DOGFIGHTS: MILITARY CHANNEL

**M4Fundi** · 11-22-10, 20:50

Anyone watching this series? Its really fantastic! They have CGI'd the dogfights so they look almost real and have the actual fighter pilots narrating their dogfight. Best thing I have seen in awhile.

**FromMyColdDeadHand** · 11-22-10, 21:28

Napolitano versus Reno: Classic.

Way better than the old WWII specials where the same zero rolls over and splashes into the ocean 15 times an hour. Loved the one on Duke Cunningham's fight.

**D. Christopher** · 11-22-10, 21:50

Wait till you see the ones with Robin Olds, Steve Ritchie, or Bud Anderson. Dozens of interviews with some of the greatest Americans, telling their stories in their own words and then having it accurately recreated with CG. I wish they would have made more episodes and captured the stories of more of these heroes before they're gone. Robin Olds and a few others have passed on recently. Every episode is worth watching, and I've watched every episode several times. Never gets old.

**chadbag** · 11-22-10, 22:22

Originally Posted by D. Christopher

Robin Olds

Wasn't he an ace in both WW2 and Vietnam?

**D. Christopher** · 11-23-10, 00:09

Originally Posted by chadbag

Wasn't he an ace in both WW2 and Vietnam?

Yes he was. 12 kills in WWII and 4 kills in Vietnam to make him a triple ace. He had 5 kills in the P-38 (Including shooting down a Bf-109 while in "glide mode" because he forgot to switch the fuel selector valves after jettisoning his wing tanks as he dove on the enemy.) He transitioned to P-51's and was credited with another 7 air kills (many more unclaimed or uncredited) and nearly 12 aircraft destroyed on the ground. Politics kept him out of Korea but then he was credited with 4 MiG kills while flying the F-4C Phantom II in Vietnam for a total of 16 air kills to his credit, and many more that he didn't take credit for.

The word great doesn't even begin to describe this man.

**SteyrAUG** · 11-23-10, 00:37

Originally Posted by M4Fundi

Anyone watching this series? Its really fantastic! They have CGI'd the dogfights so they look almost real and have the actual fighter pilots narrating their dogfight. Best thing I have seen in awhile.

Been watching it for awhile now. Really is an excellent show. Wish we had more stuff like this and less Swamp People and Ice Road Truckers.

**chadbag** · 11-23-10, 01:07

Originally Posted by D. Christopher

The word great doesn't even begin to describe this man.

I have a book I got as part of the military book club (probably in the late 80s -- young, working, single, money to spend) that was all about US Fighter Pilot aces. It basically listed all US aces from the start of aviation to when the book was published and had bios and stories on a lot of the more famous or interesting ones. That is where I first read about him. I had forgotten about him until this thread. I just read the Wikipedia entry on him. Very inspiring (and somewhat of a condemnation of the US military institution that rewards ineptness and playing along and punishes competence and "aggressiveness"). Worth a read.

**M4Fundi** · 11-23-10, 01:59

Originally Posted by chadbag

I have a book I got as part of the military book club (probably in the late 80s -- young, working, single, money to spend) that was all about US Fighter Pilot aces. It basically listed all US aces from the start of aviation to when the book was published and had bios and stories on a lot of the more famous or interesting ones. That is where I first read about him. I had forgotten about him until this thread. I just read the Wikipedia entry on him. Very inspiring (and somewhat of a condemnation of the US military institution that rewards ineptness and playing along and punishes competence and "aggressiveness"). Worth a read.

I'd like to know the title of that book? It should have my uncle in it