Flegmatica Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 Hi there! I've just watched some episodes of "Dogfights" and i really enjoy these shows. Are there more aviation related doc's out there? Im interested also in civil aircrafts so these kind of doc's are welcome too . Thanks! -Fleg Quote
ironroad Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) Hi there! I've just watched some episodes of "Dogfights" and i really enjoy these shows. Are there more aviation related doc's out there? Im interested also in civil aircrafts so these kind of doc's are welcome too . Thanks! -Fleg To be honest, unless it goes from TV to dvd there are not too many documentaries made anymore about aviation, especially military aviation like there use to be. The ones that are made are definitely made for a audience that suffers from ADD and is use to watching quick blurbs on MTV news. Dogfights was one of the few recent series I actually liked. I remember back in the 80s and 90s there use to be in depth vhs tape made about specific types of airframes, especially from the Cold War and WW II. They were in depth and usually 30-60 mins long. Discovery Wings did a good job of covering these subjects. My suggestion is go on Amazon.com or Ebay and do a search for the type of airframe, period of history, or conflict you are looking for. I recently just reordered a bunch of out of print VHS tapes made in the 1970-80s which centered on the USAF, Red Flag, and Fighter Intercept Squadrons. Many of them where mint in box and did not cost anymore than 5 bucks. Edited February 18, 2009 by ironroad Quote
Coot Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 It would be nice if they ran re-runs of Weekday Wings or sold them. Those were good hour long, five day a week documentaries of single aircraft or group of aircraft. Quote
+JediMaster Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 I loved the Wings of the Luftwaffe and Wings of the Red Star series. Quote
fallenphoenix1986 Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Well you got me in the mood to watch some there so went looking and found this: http://www.historicaviation.com/search_res...ch=&start=0 Hope it helps you out, seems pretty comprehensive. Craig Quote
+ST0RM Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Unfortunately Dogfights was killed off by their programming director, who was more interested in keeping up with all of the Reality TV shows. This is why they have shows like Ice Road Truckers and Axemen, plus Monsterquest and many other non-historic shows. Dogfights was pushed to a later timeslot (Midnight or later in some parts of the US) and then cancelled when "ratings did not reflect a large viewing audience". Being a huge fan of the military aviation documentaries, I loved Dogfights. The level of detail with the CGI was incredible. It reminded me of what the TW series could look like in a few years. Quote
vanir Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 I liked the CGI and interview clips with vets on Dogfights, but was pretty disappointed at least in regards to WW2 episodes it was very much a reflection of commercial editing rather than historical detail. For me, with fairly involved research into some specific fighter types, full length pilot-vet interviews on DVD, etc. the tailored clipping of vet comments and ultimately inaccurate commentaries about aircraft types was glaring and very annoying. Really, I liked it mostly only for the CGI. And if they were so (very) wrong about conclusions and assertions regarding WW2 aircraft, how could I possibly trust them on Vietnam ones? imho the series had very commercial themes bordering on old fashioned propaganda: American tactical superiority, American technical superiority...it's a wank. Only doco I've seen I really, really liked was Clash of Wings (WW2 era). More a comprehensive overview, but at least very few comparative aircraft details which are given are misleading (only regarding the Yak-9 really, which bettered contemporary Messerschmitt performance only up to 4000m until the VK-107 engine was fitted in 1945). And almost unique among American productions/publications regarding the war it gives quite a bit more than a paragraph of lip service to the periods prior to direct American involvement. It also approached the foundations of the war nicely, where most historians are loathe to challenge the popular "bad guys wear black" nature of commercial media. It didn't contradict popular misconceptions about the Nazis and Japanese military leadership (which is to open a real can of worms) but at least brought up other points to consider: the interwar arms race in Europe Japanese military disarray fallacies held between nations and among populations prior to the war, bordering on complete fiction (eg. German air power in the late thirties) Luftwaffe organisational disarray (which appears to be a common theme of the Wehrmacht due to Nazi influence) Definitely worth watching if you like the WW2 era air war. Quote
Madprof Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 .......and check out Dicovery Knowledge,Gun Camera,focus on today's programme was moving targets and dogfighting,it was superb!! Quote
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