Discovery Channel - Hunters in the Sky Fighter Aces of World War II (1991) Part 1

What was it really like to be a fighter pilot during the Second World War? Air combat is quick Each choice must be decisive and executed without hesitation. Mere seconds can decide who will go down in the record books and who will go down in flames. In the high arenas of the Second World War, only a select few pilots ever shot down more than five enemy aircraft and earned the ambitious title of a “Fighter Ace”. What made them a breed apart from their fellow fighter pilots? What separated the hunters from the hunted? Now, this sweeping 13 episode documentary series recounts the death-defying stories of those amazing flying warriors. Thrilling, rare footage of actual dogfights and coordinated air strikes combined with candid personal narratives from surviving Fighter aces tell the comprehensive story of the men from all nations who flew to defend their flags. HUNTERS IN THE SKY is the most comprehensive film documentary series ever produced on the fighter aces of World War Two. Surviving fighter aces from all sides in the conflict – British, American, German, Russian, Japanese and many other nationalities – now share their experiences – and provide their own, exclusive, vivid and graphic first hand accounts of what it was really like to be a fighter pilot in some of the greatest air battles the world has ever known. This extraordinary series is fully illustrated with the pick of air combat footage shot at the height of raging dogfights, or as fighter interceptors attack bomber formations. You'll relive aeriel combat as the Aces themselves experienced it – through the gun-sights of their Spitfires, Mustangs, Me 109s and Zeros. Series consultants were aviation historians Christopher Shores and Raymond F. Toliver.

Anthony Potter Productions in Cooperation with The American Fighter Aces Association

Part 1

- Episode 1 - Knights of the Sky A galaxy of international aces are seen in aerial combat as a series prelude. They describe the qualities great aces must have, and recall a heritage that begins with chivalrous fighter duels of World War I and ends when Luftwaffe pilots hone their skills in Spain during the bloody dress rehearsal for World War II. - Episode 2 - Defending the Realm The German blitzkrieg by the invincible Luftwaffe crushes Poland, France, Denmark and Norway- but a handful of fighter pilots saves the Empire during the Battle of Britain. - Episode 3 - Red Star Rising The Soviet Air Force is all but wiped out by the Luftwaffe- but recovers to fight the invader to a standstill in the most atrocious winter ever encountered. - Episode 4 - Tigers Over China New fighter aces are born with the emergence of the Flying Tigers. They were the first all volunteer American force to battle the Japanese in the Chinese sky. - Episode 5 - Hell in the Pacific Americans are outnumbered everywhere, but turn the tide at Midway. The ragged Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal battles against odds over the bitterly contested South Pacific.

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