaffe of World War II and old airliners. For examples, specific episodes covered the Ju-87 Stuka, the Ju-52 transport and the FW-190.

Some episodes were later rebroadcast under the labels "Sea Wings" or "Weekday Wings"

Some series of episodes, often six or eight at a time, would focus on a subset of airplane designs. Examples includes German military aircraft of World War 2, VTOL aircraft, or the "Strange Planes" series. A series of programs on Russian military planes was narrated by Peter Ustinov.

The VTOL episodes each featured a category of vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft such as those that used thrust vectoring, ducted fans, tilt-rotors, etc. The "Strange Planes" series episodes each talked about a handful of aircraft in categories like "Giants", "Drones", "Strange Shapes", "Circles in the Sky", "Lifting Bodies", "Flying Wings", etc.

For a few years the Aluminum Metal Toys, or AMT, modeling company issued a series of plastic scale model airplanes entitled the "Wings" series. The series also formed the backbone for the former Discovery Wings channels in the United States and United Kingdom, which were later rebranded to the Military Channel and Discovery Turbo, respectively.

External links

* [http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Television/Wings.cfm http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Television/Wings.cfm]
* [http://shopping.discovery.com/Wings-Collection-DVD-Set.shtml http://shopping.discovery.com/Wings-Collection-DVD-Set.shtml]