8.4/1030 votesLoading...#1 - Air Ambush
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/10/2006
Legendary fighter pilot, Colonel Robin Olds, sets an intricate trap for the North Vietnamese MiG-21’s. His squadron, the Wolfpack, disguises its lethal F-4 Phantoms as vulnerable bombers. The MIGs scream in to challenge the Americans. The result is the most elaborate air sting of the war… code-name…Operation Bolo.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/1025 votesLoading...#2 - Guadalcanal
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/24/2006
August 1942… the Solomon Islands. Heroic, die-hard American pilots of the tiny Cactus Air Force match skills and instincts against top Japanese aces as they battle in the skies above Guadalcanal. Legendary Marine Capt John Smith and Medal of Honor recipients Jeff De Blanc and Jim Swett pit their tough F-4F Wildcats against the relentless Japanese Zeros. At stake - the fate of the Pacific War.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/1030 votesLoading...#3 - The Last Gunfighter
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/15/2006
The U.S. Navy's top fighter, the F8 Crusader flown by skilled fighter jocks Paul Speer and Phil Wood, tackles the fierce North Vietnamese MiG over the killing skies of Vietnam. Re-live one of the longest, gut-wrenching dogfights on record as Lt. Commander Richard Schaffert - out of missles and with his guns jammed - takes on a lethal MiG-17 and the best enemy pilot he's ever faced. He's got one chance - the amazing capabilities of the F8 Crusader, "the last gunfighter".
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1028 votesLoading...
#4 - Death of the Japanese Navy
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/22/2006
1944...the Pacific. It is one of the most amazing, lopsided naval battles in history: A mighty Japanese fleet let by the Yamato, the biggest battleship in the world - versus Taffy 3, a small U.S. task unit of tin can destroyers and baby flat-tops...ships too weak to fight and too slow to run. David battles Goliath in a fight for survival - with the lives of thousands of American soldiers in the balance.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/1030 votesLoading...#5 - MiG Alley
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/3/2006
Air Force fighter pilots risk their lives flying sleek F-86 Sabres above “Mig Alley” – the most dangerous piece of sky in the Korean War. The high-speed twists and turns of history’s first jet dogfights pit American aces Robbie Risner and Ralph Parr in the battles of their lives against nimble Russian-built MIG-15 fighters.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/1027 votesLoading...#6 - Zero Killers
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 12/8/2006
1943...the skies over the Pacific. The infamous Japanese Zero is decimating American aircraft. No allied plane can match Japan's deadliest fighter plane manned by killed Imperial Navy veterans. The American Navy rushes to deploy a new fighter to take on the unstoppable Zero...the F6F Hellcat. The Zero has met its match. Now, you're in the cockpit with legendary dogfighters Robert Duncan, Hamilton McWhorter and Alex Vraciu...their epic dogfights blazing a new chapter in the annals of aerial warfare.
Director: N/A
Writer: Deborah Blum
7.9/1023 votesLoading...#7 - First Dogfighters
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 8/17/2007
Dogfighting was invented by the fighter pilots of World War I. Ernst Udet's Albatros D.III vs. Georges Guynemer's SPAD VII; Werner Voss, flying a Fokker triplane, battles six S.E.5a pilots, including James McCudden, Arthur Rhys Davids, and Richard Maybery; Arthur Raymond Brooks and his SPAD XIII dogfights with eight Fokker D.VIIs.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/1016 votesLoading...#8 - The bloodiest Day
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/2007
May 10, 1972, was the bloodiest day of air combat during the Vietnam War. American F-4 Phantoms, A-6 Intruders, and A-7 Corsairs fought against North Vietnamese MiG-21s and MiG-19s. The episode includes battles fought by Bob Lodge and Roger Locher and by Charles B. DeBellevue.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1026 votesLoading...#9 - Thunderbolt
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 7/27/2007
The rugged P-47 Thunderbolt, or "jug" as it was known, was the largest single-seat fighter plane of World War II. The episode portrays aerial battles fought by Robert S. Johnson, George Sutcliffe, and Ken Dalhberg against Focke-Wulf Fw-190s and Messerschmitt Me-109.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1012 votesLoading...#10 - Supersonic
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 2/29/2008
Travel back to three conflicts, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. See that for a fighter pilot, speed is your friend. And if the circumstances are right, speed kills. Your in the cockpit of a F4-U Corsair, a DH.98 Mosquito and a F-4 Phantom as you learn just what an advantage speed is.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1011 votesLoading...#11 - Dogfights of the Future
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 5/10/2008
Experience five future combat scenarios featuring modern 4.5 and 5th generation designs. First 4 F-22 Raptors engage Mikoyan MiG-29s, Sukhoi Su-30s and Dassault Rafales with the B-1R missile truck. The next scenario involves a group of F-35 Lightning IIs led by Raptors facing SA-23 surface to air missiles and MiG-35s. Next, Dassault Rafales and F-22s engage Su-30s with a Boeing 767 modified to carry a laser. Then the F-22 fights with the Russian fifth generation Su-47 Berkut. The show ends with a "dogfight" in low Earth orbit between two scramjets.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1020 votesLoading...#12 - P-51 Mustang
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/2007
In the European and Pacific theaters of World War II, the P-51 Mustang became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft. The episode includes interviews with Mustang pilots Donald S. Bryan, Robert Scamara, and Richard Candelaria.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/109 votesLoading...#13 - MiG Killers of the Midway
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 12/7/2007
Recalling Vietnam War battles involving F-4 Phantoms from the USS Midway. This episode portrays dogfights fought by J.C. Smith, Henry "Bart" Bartholomay, Pat Arwood, Mike "Taco" Bell, Ronald "Mugs" McKeown, and John C. "Jack" Ensch.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1021 votesLoading...#14 - Death of the Luftwaffe
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 3/7/2008
The Luftwaffe's last great offensive, called Operation Bodenplatte, occurred on January 1, 1945. Bob Brulle, Sanford K. Moats, Alden Rigby, and Richard Creamer were American pilots of the 352d Fighter Group whose airbase, known as Y-29, was attacked by fighters. After this day, the Luftwaffe was shattered as an effective fighting force.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1025 votesLoading...#15 - Hell over Hanoi
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/1/2006
The skies over Vietnam. They fight in a supersonic world, where split second decisions determine if they live - or die. American F4 Phantom pilots Fred Olmsted and Dan Cherry take on the famed MiG-21 - the most feared threat in the sky. And one American, Steve Ritchie, becomes a dog fighting legend as an Air Force Ace. You're in the cockpit with some of the fiercest dogfighting ever seen in Vietnam!
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1026 votesLoading...#16 - The Long Odds
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/12/2007
Showcases survival stories of bomber pilots battling fighter aircraft. US Navy SBD Dauntless vs. Mitsubishi Zero; US Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress vs. Mitsubishi Zeroes & Ki-46 Dinah; US Air Force F-105 Thunderchief vs. North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1023 votesLoading...#17 - Luftwaffe's Deadliest Mission
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 8/23/2007
On April 7, 1945, pilots of the German Sonderkommando Elbe ram their own aircraft into incoming American bombers.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1026 votesLoading...#18 - Flying Tigers
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/17/2006
Plot Outline Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, a courageous, rag-tag band of American mercenaries dare to challenge the overwhelming might of the Japanese Air Force. The legendary “Flying Tigers” slash through the skies of China, and help vanquish the unstoppable Japanese. Follow leading Tiger aces Tex Hill and John Alison as their P-40 Tomahawks fight to the death against the agile Japanese I-97 Nate.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1029 votesLoading...#19 - Hunt for the Bismarck
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/30/2007
The HMS Hood is sunk, in retaliation Swordfish planes of the British Fleet Air Arm attack the main German battleship Bismarck with devastating results .
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1018 votesLoading...#20 - Gun Kills of Vietnam
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 8/3/2007
The era of missiles had arrived, and electronic warfare was coming of age. But when technology failed, pilots were forced to fight the old-fashioned way — with guns. Clinton Johnson and Charles Hartman down a MiG-17 with propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders; Robert Titus and Milan Zimer's F-4 Phantom shoots it out with a gun pod against MiG-21s; Darrell Simmonds and George McKinney's Phantom fights MiG-17s.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1017 votesLoading...#21 - Dogfights of Desert Storm
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/5/2007
An EF-111 Raven is attacked by an Iraqi Mirage F-1 jet and American fighter pilots pit F-15 Eagles against Iraqi MiG-25s and advanced MiG-29s as part of Operation Desert Storm. American aviators James Denton, Brent Brandon, Larry Pitts, Cesar Rodriguez, Craig Underhill, and Tony "Kimo" Schiavi are interviewed.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1024 votesLoading...#22 - Tuskegee Airmen
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 12/6/2007
The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American pilots of the 332d Fighter Group. They distinguished themselves as one of the most successful fighter groups of World War II, despite the bigotry and prejudice they faced from their own countrymen. Piloting P-51 Mustangs, they flew many missions protecting American bombers from the German Luftwaffe. The episode includes interviews with pilots Lee Archer, Roscoe Brown, and Charles McGee.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.3/1026 votesLoading...
#23 - Dogfights in the Middle East
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/26/2007
Israeli Air Force Mirage III vs. Egyptian Air Force MiG-17 & MiG-19; defection of an Iraqi Air Force MiG-21; Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagle vs. Syrian Air Force MiG-21.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1020 votesLoading...#24 - Kamikaze
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 7/13/2007
Towards the end of World War II, Japan sent volunteer pilots on suicide attacks against American naval targets. Kamikaze attacks covered include those against the escort carrier USS St. Lo on October 25, 1944, and the destroyer USS Laffey on April 15, 1945. Also discussed is the use of Japanese Ohka rocket planes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1014 votesLoading...#25 - No Room for Error
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 8/24/2007
It's where a pilot can ill afford to make a mistake...but where dogfights are inexorably drawn. Down on the deck-at treetop level-the margin for error is zero.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Dogfights
Every episode of Dogfights ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Dogfights!
Dogfights is a military aviation themed TV series depicting historical re-enactments of air-to-air combat that took place in World War I, World War II, the...
Genres:DocumentaryNewsAction & AdventureWar & Politics
Network:History
Best Episodes Summary
"Air Ambush" is the best rated episode of "Dogfights". It scored 8.4/10 based on 30 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 11/10/2006. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Guadalcanal".