Takeoff TV | About

Takeoff TV – The TV show from the world of aviation

At Takeoff TV you´ll find films and aviation stuff.

Main topic

– Airports, civil aviation, cargo

Film styles

– Documentaries, cockpit-videos

Distribution

– Internet (YouTube, Vimeo)
– DVDs, Blu-rays

Merchandising

Cool „aviation stuff“ on offer at
– Amazon.com
– Amazon.co.uk

Formation

I’ve always loved aviation. My father helped me as a child to build a model airplane and fly behind our house. That was a lot of fun for me, and I’ve probably been infected with the aviation virus ever since.

The idea for Takeoff TV emerged in the early 1990s. After studying media technology in Germany, I worked as a freelance editor for a company that produced aviation films and distributed them on VHS cassettes. Yes, that’s how special interest films were brought to the audience back then … The most interesting production from that time was a documentary about the legendary Hong Kong airport Kai Tak. This airport was infamous because all aircraft had to make a deep turn over the city canyons for the runway 13.

At this time, I thought that there had to be a place on German television for an aviation magazine. That’s the way it finally was, but it took years before the conditions were right. After several inquiries at various TV stations, in 1999 the then managing director of the news channel n-tv finally agreed to my idea. After Red Bull entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz promised support, Takeoff TV could take off.

The first takeoff episode was aired in January 2001 and had a length of 17 minutes. Title: „The dream of flying“ – the portrait of a certain Austrian BASE-jumper named Felix Baumgartner … the man who became world famous years later with the record jump from a balloon that had ascended into the stratosphere.

Takeoff TV stayed with n-tv for a surprisingly long time, through all the confusion and errors of the station. The managers came and went, as well as the owners … for us free producers it became more and more difficult. 2013 we had to end the to co-operatation with n-tv.

I moved to London and started a new internet business. Today, I am focusing on making Takeoff more international. We have the YouTube channel, offer cockpit flights on DVD, Blu-ray, Video on Demand – and sell cool aviation stuff. That way, Takeoff can grow worldwide again, and I can maintain direct contact with you aviation fans.

Yours sincerely,

Frank Zwecker