Cannon wrote:Maybe not quite on par with some of these suggestions, but Bat 21 was a decent movie with some great flying in it. Gene Hackman, Danny Glover and Jerry Reed (Snowman from Smokey and the Bandit).

These days, no way you'd ever see a lead actor in the pilot seat while maneuvering low level over the jungle in an O-2. I watch it today and I still can't believe Danny Glover was able to recite his lines.

Im not a huge O-2 fan, but every time I watch it I feel the urge to scour Trade a Plane for one.

There used to be half a dozen at KGXY, but after the owner died and Kenny Harris bought them and all of his other assets, they've dwindled down--I think one is being restored, but the remainder appear to be parts donors. There was a restored one at the AOPA fly-in at KCOS--all dolled up in Viet Nam era war paint, complete with hard points. When I was on active duty at Elmendorf in the early 70s, we had several there as part of the SAR squadron. Noisy little buggers!

Cary

Airplane! 1980 comedy classic starring Leslie Nielsen spoofs pilots, ATC, all of aviation and nails it. You can watch this movie over and over and pick up on subtle (and not so subtle) sight gags that you previously missed. (e.g. magazine rack section labeled "Whacking Material").

Lloyd Bridges' character: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."
Inflatable auto pilot named Otto contentedly smoking after the "manual inflation" job!

Trivia I learned on my way home from Alaska this summer. The airport in Whitehorse,YT is named the Eric Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport. Erik was a prominent Canadian politician and brother of Leslie Nielsen. I got to meet Erik Jr. during my trip. He flies a turbine Beaver on amphib floats.

More trivia. Island in the Sky, which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread, was filmed on location at the site of the old Truckee, CA airport, just a bit north of the present airport. If you're familiar with the area, you'll recognize the local hills.

+1 for many of the "nominees", including Right Stuff, Top Gun, Waldo Pepper, Disney Planes 2, etc. Add the documentarty "16 Right" about Van Nuys airport.

Pierre

Don't forget the army's failed response to Top Gun: Firebirds

What about "Zero Hour" the film that "Airplane" spoofed. You can't watch either film without thinking of the other one.

bigrenna wrote:The Right Stuff... Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Sam Shepard, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid and Barbara Hershey. Don't get much better.

Have to agree with this 100%


Also there was an older show that was one of my Dads favorites called Angels One Five. It was centered around a squadron in the Battle of Britan. Defiantly worth the watch!

Cannon wrote:Maybe not quite on par with some of these suggestions, but Bat 21 was a decent movie with some great flying in it. Gene Hackman, Danny Glover and Jerry Reed (Snowman from Smokey and the Bandit). These days, no way you'd ever see a lead actor in the pilot seat while maneuvering low level over the jungle in an O-2. I watch it today and I still can't believe Danny Glover was able to recite his lines. ....

Oh yeah, forgot about Bat 21. Excellent movie and a good book. Jerry Reed was damn good in a rare serious role as the air cav commanding officer.
Are you saying that Danny Glover did the actual flying in the movie?

Agree with many/most/all the above. Missed or didn't see the original "Airport" with Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster. Not as hokey as all the later "disaster flicks" to come. Plus some close to accurate flying sequences.

My Top 10:

-- The Spirit of St. Louis
-- Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771
-- By Dawn's Early Light
-- The Great Waldo Pepper
-- Blue Thunder
-- Airport
-- A Gathering of Eagles
-- 2010: The Year we Make Contact
-- Apollo 13
-- In the Shadow of the Moon

Alan

hotrod180 wrote:Oh yeah, forgot about Bat 21. Excellent movie and a good book. Jerry Reed was damn good in a rarer serious role as the air cav commanding officer.
Are you saying that Danny Glover did the actual flying in the movie?

Jerry Reed was awesome in Bat 21. Hard to believe it's the same guy.

Danny Glover didn't do the flying, but he was absolutely in the left seat during some of those in-cockpit sequences (some are on a soundstage). If you look closely, you can see that he's just resting his hand on the yoke while someone in the right seat is actually flying, but the effect is just as good.

Edit: Just watched some if it again. Jerry Reed was also filmed in the front of a Huey during some of the battle scenes. Very cool and adds a ton to the realism. Can't see them doing that today.

Here's one I really liked. Whole movie is on youtube...

Two science fiction movies that are pretty good...

In no order

Hell's Angels Don't need to watch anything but the flying scenes which are simply amazing. During the filming Howard Hughes had a couple of hundred airplanes ready to go.

Apollo 13 Pretty good all around film

Only Angels Have Wings Dated and with only one real footage flying scene (very good tho) but Cary Grant and the supporting cast (including a luminescent Rita Heyworth) and dialog are great.

The Great Waldo Pepper Pretty good flick with some excellent flying scenes

The Battle of Britton Probably the last time when such a film could have been made using real aircraft, pretty awesome too.

The Right Stuff Not much real flying footage, but decently faked and a cool movie all around.

12 o'clock High Guess this one has to be here, not nearly the best Gregory Peck but oh well

The Blue Max OK film with some very good flying scenes

The Spirit of St Louis With aviation combat veteran Col Jimmy Stewart as Lindburg

Wings Amazing flying scenes



Movies with a great flying scene: Capricorn One (Helicopters chasing a Stearman...can make you airsick watching it), Air America (Pilatus Porter Landing on a postage stamp in the jungle), Murphy's War (Grumman Duck aerobatics).

"Red Skies Over Montana", filmed in Missoula with real airplanes and real smokejumpers in the '50's. Loosely based on the Mann Gulch fire that killed several smokejumpers.

More trivia. Island in the Sky, which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread, was filmed on location at the site of the old Truckee, CA airport, just a bit north of the present airport. If you're familiar with the area, you'll recognize the local hills.

No kidding !
Was that the little dirt strip across from what is now the bug station? I once was a passenger in a J3 landing there. I try to find it from I 80 when I pass by sometimes.

Ha Ha. CHP tried to arrest a buddy and I for using that old airstrip. Told us it was against the law to land an airplane off-airport. [emoji41]

Gump

Spaceballs.

I watched Spirit of St Louis for the first time about a year ago The flying scenes of crossing the Atlantic were boring but the part where they were building the airplane at the Ryan factory was pretty cool.