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Aviation movies

CubCouper

Registered User
Sheridan WY
I've gone through the book list already this winter, and I'm getting a little bored (just a little) with Super Cubs I and II, Alaska Bush Pilots, Flying the Alaska Hiway, Top Gun, Surviving the Game, and even my B&W tour of the Piper factory circa 1943. Anybody got a line some favorite airplane or backcountry rich film fare?
 
Movies

Hi Rod. It dosent sound like you have a copy of my video covering the last three years of Gulkana. Bush class of the short field contests. Are you on a private strip? Jerry.
 
Really enjoyed watching the Discovery Wings channel the other evening. They had a segment on Kenmore Air. The highlight was seeing them land float equiped Beavers on the snow. Takeoffs were down a very steep grade, had some great shots. My all time favorite movie is The High and the Mighty. I actually met Ernest Gann the writter, he was a good friend of the owner of a flying service I use to work at. After searching for the movie for years, I finally found that it is tied up in legal action. That's why we never see it.
Brian
 
I liked High Road to China, Gipsey Moths and good senery. The other half liked it also.(Tom Selik fan) :morning:
 
Jerry, I seen that video mentioned but haven't seen it... how does one go about getting a copy? Seeing some of the performance in Cubs I & II raised the bar on my own performance alot. I'm not based on a private strip at the moment, then will change in the very near future. My CO house is on the market and my next place will definitely be cub-friendly.

High Road to China -- I forgot about that one but I loved it.

The High and the Mighty -- with the Duke? I'll keep an eye out for it!

My TV has a speed-dial button tuned to the Discovery Wings channel, but after awhile you begin to recognise the same Comet stress crack footage in a couple dozen different documentaries. I'll watch for the Kenmore Air feature.

There was a series (I forget the channel) called "Bush Pilot"(?) that featured some Alaskan flying and training tips... haven't scene it listed in awhile either. I knew I shoulda taped it!
 
Flying movies

Some of my favorite flying movies are "The Great Waldo Pepper" with Robert Redford......."Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines" (Disney I think)......."Memphis Belle"(William Wyler circa 1943)...."Memphis Belle" (Catherine Wyler circa 1990's) "Midway" (whole host of hollywood greats) "The Spirit of St. Louis" Jimmy Stewart...."The Aviator" Christopher Reeve......"The Battle of Brittan" circa 1970"s.....
There are a lot more....but this is a start....
Randy
 
Flying movies....cont.

I forgot about this one......some fantastic flying scenery in the beginning and is entertaining...but movie has an "agenda"...like a lot of movies I guess....."Never Cry Wolf"....Disney or Touchstone...I think.
Randy
 
A little known movie but great footage "To a higher ground" (or maybe "On a higher ground"). John Denver played a big city lawer that goes to visit his best friend in Alaska who is a bush pilot. Ends up staying and taking over the business. Lots of great bush pilot stuff and a generally good flick. Unfortunately, I don't think it ever made it to video so it may be hard to find. I saw it on TV once. Not too many movies shot with a full Hollywood budget with a bush flying theme. If anyone happens to have a copy I'd be interested.

Bill
 
"Nothing By Chance" is a great little film version of Richard Bach's book of the same name. It even has Richard Bach in it as the centerpiece. For those of you who haven't seen it or read it, Bach took a summer in the late 60's, a Travel Aire biplane, and several friends in other vintage aircraft and barnstormed across the midwest to see if it could still be done in the modern age. I like it a lot. Lots of good flying sequences.
 
jimmyfly said:
"Nothing By Chance" is a great little film version of Richard Bach's book of the same name. It even has Richard Bach in it as the centerpiece. For those of you who haven't seen it or read it, Bach took a summer in the late 60's, a Travel Aire biplane, and several friends in other vintage aircraft and barnstormed across the midwest to see if it could still be done in the modern age. I like it a lot. Lots of good flying sequences.

Clay...

I have that movie... If one's into the "Romance of Aviation", this is a good movie... I got a new insight into Bach though, not good...
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Captain of the Clouds....lots of good flying in that one.
Battle of Britain has some of the best flying sequences in it.......good movie.
Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart...B-36's B-47;s some pretty air shots.
Blue Max, lots of good flying.......good movie too
Spirit of St Louis.......still ranks up near the top of my favorites
I still like "Always".........I know, some phoney flying in it......but still like it alot
And one cannot forget The Great Waldo Pepper..........and one of my all time favorites is 12 oclock High........my dad was a radio operator on B-17's and his airplane is actually in a couple of the shots in that movie......the "Yankee Doodle" have to look quick but it's there
Brian
 
Cuby,

Yeah, Dick Bach is definitely a rare bird. Takes some getting used to. But I still like his books.
 
Has anyone ever seen "The Tarnished Angels"? Its a screen adaptation of a book by William Faulkner called "Pylon". The book is great, if your able to read Faulkner. (Sentences go on and on and on and on) But if you can separate the wheat from the chaffe its a pretty good story. And don't get on me about that comment. I love Faulkner just as much as anyone, just find him a little hard to get through sometimes. Anyway its the only aviation based novel he ever wrote, despite the fact that he was an accomplished aviator who owned a Waco for several years until his brother balled it up. Learned to fly about 75 yards from where I'm sitting in my office.

Oh, the movie had Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone and Jack Carson as the central characters. Its about a reporter covering an airshow in the city of New Valois (New Orleans) who hooks up with a band of gypsy airshow/racing pilots, their mechanic and their woman. The book is about the reporter trying to figure out what makes them tick, and can a person live a life without a central place to call home. So if anyone has seen the movie let me know how it is and wether I should spend the time and effort trying to track it down.
 
If you want the comprehensive list on aviation films, go to

http://www.aerofiles.com/film.html

Its huge! Its alphabetical. And it has descriptions of the films. Its awesome! In fact that whole Aerofiles website is awesome so check it all out if you have the time and interest.
 
Jimmy, I've seen Tarnished Angels and the best I remember, I didn't care for it to much. Not much flying in it.
Brian
 
Not Hollywood full featured films but I still like to watch:
The Wonderful World of Floats, Advanced Seaplane Flying, Beaver Country, and Second Chance.

I'd like to know where to get Jerry's video too.
 
RJK said:
I'd like to know where to get Jerry's video too.

Ditto here too... I downloaded those three clips that Jerry teased us with and I keep watching them over and over... My wife wonders what the attraction is... Hmmm, maybe there's something to this...
 
Video

Hey, sorry for being so slow. The video is the last three years of Gulkana. It is the Bush class only, no touring. They are home videos. Not professional. I wanted to see what was going on and yet participate also. Video was the answer. You will recognize some names in the video that are also on this chat site. This video has the real Bill Ellis, not the brown Cub shown in the Super Cub video. It's two hours in length. Your wives will know you are crazy now. There is some (dead space) on the 95 section. We are waiting for the announcer to announce the distance. I hope we can get something like this going here in the lower 48. Send $25 to Jerry Burr. 19813 Piper Cub Lane. Burlington, Washington. 98233. :)
 
Cub Documentary

Saw a good Doco on the uses and versitility of the Supercub, although I doubt you blokes would call a cliped wing a Cub. The movie was "Bird on a wire". I had no idea Cubs were so strong, removeing a 500's main blades then landing without legs. Why do aircraft forced landing in movies get that screaming noise and go faster?
 
I'm surprised that noone has mentioned "633 Squadron", starring deHavilland mosquito and Cliff Robertson. My favorite.
Vidir
 
"Skyward" with Howard Hesseman & I think Bette Davis. Unnamed, with Gene Hackman & a young Melanie Griffith where they crashed a J-3 into a boat. Another unnamed with Burt Lancaster and I think Gene Hackman again star was a Howard DGA that they were jumping from. And for us rotorhead fans, "Deadly Encounter" w/ Larry Hagman running around in Mexico in a Hughes 500. Jim Gammon coming to the rescue in a Stearman flying under a bridge to attack the bad guys.
 
This wasn't a flying movie...but it has some flying sequences in it....and it will probably make ya laugh......"ITS A MAD MAD WORLD" circa. 1970's...features some antics with a Beech -18...and from what I read....a stunt where the -18 flies through a hiway billboard for real.
Randy
 
"Spirit of St. Louis", loved the part where Jimmy's shooing the fly off the panel to reduce weight...

"Flight of the Phoenix", too bad we lost Paul Mantz in this one...
 
My all time favorite is, are you ready for this, "Air America"...

I can hear it now, "Cuby, you're sick"...

Hey, I'm stuck in "Lovely" Fresno, for entertainment around here we watch the grapes dry and shrivel up into raisins!...
 
Definitely gets that Porter in short when landing on that hillside strip, really drops it in, I don't think he rolled a fuselage length. Hey, I liked that movie too Dave, of course I'm not to far from Fresberg, but no grape drying wathcing here. just watch almonds drop off trees.
How bout the movie Alaska, some good shots in that one. They must have positioned that wrecked super cub on the peak with a helicopter sling load. Any of you Alaska guys do any work on the movie??
Brian
 
I just watched a really good video with quite a bit of cub flying in it, it’s called “The Venison Hunters” (by South Pacific Productions)The video is about Market Hunting of Red Deer in New Zealand and the evolution of the industry. The market hunters start with tractors, then riverboats, then cubs, and end up helicopter shooting them. On the video they show one cub trying to land on uphill strip, and it show in slow motion the cub riding up on the main wheels nosing over, the prop slowing starts curling at the ends and finally flipping over on it’s back. A good watch? This video is not for the weak at heart and shows dozens of Red Deer getting shot mostly from helicopters, these guys are unbelievable shots. This documentary shows lots of wreaked aircraft and some insane footage of these guys in action. A must watch! At the end of the video it’s dedicated the 80 odd men that died during this industry. This video is very well done and I recommend watching it!
Cheers, Ramchaser
 
I recorded a couple hours of good flying off the local PBS channel the other night... one was called "Over Alaska", an hour that was almost entirely shot from a helicopter, but included some great footage a cub making a ridgetop landing. The other was "Alaska: Off the Beaten Path" -- a wildlife/travel documentary with lots of Cub action and some interviews with a "very remote" family in a bay on the west side of Cook Inlet. If someone is interested in the names and places, I'd love have to have an excuse to watch it all again!! 8)
 
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