The BEST episodes of Dogfights
Every episode of Dogfights ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Dogfights!
Using modern computer animation, great aerial and modern naval battles are recreated. In the process, you get to learn about the history of military aviation technology and the tactics developed to use them to their best advantage.
#1 - Air Ambush
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/10/2006
Legendary fighter pilot, Colonel Robin Olds, sets an intricate trap for the North Vietnamese MiG-21’s. His squadron, the Wolfpack, disguises its lethal F-4 Phantoms as vulnerable bombers. The MIGs scream in to challenge the Americans. The result is the most elaborate air sting of the war… code-name…Operation Bolo.
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#4 - Long Odds
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/12/2007
Showcases survival stories of bomber pilots battling fighter aircraft. US Navy SBD Dauntless vs. Mitsubishi Zero; US Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress vs. Mitsubishi Zeroes & Ki-46 Dinah; US Air Force F-105 Thunderchief vs. North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17.
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#5 - The Last Gunfighter
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/15/2006
The U.S. Navy's top fighter, the F8 Crusader flown by skilled fighter jocks Paul Speer and Phil Wood, tackles the fierce North Vietnamese MiG over the killing skies of Vietnam. Re-live one of the longest, gut-wrenching dogfights on record as Lt. Commander Richard Schaffert - out of missles and with his guns jammed - takes on a lethal MiG-17 and the best enemy pilot he's ever faced. He's got one chance - the amazing capabilities of the F8 Crusader, "the last gunfighter".
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#6 - Desert Aces
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/10/2007
Pilots of the Israeli Air Force. The episode covers combat missions flown by Ran Ronen and by "ace of aces" Giora Epstein. Ronen used the French-built Mirage III to engage Hawker Hunters. Epstein flew a Mirage against Egyptian Sukhoi Su-7s in the Six-Day War, and piloted a Nesher against MiG-21s in the Yom Kippur War.
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#8 - Night Fighters
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/21/2007
The history of dogfighting in darkness is covered. Radar equipped F6F Hellcats shoot down A6M2 Rufes, and P-61 Black Widows score kills in World War II. The F3D Skyknight downs a faster MiG-15 in the Korean War. USAF F-15 Eagles and F-117 Nighthawks oppose MiG-29s in Operation Allied Force.
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#9 - The Zero Killer
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/8/2006
1943...the skies over the Pacific. The infamous Japanese Zero is decimating American aircraft. No allied plane can match Japan's deadliest fighter plane manned by killed Imperial Navy veterans. The American Navy rushes to deploy a new fighter to take on the unstoppable Zero...the F6F Hellcat. The Zero has met its match. Now, you're in the cockpit with legendary dogfighters Robert Duncan, Hamilton McWhorter and Alex Vraciu...their epic dogfights blazing a new chapter in the annals of aerial warfare.
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#10 - The First Dogfighters
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/17/2007
Dogfighting was invented by the fighter pilots of World War I. Ernst Udet's Albatros D.III vs. Georges Guynemer's SPAD VII; Werner Voss, flying a Fokker triplane, battles six S.E.5a pilots, including James McCudden, Arthur Rhys Davids, and Richard Maybery; Arthur Raymond Brooks and his SPAD XIII dogfights with eight Fokker D.VIIs.
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#12 - The Bloodiest Day
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/2007
May 10, 1972, was the bloodiest day of air combat during the Vietnam War. American F-4 Phantoms, A-6 Intruders, and A-7 Corsairs fought against North Vietnamese MiG-21s and MiG-19s. The episode includes battles fought by Bob Lodge and Roger Locher and by Charles B. DeBellevue.
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#13 - Thunderbolt
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/27/2007
The rugged P-47 Thunderbolt, or "jug" as it was known, was the largest single-seat fighter plane of World War II. The episode portrays aerial battles fought by Robert S. Johnson, George Sutcliffe, and Ken Dalhberg against Focke-Wulf Fw-190s and Messerschmitt Me-109.
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#14 - P-51 Mustang
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/2007
In the European and Pacific theaters of World War II, the P-51 Mustang became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft. The episode includes interviews with Mustang pilots Donald S. Bryan, Robert Scamara, and Richard Candelaria.
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#15 - Gun Kills of Vietnam
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/3/2007
The era of missiles had arrived, and electronic warfare was coming of age. But when technology failed, pilots were forced to fight the old-fashioned way — with guns. Clinton Johnson and Charles Hartman down a MiG-17 with propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders; Robert Titus and Milan Zimer's F-4 Phantom shoots it out with a gun pod against MiG-21s; Darrell Simmonds and George McKinney's Phantom fights MiG-17s.
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#16 - MiG Alley
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/3/2006
Air Force fighter pilots risk their lives flying sleek F-86 Sabres above “Mig Alley” – the most dangerous piece of sky in the Korean War. The high-speed twists and turns of history’s first jet dogfights pit American aces Robbie Risner and Ralph Parr in the battles of their lives against nimble Russian-built MIG-15 fighters.
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#17 - Kamikaze
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/13/2007
Towards the end of World War II, Japan sent volunteer pilots on suicide attacks against American naval targets. Kamikaze attacks covered include those against the escort carrier USS St. Lo on October 25, 1944, and the destroyer USS Laffey on April 15, 1945. Also discussed is the use of Japanese Ohka rocket planes.
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#18 - Tuskegee Airmen
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/6/2007
The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American pilots of the 332d Fighter Group. They distinguished themselves as one of the most successful fighter groups of World War II, despite the bigotry and prejudice they faced from their own countrymen. Piloting P-51 Mustangs, they flew many missions protecting American bombers from the German Luftwaffe. The episode includes interviews with pilots Lee Archer, Roscoe Brown, and Charles McGee.
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#20 - Hell over Hanoi
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/1/2006
The skies over Vietnam. They fight in a supersonic world, where split second decisions determine if they live - or die. American F4 Phantom pilots Fred Olmsted and Dan Cherry take on the famed MiG-21 - the most feared threat in the sky. And one American, Steve Ritchie, becomes a dog fighting legend as an Air Force Ace. You're in the cockpit with some of the fiercest dogfighting ever seen in Vietnam!
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#21 - Death of the Luftwaffe
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/7/2008
The Luftwaffe's last great offensive, called Operation Bodenplatte, occurred on January 1, 1945. Bob Brulle, Sanford K. Moats, Alden Rigby, and Richard Creamer were American pilots of the 352d Fighter Group whose airbase, known as Y-29, was attacked by fighters. After this day, the Luftwaffe was shattered as an effective fighting force.
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#22 - MiG Killers of the Midway
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/7/2007
Recalling Vietnam War battles involving F-4 Phantoms from the USS Midway. This episode portrays dogfights fought by J.C. Smith, Henry "Bart" Bartholomay, Pat Arwood, Mike "Taco" Bell, Ronald "Mugs" McKeown, and John C. "Jack" Ensch.
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#23 - Death of the Japanese Navy
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/22/2006
1944...the Pacific. It is one of the most amazing, lopsided naval battles in history: A mighty Japanese fleet let by the Yamato, the biggest battleship in the world - versus Taffy 3, a small U.S. task unit of tin can destroyers and baby flat-tops...ships too weak to fight and too slow to run. David battles Goliath in a fight for survival - with the lives of thousands of American soldiers in the balance.
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#24 - Supersonic
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/29/2008
Often in a dogfight the faster plane is at an advantage. The episode includes aerial combat by James F. "Lou" Luma and his DH.98 Mosquito and Jerry O'Keefe and his F4U Corsair in World War II; Bruce Hinton and his F-86 Sabre in the Korean War; and Phil Handley and his F-4 Phantom in the Vietnam War.
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#25 - Flying Tigers
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/17/2006
Plot Outline Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, a courageous, rag-tag band of American mercenaries dare to challenge the overwhelming might of the Japanese Air Force. The legendary “Flying Tigers” slash through the skies of China, and help vanquish the unstoppable Japanese. Follow leading Tiger aces Tex Hill and John Alison as their P-40 Tomahawks fight to the death against the agile Japanese I-97 Nate.
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