Introduction

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 consists of former fighter pilots sharing their stories of actual dogfights in which they took part, combined with computer-generated imagery (CGI) to give the viewer a better perspective of what it is like to engage in aerial combat.

Dogfights originally aired on the History Channel from November 2005 to May 2008. Repeats of the series are currently airing on the digital broadcast network Quest.

Outline

In each episode, true historical dogfights of a certain battle or war are played out.

Pilots from the actual fights are brought in to re-tell their accounts of the battles. Along with the battle, there are occasional scenes that describe the pilot’s living conditions or events that have happened outside the battle. Each battle is told by the pilot and a special narrator.

CGI effects are used, providing a realistic simulation. The show also describes the aircraft, showing diagrams on screen and taking some time to describe the advantages and disadvantages of each plane.

It also describes and illustrates the air manoeuvres and tactics used by the pilots. Usually, the battles are told by pilots of the winning side of each war or battle. Occasionally, there are other variants brought into a battle besides the planes. For example, a pilot may recount their experience destroying ship fleets, bombing enemy air fields, or dealing with Anti Aircraft fire from the ground, but the process is interrupted by enemy planes.

After each battle, the show usually features a short biography about the pilots and the conflicts they were involved in, and then the credits roll.

Dogfights Series

• Pilot Episode (2005):
  • The Greatest Air Battles.

• Series 01 (2006-2007):
  • Episode 01: MiG Alley.
  • Episode 02: Air Ambush.
  • Episode 03: Flying Tigers.
  • Episode 04: Guadacanal.
  • Episode 05: Hell Over Hanoi.
  • Episode 06: The Zero Killer.
  • Episode 07: The Last Gunfighter.
  • Episode 08: Death of the Japanese Navy.
  • Episode 09: Hunt for the Bismark.
  • Episode 10: Long Odds.
  • Episode 11: Dogfights of the Middle East.

• Series 02 (2007-2008):
  • Episode 01: Kamikaze.
  • Episode 02: Luftwaffe’s Deadliest Mission.
  • Episode 03: Jet vs. Jet.
  • Episode 04: Thunderbolt.
  • Episode 05: Gun Kills of Vietnam.
  • Episode 06: Desert Aces.
  • Episode 07: The First Dogfighters.
  • Episode 08: No Room for Error.
  • Episode 09: Night Fighters.
  • Episode 10: The Bloodiest Day.
  • Episode 11: P-51 Mustang.
  • Episode 12: Dogfights of Desert Storm.
  • Episode 13: The Tuskagee Airmen.
  • Episode 14: MiG Killers of Midway.
  • Episode 15: Supersonic.
  • Episode 16: Death of the Luftwaffe.
  • Episode 17: Secret Weapons.
  • Episode 18: Dogfights of the Future.

Trivia

• Starting with season 2, the History Channel produced, in conjunction with Kuma Reality Games, a free PC video game based on the Dogfights series.
  • Dogfights: The Game puts players in interactive recreations of actual episodes from the TV show.
  • As of now the game primarily concentrates on the World War II episodes of the series.
• The series was created after the airing of a one-time special called Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles in September 2005.
  • That programme’s combination of realistic-looking CGI dogfights, interviews, period documentary footage, and voice-over narration proved so successful, that the History Channel requested the production of an entire TV series, which became Dogfights.
  • The original special continues to air occasionally and has been recently updated to reflect the current series logo.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): Cynthia Harrison, Jason McKinley, and Brooks Wachtel.
• Narrator(s): Phil Crowley.
• Director(s): Jason McKinley, Robert Kirk, and Wayne Weiss.
• Producer(s): Robert Kirk, Rob Lihani, Abe Scheuermann, and David Connelly.
• Production: Digital Ranch.
• Distributor(s): History Channel.
• Release Date: 16 September 2005 to 10 August 2008.
• Running Time: 45 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSvTKv4QEOA