BBC Series - Engineering Giants

[giftgrub]

Set your Sky + (or similar) to record this new series from the BBC, starts Sunday July 15th 20.00 on BBC HD and BBC TWO. The first programme is about a British Airways 747 but one of the three episodes is a refit of a P&O Ferry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l1w71

Episode 1 of 3
DURATION: 1 HOUR
Engineer turned comedian Tom Wrigglesworth and Rob Bell, rising star of mechanical engineering, climb on board Victor X-ray, a 200 ton, £200,000,000 Boeing 747.

This jumbo jet has flown over 36 million miles in its 14 year life with British Airways. Now it will be broken into tens of thousands of parts in the airline's maintenance hangar in Cardiff, before being painstakingly reassembled and certified fit to fly again. This is the first time this complex process has ever been filmed and it provides fascinating insights into just how a 747 works.

Rob and Tom also visit the UK's largest plane salvage centre in the Cotswolds to discover what happens to a 747 when it reaches the end of its working life, and discover how valuable parts are stripped for resale before the carcass is torn apart to be recycled

[giftgrub]

Next episode of this great series is on a gas rig, so episode three will feature a car ferry, unless I have wrong info.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l9m3h

Episode 2 of 3
DURATION: 1 HOUR
Engineer turned comedian Tom Wrigglesworth and Rob Bell, rising star of mechanical engineering, tell the story as an entire North Sea Gas installation, the Lima Platform, is pulled from the sea by floating cranes, brought back to Newcastle, and then torn into tiny pieces for recycling.

But the platform is not just thousands of tons of steel. It was once home to the men and women called the North Sea Tigers. They pioneered gas and oil exploration in the UK and now some of them are ending their careers as part of the decommissioning process. As the gas platform is stripped down these engineers reveal the secrets of this vital part of our energy supplies, but they also reveal the emotional bonds to the engineering marvel that formed such an important part of their lives

[giftgrub]

And the final Episode of this series features the Pride Of Bruges

Due to be broadcast on Sunday July 29th @ 20.00 on BBC HD and BBC TWO.

Episode 3 of 3
DURATION: 1 HOUR
Engineer turned comedian Tom Wrigglesworth and Rob Bell, rising star of mechanical engineering, climb on board the The Pride of Bruges, a massive, 25 thousand ton North Sea ferry as it is brought into dry dock in Newcastle.

It has been ploughing the route from Hull to Zeebrugge for over a quarter of a century and is now in need of the biggest overhaul of its life in an attempt to prolong its seaworthiness for another decade. Tom and Rob also travel to Europe's largest ship breaking yard in Belgium, to discover what happens to ships at the end of their lives. As they watch massive hulls being torn apart, they gain more insights into how a ship works and how their massive carcasses are recycled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01llr67

[giftgrub]

On tonight on BBC 2, repeated on BBC HD at 00.00 and on BBC 2 at 00.30 on Friday 3 Aug 2012.

Very interesting for anyone who likes the ferry business.

[Matt73]

Thank you for alerting me to this wondeful programme, it was absolutely facsincating (as were the other two).  As one who was/is not technically minded, it was a revelation. 

It is also a tribute to the design, construction and maintenance of the old Norsun that it is still in such good nick a quarter of a century after it first entered service.

I also think that it was a great pity to see the Pride of York under the Bahamian flag, along with the Pride of Hull.

Quest channel repeated the Might Ships programme about Stena Britannica today, also excellent. 

Matt

[giftgrub]

Your welcome, found all three programmes very interesting, I have been to the BA Maintenance facility in Cardiff and it really is an amazing place with the work that they are able to do there refurbishing the 747's. They also do work on the other wide body craft - 767,777 etc.

As for the P&O programme, never knew they would have to fit new steel onto a worn car deck and the work involved in doing so, really informative television.

Image below we took at the top of the tailfin of a 747 with 2 more 747's in the background while at BA Cardiff.

[Matt73]

Thank you; I saw the 747 programme too and found it fascinating.

The car deck replacement on the Bruges was a surprise, as were the many nooks and crannies they managed to get into.

I was slightly disappointed that they didn't take the time to film and explain in more detail the mechanics around the York leaving the berth, moving into the lock and out into the Humber.  The bridge wing consoles are very interesting pieces if kit.

Matt

[giftgrub]

Here is the show, now available on Youtube

[media width=600]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ87ROzLacg[/media]