Masters of the Air

[kiwiruna]

The First 2 Episodes have dropped to Apple TV and it's as good as they say.

The flying sequences are phenomenal and it's been worth the 10 year wait.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, I just watched the first two. Very authentic. I liked it a lot.

[hardyakka]

We will see where it goes. But it is looking pretty good so far.

[campbellbox]

I really enjoyed the first pair of episodes. The chemistry between the leading characters seems good so far, and the air combat scenes are amazing. The show does an excellent job of putting you inside a metal tube at 25,000 feet as flak bursts around it and fighters whizz past. My only nitpick is that some of the visual effects work around aircraft movements on the airfield is not as good as I hoped it would be. Overall, absolutely worth the Apple sub, and I can't wait for the rest of the series.

[ErrolC]

Jan 27, 2024 9:28:44 GMT 12 campbellbox said:

I really enjoyed the first pair of episodes. The chemistry between the leading characters seems good so far, and the air combat scenes are amazing. The show does an excellent job of putting you inside a metal tube at 25,000 feet as flak bursts around it and fighters whizz past. My only nitpick is that some of the visual effects work around aircraft movements on the airfield is not as good as I hoped it would be. Overall, absolutely worth the Apple sub, and I can't wait for the rest of the series.

The 1st episode is available free BTW.

Review aimed at followers of an aviation podcast.

[Dave Homewood]

Episode Three is intense, and epic!!

[johnnyfalcon]

So this only available via Apple?

[Dave Homewood]

Theoretically, at this stage.

[johnnyfalcon]

...figures

[baz62]

Feb 2, 2024 20:02:06 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Episode Three is intense, and epic!!

SPOILERS!!

It was quite awful seeing so many of them being shot down, especially since they were supposed to be the rear group! Teresa couldn't believe it when she heard the other two groups were only just crossing the Channel and our lads were already deep into enemy territory. Quite impressed with the range of the B17 making it all the way down to Algiers! Although looking at the state of some of the aircraft they wouldn't be leaving for a while. Great episode.

[Dave Homewood]

I have wondered many times in the past, and this series brings the question up again... I wonder how many B-17's and B-24's, etc, were lost to friendly fire from the guns of adjacent bombers that were trying to hit the German fighters that screamed through the formation trying to break them up. Surely friendly fire must have occurred a fair bit when the bombers were all packed tightly together?

I also wonder this... when a fuel tank in the wing was hit and fuel is streaming out into the atmosphere, could the fuel vapour have been accidentally lit by the tracer rounds being fired from the upper or lower turrets in that direction? Is the phosphorous or whatever it is that is burning on the round to produce the light hot enough to ignite the vapour, and therefore blow up your own aircraft?

[planecrazy]

Great questions Dave look forward to hearing what people think would have happend?

[obiwan27]

While not watching the series right now, I'll do so when I find some time, so mainly making do with clips on YT for now.

There's one short feature from YT about the production which shows some of how they have filmed some of the combat sequences.



Also I have recently finished reading a book by Frank Murphy 'Luck of the Draw' - he was a B17 navigator who served in the 100th BG, was shot down and
interned in a POW camp.

www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60784639

[Mustang51]

Dave,

As an aside to your question ref the tracer rounds, my father told me that his army unit was bivouacked adjacent to an airfield in New Guinea somewhere around Port Moresby (which one I did not know and he couldn't remember).. One of the bombers (a B-24) took off and what he described as fuel vapour began pouring from the wing upper surface as it climbed out....(maybe a loose tank cap). He said that the aircraft continued into the distance then exploded in a gout of flame. I never tried to investigate this incident from his description but I guess its possible.......

[chasper]

Strangely this appeared I my You Tube page today, it has quite a detailed answer to the friendly fire question
,

[planecrazy]

Interesting, especially how empty cases caused more damage than actual rounds from friendly bombers.

[Dave Homewood]

That was a fascinating video, thanks Chasper!

[rodm]

In looking at RAF Bomber Command nighttime operations between Jan-May 1945:

1,015 aircraft sustained damage, of which:

602.0 (59.3%) - damaged by enemy action, Flak
104.5 (10.3%) - damaged by enemy action, night fighters
15.5 ( 1.5%) - damaged by enemy action, other causes

49.0 ( 4.8%) - damage not due to enemy action, friendly fire
31.0 ( 3.1%) - damage not due to enemy action, mid-air collision with friendly aircraft
67.0 ( 6.6%) - damage not due to enemy action, falling bombs/incendiaries
23.5 ( 2.3%) - damage not due to enemy action, mechanical failure
122.5 (12.1%) - damage not due to enemy action, take-off or landing incidents

0.5s mean an aircraft was damaged by more than one cause.

The Bomber Command Operational Research Section received detailed reports on all damaged aircraft and, where applicable, these included ballistics investigation in the cases of flak or gunfire damage. Bullet/shell fragments and the size of bullet holes in the aircraft skin aided positive identification of the calibre and type of weapons that caused damage.

49 out of 1,015 aircraft suffered damage from friendly fire at night between Jan-May 1945. 31 cases were friendly fire from an aircraft and 18 cases were friendly fire from Allied anti-aircraft artillery.

The worst friendly fire case in that period occurred on the night of 14-15 April 1945 when forty 0.303-inch bullets struck 460 Squadron Lancaster LL918/S just short of the target at Potsdam. The gunfire killed the Flight Engineer F/S William Warden and damaged the starboard inner engine (the Lancaster returned home on three engines), the mid-upper turret, and the hydraulics, intercommunications, and oxygen systems.

[Dave Homewood]

Fascinating Rod.

[scrooge]

And all that 'not due to enemy action' gets very close to 30% of the damage received by the aircraft in the survey.