Max Q From United States of America, joined May 2001, 3289 posts, RR: 19 Posted (9 months 4 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 5440 times:
I started watching this series some time ago when it was hosted by Paul 'Max' Moga.
Good show but the editing was incredibly annoying with its scene changing every 1/4 second and accompanying dumb sound effect.
I'm sure this wasn't Moga's fault.
Now there is a new season hosted by Terry Deitz who I think does a much better job, a little less breathless and more professional, more importantly they have done away with the terrible editing of the first season.
It really has been good. I think last nights show on the F111 was brilliant. I wonder if they will get to his own aircraft the incomparable F14 Tomcat ?
Thoughts / Opinions ?
The best contribution to safety is a competent Pilot.
ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3247 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (9 months 3 weeks 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 5380 times:
I had high hopes for the new season... but my DVR is watching the show without me & I delete the show on sight....
- B-52 ep had Deitz walking endlessly around a stuffed and mounted Buff at Langley. There are much better B-52s they could have used. Maybe they went to Langley for the guest crewmember - Would've been cheaper to fly the guest to a better Buff vs taking the whole film crew to Langley.
- Stock footage they use is all the common stuff that has been used many times - They need to do some digging and find better footage.
- Deitz makes technical errors in his narration that I would expect a ex F-14 guy to know. I assume he's reading off a script
- ... and the bane of every a.netter... They frequently show one aircraft while talking about another
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Revelation From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 10452 posts, RR: 20 Reply 2, posted (9 months 3 weeks 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 5330 times:
Quoting Max Q (Thread starter): Good show but the editing was incredibly annoying with its scene changing every 1/4 second and accompanying dumb sound effect.
I liked the show on the Valkyrie.
Quoting ZANL188 (Reply 1): B-52 ep had Deitz walking endlessly around a stuffed and mounted Buff at Langley. There are much better B-52s they could have used.
Agree, and wouldn't it have been cool to get a look inside the USAF Museum's Valkyrie instead of standing there looking at the tires?
alberchico From United States of America, joined Sep 2004, 2682 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (9 months 3 weeks 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 5326 times:
There is an older series called wings made by the discovery channel that is much better made and covers many types of aircraft
ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3247 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (9 months 3 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 5301 times:
Quoting alberchico (Reply 3): There is an older series called wings made by the discovery channel that is much better made and covers many types of aircraft
The Wings series morphed into the Wings channel. Wings channel had its name changed to the Military channel. Military channel carries Great Planes. Discovery Networks is behind both shows...
That said I think one of the reasons I dislike Great Planes is because I've seen it all, the footage anyway, before on Wings. I thought Wings was a pretty good show...
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BilgeRat From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2006, 174 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 4993 times:
I understand it's an American produced show aimed at an American audience, but it would be nice if they actually featured some non-American aircraft. If memory serves me correctly the first series had only American types.
KC135TopBoom From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 11708 posts, RR: 52 Reply 7, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 4972 times:
I believe there have been shows on the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf-109, Lanc, Mosquito, Mig-15, and Harrier.
avnut43 From United States of America, joined Apr 2012, 17 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 4884 times:
The first "Wings/Great Planes" series that debuted on Discovery in late summer 1988 was great compared to later incarnations of the show. Below is the complete episode list. You cannot buy the original series in the US, you can in Australia though. I have the entire collection that I pulled together from eBay Australia (search under "Discovery Great Planes") and various other sellers.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Boeing 707 C-135
Boeing 747
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Catalina PBY
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Douglas C-47 Dakota
Douglas A-26 Invader
Douglas A-1 Skyraider
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
General Dynamics F-16 Falcon
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
Grumman F4F Wildcat / F6F Hellcat
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Lockheed Constellation
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Martin B-57 Canberra
McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle
McDonnell-Douglas F-18 Hornet
McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom
North American P-51 Mustang
North American F-86 Sabre
North American F-100 Super Sabre
North American XB-70 Valkyrie
Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic F-84 Thunderjet
Republic F-105 Thunderchief
Rockwell B-1B Lancer
Vought F4U Corsair
Vought A-7 Corsair II
BilgeRat From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2006, 174 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (9 months 3 weeks 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 4800 times:
Quoting KC135TopBoom (Reply 7): I believe there have been shows on the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf-109, Lanc, Mosquito, Mig-15, and Harrier.
Really? Every time I've seen it on TV in the UK, it's been American aircraft. Likewise when I looked up the episode guide online the list of episodes was only American aircraft?
So it looks like the original "Great Planes" series focussed pretty much exclusively on American types but there was spin off shows that featured some non-American types.
Still, my original point stands I think - it would be nice if they had made episodes on some of the aircraft I mentioned above.
Someone mentioned above about the commentary not matching up with the footage. "Aircraft Stories" is absolutely terrible for that, often talking about one type or theatre whilst showing footage of something completely different!
Revelation From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 10452 posts, RR: 20 Reply 10, posted (9 months 3 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 4755 times:
Quoting BilgeRat (Reply 9):
Still, my original point stands I think - it would be nice if they had made episodes on some of the aircraft I mentioned above.
Indeed.
I liked "Wings of the Luftwaffe" for that reason.
I still have some episodes squirreled away on my TiVo.
Seems there was "Wings of the Red Star" that I seemed to have missed.
I would have loved to have seen something like "Wings of the RAF" to cover Spit, Hurricane, Mossie, Lanc, etc.
Sadly, the ability to talk to a lot of the original aviators is disappearing rapidly.
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