America: Facts vs. Fiction Season 1 Episode 1 Flying Machines

America: Facts vs. Fiction is an American documentary television series where the history buffs, experts, and historians explore the myths and falsehoods surrounding the United States history. The season 1 episode 1 titled "Flying Machines" takes us back to the 18th century, where technology was advancing, and humanity was setting their sights on the sky trying to make their dream of flying come true.

The episode starts with exploring a popular myth that the Wright brothers built, the first airplane. The Wright brothers had designed the first flight controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible. The story goes that the Wright brothers secretly stole a design from a German immigrant, Gustav Whitehead, who flew a plane two years before the Wright brothers. But historians debate whether Whitehead flight was more of a glider and there is no concrete evidence of his plane being airborne.

The episode takes an unprecedented deep dive into a lesser-known history of Florida's aviation that started with a daredevil named Lincoln Beachy, an American aviator and barnstormer, in 1912. Beachy came up with an innovation that everyone believed was impossible; he dropped a bomb from a plane. The act marked the beginning of military aviation in the country.

The show then takes us to the military angle of the technology's evolution, through the story of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker began his career as a driver in the American Expeditionary Forces, which fought in Europe alongside the Allied powers in World War I. With his mechanical skills and his love for planes, Rickenbacker became one of the American military's most renowned pilots.

Then comes a famous African-American aviator, Bessie Coleman, who had to fight against the racist aviation industry to earn her pilot's license. She learned flying from France and became the first African-American woman and only Native American woman to earn an international pilot's license. Coleman's aviation skills and courageous spirit became a symbol of Black liberation for decades to come.

The documentary explores how airplanes became a luxury industry in the US's early days, thanks to companies like Transcontinental Air Transport Co. Following the massive success of Transcontinental Air Transport Co, aviation became popular in America, and by the end of the 1930s, airlines became the largest carriers of United States mail.

The show exposes a popular myth surrounding modern aviation that holds that commercial air travel is safer than driving an automobile. In contrast, the risks of airplane travel are higher than car accidents. The documentary explores why the idea is incorrect and how air travel is a much safer mode of traveling than an automobile.

The episode ends on a high note by exploring NASA's most significant success so far, the Apollo 11 moon landing. The show depicts the challenges NASA faced in the project and the solutions the team developed to complete the mission successfully.

Overall, America: Facts vs. Fiction season 1 episode one, "Flying Machines" provides a comprehensive look at America's aviation evolution from early experimentation with flight, Bombing and military aviation, the challenge of racism, commercial aviation, and space exploration. The show takes a fresh and in-depth look at the history of aviation in the United States, debunking myths and providing a clear understanding of the rise of modern aviation.