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Overnight Open Thread - 03/26/2024
[Roger Ball]

Greetings, Masterful Horde. You can probably guess where this is going from the banner picture. Amblin Entertainment “Masters of the Air” finished its nine-episode run recently on AppleTV. If you watched it, you have already formed your opinions. I look forward to the comments. I went to the BBC review for Caryn James’ comments on the series because the Brits were 100% invested in that theater of the war and they typically have different views from our…uh…media.

With dozens of other planes falling from the sky and one of their own engines on fire, a fighter plane's co-pilot thinks it is time to parachute out. The pilot, Major Gale "Buck" Cleven (Austin Butler) grabs him by the arm and yells, "We're going to sit here and take it! You hear me? We're going to sit here and take it!"

Wow. That sounds like a line inserted for dramatic effect, eh? But it’s an actual quote recorded from an airman’s account.

That scene reveals what is gripping and also what is creaky in the much-hyped series produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Masters of the Air is a big old-fashioned war drama, glossed up with dazzling special effects and stocked with some of today's hottest young actors. It is also full of the kind of earnest, clunky dialogue and swaggering heroes familiar from classic war movies going back to the 1940s.

If you haven’t watched it and you have any interest in history, you might consider a binge watch party. You could have some adult beverages and Lucky Strikes handy so you can get the full smell and flavor of the O’ Club and pub scenes. Or, if your time is more valuable (which I hope is the case), you can read good recaps of all of the episodes at Vulture.
Even better, as is typically the case, read or listen to the book by Donald L Miller, Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

It is a dense, intense read that takes advantage of the impossibly huge amount of official records, diaries and books about the largest air war that history will ever see. I will give a hat tip to screen writer John Orloff attempting to create a coherent screen play series from a battle space that covered hundreds of thousands of cubic miles, machines, and people. I don’t think it’s a masterpiece or rises to the level of his two episodes of Band of Brothers, but it’s very good.

Full disclosure: the B-17 and the P-51 were my favorite aircraft since memory serves. I think that was typical for kids of my generation. My dad was a 20th AD division staff vet, my mom was a truck driver for the Civil Defense corps. World War 2 history and stories figured heavily in my early years. Movies, books, models, TV shows were always in mind. Heck, I even still remember the theme song for the TV series 12 O’clock high. My bookshelves have many books about the WW2 air war. This Robert Taylor print is over my desk.

Ok, I’ll admit, it’s a sickness.

I think Orloff , the directors and producers did a credible job of taking a very small slice of Miller’s book and turning it into a somewhat coherent TV production. I think the CGI quality is generally good. The scenes inside the B-17s are thoughtfully staged and well produced. The sounds are mostly good with some exceptions. The R-1820s on the B-17 had a very distinct sound and occasionally the show sounds more like RC models. The battle scenes are effective and, of course, gruesome. But as bad as the show makes it look, you can rest assured it was much worse. One thing I did not have an adequate appreciation of was the huge number of cases of frostbite that took many crewmen out of the war. Like I said, read the book.

The series was well researched but there are inevitable inaccuracies that geeks like me like to point out. The WWII US Bombers You Tube channel does a fair job of reviewing various portions of the series and offers some excellent historical research to back up his analysis of the writing. The narrator’s voice is a little annoying, but the research is sound. Here’s an example:

There are many more videos analyzing the series so have at it. If you find a good one, please link it in the comments.

Before I got up close to a B-17 I held the common perception that it was a big airplane. It isn’t. In fact, a fully loaded B-17 at 60,000 pounds is still 20,000 pounds less than a fully loaded tractor trailer. I was shocked by how cramped the airplane was. The cabin is very narrow and ergonomically awkward. The radio room is the only reasonably proportioned place on the airplane.

The aluminum skin seems impossibly thin, yet the overall construction enabled the airplane to absorb an incredible amount of damage and remain airborne. “All American” provides a classic picture after surviving a midair collision with an Bf-109.

The collision had torn a huge hole in the rear of the fuselage. The left horizontal stabilizer was gone. Shivering from the impact, the badly damaged tail section looked like it could go at any moment…A quick head count of the stunned crew revealed that, amazingly, nobody had been hurt... Every little lurch and vibration threatened to shake the tail loose. But it managed to hold itself together, thanks to the rugged design of the B-17 and the delicate flying of the pilot, Kenny Bragg.

Part of the luck that day was that the German fighter was a Bf-109, the smaller of the single seat fighters. A collision with a bigger Bf-110 or FW-190 probably would not have ended similarly. All American made it all the way back to its home base in Algeria and, amazingly, was repaired to flying condition as a squadron “hack”, or utility airplane. It never flew in combat after that but survived until it was finally scrapped in March 1945.

There are precious few B-17s remaining in airworthy condition. Between crashes and Air Worthiness Directives, there ever fewer. There are a few still on the airshow and ride circuit, one being the beautifully restored Sentimental Journey, maintained by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.

If you have the opportunity to see one up close, or even better, make a donation and take the walk-through tour, you should. Taking a ride, of course, is the ultimate experience but they are pricey. On the other hand, I guarantee it will be memorable and worth it.

I have dedicated this ONT to this subject because, as I watched the series and read the book, I considered our current national condition. The idea of a “national mobilization” is a term that very few westerners can even comprehend now. And, in our current cultural state, I believe a national mobilization, like that accomplished in WW2, would be impossible. Our culture and industrial base have withered to the point where the US often seems to be a second world nation with distinct areas that easily qualify as third world sh!t holes. The purpose of studying war should not be the celebration of the endeavor, as I think war is an abomination. The “winner” is only the participant that loses the least and is still standing. And, we should admit, WW2 is the last war that the United States and our allies clearly won. Even worse, our government now arguably makes us the bad guys and recklessly squanders our blood and treasure. This cannot go on. “Just my opinion. I could be wrong” [Dennis Miller] Again, hit comments, Horde. Thank you for participating!