Episodes

10 episodes in this season

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Douglas Skyraider

P-40 Warhawk

P51 Mustang

North American B-25 Mitchell

F-15 Eagle

F-16 Fighting Falcon

F/A 18 Hornet

PBY Catalina

Republic F84

E10

F-104 Starfighter

Great Planes

TV Series

2008

Documentary

Now playing

Douglas Skyraider

Season 1 · Episode 1 · Oct 29, 2008

The Douglas Skyraider was a propeller-driven bomber and ground attack weapons system, unglamorous but almost perfectly suited to its various roles. In the closing years of World War II it was realized that fighter airplanes had become so advanced, so speedy, that the great weight of the rear gunner, his turret, and his equipment in torpedo and dive bombers were redundant. Douglas was given a contract to construct a single-engined, single seat bomber and attack airplane for use aboard Navy carriers, and they came up with a winner. It was a big airplane with a radial engine, and it could carry a huge load of ordinance -- a better bomb load than a B-17, or a nuclear weapon. First flown in 1945, it was finally retired after service in Korea and Vietnam, sometime in the 1960s.

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Great Planes

TV Series

2008

Documentary

Now playing

Douglas Skyraider

Season 1 · Episode 1 · Oct 29, 2008

More details