Dogfights!

If you've never seen this series on The History Channel, you've missed out on some of the greatest aerial battles in history.

Dogfights takes real air to air battles and recreates them with state of the art computer animation, expert analysis and commentary from some of the actual pilots. It puts you in the cockpit in the midst of the battle. Fortunately for the viewer what took seconds in real time is analyzed and diagrammed to help you understand what happened in the heat of battle.

The capabilities of the human mind is staggering. Calculating speed, distance, deflection, incoming, defense and exit all at the same time is beyond impressive. Miscalculating even one of those elements is instant death. Dogfights shows you what happened step by step with outstanding CGI.

Altho I've never flown an aircraft, I've always wanted to be a pilot since I was a little nipper. The closest I've come is being a virtual pilot in the WWII  combat sim Aces High. I started out playing Air Warrior, the Mother of all flight sims and after it died I switched to Aces High.

AH is locally based with the mothership located in Grapevine, but since it's on the internet you have people from all over the world online flying against you 24/7. It is not you against the computer. It is pilot vs pilot. AH is a massive multiplayer experience that is highly addictive. I log between 20 - 30 hours a week. It's as close as you can come to actually flying an aircraft in combat without actually dying when you screw up. I've had the adrenaline shakes more than once after surviving a furball.

AH is a free download with a 2 week trial period. Monthly subscriptions are 14.95. It's cheaper than crack, but just as addictive. The game plays best with a joystick, throttle and rudder pedals. Before you go away thinking this is just another kids arcade game, take note of this. Predator pilots use this game to stay sharp and show off their skills. I fly with one in my squadron.

If you find Dogfights interesting, you should check out Aces High. Are you up for the challenge?

If you do decide to test your skill, look for me in the air. My callsign is HotDogMan. It's an omage to Gordo Cooper and the film The Right Stuff.