Rise of the Machines

Season 1

Episode 6: Heavyweight Helicopter

This episode explodes open the world's only purpose built flying crane–the Erickson Air Crane–to reveal the extraordinary technology that it depends on to construct 120 giant steel transmission towers in only eight days. Chief Pilot Travis Harrold and his crew take to the skies to build a vital link in a new $1.6 billion power line across the remote Albertan prairies. Grappling the controls of this 10,000 horsepower hauling machine, the team must lift eight-ton steel towers high into the air and set them with absolute precision. At critical moments, immersive CGI will peel back the Air Crane's aluminum skin to plunge us deep inside her DNA. Exploring engineering breakthroughs within this aerial acrobat will reveal surprising secrets of how the technology evolved, inspired by extraordinary lessons from nature and history.