The Best Planes & Aviation Documentaries

Cars, Planes & Trains - 204 free documentaries about planes & aviation.

Start with The New Air Force One: Flying Fortress (44 min, National Geographic), then Giant Aircraft: Manufacturing an Airbus A350 (48 min, Free Documentary). All 204 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on planes & aviation is The Wright Brothers by David McCullough.

• The New Air Force One: Flying Fortress (44 min, National Geographic)
• Giant Aircraft: Manufacturing an Airbus A350 | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Airplane Heavy Maintenance | Mega Pit Stops | Episode 1 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Monster Plane: Uncovering the Antonov AN-255 | Superstructures: Engineering Marvels (44 min, National Geographic)
• The Insane Engineering of the V-22 Osprey (23 min, Real Engineering)
• The Ridiculous Engineering Of Jet Engines (40 min, Veritasium)
• World's Most Extreme Military Aircrafts | Ultimate Vehicles | S01 E03 (49 min, Free Documentary)
• How Changi Airport’s Emergency Services Train For Life-or-Death Situations | Changi (44 min, Spark)
• The Logistics of Airplane Food | Secrets of Your Airline Food (49 min, ENDEVR)
• World's Busiest Airport: Secrets of Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport (67 min, Free Documentary)
• Fighter Jet: War Machine Heavy Maintenance | Mega Pit Stops | Episode 3 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• The Insane Engineering of the F-14 Tomcat (29 min, Real Engineering)
• The Insane Engineering of the P-47 Thunderbolt (18 min, Real Engineering)
• The Dizzying Scale Of A Normal Day In The World's Busiest Airport | Secret Life Of Airports (67 min, Spark)
• De Havilland Beaver: The North American Seaplane | Immortal Beaver (47 min, Spark)
• How the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Works (56 min, Animagraffs)
• Flight MH370 Vanished 10 Years Ago. What’s Happened Since? | Insight (47 min, CNA Insider)
• The Wildest Take-Off of My Life (29 min, Real Engineering)
• The Insane Engineering of the F-117 Nighthawk (28 min, Real Engineering)
• The Insane Engineering of the Thunderscreech (19 min, Real Engineering)
• How The Spitfire Became An Aviation Masterpiece | The Birth Of A Legend (45 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Working Inside The World's Friendliest Airport | The World's Best Airport: Changi (42 min, Spark)
• Wings of Valor: Restoring A De Havilland Mosquito For Future Generations | Gaining Altitude (58 min, Spark)
• Inside Europe’s Abandoned $9BN Airport (21 min, The B1M)
• Surviving a Must-Pass Test | Top Guns: The Next Generation (44 min, National Geographic)
• The Insane Engineering of the P-38 Lightning (27 min, Real Engineering)
• How Planes Survive High-Gs (20 min, Real Engineering)
• From Scrap Yard to Skies: Restoring The Iconic D-Day C-47 Plane | That's All Brother (53 min, Spark)
• The Airline Industry’s Problem with Absolutely Ancient IT (22 min, Wendover Productions)
• How a P-51 Mustang Works (19 min, Animagraffs)
• The Insane Engineering of the Concorde (27 min, Real Engineering)
• How Do Airports Deal With Bird Strikes? | The World's Best Airport: Changi (45 min, Spark)
• The Problem With Spirit Airlines’ Business Model (23 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Downfall of Southwest Airlines (27 min, Wendover Productions)
• How a Helicopter Works (Bell 407) (56 min, Animagraffs)
• How a Jet Airliner Works (26 min, Animagraffs)
• How Flying Cars Became a Billion-Dollar Bet (24 min, Bloomberg Originals)
• World’s Toughest Flights | Twin Otter: No Roads, No Fear (46 min, Free Documentary)
• World’s Toughest Flights | The Ice Plane: Crossing the Arctic (46 min, Free Documentary)
• Lockheed's Insane Attack Carrier: The CL-1201 (14 min, Mustard)
• Strike | Top Guns: The Next Generation (46 min, National Geographic)
• The Disappearance Of Flight MH370: Minute By Minute As It Happened (53 min, Spark)
• Douglas DC-3: The Plane That Didn't Want To Stop Flying (53 min, Spark)
• The Plane That Lead D-Day Returns To Normandy After 75 Years | That's All Brother (53 min, Spark)
• How Airlines Cater To The Super Wealthy | The World’s Most Luxurious Airline (46 min, Spark)
• Titanic Of The Skies: The Chaos Of The Hindenburg Disaster (54 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• From Takeoff to Landing: The Fascinating World of Aviation (24 min, BBC Studios)
• Will Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Ever Be Found? Experts Review Clues | MH370: A Decade On (46 min, CNA Insider)
• World’s Toughest Planes | Arctic Lifeline: Racing Greenland’s Frozen Fury (46 min, Free Documentary)
• When a MiG-25 fought an F-15 (14 min, Mustard)
• A Plane Without Wings: The Coléoptère (8 min, Mustard)
• What Actually Happened to the Concorde (17 min, Real Engineering)
• Restoring a Junkyard D-Day C-47 Plane [ALL PARTS] | That's All Brother (157 min, Spark)
• Is this Europe’s Most Disastrous Airport Ever? (18 min, The B1M)
• How Airlines Decide Which Plane to Use (22 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Design of Airline Route Networks (24 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Huge Controversy Over Moving This Runway 80 Feet (20 min, Wendover Productions)
• Why Budget Airlines are Suddenly Failing (21 min, Wendover Productions)
• How to Start an Airline (18 min, Wendover Productions)
• T33: The Most Mysterious Military Plane Crash? (22 min, Wonder)
• Superjet Crash: The Tragic Sukhoi Superjet 100 Incident (43 min, Wonder)
• Was The Hindenburg Disaster The Most Shocking Thing Ever Caught On Camera? (54 min, Absolute History)
• How an Airliner Cockpit Works (29 min, Animagraffs)
• This Jet Changed Everything (15 min, Mustard)
• Could This Change Air Travel Forever? (14 min, Mustard)
• What Happened To Flying Wings? (14 min, Mustard)
• This Jet Terrified the West: The MiG-25 Foxbat (13 min, Mustard)
• The World's Largest Plane Wasn't What You Think (10 min, Mustard)
• The History of The Messerschmitt Bf109 & The Sea Hurricane | Restoration Classics (56 min, Spark)
• Why you'll never see a right angle on a stealth aircraft - corner cube reflectors (9 min, Steve Mould)
• Why American Airlines Stopped Making Money (22 min, Wendover Productions)
• The 20 Most Important Flights of 2024 (32 min, Wendover Productions)
• Vanished Without A Trace: A Decade Searching For MH370 (53 min, Wonder)
• How the Grumman F-14 Tomcat Works (46 min, Animagraffs)
• How I reconstructed the SR-71 Blackbird (in-depth research, 3D modelling, animation, and more) (40 min, Animagraffs)
• Heavy Airbus Maintenance, Aircraft Junkyard | Inside Airplanes (35 min, Free Documentary)
• Giant Airport: The 5-Star Airport in Munich | Giant Hubs | Episode 1 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Inflatable Airplanes Were A Bad Idea (9 min, Mustard)
• This Insane Helicopter Was The Largest Ever Built: The Mil V-12 Story (9 min, Mustard)
• What Really Happened To Giant Flying Boats? (11 min, Mustard)

Top-Rated Books About Planes & Aviation

1. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough - View on Amazon
2. Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich - View on Amazon
3. Fly by Wire by William Langewiesche - View on Amazon
4. Skyfaring by Mark Vanhoenacker - View on Amazon
5. West with the Night by Beryl Markham (3.4/5) - View on Amazon