This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
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Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:19 am

One thing i saw that I thought was cool, was an SBD that had the national insignia with the meatball in the middle painted over. You can see the crude job they ground crew did over covering the red with white.

Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:23 am

Did not notice "meatballs" on SBDs, but then again, watching while "working" isn't the best way to watch a show! Did notice LST's and 40-quad mounts on the Guadalcanal invasion segment......I think. A little early for those I think. In general they have a pretty good grasp on their mix of clips, just little slip-ups here and there from what I have seen. Some of the clips looked like color Video converted to "HIGH DEF"....when you get that color blocky blotchy look. Not good. Much better to "restore" from original film if available!

Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:32 am

Guadalcanal invasion segment had Marines with M1 rifles, M1 Carbines and M3 Grease guns, they had none of them then. The Marine still used 1903s in that time period. Also I saw SB2Cs before they hit the fleet.

Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:17 pm

The shows have been good so far, the persional histories have been the draw for me. They have been using some film clips out of context, but they are doing it much better then most "historical" programs that have already been discussed. Keep it coming and I will continue to watch.

Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:42 pm

I may wrong but I thouight I saw a shot of SBDs that had the meatball put on them by computer so they would pass as Japanese aircraft. Did anyone else see this?


I've seen that shot you describe many times before - it goes back to WWII and was most likely from some early documentary. The meatballs were probably added in post-production back then.

Re: History Channel W.W.II mini-series in High Definition!

Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:46 am

planenutti wrote:The shows have been good so far, the persional histories have been the draw for me. They have been using some film clips out of context, but they are doing it much better then most "historical" programs that have already been discussed. Keep it coming and I will continue to watch.


That's where I'm at with it too. The stories keep me watching. I cringed at the ETO 1943 Jug flying over Saipan, the Memphis Belle film showing 17s over the D-Day invasion.

The one that continues to get used over and over is film from Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine showing paratroopers of the 17th airborne walking along as the sun is going down. It was used on the Canal segment, Saipan, Normandy etc. I think I've seen it 5-6 times already

And of course the color PTO Mustang film shown while the Bert Stiles segment was going on. The old Thunderbolt Documentary film showed up everywhere too when they wanted to show a pilot in the cockpit in color.

It was nice to see some color B17 film showing NMF birds from both the 447th and 100th BGs. I was wondering if there was any film taken after the Belle stuff was done as that's the film you always see when it comes to 17s.
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