Pterodactyls (PSA, 1980s)

A creature from the age of dinosaurs, pterodactyls were huge, weaned, tailless reptiles that died out more than 60 million years ago. Recently, the Smithsonian Institution decided to build a working model of the extinct pterodactyl.

The project was guided by fossil remains and the ingenuity of Paul MacRide, who has built aircraft that fly on human power and on solar power. The launching had to be mechanical, But once the model was airborne, the wheels and tail were dropped, and a computer brain took charge of flapping the wings.

It worked fine at the California Test Site, but last Saturday, at an air show outside Washington, D.C., the launch assembly fell away too soon, and the computers started too late. Ooh! Alright, get the covering!

I'm Christopher Glenn with a pterodactyl tragedy in the new chain. This is CBS.