The Twilight Zone (TV Series) The Last Flight (1960) User Reviews

A Must See

[moosefeathers-98-83518 · 9/10 · 5 July 2011]

Granted, this episode was only the 18th in the first year of the Twilight Zone; but it is a classic in more ways than one, and one of the best Twilight Zone episodes I have ever seen, in terms of imagination and messages about human failings, human fears, and confronting those failings and fears, even when death is the obvious end result awaiting one.

Time travel has always made for a compelling, no-possibilities-barred sci- fi subject; the way it was handled in this episode was masterful and exceptionally thought provoking. My only regret about the episode is that it had to end at the point that it did.

Another chance at his destiny

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 4 January 2013]

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes was this one involving a rift in time. Some similar type plots were used to great effect in Star Trek and in Star Trek - The Next Generation.

A World War I pilot from the British Royal Flying Corps lands at his base after a sortie with some Germans. Kenneth Haigh pilots his ancient biplane for a landing and gets quite the surprise. It's 42 years later and what was his airfield is now an American NATO base with all kinds of airplanes with advances that his mind could barely conceive.

Of course the folks in charge of the base have a lot of trouble swallowing his story. And they've got a big VIP visiting the base shortly, a British Vice Air Marshal played by Robert Warwick who was a hero of World War II and who was learning his trade during the first World War who Haigh knew back in the day.

I can't say more, but a trip to The Twilight Zone has given Haigh a chance to fulfill his intended destiny. This episode was well written and acted and not a moment of film frame was spared in bringing a most engrossing story.

WW1 pilot's nebulous passage to 1959

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 14 December 2013]

A lesser known episode, surprisingly engrossing, that is generally overlooked among the many fabulous productions of the first series. There is little in the way of scene changes, but this drama really works. The character of the time traveling WW1 pilot Decker (Kenneth Haigh) is believable. His dialogue is natural and plausible for a British man from 1917. The extent of Decker's dialogue about bravery, and his lack of it, is interesting. The story he gives to the American Air Force changes somewhat to the point where he announces his cowardice. Great stuff.

Kenneth Haigh was the original Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger at the Royal Court,London and on Broadway that same year.

Has My Return Ticket Expired?

[dougdoepke · 8 October 2006]

It's almost worth the entire episode to watch the WWI biplane land at a 1959 SAC base in France. The hulking cargo planes make the 1917 relic look like a Tonka toy as it taxis under an immense wing. It's also a good graphic illustration of how the destructive power of air weaponry had grown over time-- and that was 50 years ago.

The drama itself is an engrossing exercise in time travel, as a WWI British pilot must travel forward in time and then back so that the future can remain the way it should be. If this sounds confusing, it is, because there's a paradox at it's heart and probably a logical contradiction. But then, that's why TZ remains a cultural landmark -- it was among the first, if not the very first, to use TV to challenge us about our most common-sense beliefs. And it did so in an engrossing way that keeps people as entertained now as it did then. This episode stands as a good example.

Outstanding Episode

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 30 September 2008]

This is wonderful television. Sometimes Serling got a little maudlin. In this, he cooks up a situation, puts his characters into play, and treats them with respect. We have the RAF with its codes of honor, its fighting spirit, suddenly thrust into the future. One can't help but say, "This is the way a British officer would act under these circumstances." Once he comes to realize that there is little hope for him in this world, he fights to return. There are elements of time travel that are tricky, but this episode deals with the real humanity of the characters. The modern brain trust is pretty much as we would imagine. They don't know what to do with this guy and they feel for him. It's a really good story.

Fate & Destiny

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 25 October 2014]

Kenneth Haigh plays a World War I fighter pilot named Decker who travels through a mysterious white cloud while flying in 1917 France, as he was running away from the Germans, and finds himself in the future on an American Air Force base in France. Both confused and guilt-stricken, Decker tries desperately to get back to his plane, and return to battle, in order to save the friend he deserted, especially when he learns that the man survived the war, and is on his way that day to inspect the base... Imaginative and exciting story deals with the complexities of time-travel in a most clever and effective way, leaving the viewer most satisfied by the result. Quite underrated.

Recommended episode.

[kaneharris · 9/10 · 1 December 2008]

I've always enjoyed "Twilight Zone". I've seen only a couple of episodes that I didn't think were winners, most were excellent, and probably all are watchable to this day. I would venture to guess that I've seen 40 different episodes in my lifetime, and at least 20 in the last 4 months. But, I wanted to write this, my first IMDb comment ever, to let as many people know that this is the most enjoyable "Twilight Zone" episode I've ever seen. I am kind of a military history buff, but in a very minor way, so I believe the episode would rank high on anyone's list. It may not have as much "horror" to it as some episodes, but I was farther out on the edge of my seat than I've been on any other. I simply wanted to recommend it, so here you go. I'm giving it a "9" only because I haven't seen every episode. I do doubt that any "Twilight Zone" episode will top this one for me, but I'm saving the "10" rating, just in case. Enjoy!

--P.S., the episode sequence number for this episode (1.18) has somewhat of a "Twilight Zone" twist: I searched for this episode by episode name on IMDb. Only one other television series had an episode with the exact same title "The Last Flight". "Twilight Zone's" episode numbered 1.18 had this name, and guess which season & episode of "Armchair Theatre" had the identical name three years prior? That show's episode number 1.18 was also called "The Last Flight". (que the TZ drama track...)

Twilight Zone: The Last Flight

[Scarecrow-88 · 9/10 · 3 September 2011]

"The clouds. While I was passing through it I couldn't hear my engine. It was like being swallowed in a vacuum."

Pilot for the Royal Flying Corps, in 1917, gets lost in the clouds while fleeing three German planes, winding up landing on an American base in 1959 much to his dismay. It's the time paradox theme Twilight Zone is known for where a sequence of events allow a certain character, somehow transported to another time, to change history. Lt. William Terrance Decker (Kenneth Haigh, who is just marvelous) is appropriately perplexed at the idea of landing in 1959, noticing the advancements in planes on the American Air Force base in France, learning from AF Major General George Harper (Alexander Scourby) and AF Major Wilson (Simon Scott) that an old friend AVM Alexander Mackaye, a heroic fighter plane legend will be arriving soon. On introspection, Decker believes, once he learned that Mackaye had survived in an air fight with 9 German planes—damn near an impossible feat—from Wilson, that he needs to get in his plane, returning to the clouds so that he can help rescue "Old Leadbottom" (a nickname given to Mackaye by Decker). See Decker conveys to Wilson that he is a coward, explaining certain instances where he was afraid to engage the enemy, admitting that he was leaving Mackaye, flying away from German planes; Decker feels this is his chance for vindication, further believing that his "time trip" was meant for a reason. Decker will probably have to force his way through Wilson and others keeping him from leaving the base because of needed answers (Harper is not convinced (why should he be?) that Decker is who he says he is because it is simply too fantastic) in order to get to his plane and fulfill his new mission, most of all to prove to himself that he is not a coward. Haigh's performance is right-on as he presents to us a man truly troubled with various emotions and rightfully so since he finds himself in another time, his guilty conscience addressing his frailties, knowing who he is yet unable to get others to believe that he is in fact Terry Decker. Scott's Major Wilson is sympathetic to Decker, while he still has a hard time accepting that this guy is from 1917, he is starting to become convinced that this seemingly far-fetched story might have some truth to it. I think tales like this work because we can see both perspectives and understand them. How can Harper and Wilson truly swallow that they have a pilot from 40 years ago landing on their base, even if he's dressed the part with a plane to match? And Decker is in a precarious position because he's actually a man from 40 years ago, but how can he get rational minds to even consider such a possibility? It is when this possibility is given credence, such as the final scene when Old Leadbottom arrives with Harper and Wilson receiving startling truths that at one time seemed too incredible to conceive.

"He belonged to the sky—and the sky has taken him."

Ole Leadbottom

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 18 August 2011]

***SPOILERS*** It's on a crisps March afternoon in 1959 that out of the clear blue sky that this WWI vintage British biplane lands at the American Air force base, Lafayette Field,in Reims France to the shock of everyone there. The plane's pilot Let. W.L Decker,Kenneth Haigh,is far more surprised then anyone on the ground in what happened to him. When he took off that morning it was March 5, 1917 and when he landed he somehow traveled in time 42 years into the future!

A combination time travel as well as making things right and changing history "Twilight Zone" episode, one of the few not written by the show's creator Rod Sterling, which has Let. Decker given a second chance to rectify a mistake, a deadly mistake,that he made in WWI. That's when Let. Decker abandoned his fellow British combat flayer Let. Alexander MacKaye, Robert Warwick, to his fate which was certain death when the two were jumped by a squadron of German fighter planes over the skies of France.

Taken into custody by the air base's MP's Decker is unable to convince the base commander and his top assistant Maj. General George Harper, Alexander Scourby, and Maj.Wilson, Simon Scott, that he's in fact a British WWI fighter pilot who somehow got lost in both time and space and ended up landing there 42 years into the future!

What really shocked Becker and at the same time explained to him the situation that he now find's himself in is that very afternoon British Vice Air Marshall Mackaye is to visit the US air base! It was MacKaye who in what seems like a few hours ago that Becker left on his own as he checked out leaving him all alone to take on some half dozen German attack planes who most certainly both shot down and killed him! Determined to correct the mistake that he made Becker bolts from the room where he's being confined and heads for his biplane to get back in the air and back in time to March 5, 1917! That in order for him to save his friend Alex MacKaye who wouldn't be around now in 1959 if in fact he didn't.

****SPOILERS**** Not knowing what to think about what just happened a both befuddled Maj. Gen. Harper and Maj. Wilson ask the visiting Vice Air Marshall MacKaye the claims about this crazy and hysterical Let. Becker made before he took off. Air Vice Marshall MacKaye is in fact surprised to see Becker's personal possessions including his WWI identification papers that the MP's took off him! MacKaye also not knowing what to think confirms that Becker in fact was a friend and fellow pilot he served with back in WWI who save his life by engaging, after first flying in the opposite direction, some half dozen German planes shooting down three of them in the process!

Still finding it hard to believe what's he's seeing and hearing from Maj. Gen, Harper & Maj. Wilson about Deckers's story, in going both forward and then back in time to save his life, what finally convinced Mackaye that theirs and Becker's story was real was in the nickname "Ole Leadbottom" that Becker gave him, and told Gen. Harper & Maj. Wilson about, when he got hit square in his backside by German ground fire! It was only MacKaye and Becker who knew that very uncomplimentary nickname of his and kept it to themselves all these years.

One of the Twilight Zone's gems

[alandry73 · 10/10 · 27 November 2016]

I can't add much to the great reviews here. Serling was one of a kind and we so miss this type of thought provoking show now. World War 2 was such a real part of so many shows at that time and as Serling was a South Pacific veteran he could dish it out with the best of them I can add an element that no one else has mentioned. During the whole show we are waiting for Air Marshall MacKay(lead bottom from WWi). No one can find him, they can't raise him on the radio until Decker takes off and evidently saves him. If Decker doesn't take off there is no MacKay and the people he saved at Battle of Britain are lost. Just one clever element of many and while there are a few clinkers Twilight Zone is the most intelligent and thought provoking show in the history of TV

Off We Go --

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 2 February 2013]

Richard Matheson, the writer, tried to work double meanings into his titles. In this instance, he puns on the words "last flight." The expression refers to Lt. Haigh's running away from danger and also to his piloting an old biplane back into time to save a comrade before being shot down himself. Or, put another way, the word "flight" can mean running from danger or flying in an airplane. Here, it means both.

The story is neatly and delicately worked out with interconnected threads, a kind of narrative doily. The dialog is sometimes so extraordinarily inadequate to the situation that it's funny.

I mean, here is member of the Royal Flying Corps of 1917 who finds himself landing at an American air base in 1959. His stubby little biplane taxis around between monstrous USAF Globemasters and SuperDuperSabres and helicopters and what does Haigh do? As he's led away, he glances about, a bit bemused, and mutters, "We had no idea you were so advanced." Well, the Brits are known for understatement.

It's a very enjoyable episode. There's nothing especially demanding about it. There rarely was in the series. It's just hugely entertaining in its own unashamedly middle-brow way.

I am the cowardly eye in the sky, looking at you

[Coventry · 8/10 · 5 September 2016]

"The Last Flight" is Rod Serling at his very best, with an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that all millions of fans are guaranteed to list among their favorites or at least generously reward with a high score! It's a fantastic half hour of mysterious entertainment, with a compelling plot (from the pen of genius writer Richard Matheson), honest and identifiable characters and a denouement that – for once – isn't bleak and depressing, but comforting and hopeful. The story opens with the British World War I pilot William T. Decker searching for his base camp through a dense and cloudy sky after having narrowly escaped an air-attack of the German enemy. He lands at an American military airport in France but immediately notices that all the air crafts here look very futuristic. To everyone's amazement, Decker's but also the military staff at the camp; he discovers that the year is now 1959 and that he landed 42 years in the future. Whilst being held in custody, because obviously nobody believes his story, Lt. Decker reveals that he was a cowardly pilot and abandoned his partner right before the Germans ambushed them back in 1917. When he learns that his former partner is now an inspector on his way to the French camp, Decker realizes that he's been granted a unique opportunity to return back and correct his past mistakes. Matheson's terrific script deals with complex themes, like time loops and paradoxes, but serves them in the most straightforward way, so that the focus lies on the main character and his inner struggles. The episode is very talkative but never boring and brought to an even higher level thanks to Kenneth Haigh intense and sincere performance. William Claxton's direction is solid as well. He mainly did TV-work throughout his career, but also directed the offbeat creature-feature guilty pleasure "Night of the Lepus".

Travel to time and History

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 30 July 2022]

An interesting story where we can relate the act of actions past and the repercussion in the present by the guy who come with his old plane and try to explain everything and at the end we know that the guy finally saved Mackay because he decide to save him at the end of the episode but the things could be pretty different if he didnt want to went in there and saved him and correct his behavior because he was like a coward. But finally saved him and turn things right at the cost of his own life. Pretty interesting episode that make us think about our actions in life. Good episode.

Makes no sense

[LaverneandShirleysucks · 5/10 · 5 July 2021]

If his friend is alive and well 42 years into the future where he landed, that obviously means that he saved him during the war. So why the crazy rush to go back to save him? It makes no sense.

I could understand if the friend died in 1917 and him wanting to get back to save him, but there's no need go back to save someone who obviously lived. He should've just waited for his friend to get to the base so he could find out from him what happened and then go back. I enjoyed it, but the whole thing was illogical.

The Twilight Zone takes off again.

[BA_Harrison · 23 June 2016]

Cowardly World War I pilot Lt. William Terrance Decker (Kenneth Haigh) is lost, not only in terms of maps and miles, but also in time. Having fled from a dogfight, leaving his friend Alexander 'Leadbottom' Mackaye seriously outnumbered, Decker loses his way in a strange white cloud, after which he lands his biplane—in Lafayette Air Base, 1959.

After a few rather weaker episodes, The Twilight Zone is back on form with a really great Richard Matheson story, a neat time-twister of a tale that not only smartly handles the paradoxical issues that go with the territory, but which also deals with the classic theme of redemption, Decker given a second chance to prove his worth and save the life of a pal.

Performances are strong, with a particularly fine turn from Haigh, and the pacing is superb, with not a dull moment despite this being quite a talky episode. All in all, a well-told story with a satisfying conclusion that ranks among the best of them.

A Hint of Georges Guynemer

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 13 October 2006]

I always liked the convoluted logic that transcends whatever we are used to in the THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This episode is not one of the best known of the episodes, but it is interesting on several levels.

Kenneth Haigh is seen landing a vintage 1917 British plane into an American air base in France in 1959. His initial comment is delicious: "We never knew you fellows were this advanced!" Gradually he (like most of the time travelers in episodes of the ZONE) realizes that he has been listed as missing in action since 1917, and that he has somehow transcended time when he entered a cloud bank that observers noticed going into. He can, of course, stay there - although it would take time to get used to the fact that everyone in the world of his day is dead now - but he learns that an old friend (Alexander Scourby) is going to be arriving that afternoon at the base. Scourby is now an air force general, but Haigh keeps thinking that something is wrong and that he'll never see Scourby. And sure enough Scourby's plane is reported missing and late.

Spoiler coming up:

Haigh suddenly remembers that years earlier, on the last day he was in 1917, he saw Scourby (a fellow pilot) having problems with his craft being chased by a German plane. Haigh panicked and did not come to Scourby's assistance. Now he wonders if his act of cowardice is going to result in the death of the man - somewhat belatedly. So he takes off on his plane and reenters the same cloud bank. Soon afterward Scourby shows up finally. When he is asked about Haigh, he recalls the last day Haigh and he fought side by side. Haigh seemed to run away into a cloud bank for the longest period, but suddenly he returned and came to Scourby's assistance, and Scourby survived but Haigh did not.

Most of the story is an interesting switch on the typical time travel story, wherein someone goes back in time to stop an event (in one of the ZONE tales Russell Johnson tries to return to Ford's Theater to stop Lincoln's Assassination). But usually we learn that history can't be changed (or if it changed the results are incalculably difficult to foresee). Here the act in the past already occurred, and a belated disaster may be about to occur. The time traveler has to return to his own period to save the actual course of history. An interesting switch.

I wonder if the germ of the story here, about Haigh's disappearance into the clouds, may have been based on the fate of French war ace, Georges Guynemer. The leading French Ace up to 1917, Guynemer disappeared in 1917 when he went on patrol, and was last seen entering a set of clouds. Although German records later said his plane and body were found and he was buried, the French did not hear of this at the time. Instead French children were told that Guynemer flew so high the angels would not let him return to earth, or he could not come back. Somehow, I would not be surprised that the end of the ace had some influence in the construction of the story.

Underrated

[kellielulu · 10/10 · 23 November 2022]

One of the best episodes from the entire series yet oddly underrated.

Another episode that takes a look at changing events of the past to change the future. In this case however instead of going back in time to prevent a bad outcome our main character Lieutenant Terry Decker goes back to make sure good things happen. He lands in America in 1959 to find his old buddy from World War I will be arriving soon and was a big hero during the Blitz in World War II . It's all very confusing to Decker but the Americans in the Air Force fill him in and he comes to believe he must get back there to save his friend or he won't arrive at the base . Decker was sure his friend didn't make it because Decker himself tried to avoid real battle. Decker however does make it back and when the General arrives they question him he backs up Decker's sudden reappearance before the Germans got him. His effects were never returned but they show the General Decker's effects. One of the most interesting parts about this one is how Decker confesses to being a coward but in the end is more afraid of failing his friend and country and finds the courage to go back. That's often how we overcome fear it's suddenly less frightening to face something we have feared than letting a chance go by. Another well woven story.

One of the Top 10 shows for me.

[cpolster · 10/10 · 2 January 2022]

It brings back memories of my past. If, only I could go back in time. What would my life not have been. My mother was told I was killed in Nam from rumors that spread like wildfire thru the small village in Ohio. Of course the rumors were false. I still think that I was so lucky. By living, did I do better for the world. I guess I will never know.

"There are More Things in Heaven and Earth...""

[BuddyBoy60 · 9/10 · 1 August 2017]

I am new to The Twilight Zone classic television series created by Rod Serling. I have only started watching the first season two weeks ago or so. I do have some favorites (The Lonely, Escape Clause, and What You Need) that really exceed the high standard characteristic of this landmark show. But so far, every episode have been memorable to say the least because of how unique each story is. How they are cleverly written in a way they really challenge the limitation of your imagination which has become the purpose of the show now that it has reached 50 plus years and countless people who were and are still being influenced by it. Yes, it has become more than just a sense of entertainment. In my position, it helped me strengthen my acknowledgment of the presence of the supernatural and that there are somethings that go beyond the reach of man's reasoning. Above all the episodes I have watched so far, I believe that The Last Flight (#1.18) explains my case best.

A fighter pilot gets lost in the thick clouds and travels forward in time where he lands on a seemingly technologically advanced air base. We learn that he has indeed deserted his colleague, another pilot in grave danger from the enemy, out of cowardice and is feeling remorseful. But he learns that his colleague is alive and will be arriving soon. He also learns that the other has been recognized for his heroics in the 2nd World War. After hearing these supposed truths, he realizes that perhaps he became lost in time to be aware of these truths and to be given a second chance to redeem himself out of lack of courage and to save one life who will in turn save many lives some time in the future. The fighter pilot escapes to rescue his colleague. We find out that his colleague is indeed alive. He recounts that our main character, the fighter pilot saved his life but died in the process. The one in charge goes over the fighter-pilots possessions signifying to the audience that however strange the event may seem, it all happened.

The story as of the usual, has an imaginative premise and of course the trademark twist but it is the final monologue of Serling that won me over as a viewer as it made me see clearly the very essence of the show itself:

"Dialog from a play-- Hamlet to Horatio: "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Dialog from a play written long before men took to the sky. There are more things in heaven and earth and in the sky that perhaps can be dreamt of. And somewhere in between heaven, the sky, the earth lies the twilight zone."

With these qualities, I think this episode, in my opinion is the best yet from The Twilight Zone and I am only through half the first season. I hope that it gets better from hereon.

Mysterious Cloud

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 20 June 2021]

"The Last Flight" (episode 18) was first aired on television February 5, 1960.

World War 1 Flying Ace flies through a mysterious cloud - And lands at a modern air base in the year 1960. But the strange part is yet to come....

Flying away from one's duty and destiny

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 5 May 2017]

World War I British fighter pilot Lt. William Terrance Decker (a fine and credible performance by Kenneth Haigh) lands his plane at an American Air Force base forty-two years later in the future after flying away from a skirmish with the Germans.

Director William F. Claxton relates the intriguing story at a steady pace and maintains an appropriately serious tone throughout. Richard Matheson's compelling script makes the most out of the peculiar central situation as well as states a potent message about regret, cowardice, and having a second chance at redemption. Haigh's intense acting really keeps this episode humming; he receives sturdy support from Alexander Scourby as the no-nonsense Major General George Harper, Simon Scott as the sympathetic Major Wilson, and Robert Warwick as venerable old RAF veteran Alexander MacKaye. An excellent episode.

"He belonged to the sky, and the sky has taken him".

[classicsoncall · 9/10 · 14 March 2010]

This one's a keeper. Time travel stories often get more complicated than they need to be, but this one was rather straightforward in it's delivery and resolution. The concept that 'time' was giving Lieutenant Decker (Kenneth Haigh) a second chance to be a hero and redeem himself was cleverly played out, with just the right amount of skepticism and incredulity brought to bear by the American officers. If you dig deep enough, there may be a couple of troubling elements that make you go into a mental loop, like the packet of confiscated identification and insignia that Decker left behind. Not enough though for the story not to work, as that was necessary to complete the circle for Air Vice Marshal Mackaye (Robert Warwick) to even consider the whole idea of Decker having just been there in the first place. It all really works very well, not only as a science fiction story, but as one that challenges our perception of 'time' as a linear concept, incapable of bending back on itself to present the kind of possibility seen here.

Weak.

[bombersflyup · 2/10 · 8 August 2019]

In The Last Flight Decker finds out that his buddy's alive that he thought was dead, due to his cowardice. If he's alive, he must have gone back to save him, so he goes back in time to make sure that happens. It makes sense I suppose if time stops, but I don't see what's suppose to be the draw of this one.

Great episode!

[Skeeter700 · 19 March 2006]

What a wonderful episode! A British fighter pilot passes through a white cloud. When he comes out the other side he has time traveled 42 years into the future. There he discovers that the choices he made in the past have effected hundreds of lives. The fighter pilot must also deal with the culture shock of modern jet fighters and helicopters while trying to prove he is who he says he is. In the end, "The Last Flight" relates a strong message of how one's actions can have unintended effects on lives of people you might never meet. The one lapse in this episode is the action sequences which are somewhat far fetched. Overall a great episode I'll award a mark of 9.3. Certainly one of the best of the season.

A few historical comments on a fine episode

[sissoed · 8/10 · 1 January 2009]

This is a fine episode in which a World War I British fighter pilot who took off from his air base (in France) in 1917 found himself in a cloud and then landed -- 42 years later, in 1959, at an American air force base. During his visit to the future, he learns how important it is that he go back and act bravely on that day in 1917.

Here are a few points that may interest history buffs. None are meant as criticisms of the episode, but are just for historical interest.

First, I found it jarring that the American air base was situated in France -- because in 1966, President DeGaulle expelled the US from all such bases when the US refused his demand that the US put them all under French control. Since 1966, unlike in Britain, there have been no US air bases in France. Thus when I was watching the episode, I thought that the air base where the pilot landed must be situated either in Britain or in the US, and I expected one of the American characters in the episode to say as much (as well as explain that the year was 1959). It seemed odd to me that no US character explained the change in location. But then I remembered: when this episode was filmed in 1959, the US still had its own air bases in France.

Second, early in the episode, the British pilot says that he thought he was landing back at his own air base -- whose name I didn't catch -- and the US air force colonel startles at the name. The episode makes nothing more of this, but I suspect that he recognized the name - - and that it was the old name back in the time of World War I for the air base that they were then at. Later in the episode, when the US colonel and the British pilot were together, I thought the colonel would say something along this line, but he did not. Perhaps the editors of the episode cut-out that bit.

Third, the timing of events -- the British pilot says the day is March 4, 1917. Technically, the timing is off by a year -- America did not actually declare war on Germany until April 6, 1917, and US forces did not start arriving in France until months later (the Lafayette Escadrille was earlier, in 1916, but it was a French unit of planes, flown by volunteers from America, which the British pilot would have known). The first American air combat squadron, the 94th, entered service in April, 1918. Technically, the British pilot should have said 1918, not 1917.

Fourth, the British pilot expresses just mild surprise that the US airplanes are so technically advanced -- reacting as if he were merely interested to learn of it, rather than that it contradicted anything he knew before. Of course, for the dramatic purposes of the episode, the writers would not have the pilot react as such a man really would react to seeing jet aircraft (with stupefaction) since the purpose of the episode is not wonder at technical advancement, but facing up to the consequences of cowardice and determining to be brave. But it is worth noting that while Americans in 1959 (and today) are accustomed to having the most advanced technology, in 1917 America was actually far behind Britain and France in aircraft design and production. The 94th, for example, flew French-made planes.