T.V. Heads-up Channel 5 now! Heroes of the Skies

[Rhino power]

Sorry for the late post...

Heroes of the Skies - Robin Olds, on Channel 5 now, started at 20:00

-RP

[MG]

So the F105 was slow, was it?

[BOAC]

Much as I detest Ashcroft, his series has been excellent. This story was amazing. I hold Olds in absolute awe, and regret not knowing of his career before he died. Truly a great boss.

[Wander00]

Good programme, Ashcroft "KCMG" notwithstanding

[air pig]

And, he was CO of No 1 Squadron RAF, I think, only the first time post WW2 the RAF, has appointed a non British CO.

[Wander00]

Air Pig - Olds or Ashcroft?

[langleybaston]

Ashcroft of course ........... I thought everyone knew that. Boss of 1 Sqdn. Yes.

[Thud105]

Very poorly researched - despite the fact that his autobiography (which is excellent) is available. The inference that he went from the P-38 to the F-4 (for example) is laughable.

[BOAC]

The inference that he went from the P-38 to the F-4 (for example) is laughable. - missed that bit! Must have been letting a dog out/in:) That certainly would have made for a challenging conversion course.:eek:

Slightly off-topic, anyone know if Bob Houghton of the same unit is still with us? He served with he RAF for awhile.

[TT2]

Absolutely unmitigated crap. You would think that the researchers would actually have read both sets of memoirs from Olds? Or is that too piggin' easy? Better just to make a story up.

Olds did his time as a Thud pilot long before getting onto the F-4, hence he knew the situation in order to protect them.

That was not a documentry, it was a piece of self serving self publicity by a war loving t.v. face who previously loved making docos about tanks - and one who would run out of the pub if you said "BOO".

Get the facts right if you are going to do it. Or get a job with the Daily Fail.

[Thud105]

Did he fly Thuds? Its not mentioned in his autobiography. I think he flew Sabres then F-101 Voodoos before the F-4.

[bobward]

A few years ago, Robin Olds was on a documentary describing how he had fought long and hard with the Pentagon, who were sure the day of dog fighting was over. It was going to be missels only, and the SecDef's decision was final.

Fast forward a couple of years and Olds and crewman are going "Downtown", into a bit of flak.....

Old's allegedly tells the GIB not to worry, because according to the Pentagon , it wasn't happening.

Like Douglas Bader and others, Robin Olds was a man either loved or loathed. Whichever side you take, he was a leader, who his men would follow. ;)

[thunderbird7]

Robin Olds book is one of the most engrossing reads I have picked up. A true aviator. There are some good clips on you tube of him being interviewed where he comes across quite well.

What a shame nobody seems to be able to make decent aviation progs any more. Gave up on this series ages ago, mainly due to 'wooden top' ashcroft and the crappy computer graphics.

[JonnyT1978]

Always remember he featured quite prominently in the episodes of the 1980s documentary Reaching for the Skies talking about his experiences with the P-51 and his time in Vietnam. I seem to remember him stating that if they'd put a gun on the (early model) F-4s, he would "without doubt" have shot down nine more MiGs than he did.

Found the start of it here:
tSp3V-w8ISo

[airsound]

Ashcroft "KCMG" notwithstanding Far as I can remember, KCMG stands for 'Kindly Call Me God'.
And the next rank up, GCMG, is 'God Calls Me God'.

Back to the thread now.

airsound

[stumpey]

If you say so Sir Humphry......:ok:


From what I've seen, the whole series was better done in previous decades! Typical of todays "Dubbed down program" for a "Dubbed down society"!
Seems to be "Made for America, Savours of the World"! (Sic). Still, every export counts and if their fool enough to pay for crap like this, carry on pandering.

CGI has come a long way hasn't it?

[sitigeltfel]

I, for one, find Ashcrofts presentation style very irritating. He comes across like a robot on Mogadon, and I look away when he is talking.

[FantomZorbin]

sitigeltfel

I agree ... you can see his eyes reading the 'cue cards' !

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

And all that 'Music' is bloody awful!

[Just This Once...]

The Reaching For The Skies link brought back memories. Nice that the Tornado F3 made the 'fighter' episode but the in-cockbit footage would have looked a little better if the pilot had remembered to take the pin out of the canopy before aviating.:eek:

[robin]

As usual, after a couple of UK pilots, the bulk of the series is about US 'aces', probably because of the marketing opportunities

What a load of cack...!

[mikip]

The series was bound to be mainly about Americans after all they have provided the inspiriration and leadership on the winning side of every battle that has ever been fought, I bet you did'nt know that Nelson was an American as was Dowding if you don't believe me check with Hollywood they will confirm it