The Wingnut
One Too Many
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I couldn't get enough of that show as a kid. LOVED it.
I watched the pilot episode of the series a few months ago, and realized just how painfully inaccurate the script, uniforms, and just about everything else was! I was grinding my teeth at some of that stuff. Stephen Cannell is the Jerry Bruckheimer of T.V.
I own a copy of Black Sheep One. It's an excellent book, a real eye-opener into Boyington's personal life, and military service. About the only good thing Boyington did was fly fighters, the rest of his life was a mess. The T.V. show portrayed him pretty closely, a real shyster...however the squadron he commanded was nothing like what the show portrayed them as. 'Flying Misfits' they weren't, despite the 'Black Sheep' moniker.
Just remember while watching this show that the Hollywood kitsch runs through it like a river, and there's little if any historical fact, and loads of technical flubs. In one episode, Boyington's crew chief puts a magnet behind the compass in a P-51 group leader's plane to throw the whole group off course. Neve mind that the magnetic compasses in aircraft are meant as backups, and that every other plane in the group would have two properly functioning compasses...or the fact that a Marine crew cheif wouldn't be allowed to get anywhere near an Army plane!
I watched the pilot episode of the series a few months ago, and realized just how painfully inaccurate the script, uniforms, and just about everything else was! I was grinding my teeth at some of that stuff. Stephen Cannell is the Jerry Bruckheimer of T.V.
I own a copy of Black Sheep One. It's an excellent book, a real eye-opener into Boyington's personal life, and military service. About the only good thing Boyington did was fly fighters, the rest of his life was a mess. The T.V. show portrayed him pretty closely, a real shyster...however the squadron he commanded was nothing like what the show portrayed them as. 'Flying Misfits' they weren't, despite the 'Black Sheep' moniker.
Just remember while watching this show that the Hollywood kitsch runs through it like a river, and there's little if any historical fact, and loads of technical flubs. In one episode, Boyington's crew chief puts a magnet behind the compass in a P-51 group leader's plane to throw the whole group off course. Neve mind that the magnetic compasses in aircraft are meant as backups, and that every other plane in the group would have two properly functioning compasses...or the fact that a Marine crew cheif wouldn't be allowed to get anywhere near an Army plane!
