****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I was positively surprised at this particular VHS video with the somewhat grandiose title "The History of Naval Aviation". However, it pretty much hit its mark although I should have been tipped off by the producers - The History Channel with their typical quality.The film's organization has one main moderator, complemented by several experts here and threre: both a British and an American academic and three or four actual former aviators. We also see and hear FDR extolling airborne combat in early 1942.The tone of the film is decidedly more academic than military, but it is presented with a balanced view, no lefty revisionism we seem to see so much of these days.However, the accuracy and the pace of the dialog ensure that most all important facts are covered. A lot of research went into this video, and the war shots are plenty and relevent. Of course, as mentioned above, it's all Naval Aviation, ie, carrier based, so look elsewhere for the big B-17 bombers, B-25's, and the USAAF/Nazi air war in Europe! The Naval war (if you don't know by now) was fought largely against Japan in the Pacific, and this video is mostly that story.We start off appropriately with O&W Wright and the reluctance of the Congress in 1910 to get into the aviation business; but it doesn't take long for WWI to convince our elected officials otherwise. The Great War (WW-I) footage is quite skimpy, but not much exists. No mention of the Lafayette Esquadrille, our most famous squadron of Americans (flying under the French flag.)We get a good technical description comparing Japan's and the US's strategy: light and maneuverable vs. heavy armament and self-sealing gas tanks, etc., but not enough to really appreciate the differences. Dec 7 comes through appropriately, but without the typical 10 minutes of exploding carnage, but rather, a welcomed reasoned analysis on the effect of Dec 7 on Naval Aviation. The Second War tsaught us that air power and sea power go hand in hand, one not without the other.The first big battle at Coral Sea in May 1942 showed that airpower was absolutely critical in naval operations.Then came, Midway the "really big shew". Adm. Nogumo had his intelligence intercepted and we surprised four of his carriers that were loaded with Jap fighting planes. You can watch the video to see wehat happens! Let it be said that the SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber was the best in the Pacific and four squadrons were sent to the four Nogumo's waiting carriers! The war clearly turned our way at Midway.. "the greatest event in US Naval Aviation history" The turning point of the war was when those Dauntless Dive Bombers took out the four carriers. Japan never recuperated from that loss for the remainder of the war.Next up was the Marianas Turkey Shoot where Japanese aviation lost 1,300 aircraft and lost all offensive capability. It was all over but the ... Kamakazis.The meat of the film is the fighting aircraft. This one didn't disappoint. Good descriptions of the planes and their strengths and weaknesses, often from actual former pilots:First F4F Wildcat: an honest assessment regarding the extra heavy Grumman machine battling the lithe nimble Zero. A nice diagram of the "Thatch Weave", one way to be successful against the deadly Zero.F6F Hellcats! Bigger and faster and 50% more guns - successor to the F4F. 6 big 50 calibers put fear in those cold Japanese hearts (this was war, remember).SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers: single-handedly whupped butt at Midway. Four SBD squadrons took out four large carriers... an incredible feat.TBF Avengers: All flying were downed at their debut at Midway: an inauspicious beginning. But as we learned to use their strengths - speed in the dive - they went on to be an incredible torpedo bomberFinally enter the big F4U Corsairs, with an 11:1 kill ratio, exceeding 400mph. No mention, however of all the problems getting it to safely land on a carrier.Then on to the jet age.The producers chose the F9F Panther to introduce the carrier jet age, missing a few in between, but we can forgive them that.Next to Grumman's F-8 "Sader" (Crusader - this is when the Armed Services re-arranged aircraft nomenclature - F-8 came after F9) and finally the F-4 Phantom that the USAF (who?) decided to adopt as well.The video ends with the one-time be-all-end-all F-14 TomCat, with no mention of the F-16 Falcon or the F-22.All in all, this History Channel excerpt from the early 90's is an excellent video - informative, well edited and a great story, easily worth *****.
