Air Aces

Canadian aviator George Beurling becomes one of the most successful fighter pilots of World War II.

Royal Air Force fighter pilot Douglas Bader leads a ragtag squadron of Canadian counterparts against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. He became a flying ace several times over on artificial legs after losing his legs in a plane crash in 1931.

Like all the Allied bombers of World War II, the crew of the Lancaster ME669 had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Air Force: to dodge deadly enemy fire and drop mega-tonnes of high-powered explosives over Nazi Germany. Without them, Hitler may have emerged victorious. But the tactic called "total war", a controversial strategy that turned cities into legitimate targets, overshadowed their legacy. Yet, for the more than one hundred thousand volunteers - half of who would not return - there was no other option.

The Tuskegee Airmen were young, gifted, and black but the US Army refused them key positions. Until intense pressure from African-American activist groups pushed President Roosevelt to initiate a Blacks-only fighter pilot training program in Tuskegee, Alabama. What began as a revolutionary experiment gave birth to a potent fighting force that would help take Nazi Germany out of the skies and, in the process, change the course of American history.

U.S. Air Force Col. Robin Olds masterminds Operation Bolo, a combat ruse designed to lure MiG-21 enemy aircraft to their destruction during the Vietnam War.

U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot Francis "Gabby" Gabreski becomes America's top flying ace in Europe during World War II.