Smithsonian TV Guide — Friday, 10 July 2026

Browse the full Smithsonian TV guide for Friday, 10 July 2026. 24 programmes listed , including 6 tonight. US listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.

Early Morning

00:00 1h

Air Warriors

S7 · E1 · Top Dogfighters True

Top Dogfighters

Stories of aerial combat include tales of dangerous fights that took place over Nazi occupied Germany with P-38 Lightning and Messerschmitts aircrafts.

01:00 1h

Air Warriors

S4 · E2 · B-52 True

B-52

Boeing's hulking B-52 has been the bomber of choice for the U.S. Air Force since the mid-1950s because of its outstanding range and payload capability.

02:00 1h

Air Warriors

S3 · E2 · Chinook True

Chinook

The Chinook CH-47 has been the Army's favorite helicopter for heavy cargo hauling since the Vietnam War, and continual design improvements have kept it so.

03:00 1h

Air Warriors

S11 · E6 · B-1 Lancer True

B-1 Lancer

Narrators Beau Weaver and Bob Naughton talk about how the Cold War bomber B-1 Lancer evolved into one of America's most effective military aircrafts.

04:00 1h

Air Warriors

S9 · E2 · Top Ten Cold War True

Top Ten Cold War

In the Cold War battle between the U.S. and Soviet Union, some of the world's most formidable weapons were used, such as power lifters and nuclear bombers.

05:00 1h

Air Warriors

S4 · E1 · F-16 True

F-16

The General Dynamics F-16 is fast and nimble, and since the Vietnam War, it has evolved to become the U.S.' primary multirole warplane.

Morning

06:00 1h

Air Warriors

S9 · E1 · Top Ten WWII True

Top Ten WWII

The Allies used flying weapons in the fight against Nazi Germany, from the dogfighters like the P-51 Mustang and British Spitfire to the Hellcat dive-bomber.

07:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E14 · Washington Travel

Washington

The Evergreen State has a rugged, rainy west coast and a dry, flat eastern sector, and it has high-tech firms as well as North America's oldest history.

08:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E64 · The Great Plains Travel

The Great Plains

An aerial exploration is taken of a massive region of grassland that stretches from the tip of Texas across ten states to the Canadian border.

09:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E28 · Alabama Travel

Alabama

A flight over the Cotton State reveals much more than cotton fields, with a popular NASCAR speedway and the historic sites of many civil rights battles.

10:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E11 · South Carolina Travel

South Carolina

With prominent Civil War and Revolutionary War landmarks as well as Sullivan Island, the point of entry for slaves, the Palmetto State is full of history.

11:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E61 · Roadside Attractions Travel

Roadside Attractions

A road trip in the air soars above the Oregon Trail, the fields of Gettysburg, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon and other popular sightseeing destinations.

Daytime

12:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E59 · New England Travel

New England

An aerial tour of New England passes over the Massachusetts harbors where America's first acts of rebellion took place and the pristine lakes on Maine's border.

13:00 1h

Aerial America

S1 · E40 · Kentucky Travel

Kentucky

America's 15th state, Kentucky, is explored, with its rich history and breathtaking beauty, from Daniel Boone's wilderness trail to the Country Music Highway.

14:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S7 · E4 · Scratching the Surface True

Scratching the Surface

In 2002 a Boeing 747 flown by China Airlines comes apart in mid-air, and the cause is traced to damage from a 1980 accident which was never repaired adequately.

15:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S1 · E1 · Unlocking Disaster True

Unlocking Disaster

A Boeing 747 loses a cargo door and the resulting decompression buckles the floor of the passenger cabin, resulting in the loss of nine passengers.

16:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S1 · E6 · Flying on Empty True

Flying on Empty

An Airbus A330 with a major fuel leak caused by a maintenance mistake runs out of fuel after the pilots ignore the warnings from its centralized monitor.

17:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S8 · E2 · Science of Disaster: Cruel Skies True

Science of Disaster: Cruel Skies

At the U.S. Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, meteorologists demonstrate how the latest weather information is transmitted to pilots in the air.

Evening

18:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S13 · E3 · Lost in Translation True

Lost in Translation

A commuter plane with 10 aboard left Zurich, Switzerland but crashed two minutes after takeoff, and investigators had little concrete information to go on.

19:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S19 · E5 · Deadly Pitch Documentary

Deadly Pitch

A cargo plane crashes just moments after taking off from Miami, and it will take an anonymous tip to determine what went wrong.

20:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Landings Gone Wrong True

Landings Gone Wrong

When three flight crews decide to improvise their final approach, they choose to rely on instinct instead of the rules, which will end badly for them.

21:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S3 · E11 · Collision Course True

Collision Course

A ferry traveling between islands off the coast of Greece is placed on autopilot with no crew member assigned to watch the controls, and it strikes a reef.

22:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S16 · E8 · Caught in a Jam True

Caught in a Jam

A commuter turboprop slams into the side of a hill in New Zealand, and the search for answers inevitably leads to the cockpit.

23:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S19 · E2 · Death Race Documentary

Death Race

When a World War II-era fighter plane nosedives into the crowd at a Nevada air show, investigators call on the pilot's friend to help determine what went wrong.