[Raven]

Originally Posted by flyXwire

FYI: The episode above will be replaced by:

Dogfights : Tuskegee Airmen

Airs on Thursday December 06 11:00 PM

Does this mean that the Secret Weapons episode will air at a later date? This is all really quite confusing!

I am still wondering if the show has been cancelled and this is just the run out of the remaining episodes...

[STARMAN 352ND]

They change so much ...We'll never know what's on till the day it's on TV.
JP

[flyXwire]

Sorry to veer off on another topic, but do check out what's next on PBS Nova series....

Missing in MiG Alley (Check your local listings for schedule)
NOVA | Missing in MiG Alley | PBS

In the early 1950s, epic battles unfolded in the skies over North Korea as American and Russian fighters faced off in history's first jet war. This program explores the Korean War's aerial tactics, technology, and grim aftermath for downed pilots, many of whom disappeared without a trace.

The Korean War pitted the two most advanced fighters of their day, the American F-86 Sabre and the Soviet MiG-15, in furious air battles in North Korea's notorious "MiG Alley." With the help of dramatic reconstructions, rare archival footage, and interviews with veteran American and Soviet pilots, NOVA puts viewers in the cockpit to experience the lethal split-second duels that erupted in MiG Alley.

"Missing in MiG Alley" investigates the pioneering engine technology and cutting-edge aerodynamic designs that gave both the Sabre and MiG their phenomenal performance capabilities (see MiG vs. Sabre Anatomy). The MiG, for example, was a brilliant blend of borrowed elements: Like the Sabre, the MiG's raking swept wing was inspired by the Nazi high-speed, swept-wing fighter design, while its engine was a direct copy of an advanced Rolls-Royce model that the British rashly handed over to the Russians in a post-war trade agreement. Both fighters were so well matched that human factors—superior training and tactics—as well as plain luck proved to be crucial in deciding MiG Alley's harrowing dogfights.

The program also follows the poignant efforts of family members to trace what happened to airmen who disappeared over 50 years ago. The files are still open on over two dozen Sabre pilots who were shot down behind enemy lines and whose fate has never been definitively established. Years after the Korean War ended in 1953, rumors persist of pilots held captive by the Soviets. (For more on efforts to find missing service personnel, see Bringing Home MIAs.)

Although the Soviet Union was not officially a combatant in the Korean War, it supplied its latest aircraft, the MiG-15, to North Korea and China, and the skill of the MiG pilots soon caused Americans to suspect they were dealing not just with Soviet planes but with Soviet pilots, who were among the best in the world.
"Neither before nor after the war were we allowed to reveal that we were going to fly for the North Koreans," MiG pilot Sergei Kramarenko tells NOVA. Kramarenko was one of the top Soviet aces of the war. In addition to helping their North Korean allies, the Soviets were eager to test their planes and pilots against the U.S. Air Force as a proving ground for a possible World War III.

But the Soviets' intense interest in the capabilities of U.S. jets was bad news for captured Sabre pilots, since it often led to harsh questioning by Soviet interrogators. Former POW Michael DeArmond tells NOVA that he "became more and more concerned about the purpose of this Russian running my interrogation, because one of my frankly deepest fears was to wind up in a gulag someplace. So I tried to be the dumbest F-86 pilot he had ever interrogated."

DeArmond's ruse worked, but he's convinced that at least three fellow pilots were sent to Russia for further questioning. Their fate is unknown.
In the most moving part of the program, NOVA traces the efforts of three families to learn what happened to their loved ones, all Sabre pilots. Russia's newly opened archives provide some clues, while the Chinese are now receptive to searches of Sabre crash sites on their territory.

At the climax of the film, one such search yields stirring clues to the fate of a missing Sabre pilot: the sole of a shoe, a watchband, a rusted pocket knife, and a handful of bones hint at his identity. A DNA analysis of the bones finally brings closure to a grieving son after more than half a century.

[flyXwire]

Splendid episode lastnight...did any of you catch it?!!! I thought that lastnight's episode was the best Nam era dogfights that showcased both Airforce and Navy Phantoms.

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by flyXwire

Splendid episode lastnight...did any of you catch it?!!! I thought that lastnight's episode was the best Nam era dogfights that showcased both Airforce and Navy Phantoms.

D'oh, nope! And I think Tivo missed it too.... time to look for re-runs.

[bsmith13]

I love last night's episode! I can never get enough F-4 action. Looking forward to tonight's episode.

Hopefully we will see the Secret Weapons episode sooner or later, though they added another episode for Friday" Mig Killers of Midway.

[PappyB]

Tivo did grab these afterall! Bloodiest Day was bloody fantastic -- first time I recall an episode that actually showed a US plane get shot down, let alone the pilot killed (wonder why they never broke off?). You just have to watch these fast mover episodes loud, preferably with a booming subwoofer, too

Looking forward to the P-51 tonight...

[STARMAN 352ND]

I saw the P-51 Mustang show last night ...I was pretty good...It's good to see Don Bryan who flew "Little One" PE&B on there last night talking about the "Blue Nose Bastards of Bodney" mission...Was hoping Bob Powell would of been on there too...but wasn't.
Don by the way signed one of my P-51's i have of him....Priceless
JP

[bsmith13]

I liked the P-51 edition as well. Did you see it, JP? Good Blue Noser action!

I am looking forward to tonight's episode, but I wish they could be a little more consistent about their schedule.

[Steve1971]

Cool episode on the P-51 last night. I cant wait for the shows about the Tuskegee Airman and Operation Bodenplate.