Did anybody see a film on TV Sunday afternoon, called ‘Last Flight of Noahs Ark’? Whilst channel hopping I was amased to see a B-29 being loaded with pigs, cows, goats, ect the animals were shown standing in the bomb bay area !! The solo pilot then managed to start the engines, close the bomb doors and take off. There then followed some great air to air scenes over San Fransico. As if all the above was not so unnbeliveable the aircraft then ran out of fuel, crash landed on a island inhabited by two Japanese soldiers that did not know the war was over. The pilot, his girlfriend, two children and the soldiers then turned the B-29 in a boat and sailed away.
This leads to some interesting questions, such as when was the film made (indeed why was it made?) which B-29 was used ( I assume it was ‘FiFi’) and what happened to the crashed fusleage that was used in the film, it appeared to be real. The B-29 carried the reg N91329 (this is a disused reg cancelled in 1987) the aircraft carried some unreadable ‘nosed art’ and was opperated by a company called ‘Stoneys Air Freight’.
DOUGHNUT
By: octane130 - 30th July 2007 at 02:39
If you are interested, some new material has been posted on the Planes of Fame Museum’s (Chino, Calif., USA) message board (under the heading “Past Planes of Fame Airshows”) regarding this incredible and rare B-29 aircraft. I personally saw this aircraft appear four times in SoCal USA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is no longer flying but check out the old photos and discussion on the Planes of Fame Museum’s message board at: http://www.planesoffame.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=485
Feel free to add any info or comments that you wish!!
Cheers,
– octane130 –
By: Willow - 6th October 2003 at 16:00
‘Fertile Myrtle’ was dismantled for restoration and remains so. The nose and fin were on display at Tamiami in 1999 and 2001 at least, but I assume they have moved on now that the museum has changed hands.
Kermit Weeks said (at Polk City in April 2002) that he would like to get the B29 flying for a round the world tour in 2005, but I don’t think he actually expected it to happen!!
Willow
By: Bigglesworth - 6th October 2003 at 13:23
Moggy, maybe Fifi was used for airborne shots, but was she airworthy at the time it was filmed?
Maybe a ‘ferry permit’ was aquired for a one time flight? From memory the ditching scenes were VERY realistic.
well, just found this, so stand corrected:
“Posted by Carl Stidsen on June 24, 2002 at 10:27:50:
In Reply to: Re: B-29 Location posted by Mark Milliken on March 28, 2002 at 21:32:38:
The Walt Disney Movie was called ” The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark”. It used B-29 45-21787 , later NACA 137 “Fertile Myrtle”(ex-Navy P2B-1S) for the flying scenes,( Registered N91329) and the carcass of the B-29 (inverted) as a raft. There were also a number of interior scenes of the B-29 that were made using other B-29 interior sections. It was a really stupid movie , made bearable only for some great flying shots of the B-29 ( before it “crashed” on a desert island).
It’s still around, presently owned by Kermit Weeks, registered N29KW.
: I worked at China Lake during 1978-79, when there were several B-29s parked in a boneyard north of the base central area. I climbed through one B29 and shot a roll of film. While I was there, Walt Disney Studios cut a B29 up and hauled off the fuselage for a movie called Robinson Cruso or something like that. Another B29 was flown out by a British restoration group. “
and here’s the link:
http://okwreckchasing.com/board/messages/315.html
The ‘other’ B29 that is mentioned, quite possibly the Duxford example…
By: Moggy C - 6th October 2003 at 13:11
I’d presumed Jammy meant ‘was used for the flying shots’ :confused:
Moggy
By: Bigglesworth - 6th October 2003 at 12:45
Didn’t see it yesterday but I have seen this before, very enjoyable. I think it was made by Disney but here’s a link anyway
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0081031/
I’d very much doubt the B29 was FiFi. It would have been a monsterous resto job to get her to her current state if it was!;) 😀
Sign In
October 6, 2003 at 12:36 pm