Ward Recommends: Masters Of The Air

I recently began watching Masters of the Air on Apple TV.

As a pilot I’m particular to details when it comes to aviation, and this series gets it right. I have never flown a B-17 (maybe someday?) but the cockpit scenes strike me as highly authentic. The banter among the crew, the way they run routine checklists, and their responses under fire are spot-on depictions of combat flying.

Squadron life, too, is displayed realistically. When the pilots land after a mission, their first stop is to the debriefing area to record perishable information. The mortality rate for bomber crews in the European theater during World War II was off the scale, and the varied ways that the crewmen deal with the stress is evident. Some drink to blow off steam, others isolate. Those on the ground—friends, family, mechanics, and commanders—also have to deal with the trauma.

All in all, I give Masters of the Air a solid thumbs up!