Subjects: Design

The Canadian Air Force’s CC-115 Buffalo is the go-to aircraft for search-and-rescue on the west coast; the Buffalo and her crew conduct two training exercises, searching for a missing aircraft and rescuing a sinking boat.

The Super Guppy carries NASA’s bulkiest and most cutting-edge aerospace components; join them on their mission to pick up and deliver a hefty piece of new technology for NASA’s latest experimental aircraft.

Hit the air with flying gas station Omega, a commercial aircraft turned tanker, built to refuel U.S. fighter jets while they are in flight. Follow this modified Boeing 707 as it lends support on a three-day U.S. Navy and Marine Corps exercise. Witness the midair rendezvous between aerial refueling tanker and fighter jet. The slightest bit of turbulence or the smallest human error can prove fatal. On this mission, however, its a mechanical issue that puts the entire operation, and Omega’s reputation, in jeopardy

Meet a battle-tested Mighty Plane with a nose for adventure and danger. The P-3 Orion Kermit once hunted Soviet submarines but now hunts deadly weather. It slices through the eye walls of hurricanes with one objective in mind: to collect information that will save lives. Loaded up by NOAA with data sensors, recording devices, and airborne radars, this laboratory in the sky is one smart (and tough) cookie. Go where no plane was ever meant to fly as Kermit flies into todays worst tempests, including “Frankenstorm” herself, Hurricane Sandy.

How do you tell one of the world’s richest men that his pride and joy is in pieces? Thats just one of the challenges facing pilot John Dunkin, captain of Donald Trumps lavish Boeing 757. Follow him and “The Donald” as they fly from Florida to New York to London, with a pit stop in Georgia for an inspection that doesnt go quite as expected. Tight deadlines and a demanding boss will push Dunkin to the limits. But when you work for the man who made the phrase “You’re fired” famous, you get used to the pressure.

The C-17 Globemaster III is the most versatile cargo plane in the U.S. Air Force fleet. Its a tireless workhorse, designed to carry more than 170,000 pounds of cargo, yet agile enough to land and take off on short, rough runways. Watch as two of these $200 million jets take off on separate missions. One ventures into an intense war training operation over unforgiving terrain, while the other embarks on a grueling three-day journey to deliver missile launchers from a remote Pacific island to California. Both jobs will push these C-17s to the limit.

Thrilling millions of Americans every year with their death-defying aerial maneuvers and pinpoint precision, the Blue Angels are one of the best military display teams on Earth. Get ready for an up-close look at the six F/A-18 Hornets that make up the fleet. Meet the top guns who fly them, and the maintenance and support crews working nonstop to make each show a triumph. The stakes are high when you’re flying just inches apart at 700 miles per hour, a mere 15,000 feet above the crowd. Only the Blue Angels team can pull this off.

If you’re going to take on the universe, you’re going to need a Mighty Plane. Enter SOFIA, a Boeing 747 jumbo jetliner that’s been converted by NASA into a space observatory in the sky. Manned with a 17-ton telescope, she gives scientists and researchers access to targets that are out of reach to observatories on Eart-that is, when she’s airborne. She’s currently grounded for upgrade and overhaul maintenance, and four months behind schedule. The crew needs to work overtime to get SOFIA ready to, once more, unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

The CP-140 is a spy plane built to protect Canada and her coastlines from unseen enemies; originally designed as a Cold War submarine hunter, she has been upgraded with the latest technology and we fly with her on a mock mission.