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* SinkingShipScenario: For the Americans, these are the eventual fates of the USS ''Johnston'', USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'', and USS ''St. Lo'' at the hands of the Japanese during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
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* SinkingShipScenario: For the Americans, these are the eventual fates of the USS ''Johnston'', USS ''Hoel'', USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'', and USS ''St. Lo'' at the hands of the Japanese during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
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* SuperDetailedFightNarration: This is a main focus of the show.
to:
* SuperDetailedFightNarration: This is a main focus of the show. In addition to narrating the fights as they occur, the show will often take a minute to compare the strengths of the opposing planes or show how a given maneuver is supposed to work.
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** A navy F-4 pilot sent his plane into an out of control tumble as a way to dump airspeed get an attacking Mig to overshoot. The Navy pilot then regained control and shot down the MiG.
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** A navy F-4 pilot sent his plane into an out of control tumble as a way to dump airspeed get an attacking Mig [=MiG=] to overshoot. The Navy pilot then regained control and shot down the MiG.[=MiG=].
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** Even better, an F-4 Phantom ace scored the first--and ONLY--supersonic gun kill on a MiG-21 in the middle of a very high-g turn. To give you an idea, supersonic bullets were fired from a supersonic fighter, in the middle of a tight, high-g turn in order to hit a supersonic target that is also in a tight turn, slicing off a wing in a single burst. As a more coincidental and amusing example, a famous UsefulNotes/WW2 American ace was launching a surprise attack on a swarm of German fighters with a P-38, and right as he was about to pull the trigger on his first target, his propellers stop because he forgot to switch the fuel lines when he jettisoned the external fuel tanks just before the dogfight. He fired anyway, scoring the only kill in history with a craft that was just gliding without thrust.
to:
** Even better, an F-4 Phantom ace scored the first--and ONLY--supersonic gun kill on a MiG-21 [=MiG=]-21 in the middle of a very high-g turn. To give you an idea, supersonic bullets were fired from a supersonic fighter, in the middle of a tight, high-g turn in order to hit a supersonic target that is also in a tight turn, slicing off a wing in a single burst. As a more coincidental and amusing example, a famous UsefulNotes/WW2 American ace was launching a surprise attack on a swarm of German fighters with a P-38, and right as he was about to pull the trigger on his first target, his propellers stop because he forgot to switch the fuel lines when he jettisoned the external fuel tanks just before the dogfight. He fired anyway, scoring the only kill in history with a craft that was just gliding without thrust.
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* RockBeatsLaser: In the "Gun Kills of Vietnam" two propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders, armed only with cannon and without effective lead-computing gunsights, manage to shoot down an enemy MiG-17 jet fighter.
to:
* RockBeatsLaser: In the "Gun Kills of Vietnam" two propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders, armed only with cannon and without effective lead-computing gunsights, manage to shoot down an enemy MiG-17 [=MiG=]-17 jet fighter.
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* TacticalWithdrawal: Supersonic American jets always had the option to light the afterburner and disengage from the more maneuverable MiG-17s and 19s of the North Vietnamese Air Force when they felt themselves to be at a disadvantage.
to:
* TacticalWithdrawal: Supersonic American jets always had the option to light the afterburner and disengage from the more maneuverable MiG-17s [=MiG=]-17s and 19s of the North Vietnamese Air Force when they felt themselves to be at a disadvantage.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51pfvzgoael.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51pfvzgoael.jpg]]
org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogfights.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
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* SuicideAttack: A few. Though most are by the Japanese, some German pilots actually did this to Allied bombers, although they would attempt to jump from their plane before the collision.
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* SuicideAttack: A few. Though most are by The Japanese have several examples, namely Kamikazes and the Japanese, some German pilots actually did this Kaiten manned torpedo. The Germans, on the other hand, have the Sonderkommando Elbe, a unit trained to Allied ram their fighters against American B-17 and B-24 bombers, although they would attempt were taught to jump from their plane before bail out once they rammed the collision.bombers in question.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogfights.jpg]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogfights.jpg]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive...]][[TitleDrop THE DOGFIGHTS!!!]] ]]
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* FragileSpeedster: Most Japanese fighters are this, as they easily go down in flames when hit by a burst of .50 caliber bullets.
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* FragileSpeedster: Most Japanese fighters aircraft, particularly their fighters, are this, as they easily go down in flames when hit by a burst of .50 caliber bullets.
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* GlassCannon: The Japanese bombers featured, namely the "Val" dive bomber, are this. While they are capable of delivering devastating blows to American ships, like all Japanese planes, they go down easily in 1-2 bursts from American fighters.
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* GuyInBack: Several aircraft featured have different kinds of this crewman, mostly gunners, but also others like radio and radar operators are shown.
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* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', 12 US Marine Corps [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
to:
* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes FM-2 Wildcats from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', 12 US Marine Corps [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
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* VehicularTurnabout: Quite a few, namely a P-51 Mustang in Liftwaffe colors, and the famous Akutan Zero.
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* VehicularTurnabout: Quite a few, namely a P-51 Mustang in Liftwaffe Luftwaffe colors, and the famous Akutan Zero.
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* VehicularTurnabout: Quite a few, namely a P-51 Mustang in Liftwaffe colors, and the famous Akutan Zero.
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* FragileSpeedster: Most Japanese fighters are this, as they easily go down in flames when hit by a burst of .50 caliber bullets.
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''Dogfights'' was an American documentary series that aired on the History Channel from 2006-2008 that usually covered {{Ace Pilot}}s from World War I to the present and future. On occasion, however, they would cover other topics, namely during several episodes that focused on UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
to:
''Dogfights'' was an American documentary series that aired on the History Channel from 2006-2008 that usually covered {{Ace Pilot}}s from World War I to the present and future. On occasion, however, they would cover other other, related topics, namely during several episodes that focused on UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
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* StupidJetpackHitler: The first portion of the episode "Secret Weapons of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII" covered the ME 163 rocket plane, while two other episodes featured the ME 262 jet fighter.
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* CoolBoat: Several, most of which are from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, namely the IJN ''Yamato'' and German battleship ''Bismarck''.
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''Dogfights'' was an American documentary series that aired on the History Channel from 2006-2008 that covered {{Ace Pilot}}s from World War I to the present and future.
to:
''Dogfights'' was an American documentary series that aired on the History Channel from 2006-2008 that usually covered {{Ace Pilot}}s from World War I to the present and future.future. On occasion, however, they would cover other topics, namely during several episodes that focused on UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
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* SinkingShipScenario: For the Americans, these are the eventual fates of the USS ''Johnston'', USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'', and USS ''St. Lo'' at the hands of the Japanese during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
** The British, meanwhile, have the HMS ''Hood'', with SoleSurvivor Ted Briggs' detailed account shown as he makes his way out of the ship's bridge and into the water.
** In turn, the German battleship ''Bismarck'' suffers this fate following an hours-long assault by British battleships, and ends with her being torpedoed by a British Cruiser and scuttled by her own crew at the same time.
** The IJN ''Yamato'' is crippled by numerous bombs and torpedoes in a relentless air attack by USN Helldivers, Hellcats, Avengers, and Corsairs. While DamageControl does manage to counter-flood the ship, it only delays the inevitable when the huge battleship finally capsizes and explodes.
** The British, meanwhile, have the HMS ''Hood'', with SoleSurvivor Ted Briggs' detailed account shown as he makes his way out of the ship's bridge and into the water.
** In turn, the German battleship ''Bismarck'' suffers this fate following an hours-long assault by British battleships, and ends with her being torpedoed by a British Cruiser and scuttled by her own crew at the same time.
** The IJN ''Yamato'' is crippled by numerous bombs and torpedoes in a relentless air attack by USN Helldivers, Hellcats, Avengers, and Corsairs. While DamageControl does manage to counter-flood the ship, it only delays the inevitable when the huge battleship finally capsizes and explodes.
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* AntiAir: Several, notably ''all'' of the USS ''Laffey's'' armament, as well as the German battleship ''Bismarck's'' and IJN ''Yamato's'' 20mm and 25mm anti-aircraft guns.
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* EpicShipOnShipAction: Two episodes focusing on the ''Bismarck'' and ''Yamato'' have those ships engage in surface action against the Royal Navy and US Navy, both of them not ending well for either of them to different degrees.
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* OldSchoolDogfight: Happens in almost every episode to some degree, in particular the episodes taking place between UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, when guns were still the primary weapons of fighters.
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** A navy F-4 pilot sent his plane into an out of control tumble as a way to dump airspeed get an attacking Mig to overshoot. The Navy pilot then regained control and shot down the MiG.
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* TacticalWithdrawal: Supersonic American jets always had the option to light the afterburner and disengage from the more maneuverable MiG-17s and 19s of the North Vietnamese Air Force when they felt themselves to be at a disadvantage.
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* BadassIsraeli[=/=]IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles: The pilots featured in the episodes "Dogfights of the Middle East" and "Desert Aces".
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* BadassIsraeli[=/=]IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles: BadassIsraeli: The pilots featured in the episodes "Dogfights of the Middle East" and "Desert Aces".
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* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Liffey'', 12 US Marine Corps [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
to:
* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Liffey'', ''Laffey'', 12 US Marine Corps [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogfights.jpg]]
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* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Liffey'', 12 US Marine Corp [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
to:
* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Liffey'', 12 US Marine Corp Corps [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
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* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', 12 US Navy [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
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* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', ''Liffey'', 12 US Navy Marine Corp [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
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America Wins The War has been renamed because of Missing Supertrope Syndrome. Misuse and Zero Context Examples will be cut.
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* AmericaWinsTheWar: The show's main problem is that mainly focuses on Americans. Occasionally, it also shows Israeli combat. Other episodes show Sonderkommando Elbe's only mission, the British sinking the Bismarck, kamikaze missions, and a mix of WWI combat from the views of many different nations' pilots. Of course, the TV show was intended for American audiences, which could explain the heavy emphasis on America.
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* CameraAbuse: The "camera" occasionally shakes when an aircraft passes or an explosion occurs.
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''Dogfights'' was an American documentary series that aired on the History Channel from 2006-2008 that covered {{Ace Pilot}}s from World War I to the present and future.
----
'''This show provides examples of:'''
* AcePilot: Most of the pilots featured on this show.
* AmericaWinsTheWar: The show's main problem is that mainly focuses on Americans. Occasionally, it also shows Israeli combat. Other episodes show Sonderkommando Elbe's only mission, the British sinking the Bismarck, kamikaze missions, and a mix of WWI combat from the views of many different nations' pilots. Of course, the TV show was intended for American audiences, which could explain the heavy emphasis on America.
* BadassIsraeli[=/=]IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles: The pilots featured in the episodes "Dogfights of the Middle East" and "Desert Aces".
* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', 12 US Navy [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
* CoolPlane: Quite a few. Some of the rarer/newer ones include the Me-262 jet from World War II, the B-17 Old 666 in "Long Odds," and pretty much all of the planes in "Dogfights of the Future".
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: In some dogfights, being outnumbered actually is an advantage. When you surround a plane, you run the risk of shooting your allies when firing at the enemy while the enemy can shoot at any time without risk. It's worse with missiles because they track ally planes as well which is one reason why guns never became obsolete.
* {{Determinator}}: In the episode "Long Odds," there was a pilot of a lone, slow divebomber who was trapped by three Japanese fighter planes and had to maneuver with them for about 20 minutes, constantly undergoing turns up to 9G's. Not only did he shoot two of the planes down, he dodged a fanatical ramming attempt but still sliced into the third fighter's wing, forcing it to retreat and repair. In those days of the war, American fighter planes were very outmatched against the Japanese Zero; for a lone, slow bomber to outmaneuver and defeat three Zeroes at once in an intense, 20 minute dogfight is practically a mythical achievement. Of course, said pilot was transferred to a fighter squadron immediately afterwards. Also, in the episode "Thunderbolt," one plane was shot so badly that it went into a spin and caught fire. The pilot, whose eyes had been burned by oil, was able to stop the spin and fly back to base. On his way back, a German pilot [[spoiler: emptied all of his ammunition on the plane and it kept flying.]] In fact, the list goes on and on...
* DavidVersusGoliath: The Battle off Samar, in the episode, Death of the Japanese Navy the show goes over the massive naval mismatch that was a part of the largest naval battle in history. The battle pits a handful of destroyers and escort carriers against a massive force of Japanese battleships including the 72,000 ton ''Yamato.'' To emphasize the size of the mismatch, the ''Yamato'' all by itself outweighs more then all of the American ships of Taffy 3.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome[=/=]DoNotGoGentle: In the episode "Long Odds", with the segment on Old 666, Joe Sarnoski is shot by a japanese fighter. He is mortally wounded and dying, despite this he crawls back to his gun mount and shoots down a twin-engine japanese fighter before he collapses and dies. He is posthumously given the Medal Of Honor for this.
* EagleLand: A common criticism of the series is that it was Ameri-centric, as almost all of the episodes were about American pilots. However, there are ''many'' episodes that focus on/feature non-American pilots, including Japanese, Israeli, German, British, and more.
** The episode "Hunt for the Bismarck" solely features the British, and the first two episodes of season 2 are centered on the Japanese and Germans respectively.
* [[DrivesLikeCrazy Flies Like Crazy]]: A North Korean pilot in "[=MiG=] Alley," who performed several extreme maneuvers to escape an F-86 pilot.
* FrickinLaserBeams: The episode "Dogfights of the Future" actually gives a rare realistic representation of how actual laser weapons work and how they would realistically implemented in the future.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In the episode "Guadalcanal," one pilot got his wristwatch shot off by a bullet from a Japanese plane.
** Even better, an F-4 Phantom ace scored the first--and ONLY--supersonic gun kill on a MiG-21 in the middle of a very high-g turn. To give you an idea, supersonic bullets were fired from a supersonic fighter, in the middle of a tight, high-g turn in order to hit a supersonic target that is also in a tight turn, slicing off a wing in a single burst. As a more coincidental and amusing example, a famous UsefulNotes/WW2 American ace was launching a surprise attack on a swarm of German fighters with a P-38, and right as he was about to pull the trigger on his first target, his propellers stop because he forgot to switch the fuel lines when he jettisoned the external fuel tanks just before the dogfight. He fired anyway, scoring the only kill in history with a craft that was just gliding without thrust.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: During a segment about the Korean War, a veteran U.S pilot recalls how a [=MiG=] he was chasing after flew so low to the ground in an arid dried-up riverbed that the [=MiG=]'s jet exhaust was kicking up dirt and rocks that pelted the pursuing U.S pilot's plane. The veteran thinks this was an intentional attempt to drive him off, meaning the communist pilot was essentially attempting to beat a ''fighter jet'' with ''dirt and rocks''.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: The B-1R bombers in "Dogfights of the Future" were shown being capable of firing volleys of missiles that could wipe out almost an entire squadron of enemy fighters.
* NumberOfTheBeast: In "Long Odds," one of the stories is about a World War II B-17 that is about to be scrapped, as it gets blown away every time it goes on a mission, so a crew decides to take it and beef it up. The tail number? 666. Ironically, [[spoiler: all but one of the crew survives a massive attack by over 20 Japanese fighter planes.]]
* RockBeatsLaser: In the "Gun Kills of Vietnam" two propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders, armed only with cannon and without effective lead-computing gunsights, manage to shoot down an enemy MiG-17 jet fighter.
* SpentShellsShower: In an episode featuring the F4 Phantom in Vietnam, the center-mounted [[GatlingGood cannon]] is seen spitting a flickering muzzle blast and dumping spent brass all over the jungle.
* SuicideAttack: A few. Though most are by the Japanese, some German pilots actually did this to Allied bombers, although they would attempt to jump from their plane before the collision.
* SuperDetailedFightNarration: This is a main focus of the show.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: "Dogfights of the Future".
* WorthyAdversary: German ace Egon Mayer in the episode "Thunderbolt" apparently gained this view of one P-47 pilot as he was unable to take the plane down after having expended all of his ammunition on him.
----
----
'''This show provides examples of:'''
* AcePilot: Most of the pilots featured on this show.
* AmericaWinsTheWar: The show's main problem is that mainly focuses on Americans. Occasionally, it also shows Israeli combat. Other episodes show Sonderkommando Elbe's only mission, the British sinking the Bismarck, kamikaze missions, and a mix of WWI combat from the views of many different nations' pilots. Of course, the TV show was intended for American audiences, which could explain the heavy emphasis on America.
* BadassIsraeli[=/=]IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles: The pilots featured in the episodes "Dogfights of the Middle East" and "Desert Aces".
* TheCavalry: In "Kamikaze," the USS ''Laffey'', besieged by Japanese planes, gets ''two''. The first one is 4 fighter planes from the USS ''Shamrock Bay'', but they could not do much against the big number of enemies beyond shooting a few down before running out of ammo and buzzing the rest before they had to disengage due to low fuel. However, when all seemed lost for the ''Laffey'', 12 US Navy [=F4U=] Corsair fighters arrived to deal with the attackers.
* CoolPlane: Quite a few. Some of the rarer/newer ones include the Me-262 jet from World War II, the B-17 Old 666 in "Long Odds," and pretty much all of the planes in "Dogfights of the Future".
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: In some dogfights, being outnumbered actually is an advantage. When you surround a plane, you run the risk of shooting your allies when firing at the enemy while the enemy can shoot at any time without risk. It's worse with missiles because they track ally planes as well which is one reason why guns never became obsolete.
* {{Determinator}}: In the episode "Long Odds," there was a pilot of a lone, slow divebomber who was trapped by three Japanese fighter planes and had to maneuver with them for about 20 minutes, constantly undergoing turns up to 9G's. Not only did he shoot two of the planes down, he dodged a fanatical ramming attempt but still sliced into the third fighter's wing, forcing it to retreat and repair. In those days of the war, American fighter planes were very outmatched against the Japanese Zero; for a lone, slow bomber to outmaneuver and defeat three Zeroes at once in an intense, 20 minute dogfight is practically a mythical achievement. Of course, said pilot was transferred to a fighter squadron immediately afterwards. Also, in the episode "Thunderbolt," one plane was shot so badly that it went into a spin and caught fire. The pilot, whose eyes had been burned by oil, was able to stop the spin and fly back to base. On his way back, a German pilot [[spoiler: emptied all of his ammunition on the plane and it kept flying.]] In fact, the list goes on and on...
* DavidVersusGoliath: The Battle off Samar, in the episode, Death of the Japanese Navy the show goes over the massive naval mismatch that was a part of the largest naval battle in history. The battle pits a handful of destroyers and escort carriers against a massive force of Japanese battleships including the 72,000 ton ''Yamato.'' To emphasize the size of the mismatch, the ''Yamato'' all by itself outweighs more then all of the American ships of Taffy 3.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome[=/=]DoNotGoGentle: In the episode "Long Odds", with the segment on Old 666, Joe Sarnoski is shot by a japanese fighter. He is mortally wounded and dying, despite this he crawls back to his gun mount and shoots down a twin-engine japanese fighter before he collapses and dies. He is posthumously given the Medal Of Honor for this.
* EagleLand: A common criticism of the series is that it was Ameri-centric, as almost all of the episodes were about American pilots. However, there are ''many'' episodes that focus on/feature non-American pilots, including Japanese, Israeli, German, British, and more.
** The episode "Hunt for the Bismarck" solely features the British, and the first two episodes of season 2 are centered on the Japanese and Germans respectively.
* [[DrivesLikeCrazy Flies Like Crazy]]: A North Korean pilot in "[=MiG=] Alley," who performed several extreme maneuvers to escape an F-86 pilot.
* FrickinLaserBeams: The episode "Dogfights of the Future" actually gives a rare realistic representation of how actual laser weapons work and how they would realistically implemented in the future.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In the episode "Guadalcanal," one pilot got his wristwatch shot off by a bullet from a Japanese plane.
** Even better, an F-4 Phantom ace scored the first--and ONLY--supersonic gun kill on a MiG-21 in the middle of a very high-g turn. To give you an idea, supersonic bullets were fired from a supersonic fighter, in the middle of a tight, high-g turn in order to hit a supersonic target that is also in a tight turn, slicing off a wing in a single burst. As a more coincidental and amusing example, a famous UsefulNotes/WW2 American ace was launching a surprise attack on a swarm of German fighters with a P-38, and right as he was about to pull the trigger on his first target, his propellers stop because he forgot to switch the fuel lines when he jettisoned the external fuel tanks just before the dogfight. He fired anyway, scoring the only kill in history with a craft that was just gliding without thrust.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: During a segment about the Korean War, a veteran U.S pilot recalls how a [=MiG=] he was chasing after flew so low to the ground in an arid dried-up riverbed that the [=MiG=]'s jet exhaust was kicking up dirt and rocks that pelted the pursuing U.S pilot's plane. The veteran thinks this was an intentional attempt to drive him off, meaning the communist pilot was essentially attempting to beat a ''fighter jet'' with ''dirt and rocks''.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: The B-1R bombers in "Dogfights of the Future" were shown being capable of firing volleys of missiles that could wipe out almost an entire squadron of enemy fighters.
* NumberOfTheBeast: In "Long Odds," one of the stories is about a World War II B-17 that is about to be scrapped, as it gets blown away every time it goes on a mission, so a crew decides to take it and beef it up. The tail number? 666. Ironically, [[spoiler: all but one of the crew survives a massive attack by over 20 Japanese fighter planes.]]
* RockBeatsLaser: In the "Gun Kills of Vietnam" two propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders, armed only with cannon and without effective lead-computing gunsights, manage to shoot down an enemy MiG-17 jet fighter.
* SpentShellsShower: In an episode featuring the F4 Phantom in Vietnam, the center-mounted [[GatlingGood cannon]] is seen spitting a flickering muzzle blast and dumping spent brass all over the jungle.
* SuicideAttack: A few. Though most are by the Japanese, some German pilots actually did this to Allied bombers, although they would attempt to jump from their plane before the collision.
* SuperDetailedFightNarration: This is a main focus of the show.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: "Dogfights of the Future".
* WorthyAdversary: German ace Egon Mayer in the episode "Thunderbolt" apparently gained this view of one P-47 pilot as he was unable to take the plane down after having expended all of his ammunition on him.
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