Did the film Industry save the Warbirds.

[dade]

Did the film industry save the Warbirds,



1. My personal early recollections of aircraft in a film was the Dambusters about 617 Squadron R.A.F., made in 1955. My mother took me to see this film and bought me ice cream, something she usually never did. Next day I was in hospital getting my tonsils out. The Avro Lancasters and the Rolls Royce Merlins made a big impression on me, my mother did not. I often wondered did the re runs on TV make an impression on others as most of these were starting to be saved in the sixties.

2. 633 Squadron about the De Havilland Mosquito in 1964 brought a concern about the fact they crashed one and burnt it out. Although there may have been a love for these aircraft among enthusiasts, it struggled as a warbird because of its wooden fuselage and wing being needing to be replaced at sometime costing a lot and expertise in short supply, plus two Merlins means big overhaul bills. I remember Kermit Weeks was surprised that the British allowed him to buy his one so easily. Now we have new fuselages and wings they have taken off in a big way. But the star of the film Cliff Robertson went on to buy a warbird of his own, Supermarine Spitfire IX.

3. The Blue Max of 1966 allowed us to see Fokker Dr1 triplanes & D.VII Biplanes as well as other replica aircraft in colour. Today they are cheaper to make and other WW1 planes are on the menu and with a new Australian and New Zealand engine, that are more reliable now.

4. The Battle of Britain of 1969 saved Spitfires, Hurricanes, Casa 2111 ( Licence built Heinkel 111 ), Casa 352 ( Licence built Junkers 52 ) and Hispano HA-1112 ( Licence built Bayerische Flugzeugwerke/Messerschmitt Bf109 ) aircraft.

5. My favourite after the Battle of Britain is Catch 22 with North American Mitchell B-25s in 1970. I still use this title when I cannot resolve problems in life.

6. Tora,Tora,Tora in 1970, had Vultee Bt 13 Valiants as Aichi Val replicas and North American T6 Texans as Nakajima B5N Kate replicas, Curtiss P-40 stood out, although the Mitsubishi Zero replicas were not as good.

7. Black Sheep Squadron ( Marine Attack Squadron VMA 214 ) between 1976-1978 with Vought F4U-1As Corsairs was very good, except the take off sequence seemed to be very similar over both these years.

8. Memphis Belle with the Boeing B-17 in 1990 made this bomber stand out, especially the interior shots.

So did these and other films fuel the demand for Warbirds in the Sixties and Seventies around about the time that the kids of the fifties had grown up and some became rich enough to buy their dreams and produce an industry that rebuilt them. Your thoughts.

[shorty]

The three Lancasters used in the Dambuasters film were loaned by the RAF

[Dave Homewood]

I think it is unquestionable that war films had a major impact on the psyche generating interest in the aeroplanes among younger people, and rekindling affection among those of the generation who had flown them or maintained and built them, etc. And yes the film industry spared off a large part of the movement to save and preserve warbirds in flying condition, and also their airfields.

[vultee43]

Definitely saved a good clutch of aircraft. I'm okay with the Japanese replicas as they have offered the next best alterative to genuine articles. They also give us some great Pacific 'dogfight'and recreation battle performances. Just one favour Dade. Could you please refer to the ME109 by its correct designation of Bf109 as it is messing with my OCD😉!

[Dave Homewood]

The major problem I have is whilst the film industry saved lots of warbirds from the scrapheap, they have misused them in so many terrible films with awful scripts and bad acting in such a way they do not reflect anything like the real history of either the aeroplanes of the people who flew and maintained them, sadly. Especially Hollywood. So much tripe.

[dade]

Your are of course correct vultee43,the --109 should be Bayerische Flugzeugwerke Bf109. See bad habits from comics as a youth. It was not only this aircraft that I named wrong but called the Vought Kingfisher a Curtiss Kingfisher. Unfortunately I was so busy with the story concerning another aircraft, I did not check and took it off the top of my head, which I think must be needing tweeked.
So Bf pre WW2 for the manufacturers aircraft designs and Me after WW2 started on other aircraft designs and P for experimental/project aircraft.
Unfortunately Shorty all those Lancasters were scrapped. No demand for them, except the Canadians and French used them long after other Air forces would have made them obsolete thank goodness.
See I may never get above being a Sergeant.

[shorty]

Also scrapped due to UK tax laws were the B 17s used in "The War Lover" with Steve McQueen

[flyinkiwi]

Oct 23, 2018 20:38:38 GMT 12 vultee43 said:

Just one favour Dade. Could you please refer to the ME109 by its correct designation of Bf109 as it is messing with my OCD😉!

Ironically, even the Germans used Bf and ME interchangeably when referring to the 109.

[isc]

Earlier this evening I watched Guy Martin and the rebuild of the Mk1 Spitfire(think I'v seen it before). He did wander off the subject at times, like firing a .5 Browning at a BMW, I don't suppose they had 8 .303s to fire. isc

[planecrazy]

Double post, slow internet, sorry!

[planecrazy]

The recently screened that show on Oz TV, he needs subtitles every now and then
but you can't fault his enthusiasim and the subject a beautiful machine!



Back on the topic of this thread the Film industry deffinitely created a whole pile
of Warbird fans! They could do a pretty good re make of the Battle of Britain
these days, pretty sure there are five maybe six Hurricanes airworthy in the UK
a number of early spits, dare I say four Buchons and a couple of DB powered
109s, you could even use the two Gladiators and Blenhiem in such a feature.

[dade]

I think its agreed that no one thing started people thinking about older aircraft. You are not born by proclaiming that your going to be a Warbird enthusiast. Everybody has their moment. My four were three films and a gate guardian. History over the decades has provided aircraft at the wrong time and right time to be collectors items, through films like Dambusters where all the Avro Lancasters were eventually scrapped, to the Battle of Britain where aircraft became collectors items, plus Catch 22s North American B-25s that are still around. The aircraft sitting in a field at Rukuhia in New Zealand that lasted a long time, housed Curtiss P-40s, Grumman Avengers, Lockheed Hudsons and I seem to remember one Supermarine Seafire, plus one Mitsubishi Zero aircraft came at the wrong time and few were saved because money and storage maybe were not available. The people with money were possibly in the Northern Hemisphere and aircraft in remote areas in the Southern Hemisphere, so distance can play a part. Where have you heard the if only you had come two years ago you could have had, etc. Gate guardians around the world, plus museums have saved a lot of aircraft. The water bomber industry with Grumman Tigercats, Avengers and Consolidated Privateers, Catalinas, Lockheed Neptunes, etc. Racing planes like the Vought Corsair, Northern American Mustangs, Hawker Sea Furies. Crashes in remote areas decades ago added more aircraft. Fresh water lakes/fjords another good provider of aircraft. Iraq and South American Air Forces I would think have dried up for old Warbirds now, did provide aircraft. When money appeared two or three aircraft had to be bought to rebuild one. Farms in Canada provided Hawker Hurricanes, Bristol / Fairchild Bolingbrokes, Fairey Swordfish, Westland Lysanders and North American Yales. Original pioneer enthusiasts that collected aircraft were few and far between and have mainly passed away, but their legacy lives on. Commercial enterprises were a source. But manufacturers like Brewster were on the nose and aircraft like the Fairey Barracuda did not have that if it looks right it is right look, so these and others were never contemplated even when available. Planning to save a Warbird by anybody was being at the right place at the right time, with the correct resources and attitude. If we had got together years ago and provided a few hundred dollars/pounds we could have saved aircraft, but no internet and no magazines that today allows access to knowledge and a feeling of togetherness was invented or available.

[vultee43]

Oct 23, 2018 21:49:06 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

The major problem I have is whilst the film industry saved lots of warbirds from the scrapheap, they have misused them in so many terrible films with awful scripts and bad acting in such a way they do not reflect anything like the real history of either the aeroplanes of the people who flew and maintained them, sadly. Especially Hollywo1od. So much tripe.

Not far from some airshow scripts ither Dave.