Worst "aviation" movie ever.

kinoav8r said:
Allen,

I was flying A-7s when Top Gun came out. We'd tell the Turkey-drivers, "Fighter guys make movies. Attack guys make history."

After "Flight of the Intruder" came out, the fighters guys would tell us, "Fighter guys make movies. Attack guys make bad movies."

Now, that's funny right there...
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In 96' I was attending Top Gun's load school (I was an AO) and I recall some scribble on the head stall that said, "I've been here 2 weeks and still have not seen Mavrick." I thought that was cute.

My XO (Mike "Flex" Galpin) did some flying for the movie and said ole Tom did not fair well when he got to go for a spin in the Tomcat. At one point we had one of the F-14's that was used in the movie. Ironically we had a pilot with a call sign of "Hollywood" at the same time. You can guess who was painted on that canopy.

When the F/A-18's started to take over the flight deck they would give us a lot of flack about the Tomcats. Flex explained it to us that they were our shipmates and deserved due respect. They were just Fighter Attack Guys....Or F.A.G.S. :D


VF-114 91-92
VF-213 92-98
VP-65 98-99
 
smigaldi said:
BTW just my $.02 I think the best flying movie with good and mostly believable flying scenes was Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart.
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I agree! Beautifully filmed and well acted. IMHO, one of the best aviation movies ever!

 
Has anyone seen Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart on DVD?
 
smigaldi said:
I am pretty sure on large aircraft that the plane is not steered through the rudders but by a separate nose wheel tiller.
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That's the setup in the P-3 Orion. There's a miniature "steering wheel" on the pilots side panel that is used for steering below 80 knots. It's a booger to turn with that thing too. At least the simulator is that way.


(Sorry Scott, I know simulators are touchy subjects for you.) :D
 
E-2 Hawkeye also has nose wheel steering, using a pistol grip like tiller on the left side of the left seat.
 
Allen C said:
I'm a former Tomcat guy so Top Gun was our favorite. Notables;

1. Multiple sidewinders off of station one

2. Goose tapping the Pilots fuel tapes. (Not unless his arms are 12 feet long)

3. Ground crew giving hand signal for gound power... on the cat.

4. half dozen 20mm rounds hit the port AV bay. (each would be about a 1/2 stick of dynamite)

5. O2 Mask off on the cat shot.

6. Inverted at "2 1/2" meters

7. The "anorexic's only" steam/shower room! Don't forget to pump out that 8 year old boy chest.

That movie still holds a soft spot in my list of movies.

A good one to watch is "Always". Its a great movie that doubles as a chick flick.

Another that I just got is "One Six Right". This one should be required viewing.

Insomnia rocks!
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Spent some time down at Strike at Pax on the Turkey. Great bird once we got rid of the TF30's :))

Anyway, on aviation movies, I'll always have a soft spot for the opening sequences in 12' oclock high not involving flying per se, but one of the finest segue sequences ever put on film.

The opening involving Dean Jagger, the bycycle, the fence, and what followed as he walked through the deserted field interspaced with the ghostly strains of "Baa Baa Baa" and on into the flashback that started the picture were done magnificently.
The ending, as he peddled away into the future leaving his past behind him was almost as effective.
GREAT piece of filming and a wonderful job by a great supporting actor.
Dudley Henriques
 
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Dudley Henriques said:
The opening involving Dean Jagger, the bycycle, the fence, and what followed as he walked through the deserted field interspaced with the ghostly strains of "Baa Baa Baa" and on into the flashback that started the picture were done magnificently.
The ending, as he peddled away into the future leaving his past behind him was almost as effective.
GREAT piece of filming and a wonderful job by a great supporting actor.
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12 O'clock High is one of my favorites. I have it on DVD and can watch it over and over. Just a well made, well acted and pretty realistic film.
 
Steve said:
A friend of mine who's an AF historian described to me how 12 O'Clock High is used to familiarize new staff at Eglin AFB on the AF legacy. It was filmed at Eglin and what became Ft. Rucker, as well as a few other movies.

http://video.onset.freedom.com/nwfdn/kab2yd-eglininthemovies.pdf
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The film I believe was also used as an example of creative management for some very large companies back during the fifties. Don't remember the exact details but I recall it making the rounds as a "required" view for upper management levels.
DH
 
Dudley Henriques said:
The film I believe was also used as an example of creative management for some very large companies back during the fifties. Don't remember the exact details but I recall it making the rounds as a "required" view for upper management levels.
DH
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One of my all time favorites. Got it on DVD. They showed it to us at OTS were we analyzed the different types of leadership styles Gen. Savage used during the film. Excellent tool. Wish it was required viewing in the business schools.
 
smigaldi said:
I am pretty sure on large aircraft that the plane is not steered through the rudders but by a separate nose wheel tiller.
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It's like that on all the airliners I've flown, a tiller or wheel for taxiing but rudder pedals on the runway. We had only rudder pedals on the B-52 but it had two modes, Taxi for large turns and Takeoff/Land for well takeoff and landing.
 
I always liked 633 Squadron with Cliff Robertson. The Mosquito was always one of my favorites. Some of the special effects are dated but the actual aerial sequences are great. Bought an original movie poster last spring. Can't wait to finish the media room and hang it up.
 
Ddayle said:
I liked 'Island in the Sky" dispite the glaring mistakes. Most obvious is they are flying "United States Air Force" C-47's During WW2. The USAF did not exist untill 1948. I just saw it again a few weeks ago, and the flying parts, & seeing all tose old actors as young actors was great! DaveR
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I failed to notice that one, but if that is the worst mistake they made, that's not bad for a Hollywood film.

BTW, I was surprised to learn that the Air Force Song was in existence when it was still part of the Army. I found this out when I heard it in the movie A Guy Named Joe, which was made in 1943.
 
Palmpilot said:
I failed to notice that one, but if that is the worst mistake they made, that's not bad for a Hollywood film.

BTW, I was surprised to learn that the Air Force Song was in existence when it was still part of the Army. I found this out when I heard it in the movie A Guy Named Joe, which was made in 1943.
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But do you know the alternative 'moral' lyrics of that song form the WW2 era? My dad used to sing it, along with other hits such as;


The Air Corps song that he sang had things in it about being afraid, burning up, and ducks quacking, but I cannot find the words. It was the type of black humor one would expect of the soldiers of that era.
 
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Dudley Henriques said:
Spent some time down at Strike at Pax on the Turkey. Great bird once we got rid of the TF30's :))
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Never made it to PAX. I was offered shore duty orders, but decided to get out and go to college. (I seen how the "O's" eat and sleep)

My biggest dream was to get a ride in the Tomcat, but alas all I got to do was hang ordnance. Maybe I can fit a launch bar and hook on the Long-Ez and head off shore. I hear the Reagan is out doing CQ. :D

"1DS has the ball."

One can dream....right? :smilewinkgrin:
 
Palmpilot said:
BTW, I was surprised to learn that the Air Force Song was in existence when it was still part of the Army. I found this out when I heard it in the movie A Guy Named Joe, which was made in 1943.
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If you're talking about the "wild blue yonder" song, my dad taught me to sing it in the Army Air Corps version as a kid. No, he was not in the military or a pilot, but he liked that kind of stuff. Weirdly I still have the sheet music.
 

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Yes, that's the one. It was used in the instrumental version in the movie.
 
A couple of side comments regarding the music from the various movies.

The song Dudley mentions in "Twelve O'Clock High" (the one with the refrain "Bah-bah-bah") is Yale's "Whiffenpoof Song", also known as "Gentlemen Rankers" (the original lyrics were written by one Rudyard Kipling!). Its use is a bit ironic; Kipling's original poem was about men of relatively high social standing who enlist in the Army as common soldiers....cannon fodder, in othre words.

As for the song "Wild Blue Yonder," I knew it pre-dated the USAF as I'd learned the last line as "..nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!" Wikipedia has a short article on the genesis of the song.

For those who are interested in the old music, I wrote a series of articles for my EAA chapter newsletter, with a lot of tie-in to their use in the movies:

No Lillies, No Violets (Feb 2007)

A World Full of Lies (March 2007)

Oh, You Saigon Girls! (April 2007)

Give Me Operations (May 2007)

Battle Hymn (June 2007)

The articles all start on the 4th or 5th page of the newsletter....

Ron Wanttaja
 
Pilawt said:
Director Wellman did a great job with little throwaway "bits of business" in that film. I don't know if Andy Devine was a real-life pilot, but he sure convinced me that he knew what he was doing when he used the "whiz-wheel" E6B computer. Maybe the most unbelievable part of that film was how Andy Devine could even get his parka-clad hulk into the left seat of a C-47! :eek:
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But he had an extendable grabber in his pocket to reach up and tweak the dials. :D

Notice that we had young Captain Ovoeur flying, too.
 
Palmpilot said:
I failed to notice that one, but if that is the worst mistake they made, that's not bad for a Hollywood film.

BTW, I was surprised to learn that the Air Force Song was in existence when it was still part of the Army. I found this out when I heard it in the movie A Guy Named Joe, which was made in 1943.
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The last words are "Army Air Corps"
 
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mikea said:
The last words are "U.S. Air Corps"
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The last words were Nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!, they were changed to Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force! when it became a seperate service.
 
Pilawt said:
That was Peter Graves' (real name Peter Aurness) brother, James Arness (Aurness)! They do sound a lot alike.
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James Arness had one other famous movie role...he was the walking vegetable alien in the original "The Thing."

Oh, and he was in some old TV Western series.....:smilewinkgrin:

Ron Wanttaja
 
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