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Mystery airplane!

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

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OK aviation fans - What is this, and in what film did it appear? Note the needle on the nose.

Mystery airplane.jpg


Bonus points: What film was it used in? What author, after seeing the film, wanted his name *removed* from the credits? What actress from Bemidji Minnesota makes a brief flash-back appearance in the film?


Tom M.
 
Jane Russell in "Fate is the Hunter", 1964. According to Wikipedia the plane was a mock up made from a DC7b and a 707.
 
99% there. So, what author wanted his name removed from the credits, and why?
 
Ernest K. Gann wrote the original book. He wanted his name removed because he was displeased with the screenplay which he said did not follow his plot. He said later that an unfortunate side effect was that having his name removed deprived him of residuals.
 
Bingo. If you compare the film to Gann's book, it's almost 180 degrees different. The book is one of the best descriptions of flying I (not a pilot) have ever read. His life in early commercial and military aviation is fascinating, and his ability to tell the details of the flying experience, is exceptional.

Flying through a thunderstorm while staring at a lighted match - fantastic.

Also liked the film Island in the Sky. Another good Gann book, but this time well done.

https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v96788

Thanks.
Tom M.
 
I liked Island In The Sky, I thought the movie was well done. :encouragement:
 
PAUL161 said:
I liked Island In The Sky, I thought the movie was well done. :encouragement:
Click to expand...

Paul - remember the scene where, after the crash, a pilot gets lost while searching for food. During a blizzard he goes snow-blind and wanders in a circle until he collapses. Next morning crew finds his frozen body - and he was only about 100 feet from the aircraft all the time.

Good cast too. John Wayne, Andy Devine, Lloyd Nolan, Dwayne Hickman (!), Carl ("Alfalfa") Switzer, etc. First (only?) movie I've ever seen where John Wayne isn't a tough macho guy; he shows fear in many scenes.
 
Might sound crazy but, I remember having a cold feeling watching it, thinking what it would be like in that situation, not a nice thought. Always fly South in the Winter and North only in the Summer! :encouragement: :grin:
 
I read Fate is the Hunter many years ago and still have the book on my overladen bookshelves. Those early airline pilots were a brave lot indeed. Flying a DC3 through an ice storm in Tennessee at night, almost hitting the Taj Mahal, a near miss over Staten Island at night, possible sabotage in South America. Today, airline pilots are systems managers. That's one reason the pay scale has gone down.
 
I loved the book but always felt it had to be a compilation of aviation stories he had heard along with his own experiences. One person could not be that lucky to have dogged so many bullets.

If I remember correctly he started his commercial flying career after an incident flying at a state fare in Macon Georgia. I can not find the copy I have at the moment to check that out.

David
 
"First (only?) movie I've ever seen where John Wayne isn't a tough macho guy; he shows fear in many scenes."

One of those rare outings where he got to act.
 
Arriving at PBI in West Palm, we hired a Uber to drive us to our car in Boynton Beach. Turned out he was an American Airlines pilot volunteering one day a week to drive for nothing, sending his portion of the fees to the Wounded Warriors project. He flies to Barcelona at least twice a week. We talked a bit of flying. He thought the Boeing situation was a travesty and agreed that they should leave recovering from a potential stall up to the pilot not a computer.
 
that they should leave recovering from a potential stall up to the pilot not a computer.

Amen! We learn that in PPL instruction for pete's sake. It's a basic of flight training.


 
Pilots have been reduced to Computer Input Devices. Predator drones as evidence.
 
A retired AA pilot friend of mine to me:

"Next thing you know, the cockpit will only have one human and one chimpanzee. Chimpanzee's purpose is to keep the human from touching any of the controls. Human's purpose is to feed the chimpanzee."
 
DrEntropy said:
Pilots have been reduced to Computer Input Devices. Predator drones as evidence.
Click to expand...

Bas, feel free to delete this if it crosses the line. I mean absolutely no disrespect with this, but the situation in the armed forces is going to move further and further away from combat duty and more towards technology as this situation evolves.
At some point in time there is going to be a guy in a dark room on an Airforce base, eating cheetos, flying a drone strike, and he will receive a purple heart for carpal tunnel.
 
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