Ivan the Bookman

From the PBS NOVA series, these documentaries track the War Planes of our times. This 4 DVD box set includes the episodes B-29 FROZEN IN TIME, BATTLE OF THE X-PLANES, SPIES THAT FLY and TOP GUN OVER MOSCOW.B-29 FROZEN IN TIME: Travel on a perilous mission to repair and refly a rare B-29 bomber stranded on a Greenland icecap for almost 50 years. Gleaming like a jewel, this well preserved bomber from World War II rests on the Arctic tundra where it was abandoned when it crash landed in 1947. This plane has long been a legend, and now, facing incredible hardship, a team of adventurers struggle to bring the frozen warbird back to life. NOVA follows bold pilot Darryl Greenamyer and his team on two expeditions to revive Kee Bird and make it fly again in one of the most isolated and harshest environments on Earth. Despite severe weather, illness and difficulties with the shuttle plane in 1994, Greenamyer returns in May 1995 with a larger crew, a more reliable shuttle plane and a new plan to bring Kee Bird back to life and back home.BATTLE OF THE X-PLANES: Go inside a high-tech, high-stakes competition, as NOVA records classified meetings, climbs into cockpits to fly revolutionary planes, and surveys the battle between Boeing and Lockheed Martin to build the Joint Strike Fighter. A contract would make aviation history, protect America, and dominate the U.S. defense fighter industry. Travel with NOVA to Boeing's Phantom Works, Lockheed's Skunk Works, and two military flight test centers.SPIES THAT FLY: It has no pilot, no windows, and it's flown by remote control. But this odd-looking plane is already credited with helping destroy nearly 750 enemy targets. It's the Predator, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with powerful surveillance cameras that spy on our enemies day or night and keep our military personnel out of harm's way. The Predator is changing America's battle plans, and more advanced UAVs are close behind. From flying spies the size of a CD player to fully armed pilotless jets that roam halfway around the world, get a close look at the revolutionary UAVs from the past 50 years, including the Lightning Bug, Pioneer and Predator. Follow military specialists, scientists, and engineers as they examine some of the revolutionary vehicles currently under development, such as the Global Hawk, a long endurance jet programmed to fly itself from takeoff to landing. Join NOVA for this rare look at some of the most significant developments in military weaponry, and learn about the UAV's dangerous and costly history, how flying insects are helping researchers create the first micro UAV, and how the military's unmanned aerial vehicles may someday lead to pilotless commercial air travel.TOP GUN OVER MOSCOW: For half a century we feared them. Now, for the first time, meet the rugged pilots of the Russian Air Force - and take a close-up look at the heart-stopp