Belly Of The Beast
3 X 1hr Production for Discovery
Host Rossi Morreale loves machines, and in this series he
searches out three advanced pieces of technology to find out
what makes them tick.
Focusing on Tanks, Helicopters and Giant Trucks he meets the
people who make them and the people who depend on them, and he gets
to push these mechanical beasts to their limits.
Rossi follows the building of an Abrams M1 tank from the
production line to the front line. He discovers the keys to its
success are mobility, armor protection and firepower and he learns
what it takes to join a tank crew when he tries driving and firing
the most dangerous beast on the battlefield. Finally, Rossi
joins an exercise in the Mojave desert to see how this 70 ton
machine performs in the ultimate test of battle.
At Bell Helicopter, Rossi discovers the technology that lets the
chopper take off and land virtually anywhere. He sees the precision
of helicopter manufacture and discovers the awesome lifting power
of the Chinook. He finds out for himself just how hard these beasts
are to fly and gets to ride in a classic chopper - the Bell 47.
Rossi gets rescued by the L.A. County Fire Department and he
joins a live firing exercise with Apaches and Blackhawks courtesy
of the US Army at Fort Hood.
Finally, Rossi joins stunt pilot Chuck Aaron as he puts a
helicopter to the ultimate test in a roller coaster of a ride.
At the Komatsu factory in Illinois, Rossi joins the team
assembling a truck that's taller than a three storey house. He
learns how to weld the enormous chassis and how to transport
something that's wider than most highways.
He discovers what it's like to drive a 600 ton beast and at the
huge Bingham Canyon mine in Utah he sees the punishment these
giants take as they haul rock and copper ore 24 hours a day, every
day of the year.