The greatest aviation movie of all time!

I watched "Plane" with Gerard Butler a few weeks ago. I had no expectations before watching it, and I was still let down. The first few mins was surprisingly realistic. Good dialogue, legit phraseology/procedures, etc. My confidence faltered when they were cleared to "forty thousand feet", but they really lost me when they crash landed an airliner on a remote island, didn't fireball, then managed to take back off after "rerouting power to the backup avionics" or some crap.

And that's not even counting the points I take off for the "never get tired of that sight" cliche in every aviation-related movie
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Why would the bad guys have an F-14 sitting in a shelter fueled, fully armed, ready to go? Is it normal to load up a stored aircraft with air to air missiles?
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It was on ready alert, just w/o crew standing by.
Also, fun fact. There is only one country in the world who currently operates F-14s.

Iran. So who is the carefully unnamed enemy again...?
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Watched "Top Gun Maverick" last night on Evil Mail Order Empire Prime, it was fun and all.
But - how does a Navy pilot afford a P-51? Even if he is a captain... Yea, no wife, no kids, but...
That was a LOT of effing cruise missiles. A lot. No wonder our taxes are so high.
Why would the bad guys have an F-14 sitting in a shelter fueled, fully armed, ready to go? Is it normal to load up a stored aircraft with air to air missiles?
How did the kid all of a sudden find the magic hidden circuit breaker?
If everything else worked, why not the ejection seat?
Do guys really hug each other that much in the Navy?
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he’s a member of the P-51 flying club, of course!

pretty much all movies require turning a blind eye

I bet hangar rental was cheap too
 
I always considered the best aviation movie of all time the one the Wright Brothers made at Kitty Hawk.
 
Does anyone remember a television series called "A piece of cake?" It aired about 20 years ago on PBS. and was a tale of an RAF squadron during the Battle of Britain. Lots of good footage of Spitfires. The anti-hero was a pilot called "Morgie or Morgy" He was a total swine, but was tolerated because he was very good at aerial combat.
One episode sticks with me. The squadron was returning to base and Morgy broke off and flew down a scenic river and passed under a bridge. It was a tight fit, but he did it. His squadron mates let him have it for the rash conduct. He bristled up and told them where to go. He then proposed a bet payable to any of them that were able to do it also.
Days later, one of the young pilots tried it and it came off badly. He hit the bridge and his Spit was destroyed. Of course it was fatal.
The next scene was in the quarters and the squadron was collecting the personal effects. Morgy stopped in and began digging through the stuff. He grabbed a wad of cash, counted out some and pocketed it. The other pilots were shocked and objected. Morgy angrily replied that the kid owed it to him because he lost the bet.
That was a series that should be brought back and re- run. Morgy gets shot down and dies in one of the last episodes.
 
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The bridge flying scene in Piece of Cake is a famous stunt. There are several documentaries on it. No CGI or viewpoint trickery, just a real live pilot with big brass ones.
 
The Battle of Britain. I had kept a Champ at Tablada Air Base in Spain where most of the "ME-109's" came from. They were Spanish painted to look like German. Aronca 7AC Spitfire Tablada Spanish Airforce Base Seville.jpg Lovely sound all those Merlins running up.jpg
 
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