Discovery Channel - Air Aces War Heroes of the Skies (2012) Part 4 Red Tails

Since the dawn of aerial combat in the First World War, the heroism of the men who put their lives at risk in the air has known no bounds. There were no more heroic airmen than the fighter pilots and bomber crews of the Second World War - men who sacrificed their own lives in order to save their crew or who, although in extreme pain, managed to get their aircraft home rather than risk becoming PoWs. Air Aces is the groundbreaking series that tells the stories of the most heroic airborne combat missions in history. Through the eyes of the heroes, experience realistic mid-air combat and see revealing interviews with the last surviving WWII veterans in Air Aces. From the WWII aircrew officer who doused a fire on the wing of his aircraft while 20,000 ft in the sky, to the phantom fighter pilot who took out four MiGs over Vietnam in the most celebrated dog fight of the modern era. Presented by Lord Ashcroft, these are all stories of superhuman endurance, selfless courage and heroism beyond the call of duty. Using real vintage aircraft, the series films the impossible by re-creating mid-air combat sequences. Featuring Spitfires, Lancaster bombers and Phantom fighters, as well as aerial stunt teams and state-of-the-art camera technology, the series dramatises the exploits of the world s greatest Air Aces. The series also features revealing interviews with the last surviving veterans and military historians, rare archival footage and cutting edge CGI to transport viewers back in time to experience the reality of air combat.

Part 4 Red Tails

They were young, gifted, and black but the US Army refused them key positions. Until intense pressure from African-American activist groups pushed President Roosevelt to initiate a Blacks-only fighter pilot training program in Tuskegee, Alabama. Top secret and fiercely opposed by top military brass, the African-American pilots, dubbed the Red Tails, were forced to fly second-rate planes far from the action. But in June 1944, they leapt to the front lines of World War II. Suddenly they were given Mustang P-51 fighter planes and charged to protect Allied bombers on a mission to destroy Nazi Germany. Now fighting two wars – one in the skies against the Nazis and the other against racism back at home in the US – the Red Tails were determined to prove to the world that they had the right stuff. Ordered to adopt life-threatening tactics to knock out German radar stations and go head-to-head with the enemies' technologically advanced fighter jets, the Red Tails never caved in. What began as a revolutionary experiment gave birth to a potent fighting force that would help take Nazi Germany out of the skies and, in the process, change the course of American history.

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