Masters of the Air (1 Viewer)

Very quiet on here what were everyone's thoughts?

I miss the clips of interviews with veterans like Band of Brothers had during the opening credits and the map graphic used to situate you in The Pacific. I do think they captured the dichotomy between the terror of being on bombing run and the life they lived on airbases. The speed of the incoming fighters, and the nerves they must had had to fly a steady course through flak were also well portrayed. I'm looking forward to the series further developing.

Brendan
 
Part one was good, set up the characters. Attention to period detail very good, particularly the youth of the players which was as it was then.
Young men keen to fly then the reality of combat hits home. Looking forward to part two.
 
I watched the first episode. I thought it was ok, not spectacular. One thing: when they are piloting the runway you are basically seeing one plane. I suppose they didn’t have more at their disposal but this is where they could have used CGI to make it seem more realistic.
 
I watched the first 2 episodes. I thought it was pretty good. I don't know if will be up there with BOB and The Pacific, Hopefully someday they will have one about the Navy. I'm surprised that HBO didn't get this series to go with the other 2.
Mark
 
I watched the first 2 episodes. I thought it was pretty good. I don't know if will be up there with BOB and The Pacific, Hopefully someday they will have one about the Navy. I'm surprised that HBO didn't get this series to go with the other 2.
Mark

HBO passed because of the cost.
 
have not seen it yet as i don't have apple tv but i am waiting to see what everybody thinks

Its a good watch thus far after 3x episodes, although as expected grim viewing and attention to detail is excellent.

You'll appreciate the series once you get to see it.
 
This has been a good series so far. Episode 5 was a very intense one. Those planes were like flying coffins.
 
An interesting fact, the USAAF lost more acft to training accidents than combat in WWII.
 
An interesting fact, the USAAF lost more acft to training accidents than combat in WWII.

Age & inexperience no doubt contributing.....

My English father in-law who began his career in the RAF as a tail-gunner in 'Wellingtons' during WW2 and had his entire crew wiped out when his young pilot performed an unauthorized acrobatic maneuver and crashed the bomber.

The father-in-law was grounded at the time due to a severe ear infection, which later turned into a perforated ear drum, which eventually saw him grounded indefinitely and resulted with him surviving the war as ground-crew and ending up in Berlin.

I recall him saying that the odds surviving the war as air-crew were slim to none. He lost nearly all his mates by wars end and until his last breath had nothing nice to say about the Germans or Japs.
 
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Was able to watch the first 3 episodes and think this series as good as Pacific and BOB. THe CGI is excellent IMO, have a feeling of being on a B-17 during the aerial scenes. One crewman down in Belgium and meets a farmer's daughter. Hope we're not in for the obligatory romance. Great series.
 
My respect for those guys knows no limits as they were in a living hell when they went on a mission.
Mark
 
Haven't seen it but there was a hair-raising story on one of those history channel shows. A British bomber crew is flying over Germany at night when they are hit and one of the engines catches on fire and is burning. What to do? They decide to deploy the parachute of one unlucky crew member and hold onto it while he walks out onto the wing with a fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. Imagine a guy on the wing of a flying aircraft at night while it is on fire and his buddies are holding his parachute to keep him from blowing off. While he is standing on the wing, a German fighter comes out of the sky and strafes the plane. His buddies drop the end of the parachute, and he goes flying off into the night. The plane crashes but there are survivors. They are taken prisoner and pass the medical tent where they discover that the guy who fell off the wing has somehow survived this ordeal and is being treated for his injuries. You had to be tough in those days.
 
Haven't seen it but there was a hair-raising story on one of those history channel shows. A British bomber crew is flying over Germany at night when they are hit and one of the engines catches on fire and is burning. What to do? They decide to deploy the parachute of one unlucky crew member and hold onto it while he walks out onto the wing with a fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. Imagine a guy on the wing of a flying aircraft at night while it is on fire and his buddies are holding his parachute to keep him from blowing off. While he is standing on the wing, a German fighter comes out of the sky and strafes the plane. His buddies drop the end of the parachute, and he goes flying off into the night. The plane crashes but there are survivors. They are taken prisoner and pass the medical tent where they discover that the guy who fell off the wing has somehow survived this ordeal and is being treated for his injuries. You had to be tough in those days.

Your post reminded me of Kiwi WW2 airman James Allen ward who was awarded the VC for climbing onto a Wellington's wing in flight to put a fire out....


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Allen_Ward
 
Read some production notes and $5M spent to renovate an RAF airfield for the series. Two replica B-17s made using blueprints and checking museum acft for the ground and taxiing scenes. Genuine period leather from a British firm used for the flying jackets. Total production cost was $250M. I hope the replica acft find a home in a museum.
 
I remember reading this somewhere that all bomber crew members were at least a sergeant the reason being if taken prisoner by the Germans they were treated better due to their rank.
 
Just watched episode 6,pretty good. I don't know if I could have mentally did the job these guys did.
Mark
 

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