The premiere episode reveals how Bill Boeing, Donald Douglas, James McDonnell and their contemporaries took the invention of the airplane and forged an industry, delivering advancements in communication, transportation, and warfare.

Shrinking the Earthexplores three planes that launched the jet age: the B-47 bomber, the Boeing 707 and the 747 Jumbo Jet, the world's first jumbo jet that reshaped global air travel. These three planes were made possible by secrets discovered in a German Forest at the close of WWII.