The BEST episodes of Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Every episode of Pensacola: Wings of Gold ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Pensacola: Wings of Gold!
Set at Pensacola's famed Naval Air Station. Col. Bill Kelly is the newly appointed leader of four young officers selected to form an elite military task force. They are a multi skilled group that includes a fighter pilot, an helicopter pilot, a demolitions expert and an infantry reconnaissance specialist. Complicating the Colonel's task is his strained relationship with his 19 year old daughter and Bobby Griffen's romantic interest in her. The colonel himself must also cope with his own interest in Dr Valerie West, a civilian doctor working at the base hospital.
#1 - C.Q.
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/6/1999
Spoon's father comes by with bad news. The Nuggets head out to try landing on an aircraft carrier, a dangerous and difficult skill to master.
#2 - Tattoo
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/16/1999
Missles are stolen from the base. Schaeffer, a Marine, saves Ice from a fire (on the ground) but when his burning shirt is torn off, a tattoo of a swastika is revealed and he is suspected of the theft. Meanwhile Teri returns (this is after the funeral of Spoon's father) and guilt seems to keep her and Spoon apart. And Ice seems hurt when Spoon uses a toast that Ice taught him on the night they almost became romantic. (Teri, herself and Capone are present.)
#3 - Officers and Gentlemen
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/9/1999
Spoon and Ice look for a new roommate who can serve as a buffer between them. They and Capone undergo survival training. Kate goes out with their training officer, Capt. Ray Hartley, and becomes a victim of date rape.
#4 - Call to Glory
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/2/1999
Burner returns to shore and Spoon, Ice and Kate exult in his return from near death, but Burner is joyless. Ice is injured by an explosion and is medically grounded by Lt. Lawrence Brandon, her doctor, until her arm is strong enough to work the ejector lever. Spoon is jealous of the doctor and is having trouble getting over his near romance with Ice. Kelly investigates to try and find where the unexploded ordinance came from.
#5 - A Wing and a Prayer
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/1999
Burner, Hammer and Kelly are on a carrier. Burner's plane loses radio reception and navigation after possibly being struck by lightning during a storm. Because of heavy rain he cannot see the carrier and he may run out of fuel and crash. Back on shore Spoon and Ice nearly become romantic before Capone alerts them about the danger Burner is in, whereupon they rush to base.
#6 - Gypsy Tumble
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/18/1999
Spoon's car is stolen and, on Kate's advice, he turns to Capone for help. Kelly's daughter visits from college. Kelly recruits Cricket to be in the corner of a boxer.
#7 - Tip of the Spear
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/11/1999
Jack Hightower is talking to Kelly when his car is blown up in Cairo. Kelly reevaluates and decides he wants to be in a combat unit. Another class of nuggets is graduating. Hammer, Major Lewis is applying for a staff position with the 18th M.E.U., with Kelly's encouragement. Kelly talks with Col. Doug Drayton and he asks to be ""the ace"" of the 18th M.E.U. Spoon and Ice, on the same carrier, the ""Connie"", get orders to return to Pensacola. On the way back they meet, Burner, who was based in Turkey. Kelly observes a helicopter pilot flying an attack helicopter, the Cobra. He asks Edward Turelli (cc), call sign Capone to join his unit. At a meeting, Kelly talks to many pilots. The team, the Aviation Combat Element (Ace?) of the 18th M.E.U. is called the Fighting Bandits. Spoon says Flying Bandits although the patch says Fighting Bandits. Hogs, Frogs, Hueys, (types of helicopters?/pilots) Cobras, and jet pilots (jet jockeys) comprise the unit. At the bucket Kate hugs Spoon, Ice
#8 - Rules of Engagement
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/20/1999
Someone is trying to kill Kelly and Hammer. Both are shot at, apparently in reprisal for the events of the Raid on Osirak episode. Burner and Spoon compete for a prized spot on the ""Panthers"" while Ice seems to be getting passed over because she is a woman. Burner is the favorite to get the spot but he develops a medical condition which may ground him so Spoon may get the spot by default. The pilots perform in an final exhibition before receiving their duty assignments.
#9 - Night Traps
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/13/1999
On the carrier, Kristi Blake, an actress planning to play a female pilot, studies and bunks with (and annoys) Ice. Spoon thinks of resigning. He confides in Ice about his father's cancer. Burner tries to argue Spoon out of resigning and learns that Spoon's father has cancer. Swamp is unable to make the trap (landing wires) at night and washes out. Burner's plane has a hydraulic problem and he is forced to try an emergency landing.
#10 - Burke's Breach
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/23/1999
The unit will be learning Burke's Breach a combined attack strategem or set of tactics. General Burke, a former mentor of Kelly's, visits the unit, but his strange behavior endangers men during an exercise and Capone's career is threatened. Kelly discovers Burke's behavior may be caused by exposure to chemicals during the Gulf War. Also, Mad Dog makes a video letter, Teri gets a job at the Bucket, Ice is still wistful and Spoon is tricked by a pretty girl and his keys and the unit's mascot (a stuffed animal) are stolen.
#11 - Touch and Go
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/29/1999
The nuggets practice touch and go landings before trying to land on a carrier, Spoon's father returns, a young acquaintance of Kelly's seeks romance with Ice and a sleep deprivation study needs participants.
#12 - Sortie
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/22/1999
Burner meets and falls for a woman with a secret. Kelly and Hammer try to get recognition for a suicidal man who threw himself on a grenade while serving as a marine but lived while the people he tried to save died. Kelly asks Kate on a date? to the retirement party of a General. The Nuggets are evaluated as they go on a ""obstacle course"" (or sortie) ending with a bombing run.
#13 - Cuba Libre
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/15/1999
Still in Key West. News reports have a boat with Cuban refugees being fired on by Castro's air force, a family whom the Nuggets are socializing with is directly affected, and a Cuban ace who met Kelly in the past is flying unusually close to the Nuggets training exercises. Also, Paddles has back trouble which may ground him.
#14 - Blue on Blue
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/28/1999
A nugget, flying as wingman, shoots down his lead in simulated dogfighting (ACM / Air Combat Manuevering). This is called Blue on Blue. Two women seek Spoon's affections while two pilots pursue Ice.
#15 - Fox Two
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/21/1999
Swamp has a loss of confidence both in his flying and when he tries to romance Holly ""of Hollywood."" Burner competes against a new instructor from Top Gun who can't accept losing even though instructors are supposed to be able hold back. Pearly, who was one of Hammer's trainers, is trying to requalify in order to take a fleet assignment, but he seems to have lost his skills.
#16 - Mishap
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/14/1999
Ice's mother shows up without calling and arranges a date with Col. Kelly, not knowing that he is Ice's commanding officer. A private propeller plane strays into military airspace and crashes when Spoon flies too close to it. Spoon is put through the wringer in the subsequent ""Mishap investigation.""
#17 - Lost
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/7/1999
During a community relations day, a orphaned boy living with his aunt is kidnapped for ransom.
#18 - Blue Angel
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/30/1999
A former Blue Angel leader is now recruiting and he offers Hammer a position on the Blue Angels. He also begins a romance with Kate. Burner and Spoon try to play matchmaker between Kate and Kelly. Meanwhile a retired general who is a fan of Teddy Roosevelt drops by and takes the unit on a fifty mile march with full gear.
#19 - Behind Enemy Lines
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/30/1999
A mini mart robbery turns into a hostage situation. Meanwhile Capone tries to help out Kate with the local mob and her jukebox.
#20 - True Stories
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/6/1999
Johnny Terelli (Capone's brother) comes to visit but doesn't tell Eddie that he is being pursued by both an FBI agent and a murderous Russian mobster. (Endangering his room mates, Spoon and Ice.) Country musician Gary Allan gives Kate and Mad Dog backstage passes and sings Smoke Rings in the Dark. And the saga of the toy animal mascot continues.
#21 - Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/13/1999
Spoon gets a visit from an old friend whose lies put him in an uncomfortable position. The worthless son of a famed pilot causes problems on a mission led by Spoon and Ice. Capone arranges a photo shoot at the beach house with a bevy of scantily-clad women.
#22 - On the Tee
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/1999
A reckless private collects some ordinance after an exercise instead of calling EOD. While doing an inventory, Spoon and Abby/Mad Dog are caught in an explosion and Capone is hit by the edge. Spoon starts hallucinating (with the hallucinations often referencing a canceled golf game) as he drifts in and out of consciousness, but rescuers can not get to them until unexploded ordinance is dealt with. Kelly and Hammer try to determine what happened.
#23 - Aces
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/27/1999
Hammer, Kelly and Ice fly some replacement Hornets out to an aircraft carrier and are assigned a supporting role in a combat mission. Kelly becomes an ace. Meanwhile Kate investigates her deceased husband's past after she finds a picture of a woman whom she thinks he had an affair with. Spoiler Kate finds out he had a daughter born in Vietnam before he met her. Her husband died just a few days before effecting a reconciliation with his daughter.
#24 - Article 32
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/29/2000
After a helo pilot fails a training test, he gets himself killed, and Kelly is accused in an Article 32 hearing. The deceased marine wrote letters to his mother, a congresswoman, which contradict the truth and seemingly prove Kelly's guilt. Spoon, Mad Dog and Capone testify. Hammer and Col. Drayton offer moral support.
#25 - At Poverty Level
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/5/2000
After a case of spousal abuse, Kelly goes to Washington to ask for raises for enlisted men. There he meets Ali, an old flame, and they rekindle the fire. Ice goes out with Dr. Brandon. Hammer has a close call.