All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S06E08.Space.Plane.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

(Dramatic music)

Tom ward (narrates): A
monster machine in Ukraine

seemingly high tech yet
left to rust in a giant hanger.

You see a winged
structure, part of a fuselage

and then looming over all of it

is this absolutely
enormous aircraft.

A ghostly facility sprawling
across northern Indiana

displaying strange features.

So, we've got slides
coming out of these buildings

and those are not there for fun.

A forest of derelict towers in
Greece with mythical origins.

It's a dramatic site, a
collection of ruined towers

perched on a hill

with a coastline stretching
out in the distance.

And a collection of
ruined constructions

strategically perched on
the edge of a Scottish loch.

This is such a peaceful location

but these concrete structures,

they evoke a time when this loch

was transformed in to an area
of action and frantic activity.

Decaying relics...

Ruins of lost worlds...

Forged through years of toil

now haunted by the past...

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

(Mildly suspenseful music)

Ukraine Eastern
Europe on the outskirts

of the capital of Kiev sits
a vast featureless structure

that hides an
extraordinary secret.

We're in a kind of
industrial suburb

and as you come in to this
very abandoned derelict area

with weeds growing
through the pavement,

on the edge of this thing you
see this one enormous building.

The first thing that
strikes you is that

it has these massive,
massive doors,

over 100ft high so whatever

this building's intended for

was clearly some kind
of super size structure.

When you see
anything that's unusual

or just beyond your
normal expectation

in scale you're drawn to it,

you want to know what
lies behind those doors.

Inside, old machinery that
lines the cavernous interior

provides a clue as to what
was manufactured within.

It's kind of like a crypt
for ancient aircraft,

in pieces mostly.

You see different
parts laying around that

haven't been connected yet.

Dwarfing the
aircraft stored there

is one massive
fuselage of an aeroplane.

It is huge, it towers
above everything else

and it dominates the space.

We know that there's a link
between this mammoth aircraft

and the cold war but
just looking at the plane.

The link isn't clear.

What's the story behind of this?

Why get so far on
such a massive scale

and then not complete the job?

Inside this giant hanger

lies an impressive
feat of aviation history

that was once at the heart

of a fierce
international rivalry

between two super powers.

Hennadii silchenko has worked
for the Antonov design bureau

for nearly four decades...

He was part of the team responsible
for this plane's development.

As to where we are now...

I can say that we are standing

in one of the warehouses
of our company...

Which is used for
conservation and storage.

Antonov are a huge Ukrainian
aeronautical company,

they were known for
making big aeroplanes,

that was their thing.

And it's the sheer
scale of the parts

that are key to
understanding its origin.

At 84 metres in length,

it is over 11 metres longer than

the world's biggest
passenger plane flying today.

The famous a380,

the supersize passenger jet
from airbus, isn't even as large.

Clearly this aircraft
was designed

for some extraordinary purpose,

something extremely
large and heavy.

(Speaks foreign language)

Born at a time
when east and west

were locked in bitter struggle

this flying fortress was to
have a special role to play.

When we think about the cold war

we think about the
potential for military conflict

between the us and the ussr.

We think about nuclear weapons

and the build up
of that capability

but the cold war also took
place in all these other arenas.

There was a battle of propaganda

to be won as well and space

became the place
to fight that one out.

The space race took engineering

and creativity to
a whole new level.

So, in 1972

the United States announces
the space shuttle program.

And the Soviets
see this as alarming,

first of all it's a huge leap

in this prestigious space race.

The Americans are gonna have
a new generation of technology

the Soviets don't have.

The Soviets were
on the back foot

but they could see
that the shuttle program

was the future of
space exploration

and this plane is
part of that story.

This is the Antonov an-225,

the world's largest
model of aircraft.

But how was a giant plane
supposed to help the ussr

achieve its goal of
conquering space?

Soon as the us announced
the shuttle program,

the Soviets decided they
were gonna have to come back

with their own program
called the buran.

Geographically the ussr
is a huge, huge space

with lots of centres of
engineering excellence.

Now, the space shuttle program
requires huge pieces of technology.

Very big scale engineering
and to get them in to one place,

fit for launching,

you'd need to transport
everything to that location.

So, the Soviet solution...

Is to fly the space
shuttle to the cosmodrome

in southern Kazakhstan

and yet there is no
aircraft big enough

to carry a space shuttle.

The engineers knew that
the construction of an aircraft

that could solve those
issues would without doubt

elevate the aviation industry
of not only a Soviet state

but of the entire world.

With an epic challenge
ahead of them

the Antonov team got to work.

Just three years after the
idea for this model of aircraft

was conceived the monstrous

an-225 finally took to the skies

with a shuttle on its back.

One of the
challenges of carrying

a space shuttle on
top of an aircraft is

that it really
disrupts the airflow

so in the design
of the Antonov 225,

they split the tail
in to two pieces

so that the vertical stabilisers

were outside of
that turbulent zone.

And when it took off

it was not only a shock
for the whole world

but to some extent
even for us, its creators.

Such a plane in the air
is still fantastic to witness.

And it was striking
'cause in 1989

to kind of announce this

great technological
breakthrough to the world

they send the an-225
to the Paris air show.

And everybody who
sees it is just blown away

by the sheer scale
of this aircraft.

With the an-225 declared
a resounding success,

the Soviet union forged ahead

with plans to
assemble three more.

This was meant to be number
two off the production line.

Forget about just being
an engineering marvel,

for the Soviets this was a
massive propaganda coup.

Although in the end

it really turned out
to be too little too late.

A storm was brewing
that would spell disaster

for the world's
biggest aircraft.

A couple of years later
the Soviet union collapsed

and everything changed.

There was really no
purpose for the plane,

it got mothballed,

the other models that
were under construction

never got completed.

Without the space race,

without that
competition with the usa,

why did the world need
a plane on that scale?

That's what nobody
could figure out.

Yet that wasn't
the end of its story.

Pilot dmytro Antonov
is one of the few men

to have flown this
winged leviathan.

An-225 was bought
back to life in 2001,

it started to fly again.

And since that time it
has performed numerous

humanitarian missions.

But with the plane costing
an astonishing 24,000 pounds

an hour to charter, it's
rarely called in to action.

When it does make an
appearance it attracts quite a crowd.

When we went to
Australia for instance

we were met by more
than 15,000 people.

And when you
realise that all of them

just came to see
us, to see the plane,

it makes us feel proud,
we are proud to be flying it.

What puts this on
the must see list is that

it actually holds
240 world records

including carrying

the world's heaviest
commercial cargo

and the world's
heaviest single object.

(Soft music)

Today this incomplete chapter

in aviation history
may lie in pieces

but Antonov have not
given up hope of one day

seeing it take to the skies.

Unlike the first aircraft,

this one is unfinished,
however we are still proud of it.

Of course we really
want to finish it,

we have the means to do so,

the only thing we
need is a customer

who would buy it

and then we would start
work on it straight away.

It's getting another look
by powers like China

as a possible entree into
the space race for themselves.

So, you know, potentially
there is still even a bright future.

On a remote coast in Scotland

a cluster of ruins emerge
out of a wild landscape.

(Suspenseful music)

On the fringes of the
north west highlands,

on the tip of Scotland,
you're totally exposed

to the full force of
the north Atlantic.

We've got a rocky
rugged coastline

and we've got
concrete fortifications

built right in to the rocks.

You can see that this
is a defended location.

Some look like lookout posts,

others more like pillboxes
or gun emplacements.

It becomes ever clearer that

this was a scene of a
major military enterprise.

We have to wonder

what is so important

here in this quiet rural area

that needs to be
defended like this.

This was the setting
for a daring operation.

Yet mystery still
swirls around this site.

The impact of the
war has left its Mark

and it's a story that
due to the secrecy act

isn't entirely well understood.

The origins of this secret site

are intrinsically tied

to a remarkable story of
perseverance and sacrifice.

When we look at the way

these reinforced
concrete emplacements

are designed and built

it's very clearly
mid 20th century,

it's second world war era stuff.

And yet when we think about

second world war
in the British isles

we think about defending
London from a Nazi invasion.

Were the allies expecting Hitler

to mount a UK
attack from the north?

Or is there another reason
for fortifying so heavily

this remote region
of the British isles?

This is a part of Scotland

that was facing
away from the Nazi's.

Why would we build fortifications
that face away from the threat?

The area has a sparse
local population...

Yet for one of
them, Nicky ellakirk...

This military site has
always held an allure.

My childhood was spent
playing around this bunkers,

it's a rather unique kids
playground made up of, you know,

70 year old rusting
lumps of concrete.

Yet there was a time when
this was a hive of activity.

We're up here in a tiny
fishing crofting community

and there was this sudden
influx of 3,000 troops

who landed from everywhere,

India, Poland, britain,
other overseas territories.

Why were troops flooding
in to this desolate area?

Various remnants of military
hardware provide clues.

Francis Russell has been
researching the site for decades.

Here we have the,

one of the six-inch
gun emplacements.

There were two
six-inch guns here

and then further round the
corner another two six-inch guns.

They were a deterrent
and they looked mean.

Beneath these guns

a mine field ran across
the mouth of the loch...

And behind that
another line of defence.

We've got submarine boom netting

which is large rings of wire all
woven together like chainmail,

that was hung
between surface floats

and huge chunks of
concrete on the seabed.

As well as protecting
against u-boats,

lookout towers warned
of incoming aircraft

or naval attacks.

It's hard to imagine now

but this was once
a hive of activity.

Hundreds of ships
and thousands of men

all crammed in
to this small area.

This is loch ewe, a sea loch
used as a secret assembly point

in the second world war,

its need was driven

by the German invasion
of the Soviet union.

When the Germans attack Russia

on June 22, 1941,

they sweep initially

almost literally to
the gates of Moscow.

And first britain and then
once america enters the war,

america promise aid to Russia.

These vital supplies had to
be transported by sea to Russia

from a suitable base and
it had to remain secret.

People often ask why loch ewe.

And the answer is quite simple,

it's at the extreme range
for German bombers

at the beginning of the war.

It's got a narrow entrance
which makes it easier to protect,

it's deep up to 240ft...

And its wide and
it's a safe Anchorage.

Loch ewe is a
different kind of loch,

it's a narrow inlet of the sea.

It's salt water, it is
exposed to the elements...

But it's a really clever place

to tuck away a
big naval operation

until you're ready to
let it loose on the world.

By February 1942, loch ewe

was fully operational as a
base for the arctic convoys,

with its first convoy
sailing that same month.

Merchant ships
carried the supplies

and were escorted by
ships of the royal Navy,

and the Canadian and us navies.

The arctic convoy is one
of the biggest examples

of cooperation during the war,

it was a combined operation
of 14 different nations

ranging all the way from
India through Panama,

the Netherlands, the UK,
Canada, the us, the list goes on.

Men would have been drafted

from all of these various places

and put on ships and
sent up to loch ewe.

These men would have

little idea of their
ultimate destination.

But all feared the
dreaded arctic run.

Often the first clue

they'd have that they were
heading out round the north

instead of back
down to the south

would be the ships
would be loaded

with cold weather gear,

cold weather gear
consists of a sturdy coat...

Not much to protect you
against the ice and hail

and freezing waves.

The route for transporting
supplies to Russia

was a highly treacherous one.

The best route,

the fastest and
most efficient route

to get warm material to Russia

was through the ice
free northern ports

and that's murmansk
and archangelsk

and that is going
this northern route.

Ships on the murmansk run
had to worry about the Nazi's,

they had to worry about
u-boats, destroyers,

battle cruisers
operating out of Norway.

Nazi planes flying
out of Norway.

Then had to navigate the
perils of the icy arctic water.

Fog that camouflaged icebergs

and snow storms
raging across their bows.

Many were young boys
you'd have volunteered,

some as young as 16.

The merchant seamen
never signed up for war

and here they find
themselves amidst ice, storms,

gails and the constant
threat of the enemy.

Could they successfully
arm the Soviets

against the biggest land
invasion in human history?

And would loch ewe manage
to stay under the Nazi radar?

(Dramatic music)

Ships that arrived in loch ewe
had to pass an examination vessel

and then once
through the boom net,

which was for protecting
against enemy subs,

they were allocated
a place to anchor.

We had to have lots of
buildings to accommodate sailors

and to accommodate
the dockyard technicians

who would do all
the work of refuelling,

resupplying and repairing ships.

But the key was to avoid

alerting the Nazi's
to their presence.

You want to have radio silence

because your enemy
will have direction finders

so you want to have
prominent signal posts

so you can use light signals,

signal flags to communicate

throughout the fleet
through visual signals

and not use the radio.

Your best defence is secrecy.

A total of 19 convoys made
up of 481 merchant ships

and over 100 naval escort
vessels left loch ewe for Russia

during world war ii.

Part of a highly
effective convoy system.

What is amazing though is that

despite German attacks only 7%

of the ships and convoy traffic

through northern
Russia will be lost.

This vast volume of materials
and weapons flowing in to Russia

helped the Soviets fend off
Hitler's massive invasion force.

The boots that they wore

in Russia were made in america,

the jeeps that they
drove in Russia

were made in america.

Because we the western
allies were able to ship

so much stuff to
the Soviet union,

the Soviets were
able to keep on fighting

and without the Russians
defeating the Nazi's from the east,

we all would not have been
able to defeat the Nazi's.

After April 1945, loch ewe
became a marshalling point

for many of the German u-boats

that had surrendered
whilst still at sea.

Yet this success still
came at great cost.

3,000 or so brave young men

went up north and died on
what Winston Churchill called

the worst journey in the world.

Loch ewe is a monument to the
way that people came together,

the Russians, the Americans,
the British, Canadians,

all came together
to defeat the Nazi's.

Today the Russian
arctic convoy museum

works to ensure these
stories of bravery live on,

along with these
concrete remains.

They need to be preserved

to let people know that...

Sacrifices were made.

In the open countryside
of north Indiana

lies a sprawling network
of over grown structures

that hide a secret past.

This is a complex that
covers thousands of acres

and what you see are clusters

of buildings, widely separated.

Some of them festooned
with undergrowth and trees,

some of them look
almost like tree houses.

When you get up close

you can see that the buildings
are strangely segmented

with large walls
covering each segment.

This looks like a place that
people forgot about entirely.

Did something desperate happen
to warn people to stay away?

The scale of the site
suggests this place

was once of Paramount importance

but it's the distinctive layout
and design of the buildings

that offer the clues as to why.

What you're looking at is

something that is
certainly organised

not for efficiency
but for safety factors.

What could be so important
but also so dangerous?

Overgrown and abandoned today

this place was once
filled with workers.

Amongst them in the
1950s was fern eddy Schultz

who was employed
here as a secretary.

Much of the work she
did was highly confidential.

The saying here was

what you're seeing here
and what you hear here you

let it stay here.

We weren't at Liberty to go out

and tell anybody
a lot of the things

that we saw go on.

It's no accident that this
site was built out here

in rural Indiana.

But secrecy wasn't
the only reason.

If you're gonna build
a factory to make jeeps

you'll do it in Detroit

because that's where
the work force is,

that's where the facilities are.

If you are gonna
build things that

go bang you don't want to
do it in the middle of a city.

Hidden in the woods are
clues to what this place was.

Look at the way
escape slides had been

located around the place.

Those are not there for
fun, this is not a playground.

The chutes were for the
safety of the employees

in the event there was
a, what we called a blow.

This was the kingsbury
ordnance plant.

A vast ammunition
manufacturing site.

On 7 December, 1941,
Japan attacked the naval base

at Pearl harbour and the us

soon entered the
second world war.

Sites like this were
desperately needed

but getting a place like

kingsbury built and up to speed
would take months if not years.

To successfully fight

a major war in
Europe and the pacific

you needed ammunition.

The us government
goes to a place in Indiana

that's right on the railway,

it's near the coal
and steel output

of the mid-west in Pittsburgh,

it's built on 13,500
acres of farmland.

This site is huge.

And you've got these
very widely spaced factories

so that if there is a
disaster in one area,

it won't set off all the
others in a chain reaction.

The site also included
ammunition storage,

barracks, laboratories,
offices and testing facilities.

All linked together
by miles of rail tracks.

Fern remembers
her time working here

years later during the 1950s,

the systems however
were much the same.

We're on a one line
and on the one line

they made what we
call fuses and boosters,

the fuses were part of something

that set the ammunition
off when it was fired.

The booster boosted
the capacity of the fuse.

The final product
on the two line

was a 20 millimetre shell

and on the three line
was a 30 millimetre

and so on down the
line to the five line.

Separating the facilities wasn't
the only safety measure taken

because the work being
carried out inside these buildings

also dictated how
they were built.

The main thing that

they're producing here
is smokeless powder

and it's a process that
uses a lot of different acids,

it's a very dangerous
process to do.

You see the interior
walls are really solid

and then the exterior walls

and the roofs are relatively
thinly built of light steel,

glass, plastic,

and that's so that if
there's an accident

the interior wall
will be so strong

that it will direct the blast
toward the weaker areas away

from the very valuable
machinery and also the man power.

But with the us
suddenly embroiled in war

in the pacific and in Europe,

how would such a vast
site be made ready in time?

In December 1941, the us
entered the second world war,

while the attack
on Pearl harbour

had come as a
sudden tragic surprise,

the military had been
preparing to enter the war

for some time and sites like
the kingsbury ordnance plant

had actually been
operational for months.

You see the story
begins long before

the Americans go to
war in Pearl harbour.

United States although
not willing to actively

jump in to world war ii,

saw the danger of a
possible Nazi victory

and began a massive
rearmament program.

As early as the summer of 1941

kingsbury had been shipping out

munitions to Europe
to aid the allies.

From here its importance
would only increase.

This place kingsbury
ordnance plant

was an absolutely critical
piece of the us war machine

in world war ii.

At its height in a single day,

kingsbury produced 180,000
point detonating fuses...

Over 46,000 40 millimetre shells

and 500,000 rounds of
20 millimetre ammunition.

But to achieve this staggering
output level it needed workers,

something that was hard
to find in rural Indiana.

They purpose built
a neighbourhood

here at kingsbury
heights to house people

because there was nobody here.

In all close to 21,000
people worked at the site.

In amongst them was a
great number of women

both breaking down
old social conventions

and doing their part
for the war effort.

They are working full shifts,

double shifts in factories,

and that changes not only
the way others see them

but it changes the way
they see themselves.

But despite the progress

the work force faced
numerous dangers

and ailments that
could last a lifetime.

People are being
exposed to toxic chemicals.

People are getting
burns from flammables

and in some cases

people are displaying
really worrying symptoms.

Employees were forced
to wear these powder suits,

they had to
remove all jewellery,

anything that might
cause static electricity,

any kind of friction
that could create

a spark would set off

some kind of a conflagration
inside the ammunitions plant

or any of its buildings.

In the powder blending areas

people actually turned orange

from handling the material.

When the second world war
ended the plant went in to standby

before being called back
into action for the korean war.

Finally in 1960 it
closed for good.

Today it's a shadow
of its former self.

But in its prime, the
kingsbury ordnance plant

and those who worked here

were a valuable part of
the defence of america.

I think that, there was a
feeling amongst all of us

that worked here that we
were all part of the war effort.

And we're doing our share.

We're very proud to
be making something

that was helping
our country be free.

In southern Greece is a
barren land that time forgot,

in what's known
as the deep mani,

a craggy headland juts out
in to the mediterranean sea.

This is an
inhospitable landscape

and even today few tourists
actually venture this far south.

Near the end of this
dramatic peninsula

in what appears almost
like mountainous desert

you catch a glimpse
of these ruins.

You have the perfect vantage

looking out to sea
and down the coast.

These towers look almost
military rather than civilian.

They kind of blend
in to the landscape

but they are defensive,
they are proud

and they are there to be seen.

These constructions

have become synonymous
with the maniats,

a great warrior people still
revered by Greeks today.

Part of the mystery of
the area to me is well,

who were these war faring maniats,
you know, where did they come from?

Some believe they
descend from the spartans

and thus they have this kind of

mythical invincibility
in Greek culture.

Over the centuries the
maniats developed a reputation

as fierce some fighters.

How did they
garner this reputation

and how did these
now battered towers

fit in to that story?

Local guide and
author Matthew Dean

has been exploring
these castle-like structures

for over 30 years.

You just have to walk

around these ruined
towers and imagine

what was it like 100
years ago, 200 years ago,

it's a place for those who
like using their imagination

rather than seeing
something directly

for what it is now.

So, if we look at the,
the towers themselves,

the first thing that strikes
you is just how tall they are,

three or four storeys high.

Why?

Defence.

From there you get a great view

over potential
threats arriving by sea.

The towers are narrow,

they've got tiny windows

and on top there are turrets

and they are also places
where you could put weapons.

So, when designing
your bespoke war tower

you had a number of choices,

sometimes they'd build
just a war tower on its own

which is only ever
used, in times of war,

or to make life a bit easier

you'd add on a more open easier

to live in space
for times of peace

and then when the threat
comes you'd retreat in

to the tower for as
long as necessary.

In the 15th century Greeks
came to this remote mani peninsula

fleeing the area around sparta

when it was taken
by the ottoman Turks.

The new inhabitants who
became known as the maniats

developed a certain notoriety

and would inspire a revolution

but in the meantime
survival was everything.

The number one
concern was defence.

Both defence against
foreign invaders

coming in by sea whether
it was venetians or Turks

but also due to the
lack of resources

in this very infertile area

it was to defend your own
family against your neighbour.

You had to fight your
neighbour literally to survive.

Ritualised vendettas

between families could
last for months, even years.

So, feuding became a
fairly regular part of life

for the, the maniats
living down here.

An English colonel in 1805
noted that over the last 40 years

100 of vatheia's
men had been killed

in an ongoing feud
between two families.

To lose 100 men out of
a total population of 300

is a huge amount

and that gives you an idea

of how bitter the
feuds were in this area.

And so you and
your clan needed to

defend your plot against
others with equal ambitions,

whether Turks, venetians,

pirates or neighbouring clans,

the method of defence,
to build a tower.

These are the mani
towers of vatheia.

The design of the towers

played a crucial role in
protection from your enemies.

Not only did these stone

sky scrapers give you
a good vantage point

to view any potential
aggressors on the horizon,

they also gave you
a high vantage point

to defend for potential
ground attackers.

Small windows, easy to
shoot down on your enemy,

even better if you block them up

leaving just a tiny
hole for the muskets

and small doorways are
much harder to breach.

Construction of the towers
increased in the late 18th century

as the Turkish
threat intensified

and the maniats bitterly
resisted the ottoman Turks

who now controlled
the rest of Greece.

The fighting between
the Turks and the maniats

was particularly vicious.

If a maniat went down
in battle and was injured,

a fellow soldier would take him,

kiss him on the forehead
and then lop off his head,

it was better to die at the
hand of your fellow man

than to fall in to
the Turks hands.

In to the early 1800s a
revolution was brewing.

This was the moment

when the maniats would seal
their reputation as great warriors.

The war for independence

started down here in the mani,

significant clansmen gathered
there their troops together,

hooked up with other clansmen

and together they all marched
to meet up with kolokotronis,

who all Greeks regard as
the father of the revolution.

Throughout Greece there
developed a slogan freedom

or victory whereas
the mani's version,

it was a little different,
death or victory.

And this sums up the
difference with the maniats,

they always consider
themselves free

and independent and
never subject to ottoman rule.

By 1826, ottoman soldiers

renewed their offensive
in the mani peninsula.

7,000 men were forced to retreat

by the fierce maniats
attacking from their towers.

Greek independence
was finally secured in 1830

and the mani's
resistance of the Turks

has never been forgotten.

This is the only part of Greece

that never fell to the Turks,

that never became part
of the ottoman empire.

The pride that the
Greeks feel for this area

comes from their determination

not to be conquered
by the ottoman empire,

the rest of Greece fell
including crete behind us,

but the mani
remained independent.

The mani had been
making their homes in towers

for not decades but
hundreds of years

and the towers evolved over
time starting off very small,

very military, a statement
of power to external enemies

but over time they become
slightly more domestic

but still with that
structure, that power.

Over time the inhabitants
emigrated to major cities

with many heading
to Western Europe,

Australia and the United States.

The fact that these towers

were orientated towards
war and defence means that

they just don't have a
place in the modern world.

So, they remain
largely blocked up

and left gradually
crumbling away.

I think it's important the
vatheia remains preserved

because it's a very clear
indication of past times

where life was difficult,

life was violent and yet

within such dire circumstances

there was still a fierce pride

and almost a sense of nobility
of being a member of that society.

(Dramatic music)

Now, they're abandoned
crumbling ruins,

many remind us of dark times

but some were once beacons
of hope and progress...

Lasting testimonies
to human imagination,

enterprise and spirit.

Captioned by
ai-media ai-media. TV