Airplane Documentaries - Show us want we really want

[old man emu]

I've watched a couple of English documentaries recently about the Hurricane, Spitfire and Wellington. They were interesting in as far as they went, but I was getting bored of the same stock footage that fills out these documentaries.

 

Video of the subject airplane in flight does nothing more than provide some aircraft recognition. I don't know how many times I've seen the same twin-engined bomber being shot to pieces from below and behind.

 

What I'd like to see is some up-close-and-personal film. Show us what the pilot can see when sitting in the cockpit. What's the external visibility like? Where are the undercarriage controls? How does the gunsight work? How do the trim controls work? How do you operate the engine when on patrol and when you are in fighting mode? Let's get some recording of the cockpit noise in flight.

 

Then let's get under the skin. Show us the hydraulic system plumbing. How is the ammunition stored and fed to the guns? Where do the spent cartridges go? Is here any armor for the pilot. Let's have a good look over the engine. Are there any peculiarities in the engine design.

 

Wow! If you showed all that you'd have a really full, one hour insight into any historic airplane.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

[red750]

You're right, OME. Same old, same old. Program "Bombers of the Second World War", Axis section, covered only half a dozen German bombers, and only a couple of minutes on each. No Italian stuff, although there were a dozen or so.

 

 

[rgmwa]

Airplane or aeroplane? Seems like we are gradually adopting the US pronunciation more and more. The newspapers seem to use `airplane' these days, and even the ABC newsreader was talking about`airplanes' recently.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[planedriver]

Know how you feel rgmwa, but Aunty, or Auntie does not always seem to get things right, or should that be wright, or rite, or write?

 

 

[old man emu]

Airplane or aeroplane? Seems like we are gradually adopting the US pronunciation more and more. The newspapers seem to use `airplane' these days, and even the ABC newsreader was talking about`airplanes' recently. rgmwa

Please don't wander off the original topic just because I like to use the word "airplane" to be annoying.

 

OME

 

 

[rgmwa]

Sorry OME. I agree that most TV documentaries cover much the same ground. On the other hand, for those who are particularly interested in details, there are a lot of original instructional videos available on uTube that show you how the controls work and how to fly the plane. Kermit Weeks has also made quite a few walk-around and cockpit view videos on various aircraft that are well worth having a look at.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[Garfly]

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of the classic warbirds I don't think you can go past the original US Airforce training films. After all aviators are never going to be satisfied watching films designed for the general public.

 

And even though these were just training films it's interesting that the production values were, nevertheless, kept very high. No expense or creative effort was spared in their making. It's easy to understand why film production was a 'protected industry' during the war. Hollywood was really put to work turning its talents to the war effort.

 

For example:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA_N10PQtl0

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Kermit Weeks's videos are well worth a look

 

 

[old man emu]

I agree with Garfly about the work done by the US Photographic Units, and those films would provide some good footage to include in a documentary. I'd like to see docs that dealt with a plane the way aviation enthusiasts approach their investigation of a new plane on the strip. We get our interest aroused when we see a stranger in the circuit, and go over it in detail when it shuts down at the tie-downs.

 

Let's see more panels removed and POH's opened up.

 

OME

 

 

[Marty_d]

I guess the problem is that they're geared to the maximum audience size, most of whom have not much interest in the detail.

 

 

[old man emu]

I'd like to see different details in most documentaries. If I have to see again and again those German soldiers opening the barrier across the German/Polish border, the smoldering wreckage of Battleship Row, or a French train being strafed, I'll throw my slipper at the TV.

 

It seems that the creators of these documentaries have a love affair with the Cut and Paste keys.

 

OME

 

 

[pmccarthy]

The most overexposed of all is that WW1 Aussie carrying someone along a trench toward the camera.

 

 

[old man emu]

And the examples keep rolling in! I think my point is proven, M'lud.

 

 

[Akromaster]

Not really "airplane" documentaries as such but my favourite is Dogfights...less about the plane and more about the dissection of plane and tactics.

 

Plane wise, I have the VHS box set of "Warbirds if WW II" that I've watched a few times.

 

 

[Narrabeenrick]

Hi Guys

 

Here is a website I watch a fair bit AIRBOYD

 

It's got so much stuff. Down the bottom you can change the archives and categories.

 

Cheers