Dog fights on the History channel

[Erich]

well I am not for supporting this bogus outfit but I received an email from a good German friend and ex-pilot of the LW. His story covering the Rammkommando Elbe (false name actually) will be aired on Dogfights I believe on the History Channel July 13, 07 in the USA. Sorry not sure when the episode will be covered elsewhere in Europe or ....... ? In any case he has been assured that the History Channel writers are not going to add nor subtract from his story and service record during the war for this part. there may even be some coverage on the Sturmgruppen, happy thought indeed ....

Erich

 

[lesofprimus]

Ill be lookin foward to that episode...

 

[Erich]

bud his name is Fritz Marktscheffel, formerly of NJG 101 and then into day fighter school and then..........well listen to his story, the man is a great guy in all respects

 

[lesofprimus]

Excellent...

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Very cool - I do like that show even though sometimes the "experts" they bring on board are very lame. They just had an episode about Vietnam that featured Dan Cherry and Fred Omstead - two Mig killers. My father in law recently met both these guys and flew with them in L-39s.

 

[timshatz]

Cool. Great graphics on that show. Good show. No idea about the accuracy of the stories, seemed ok, sometimes a little sensational. But that probably draws eyes to the show.

Glad it made it to the second season.

 

[Hunter368]

I liked the shows they were cool.

 

[timshatz]

Season Two for Dogfights starts this Friday. Here is the list of the shows as they were post on the History Channel Website:

Season TWO
JET ACES
Capt. James Jabara makes history in the skies over MiG Alley by downing two MiG-15s to become the first American jet ace. The episode also includes spectacular fights with Hoot Gibson and Ralph Parr.

THUNDERBOLT!
Episode features the legendary P-47 Thunderbolt and the courageous pilots who flew them - including Robert S. Johnson's fight where a German Fw190 unloads all of his ammo into the Thunderbolt but can't knock it down. The show also details fights with Thunderbolt Aces Donald Bryan and George Sutcliffe.

DELTA WIND WARRIORS
Israeli pilots, flying fighters designed with the innovative delta wing, duel with the best Arab pilots. Ran Ronen, in his delta wing Mirage, battles a Jordanian Hawker-Hunter fighter, chasing him down a canyon for eight minutes. He eventually shoots the enemy plane and the pilot ejects sideways into the canyon wall! Also, Israel's top ace, Giora Epstein, flies his Mirage against a Sukhoi-7 and bags his first kill. Later, Epstein goes head-to-head against the enemy's own delta wing fighter - the feared MiG-21.

GUN KILLS OF VIETNAM
In a war where most of the kills were with long-range missiles, the most exciting dogfights were decided with guns. A-1 Skyraiders down a MiG-17 with 20mm cannon. Phil Handley, flying mach1.2, downs a MiG-21 with his guns to record the first supersonic gun kill in history.

LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE/AMERICA'S FIRST ACE
Raoul Lufberry, along with 38 other Americans, pioneer dogfighting tactics flying as mercenaries with the French Air Service. In the legendary Obendorff raid Lufberry scores his fifth kill to become America's first ace.

BLOOD OVER BAGHDAD
The planes have changed but the jeopardy remains the same. American fighter pilots pit F-15s against Iraqi MiG-25s and advanced MiG-29s. Included are fights with USAF pilots Steven Tate, Cesar Rodriguez, Craig Underhill, and Richard Tollini.

THE BLUE-NOSED BASTARDS
The 352nd fighter group flew P-51 Mustangs with a distinctive blue-nose paint scheme that gave them their name. They became one of the most decorated fighter squadrons in the European theater. Including Don Bryan's ace-in-a-day mission. Also, Alden Rigby and Sandy Moats down four German planes apiece in a legendary dogfight.

THE BLUE-NOSED BASTARDS
The 352nd fighter group flew P-51 Mustangs with a distinctive blue-nose paint scheme that gave them their name. They became one of the most decorated fighter squadrons in the European theater. Including Don Bryan's ace-in-a-day mission. Also, Alden Rigby and Sandy Moats down four German planes apiece in a legendary dogfight.

THE BLOODIEST DAY
May 10, 1972. The bloodiest day of air combat during the Vietnam war featured numerous twisting and turning dogfigts. Bob Lodge and Roger Locher pioneer electronic warfare and engage in one of the most exciting air battles of the war.

BATTLE OF THE FALKLANDS
The 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands triggered war with the United Kingdom. Remarkable vertical take-off and landing Sea Harriers take on Mirages and A4s in some of the best dogfights of the modern age. The British establish air superiority but the Argentines sink several ships with wave-top level attacks in A4s.

DUEL OF THE ACES
Shorty Rankin is an American ace pilot in one of the most distinguished fighter groups in the history of air combatthe 56th FG. Gunther Rall is a top German ace, now transferring from the Eastern front to face the American threat in the west. They're on a collision course...and their fates will be decided in a historic dogfight on May 23, 1944.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Cool!

 

[Erich]

interesting, don Bryan of the 352nd is more known for his P-51 exploits, a great guy, I put up his Ar 234 encounters somewhere on these forum(s). Ace Alden Rigby sure has some good stores to tell; another fine man.

that last one is somewhat of a crack up to me. Rall against 5 P-47 Jugheads yeah that is really a fair fight, and yet Rall only lost a thumb showing just what kind of a hot shot pilot he really was.

the episode that I speak of is the 2nd part of Kamikaze so I am told

 

[Njaco]

Erich, I may be alittle fuzzy, but you said Rammkommando Elbe was a false name? Is the proper term Werewolf?

 

[lesofprimus]

Kamikaze isnt even a listed Episode Erich...

 

[pbfoot]

A lot of the dogfight slips are on youtube for you guys without access

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EadMxLadg18

 

[Lucky13]

I enjoyed the show and I hope that it will evolve and go beyond the second season. Hopefully we'll see some about nightfighers, and special operations like Operation Chastise, Operation Jericho and the attacks on the Gestapo headquarters in Aarhus, Kopenhagen, Oslo and the Phillips factory....

 

[Erich]

Les I saw a Kamikaze thing on the 13th of the month in the evening, the Elbe interviews along with J Crandalls is during the second of the two hour segment.

 

[Hornet_Driver]

I watched the "Last of the Gunslingers" F-8 documentary and the air war over Hanoi during 1967. Man! Catch it, if you can.

 

[mkloby]

I watched the "Last of the Gunslingers" F-8 documentary and the air war over Hanoi during 1967. Man! Catch it, if you can.

HD - how many squadrons of FA-18C's does the USN have? I thought they were replacing them all with the E/F.

How long ago did you go through flight school? I am just starting helos now, and got slated for the MV-22.

 

[comiso90]

I'm watching it now. They've added more "in the aircraft" human animations. I like it. Some great programming physics went into how the aircraft behave under stress.
I'm disappointed at the ramming and kamakazi theme. It's interesting but lacks the drama of a desperate knife fight by two capable combatants.
I look forward to subsequent episodes.

.

 

[PearlJamNoCode]

I'm watching it now. They've added more "in the aircraft" human animations. I like it. Some great programming physics went into how the aircraft behave under stress.
I'm disappointed at the ramming and kamakazi theme. It's interesting but lacks the drama of a desperate knife fight by two capable combatants.
I look forward to subsequent episodes.

.

Here's a synopsis of the episodes for the rest of the season... looks pretty awesome.

Dogfights (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Erich]

not sure why I stayed up to watch the Elbe thing, it was cut off way too short as the other LW units were not covered, Fritz was up 7 times and they cut him off more than once without allowing him to finish his statements in German. Crandall was up 2 times and got 15 seconds in. Graphics were interesting...

I gave the show a 3 out of 10 with 10 being best

hopeful the future sessions will be better - # 14 should be good one, Alden Rigby is a great guy and this actually made him an ace with the attack by JG 11 over the 352nd fg airfield at Asch, the 352nd fg slaughtered the German LW unit. geez they cannot even get Oskar's name spelt correctly was on a mission with a small part of his Sturmgruppe and one of his Kameraden was shot down by a spitfire, and in turn Oskar got in behind and vaporized the RAF fighter with his Minen rounds.

I have the stories already.......will be interesting to see if they get it right.

thanks for the link PJNC