Wings - Guardian Angel s2e9 - Tim Woodward

[@garynewman264]

This is a *BRILLIANT SERIES.*

[@carolking6355]

I could watch every one for the music alone. Such a wonderful series I hope to watch all.

[@rickschultz9589]

In mid-1918, the Germans were the first air power to issue parachutes to the aircrews of fixed wing aircraft. A lot of German pilots thought these were too heavy (over 70 lbs.) and doubting that they would even work, left these at their base. Attached to the cockpit with a static line, they were tricky to use - about 1/3 of the parachute jumps ended in failure. Still better odds than jumping without one or staying in a burning plane.

[@1faustus]

I remember that episode from when I was child. Thanks for putting these up

[@billhahn4113]

Which is why when an enlisted man is commissioned, he is almost always transferred out of the unit.

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

Especially in the army. However, the Royal Navy had different traditions. I really doubt it was much of a problem in the RFC. Pilot sergeants were pretty special before commissioning: they outranked they NCO’s who would maintain the planes before commissioning and the relationship between ground crew and pilots really didn’t change at all once a sergeant made his step. Given the small officers mess and the fact that a pilot was already an effective equal once airborne I doubt there was much resentment amongst ‘the gentlemen’. The RAF had a considerable number of Flight Sergeants during WW2, and I’m pretty sure none were transferred out of a squadron merely because they got promoted. In fact I’m fairly sure that Douglas Bader’s wingman stayed on in the squadron upon being commissioned as a pilot officer.

[@npc3po301]

@@andrewmetcalfe9898 It's a shame Bravington's so disdainful over Alans commission, you'd think Alan saving his skin in the field that day might illicit at least some support of his recognition - delight even - but it seems B would rather keep 'the club' the preserve of chinless buffoons than allow through men of fibre

[@billybogg3602]

thanks for posting.

[@GeorgeMoonie]

I was only a teenager at the time (now 50), but I recalled the scene of the failed jump perfectly

[@warthogwatts5941]

I missed this one originally because we had to go to tea with grandma! No video recorder then, delighted to catch up with it now.

[@georgebethos7890]

warthog watts Brutal back then!How did we manage lol?

[@warthogwatts5941]

I can remember some pretty spectacular arguments about watching things. Also my Dad worked shifts, so never bothered watching a serial. on the up side I remember a wedding where we all stopped the reception to watch the final episode of Shogun.(much to the older gerneration's disgust) Those were the days.

[@robertstorey7476]

For some reason my memory was that he actually jumped and it didn't open. I was very young.

[@moonpawooe7134]

​@@warthogwatts5941 I watched Shogun, can't remember if it was good or not😊

[@ondinehd6889]

American actor Bob Sherman is very funny here, and sounds just like a salesman from a U.S. 19th century medicine show, peddling a "medical cure." In the same tradition was the traveling circus, which he mentions here. (34:54.... fateful meddling!)

[@AbelMcTalisker]

That`s exactly what he is. A lot of his backstory sounds somewhat phony if you compare it with the actual history of parachute development. If true, he`s claiming to have made the first free-fall jump in 1908, the first one in recorded history was in 1914 using a modified lightweight static-line type with the line cut down to form a crude ripcord. So, in all likelihood, he is a phony and that parachute is probably a potential killer. The Tower Bridge comment is interesting as there actually are period photos of someone jumping off the bridge to demonstrate the "Guardian Angel" parachute as part of a publicity campaign that eventually resulted in the RFC and RNAS adopting it as a standard piece of equipment. Whoever wrote this script clearly did their research and I wonder if he is supposed to have known Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick and is passing off her modifications to a lightweight static-line `chute as his own idea.

[@peterbamforth6453]

P.T.Barnhum...salesman extrodinair...

[@DreadX10]

@@AbelMcTalisker Yes, the character seems to be (loosely) based on Charles Broadwick and his invention of the back-pack-parachute. The parachutist left behind in the USA could well be Georgia (the inventor of the deliberate free-fall from altitude) and he couldn't bring her as he was pawning the ripcord off as his own idea. I am just wondering now if any of the pilots during her 1914 demonstration brought up the weight difference between Tiny and the average pilot.

[@caseyjonessnr1200]

Excellent episode. 49:23

[@christianpatriot7439]

Schultz is a rather ordinary name. It's certainly no Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

[@MarshaSweigart]

I just took it as him referring to it as a German origin name for an American. German ancestry is the most prevalent in America.

[@tungstenkid2271]

Another good episode because it didn't keep cutting back to that boring Becket's Hill soapy stuff..:) Bit of an anti-climax when he wouldn't jump though; a better ending would have been for him to jump and the chute didn't open properly but he descends into trees and the chute snags in the top branches leaving him hanging safely there six feet off the ground.

[@georgebethos7890]

Tungsten Kid I hate that back home stuff too. Great series though. And did anyone see Tim Woodard in Piece of Cake ?

[@tungstenkid2271]

I'm an aviation nut but didn't like Piece of Cake and stopped watching it, it just never clicked with me, dunno why. But the 'Wings' TV series in the 1970's starring Woodward blew my socks off, I recently watched all episodes again on youtube..:)

[@MrJackie64]

@Gavin MacNeish Piece of Cake novel was excellent. It does have an abrupt end as it chronicles the first year of the war. Tim Woodward is very good as the toff squadron leader Rex.

[@MrJackie64]

@Gavin MacNeish Do you remember Winds of War and War and Remembrance with Robert Mitchum. Not British but I thought quite good. Have you watched the first two episodes of World on Fire?

[@MrJackie64]

@Gavin MacNeish Point taken, it was a big production. I liked it because it had enough episodes to get my teeth into the story. I agree though about feeling for the characters. Did you watch Tour of Duty (possibly early 90s) about a squad of GIs in Vietnam?

[@rlb96]

Love this series, just wish the piano music wasn't so loud. Can't hear the dialog.

[@TheFunkhouser]

9:25 Poor ole Charles does make quite a few mistakes that are kept going, have you noticed? This isnt the only one lol :)

[@tungstenkid2271]

+TheFunkhouser - Charles drinks like a fish so his occasional slurred words are very apt..;)

[@TheFunkhouser]

Tungsten Kid oh I say.. well maybe more Brits should follow the 'Nun' way and just stop n get a clue ... WHAT!

[@tungstenkid2271]

+TheFunkhouser - At our posh Brit public schools the boys have it drilled into them that the only thing that really matters in life is to be "decent chaps"..;)

[@Triumphs1962]

Tungsten Kid

[@TheFunkhouser]

nah.

[@christianpatriot7439]

If the parachute is a one-time use only, why was Schultz going to re-fold the only one he had with him?

[@Retro-Future-Land]

He said most times it was one-time use. Because depending on the landing and deployment etc it could be re-used. Trees, foiliage and even flames etc could damage a chute. Also I suspect he was marketing it as one-use for extra profits.

[@malcolmscrivener8750]

Maybe because it hadn’t been stressed by an actual deployment .

[@lesleywood2949]

A shame there is no reference to avio-medicine which had its beginnings in WW I. Planes became an instrumental tool for evacuation of the wounded.

[@gwirgalon3758]

Fascinating how the series makes very clear that the simplest action can change a whole war..If the orderly hadn't touched the parachute , how many lives would have been saved? How much sooner might that war been won?

[@stevengabriel3269]

Did I miss something? When did Farmer get promoted?

[@karenstjohn6759]

Steven Gabriel S2 E8

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

Why didn’t Shultz bring a trained parachutist with him to flog his device if he was suffering ptsd from that unfortunate accident? Doesn’t seem like a great business strategy - travel all the way to Britain, then France - dodging U-boats all the way - with only one - one use parachute and no one to demonstrate it ...

[@AbelMcTalisker]

Because there weren't any, he`s claiming he invented the ripcord a few years before it actually was (1914). There were a few skydivers in carnival shows using them in the US about the time this is set (about 1915/16) but that was about it. So, while this character is fictional, within the story he is obviously something of a fraud and has probably only made a handful of jumps using this parachute, or relied on somebody else to test it and that person died. In reality, the first really reliable ripcord parachute wasn`t patented in the US till 1918, after which parachutes became very common on military aircraft. Just too late to be used in the war.

[@Retro-Future-Land]

He left him in America but the reason wasn't mentioned.

[@scottclinton2061]

Do the English find American depictions of them as amusing as I find some of their depictions of Americans? I wonder... :-)

[@atombe2135]

Scott Clinton Yup we do its kinda what's expected lol

[@scottclinton2061]

Cool, I must admit, the "American" in this is my favorite character. Never fails to get a laugh out of me. Not that he is far off mind you... :)

[@edwardkirkhope9072]

He's a real American. Seen him in many British programmes of the seventies and eighties. Can't recall his name but definitely a Yank.

[@ondinehd6889]

Actually the actor playing an American here IS American! He is actor Bob Sherman. One can see him for instance in The Sandbaggers, where he plays the character of Jeff Ross, who in that series is the head of CIA in London.

[@Retro-Future-Land]

I found Shultz quite an amusing fellow.

[@peterbamforth6453]

A Spitfire had 20 seconds.....

[@moonpawooe7134]

Peanuts 🥜

[@moonpawooe7134]

Cracking show tally ho

[@daveminer471]

Sounds like Ted Cruz lol

[@ondinehd6889]

He is American actor Bob Sherman.