In the summer of 1919 two WWl flying aces climbed into the open cockpit of a converted bomber aircraft a Vicker's Vimy and embarked on the world's first non-stop transatlantic flight. Sixteen gruelling hours later they touched down on the west coast of Ireland and entered the history books. This is a drama documentary chronicling the remarkable achievement of Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown. It tells the story of unlikely pair of heroes a navigator and a pilot who met just six weeks before the flight during a chance encounter. Sharing a love of flying a thirst for honour and galvanised by a ''10 000 reward they formed a bond of friendship that was tested to its limits during their perilous journey. Together they endured fog hail and snowstorms. Midway through one of the engines caught fire and Brown was repeatedly forced out on to the wing to clear ice from the air inlets. As conditions worsened Alcock fought to regain control when rough weather caused the plane to plunge from four thousand to just sixteen feet above the churning ocean - close enough to taste the salt spray. Using log books diaries and contemporary reports the film captures a vanished world of aerial adventure when nations vied to set ever more ambitious records just fifteen years after the Wright brothers' first powered flight. Alcock and Brown received a hero's welcome back in Britain and a knighthood from King George V. They had proved in Alcock's words that there are possibilities of flying between the New and Old worlds and ushered in the age of transatlantic flight. Their story is interwoven with the story of Sefton Potter and Paul Lomatschinsky who retrace Alcock and Brown's pioneering flight in a modern Diamond DA42 Twin Star. Unlike these latter day enthusiasts though Alcock and Brown did it with no instruments no navigational aids and sometimes upside down.
In 2004 a team of French Free Runners captivated Londoners when they scaled some of the city's most famous landmarks. This time they've decided to take on the whole country! Free Running 'Le Parkour' as it is known in its native French involves literally leaping from roof to roof in a death-defying yet beautiful series of jumps slides and somersaults. It is a discipline combining an extraordinary athleticism and lack of fear that has spread across the world since its inception by
Forget tubes trains and automobiles packed pavements the congestion charge and crushed platforms. What if you could jump across London in one fell swoop? Leaping between buildings jumping over rooftops rushing through the capital as if no one - not even bricks and mortar - could get in your way. Sebastien Foucan the co-founder of Free Running (also known as Le Parkour) and his team attempt to do just that and conquer one of the world's best-known capital cities. Like fictional superheroes Batman and Spider-Man the team performs death-defying stomach-churning stunts as they literally leap from rooftop to rooftop. In this totally unique event the team of French Free Runners has been given unprecedented access to some of London's most famous landmarks including The Royal Albert Hall Tate Modern and Somerset House.
Forget tubes trains and automobiles packed pavements the congestion charge and crushed platforms. What if you could jump across London in one fell swoop? Leaping between buildings jumping over rooftops rushing through the capital as if no one - not even bricks and mortar - could get in your way. Sebastien Foucan the co-founder of Free Running (also known as Le Parkour) and his team attempt to do just that and conquer one of the world's best-known capital cities. Like fictional superheroes Batman and Spider-Man the team performs death-defying stomach-churning stunts as they literally leap from rooftop to rooftop. In this totally unique event the team of French Free Runners has been given unprecedented access to some of London's most famous landmarks including The Royal Albert Hall Tate Modern and Somerset House.
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