Wings of Destruction

Fifty thousand young men of the warring nations went forth to do battle among the clouds during World War I. In 1914 no one had ever known and history had never recorded a struggle to the death in the air. This is the story of the German, French and British aces of the Great War.

Raoul Lufberry, Quentin Roosevelt, son of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, Edward Rickenbacker and William Thaw all figured extensively in the news of the American Air forces during World War I. Lufberry and Roosevelt were killed in action. Rickenbacker survived as the 'Ace of Aces'. William Thaw formed the original Lafayette Escadrille, American volunteers that flew with the French air force.

This is the story of the Second World War in the air over Europe from the Blitz to the daylight bombing raids over Germany. It is the story of the great aces on all the sides.

From Pearl Harbor to the Japanese home islands this is the story of the air war in the Pacific. It includes the daring ambush of Japanese fleet commander Admiral Yamamoto; the stories of World War II Aces and Medal of Honor recipients Richard Bong and Pappy Boyington; and the Japanese Kamikazes.

October 14, 1947: The sound barrier (Mach 1), during level flight, was officially broken by an American aircraft, the Bell X-1 flown by test pilot Chuck Yeager from what is now Edwards Air Force Base in California. Yeager had named the aircraft 'Glamorous Glennis' after his wife. Yeager retired from the Air Force in 1975 as a Brigadier General. The Age of the Super Sonic fighter was born.

"MiG Alley" is the name given by U.S. Air Force pilots to the northwestern portion of North Korea. During the Korean War, it was the site of numerous dogfights between the U.S. F-85 Saber fighter jet and the MiG-15 flown by the Communist forces. As the site of the first large-scale jet-vs.-jet air battles, MiG Alley is considered the birthplace of jet fighter combat.