This episode of "Secrets of the Dead" is about an air battle between a Japanese and an American pilot in 1942. While neither was killed in this altercation, exactly what happened and why is pieced together. Unfortunately, neither pilot was alive when the show was made and so you really don't have much in the way of first-hand evidence.
In 2005, the wonderful History Channel show "Dogfights" debuted. Using computer technology, they were able to finally recreate actual airplane battles and make them look almost real life. It's a wonderful show and it immediately came to my mind as I sat and watched this particular episode of "Secrets of the Dead". It's because so much of this show is like "Dogfights"--with a few changes. Once again, you see air battles recreated using CGI but you also have some detective work by modern researchers--putting pieces together to try to determine what, exactly, happened during one particular dogfight during the lengthy Battle of Guadalcanal. My problem with this latter portion is that often it sounded as if the folks were making MANY guesses. Good guesses, perhaps, but still guesses as the evidence didn't seem nearly as conclusive as the folks in the show indicated. Still, it was entertaining and well done--and worth seeing.
In 2005, the wonderful History Channel show "Dogfights" debuted. Using computer technology, they were able to finally recreate actual airplane battles and make them look almost real life. It's a wonderful show and it immediately came to my mind as I sat and watched this particular episode of "Secrets of the Dead". It's because so much of this show is like "Dogfights"--with a few changes. Once again, you see air battles recreated using CGI but you also have some detective work by modern researchers--putting pieces together to try to determine what, exactly, happened during one particular dogfight during the lengthy Battle of Guadalcanal. My problem with this latter portion is that often it sounded as if the folks were making MANY guesses. Good guesses, perhaps, but still guesses as the evidence didn't seem nearly as conclusive as the folks in the show indicated. Still, it was entertaining and well done--and worth seeing.