Entertainment for the Hunkered-Down

Many of us are spending more time at home lately. Great if you've got an airplane project in the garage, not so great if you don't.

One thing I'd suggest is a 1970s BBC TV series called "Wings". This is not the American series about a small airline, but is set during WWI among the Royal Flying Corps. This isn't the "Spad Vs. Triplane" era; it's set in 1915 when they were still trying to figure out how to fight in the air.

All the episodes are available for free viewing on Youtube. Here's the first:

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

Ron Wanttaja

I mentioned this a month ago, but HBO has a mini-series about early aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. It's on HBO, under "Latina Series." It's (mostly) in French, some Portuguese, a little English, but it's subtitled.

Not bad for airplane, balloon, and dirigible sets, and the CGI isn't too bad. Had a lot of background information about ASD that I wasn't familiar with (and which I cross-checked on other sources).

They quite cleverly dodged the Wright vs. Santos Dumont issue, with just minor references to the Wrights.

Ron Wanttaja

And...of course, this is an excellent time to download the FREE copy of Solidworks Education Premium and teach yourself CAD.

https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membersh...esource-center

Ron Wanttaja

In 1957, West Germany released a major motion pictures of one of the Luftwaffe's most famous pilots, Hans-Joachim Marseille. "The Star of Africa" has a combination of Spanish BF-109s and the typical kind of crude models of the day. It was a bit controversial in its day, as it depicts the Germans as the good guys and mostly ignores the bad aspects of wartime Germany. But it's an interesting historical relic, showing a side of the war most of us aren't familiar with.

Youtube has the complete movie. In German, but with subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAUVgjT8R6M

One of the interesting things is that if you search "Star of Africa" on Youtube, you'll find both a 100-minute version and a 140-minute version. The link above is the 100-minute version.

Ron Wanttaja

"Piece of Cake," a BBC series about an RAF fighter squadron in the first year of the war, is also available on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMyhvsD5ceI

Interesting point... Tim Woodward, who starred as the young new pilot in "Wings," is also in "Piece of Cake." He plays Squadron Leader Rex.

Ron Wanttaja

"Fighter Squadron," a so-so 1948 movie about a P-47 squadron, is also available on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmc1uzJ9-i8

This movie is probably the most famous for using P-51s as ME-109s.....


Ron Wanttaja

Need some of this, thanks. I'm a big sports guy. It's horrible, no TV sports. The other day I found this woman on my couch. She says she's my wife. She seems nice.

NOT at all airplane related - but I'm a BIG fan of the Canadian comedy Corner Gas - over 100 episodes and a movie available on Amazon Prime. Along with Midsomer Murders (some 20 seasons) and Murdoch Mysteries (over 10 seasons.) Like westerns? There's over 600 episodes of Gunsmoke and some 400 of Bonanza. The long list of TV shows with over 100 episodes is just a Google away.

And if you have not yet visited the ENDLESS world that IS YouTube? Now's a good time to travel there and never be seen again - LOL

Interesting and educational interview on YouTube with a pilot who passed out on an IFR flight and woke up on the ground sitting in his crashed Mooney. Only thing I disagree with is everyone jumping on board with the “get rid of that stick on warning disc and buy a digital monitor. It should be “change that expired stick on disc and put in a fresh one”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xM8Qc4D5h3Q

Check out "The History Guy" on Youtube. He produces 10 to 15 minute videos of various historical subjects including several dozen aviation related videos. All of his videos are well done, he's a great story teller. I just finished up the one about an inflight breakup of an SR-71 during flight testing. Excellent!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4s...V6VXQ/featured

Some good aviation stories here, from our friends up north:

http://www.vintagewings.ca/en-ca/vin...s/stories.aspx

I particularly like this one:

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNe...Air-Force.aspx

Ron Wanttaja

I have some Van's RV Builder related videos sorted by category:

https://vansaircraftbuilders.com/videos.aspx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tralika

Check out "The History Guy" on Youtube. He produces 10 to 15 minute videos of various historical subjects including several dozen aviation related videos. All of his videos are well done, he's a great story teller. I just finished up the one about an inflight breakup of an SR-71 during flight testing. Excellent!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4s...V6VXQ/featured

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Excellent. I just saw the one an Pan Am flight 6. I will definitely be watching more of them.

I really enjoy Plane Savers https://www.youtube.com/user/McMakk Created by Mikey McBryan from Ice Pilots.

And an addition....

If you've got Amazon Prime, look for "Across the Pacific." It's a three-part documentary on the founding of Pan Am. It has a combination of talking heads and actors recreating key moments.

I've only watched the first part so far, but I was impressed with the original motion picture footage they dug up from the early days of aviation. A lot of it I'd never seen before, and they got some great still photos as well.

Ron Wanttaja

I really get a kick out the best of 2020 MEGA Crash Compilation Feat. IL-2 Sturmovik, DCS & Rise of Flight... its crash porn...

https://youtu.be/2ZhZKpQNg0s

I can watch the shoot'em ups for hours... Battle of Bodenplatte Focke Wulf Fw-190 D-9 Airfield Attack

https://youtu.be/BLfqOGBZEt8

Airplane Crashes and Takedowns V9 | Flying Circus
https://youtu.be/5mpiUk7xTUk