Helicopter Warfare

In the Vietnam War, flying into jungle produces a different kind of hazard. In a daring rescue mission a desperate pilot cuts his own landing zone in forty foot tall bamboo. They come under heavy fire as they return again and again to pick up more survivors from the bamboo circle.

In the Falklands War, a top secret SAS mission to South Georgia involves flying up the sheer face of a glacier and dropping men on an icy plateau, riddled with crevasses. The helicopters battle through a blizzard to rescue them. Two helicopters crash while flying blind in a snowstorm, but everyone escapes off the glacier, thanks to the remarkable crew flying a helicopter called Humphrey.

In Afghanistan, the combination of high altitude and dusty conditions make combat flying particularly challenging. When a covert US Navy seal needs to be rescued from a Taliban ambush, the crew must fly at night using night vision goggles, hugging every contour of the mountain pass. Landing on a tiny mountain ledge puts their flying skills to the test.

In the Iraq War, flying in the desert poses unique difficulties - the dust storm that accompanies every landing and take-off - and the lack of places to hide. When a young Royal Navy pilot comes under fire from a tank, he soon finds himself engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse.