Hacker Cinema
Dogfights
2006 · TV series · documentary · 60 min episodes · 2 seasons
Created by Cynthia Harrison, Brooks Wachtel, Jason McKinley
DocumentaryNewsActionAdventureWar
Dogfights is a military aviation themed TV series depicting historical re-enactments of air-to-air combat that took place in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, as well as smaller conflicts such as the Gulf War and the Six-Day War. The program, which airs on the History Channel, consists of former fighter pilots sharing their stories of actual dogfights in which they took part, and uses computer-generated imagery to give the viewer a better perspective of what it is like to partake in aerial combat The series premiered on November 3, 2006.
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3 comments on Hacker News
Obviously this account didn’t make it, but if you enjoy hearing about air combat actions, I can highly recommend the series “Dogfights” from the history channel.
It gets really in depth about what’s going on, the encounters, the tactics, the technology. For me it was edge of your seat TV.
I think History put many of these on YouTube.
My only lament is that I can’t seem to find the pilot episode (or, rather, the show they did that eventually turned into a series).
That show had a great account of Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s action in Vietnam. The only Naval Ace of the Vietnam War, he, too, shot down 3 aircraft in a single engagement. That awarded him the Navy Cross.
He became a disgraced congressman convicted of fraud and corruption. That may be why we can’t find that show anymore. But it was a compelling account, broadcast before the scandal.
Anyway, if this topic is interesting, I highly recommend “Dogfights”.
In the same Dogfights documentary, they also mentioned Iraqi MiG-25 pilots evading several AIM-7 radar guided missiles fired at the same jet. In other references, there were a few cases of MiG-25s evading USAF F-15 firing missiles at them, and making it back to base.
Experienced USAF pilots have hit the ground during combat operations. That doesn't mean they were not skilled pilots, just that they made a deadly mistake.
The last time I watched a documentary about dogfights, two stories about the gulf war ends in the Iraqi pilots losing situational awareness, and consequently dying by crashing into the ground.
It makes me wonder a little bit if their skills are vastly overestimated.