The fate of the CBS TV series, American Fighter Pilot

ERIC OLSON

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Apr 19, 2002, 1:22:53 PM4/19/02

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A friend of mine sent me this summary of what CBS is doing with American
Fighter Pilot. I haven't been able to confirm it independently yet, but it
is not on the local south Florida CBS TV station broadcast schedule. Just a
heads up. Eric O....

For those of you who may have wondered what happened ????????

'AMERICAN FIGHTER PILOT' GOES DOWN IN FLAMES
After only two episodes in a planned series of eight, the CBS reality show
American Fighter Pilot is on "hiatus" because of low ratings. The TV jargon
means that the show may return this summer, according to a CBS spokesman.
The show featured three men from different walks of life who were in
training to become F-15 fighter pilots at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
The second episode ended in a cliffhanger where one of the pilots, Lt. Todd
Giggy, lost the brakes in the F-15 during landing on his first fighter
flight. CBS wanted viewers to tune in the following week to see if he and
his instructor survived. Then the show went off the air. An Air Force
spokesman said the brake emergency was handled correctly by using an
arresting cable, and that all three pilots passed their training and entered
the Air Force fighter pilot roster. The show was taped nearly two years ago,
with follow-up filming completed last winter.

Tom F. Cat

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Apr 19, 2002, 4:35:28 PM4/19/02

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Maybe if they get around to doing AFP2, it
should be about naval aviation.

TFC

"Ghadhafi, all I have to say is 'Anytime,Baby!' "
-Tom F. Cat,
1989 Gulf of Sidra,Libya

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Scott Nagle

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Apr 19, 2002, 6:04:42 PM4/19/02

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That blurb is from the newsletter of the AOPA (Airplane Owners and
Pilots Association) -- a reputable and reliable source. It's true.
And, IMHO, a good thing, too. Not much substance all dressed up in MTV
editing and graphics to hide the fact that it didn't have much meat to
it.

---Scott

--
-------------------------------------------
Scott K. Nagle
s-n...@attbi.com
http://home.uchicago.edu/~sknagle/

Tom Cervo

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Apr 19, 2002, 7:38:42 PM4/19/02

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>Not much substance all dressed up in MTV
>editing and graphics to hide the fact that it didn't have much meat to
>it.

Years back there was a pretty good British documentary series, called, I think,
Fighter Pilot, about 3-4 sprogs being trained to fly fast jets. Low key,
accurate, the one pilot who made it to Tornado conversion was a bit of a
cypher--great pilot and not much else. The washouts--helo pilot, navigator and
Hercules pilot--seemed more interesting.

OSWELCH

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Apr 20, 2002, 4:47:50 AM4/20/02

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>The washouts--helo pilot, navigator and
>Hercules pilot--seemed more interesting.

And worthy jobs in their own right--hardly washouts.

Scott G. Welch

Tom Cervo

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Apr 20, 2002, 10:44:02 AM4/20/02

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>>The washouts--helo pilot, navigator and
>>Hercules pilot--seemed more interesting.
>
>And worthy jobs in their own right--hardly washouts.
>

True, but that's not how they felt at the time--although the wife of the
Hercules pilot seemed relieved that he was flying something a bit more stable.

OSWELCH

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Apr 20, 2002, 12:01:43 PM4/20/02

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>True, but that's not how they felt at the time--although the wife of the
>Hercules pilot seemed relieved that he was flying something a bit more
>stable.
>

I'm sure they were disappointed. My point was that 'washouts' doesn't show much
respect for people who ultimately made the grade in another aviation branch.

Scott G. Welch

Sdenson32

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Apr 25, 2002, 3:47:53 PM4/25/02

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You tell'em Scott. We rotorheads already think of ourselves as a bit of
rotorwashouts.