The Best Pilots & Flying Machines Documentaries

Cars, Planes & Trains - 85 free documentaries about pilots & flying machines.

Start with Searching for Amelia Earhart (95 min, National Geographic), then Real Life Top Gun: The Story Of A USAF F-15 Eagle Fighter Pilot (46 min, Spark). All 85 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on pilots & flying machines is Skyfaring by Mark Vanhoenacker.

• Searching for Amelia Earhart (95 min, National Geographic)
• Real Life Top Gun: The Story Of A USAF F-15 Eagle Fighter Pilot | Operation Red Flag (46 min, Spark)
• What Actually Happened To Amelia Earhart? (37 min, Veritasium)
• The Real Life 'Top Gun' | Fighter Pilots (49 min, Wonder)
• Becoming Elite Fighter Pilots | Top Guns: Next Generation MEGA Episode (131 min, National Geographic)
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea (8 min, Mustard)
• Flying Dreams: Women Airforce Pilots of WWII (52 min, Real Stories)
• World's Longest Flight: Secrets of the Long Haul Flight (67 min, Free Documentary)
• London To Sydney: What Really Happens On The World's Longest Flight? | Long-Haul Flight (67 min, Spark)
• The 100-Year History Of Naval Aviation Warfare | Angle of Attack (54 min, Spark)
• World's Toughest Flights | Ice Planes: Landing Where No One Should Fly (182 min, Free Documentary)
• Get An Inside Look Behind The World's Longest Flight (134 min, Spark)
• Flying Boats: The Incredible Development Of Sea Planes | The Amazing World of Aviation (53 min, Spark)
• Soviet Flying Aircraft Carriers Were Ingenious (13 min, Mustard)
• SA-16 Albatross: The Most Versatile Plane In The World | Flying Boat (75 min, Spark)
• Snow, Ice, and Tragedy: The Deadly Crash of Continental Flight 1713 (43 min, Wonder)
• Biplane Crashes Into A Zipline Leaving The Pilot Hanging On For His Life | Saved on Camera (44 min, Wonder)
• Canada's Top Guns: From Cadet to Pilot in 7 Weeks (84 min, Real Stories)
• Pilots Recall The Most Epic Rescue Mission In Vietnam War | Helicopter Warfare (50 min, Spark)
• The Untold Story Of The RAF's Flying Boats | Royal Air Force (48 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Five Freedoms of Aviation (14 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Deadly Battle For The Control Of The World's First Aeroplanes (176 min, Absolute History)
• New Evidence, New Answers? The Endless Search For Flight MH370 (46 min, Real Stories)
• How Anthony Fokker Pioneered Early Aircraft Development | Amazing Aviation (52 min, Spark)
• Can These Pilots Land A Vintage Plane On A Moving RV? | Airdogs (22 min, Spark)
• Flying The Iconic Beechcraft 18 | Behind The Wings (25 min, Spark)
• The Tiny Crack That Killed 162 People on Flight 8501 (171 min, Wonder)
• Flight MH17: The Fatal Flight Path Over A War Zone (43 min, Wonder)
• The Flying Tigers - America's Forgotten Heroes | Episode 3: Over the Hump | FD History (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The Flying Tigers - America's Forgotten Heroes | Episode 2: Battle over China | FD History (51 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Dornier Do X: The Most Powerful Flying Boat In The World (46 min, Spark)
• Inside The Most Dangerous Fighter Pilot Training In The World (46 min, Spark)
• How Frank Whittle's Jet Engine Evolved Aircraft Development | The Amazing World of Aviation (53 min, Spark)
• Royal Navy Pilots Engage In Deadly Battle With Enemy Tanks | Helicopter Warfare (50 min, Spark)
• Can These Expert Pilots Fly The Historic Yak Airplanes? | Airdogs (44 min, Spark)
• Meet The Aircraft Saved Millions Of Germans During Cold War | Defenders Of The Sky (43 min, Spark)
• Flying The Cessna 172 Skyhawk In Independence, Kansas | Behind The Wings (26 min, Spark)
• Why Flying is So Expensive (11 min, Wendover Productions)
• Passenger Request Causes Flight 706 to Crash Midair (171 min, Wonder)
• Flying Cars and The Future of Aviation | Flying Vehicles | Air Taxis (25 min, ENDEVR)
• 50 Years Of Aviation: From Wooden Struts To Jet Engines (52 min, Spark)
• The Insane Physics Behind The World's Fastest Aircraft (50 min, Spark)
• The 1920s Aviation Boom: The Birth Of Commercial Aviation | The Amazing World Of Aviation (53 min, Spark)
• The Lawless Early Days Of Aviation | The Amazing World Of Aviation (52 min, Spark)
• Is Uber's Self-Flying Plane The Future Of Transport? (23 min, Spark)
• Building The Largest Ever Flying Boat | Power: Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose (50 min, Spark)
• The Impossible Search For Flight 447 (45 min, Wonder)
• How Dangerous Is Airplane Turbulence? What You Should Know After SQ321 | Talking Point (24 min, CNA Insider)
• Aviation Engineering 🛩️ | Impossible Engineering (23 min, Science Channel)
• Claude Dornier: The Genius Engineer Behind The Flying Boat (44 min, Spark)
• Supersonic Jets & Aircraft Carriers: How Naval Aviation Changed Warfare (109 min, Spark)
• 82 Dead: How Two Planes Collided On a Clear Day Over Los Angeles (50 min, Wonder)
• Why Did These Expert Pilots Fly Straight Into a Mountain? (170 min, Wonder)
• The Most Terrifying Flights When Engines Stop Working (127 min, Wonder)
• 128 Dead: The Grand Canyon Crash That Changed Aviation Forever (45 min, Wonder)
• Harrison Lake Tragedy: How Civilian Pilots Helped Locate A Plane Wreckage (22 min, Wonder)
• This Pilot's Plane Was Nearly Destroyed In A Sudden Storm | Alaska's Ultimate Bush Pilots (22 min, Wonder)
• The Pilots Who Run The Deadly Kodiak Island | Alaska's Ultimate Bush Pilots (22 min, Wonder)
• Passengers Exposed at 17,000 Feet: The 20-Minute Nightmare of Flight 5390 (50 min, Spark)
• Finding Crashed Planes In The Alaskan Wilderness | Ultimate Bush Pilots (21 min, Wonder)
• The Blind Spot That Caused Aviation's Most Unbelievable Crash (50 min, Spark)
• Flying 18 Inches Apart: Inside the Blue Angels’ Deadliest Flight | Mighty Planes (46 min, Spark)
• How 1 Screw Destroyed Alaska Airlines Flight 261 (50 min, Spark)
• From Gliders To Supersonic Jets: The 100-Year History Of Naval Aviation (54 min, Spark)
• The True Power Of The B-17 Bomber | Classic U.S. Combat: B-17 Flying Fortress (62 min, Spark)
• The true cost of flying (48 min, VPRO Documentary)
• Alaska's Ultimate Bush Pilots | Learning The World's Most Dangerous Flight Path (22 min, Wonder)
• The Man Who Cheated Death In His Own Flying Machine | Urban Legends S1 EP3 (23 min, Wonder)
• Three Pilots Lost Their Lives Because Of A Missing Bolt (85 min, Wonder)
• Search And Rescue For A Missing National Guard | Alaska's Ultimate Bush Pilots (21 min, Wonder)
• Alaska's Ultimate Bush Pilots | Meet The Pilots Of Tanalian Air (21 min, Wonder)
• Turbulence: How Safe Is Your Flight? (48 min, ENDEVR)
• Shot Down & Captured: American Airmen in WWII | FD History (90 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Exclusive Raw Footage Of The Airbus A350's First Flight (46 min, Spark)
• London To Sydney: What Really Happens On The World's Longest Flight? (67 min, Spark)
• The Red Arrows: Inside The World's Most Elite Flying Team (43 min, Wonder)
• The Science Behind Aviation’s Record Breaking Innovations (46 min, Spark)
• Flying like a bird (Big Questions 3/8) (44 min, VPRO Documentary)
• Captain Gets Sucked Out of Plane Window on Flight 5390 (52 min, Wonder)
• How Red Arrows Pilots Avoid Passing Out At 100 Feet! (43 min, Wonder)

Top-Rated Books About Pilots & Flying Machines

1. Skyfaring by Mark Vanhoenacker - View on Amazon
2. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
3. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough - View on Amazon
4. West with the Night by Beryl Markham (3.4/5) - View on Amazon