July 23, 2001
CONTACT: Bree Rosenfelt
703-243-6987 ext. 100

ARLINGTON, VA – Thirteen new people who made American air power the most respected in the world will be profiled on public television stations nationally beginning October, 2001.

The series, LEGENDS OF AIRPOWER, begins its second season with household names like John McCain and Charles Lindbergh. But it will also profile lesser-known airpower figures such as Charles McGee, WWII member of the Tuskegee Airmen; Robert Morgan, pilot of the famed Memphis Belle; and Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle captain. Also to be profiled: Buzz Aldrin, who began his piloting career in the Korean War, and shot to fame as the man who followed Neil Armstrong onto the moon.

Each LEGEND is profiled in a separate, thirty-minute biographical program that traces their life and times.

"LEGENDS shows that these were really ordinary people who did extraordinary things when called upon by their country," said Russ Hodge, Executive Producer of the series. "Coming on the heels of Band of Brothers, Pearl Harbor, Saving Private Ryan and others, we feel that audiences are hungering for old-fashioned, patriotic television programs."

Last season, more than 150 public TV stations—covering two-thirds of the United States—broadcast LEGENDS more than three thousand times, including at least one station in each of the top ten markets. The series is also broadcast, internationally, on Armed Forces Radio & TV.

The production staff for LEGENDS OF AIRPOWER has a combined half-dozen Emmy Awards. They have produced programming for NBC, Fox, HBO, and others. Their last public TV series FRONTIERS OF MEDICINE was seen on more than 165 PBS stations nationally.

LEGENDS OF AIRPOWER is partially underwritten by a grant from the Aerospace Education Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aerospace education to the American people, students, and the men and women of the United States Air Force. Additional underwriting is provided by the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which has honored over 150 aviation and space leaders - pilots, teachers, scientists, engineers, inventors and others - by inducting them into the Hall of Fame.

LEGENDS OF AIRPOWER is presented on public TV by South Carolina ETV, one of the premier producing stations in public television, and is distributed by American Public Television. American Public Television (APT), located in Boston, is a major source of programming for the nation’s public television stations.

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