String (Jan-Michael Vincent), Dom (Ernest Borgnine) and Caitlin (Jean Bruce Scott) have their hands full this week as Airwolf takes to the skies again!

First up, Larry Linville guest stars as the baddie in And a Child Shall Lead. Originally airing on my birthday, October 12, 1985, and written by Stephen A. Miller, this episode focusses on a young boy, Bobby (Ricky Wittman) who suffers from Down’s Syndrome, but as a photographic memory when it comes to his art. This talent will prove to be a problem when his father, Robert (David Spielberg) is kidnapped by Linville’s Clinton Maxwell.

Phelps has apparently been working on an advanced wing design, something that may revolutionize fighters and eventually spacecraft. Maxwell wants it, and tortures Phelps to get it. Unfortunately, Phelps suffers a heart attack, and they grab Bobby instead with the hopes that he can reproduce his father’s work by drawing it having seen the plans before. String, Dom and Caitlin hunt the young boy down, through a special medallion gave to him, and our heroes square off against Maxwell, and his helicopter, which looks a lot like last season’s HX-1.

There are some interesting bits in this episode, Caitlin is taking acting classes, Dom has a sweetie (whom we’ve never heard of) and she’s bought him a pet goat, named Alexandre, to serve as a watch animal for the hangar, and String apparently not only plays the cello, but also the guitar as demonstrated in a sequence at a children’s fair that Bobby and other special needs children are attending.

Who knew?

Fortune Teller, which aired two nights later on the 14 October, 1985 was penned by Rick Kelbaugh and James L. Novack.

Michael ‘Archangel’ (Alex Cord) is missing, his white jeep stands alone in the middle of the desert. The Firm believes he may have turned traitor, planning on selling a sophisticated flight computer, able to predict its opponents action, called Fortune Teller, to the highest bidder.

He has in fact been kidnapped by the villainous Patrick Stoner (Michael Cavanaugh), who is torturing him for his part in the program. The Firm is unwilling to take any chances, and have started their own hunt for Archangel, and if he doesn’t check in with a preset time limit, he will be hunted and gunned down by the Firm’s termination force, referred to as Zebra Squad.

Dom and String are left without any hope of finding their friend and contact, so Dom turns to a psychic, Megan Ravenson (Katherine Cannon) for help. String refuses to believe she has any supernatural talents, and barely tolerates the woman’s presence.  But piece after piece leads them further along a trail that has long grown cold, and in the end, they arrive at Stoner’s compound just as Zebra Squad tracks Archangel down.

A huge all out battle erupts between Z Squad and Stoner’s men, and Hawke uses the opportunity to sneak in and rescue Archangel, before facing off against Stoner’s modified F5 fighter, outfitted with Fortune Teller!

By episode’s end String may not believe in Megan’s abilities, but he may be a little more open to them….

More next time!