On Monday at 8 p.m., TV Asahi presents the fourth special in its ongoing documentary series about the history of human endeavor with "The Legend of Human Flight."
The program explores flight from both the imaginative and creative aspects. In the realm of the imagination, flight has always had a central place in ancient myths the world over, but it wasn't until Leonardo da Vinci devised a theory of flight for humans that the idea entered the scientific realm.
The program's host, Yosuke Eguchi, works with a number of international technicians to re-create the gliders sketched out in Leonardo's notebooks and then tests them out. The program also explores attempts at human flight throughout history, which was first achieved with hot-air balloons.