Dogfights: The First Dogfighters

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The History Channel series DOGFIGHTS, recreates famous battles using state-of-the-art computer graphics. With up to 25 percent of the program consisting of animation, viewers will feel like they're in the battle, facing the enemy. While first-hand accounts will drive the story, rare archival footage and original shooting supplement the remarkable computer graphics. World War I saw the birth of a new type of combat: the dogfight. Aces from almost every nation take canvas and wire biplanes into battle and pioneer new tactics. In the skies above France and Belgium, some of the earliest fighters - Fokker triplanes, Spads, and SE-5s - battled to the death. In this episode legendary flying aces and notorious dogfights of WWI are examined using computer graphics, firsthand accounts and archival footage. Included: 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. Produced by Digital Ranch for The History Channel