I just recently watched a movie called Innocent Lies from 1995 starring Adrian Dunbar and Gabrielle Anwar. In the beginning of the movie Dunbar and daughter arrives in France on a dark blue Beech 18 with red/ orange rudders. The film is supposed to have been shot at Morbihan in Brittany, France. Anyone with a clue as to which Beech 18 this is?
T J
By: T J Johansen - 17th March 2013 at 20:49
Hi Bob,
Been a long time. I didn’t even think about Barbel Abela’s Beech at all.
It does look nice in the new colors.
T J
By: Arabella-Cox - 17th March 2013 at 13:34
Hi DC Page,
Thanks for the great photos of N8389H. My project for the last few years is a Beech 18 Production List of all 9,000 with an entry like the following for each (still quite a ways to go):
AF-393 C-45G 51-11836 USAF Remanuf by Beech for the USAF from T-7 41-21118 c/n 1133. Deliv SAC Offutt AFB 5May53. Hunter AFB. Savannah, GA. Davis-Monthan AFB Aug58. AF Aircraft Sales Branch sold to A. S. Wikstrom Inc, Skaneateles, NY BS 10Oct58 for $5,676. CofR 23Apr59 as N8389H. Civil certification kit & Hartzell 3 bladed props installed 13Jul59. CofA 18Jul59. Sundorph Aeronautical Corp, Cleveland, OH BS 26Apr67. Cherokee Corp, Bedford, OH BS 22Jun67. BarBelle Productions Ltd, Gleason, WI BS 30Aug91. Barbel Abela & Len Perry found N8389H in a hangar in Saratoga, Wyoming with 1,970 hrs TT & it had not flown for 23 years. Aerospace Products spar strap installed 22Jan92. Temporary cabin fuel system (3 tanks 168 gal) installed 17Apr92. Dark blue USN color scheme with US insignia & red-white rudder stripes & Beech Belle nose art applied. Spl flt permit 17Apr92 Lakeland, FL to Lutton, UK via Bangor, ME. Bar-Belle Air Inc, Miami, FL BS 15Aug92. Appeared in the 1995 film “Innocent Lies” filmed in France with US insignia & rudder stripes removed. Poplar Grove Airmotive Inc (Steve Thomas), Poplar Grove, IL BS 9Aug95. Cabin fuel system used in ferry flt Apr92 reinstalled for return ferry flt to U.S. 28Aug95 (left Biggin Hill, UK that date). Two tone blue civil scheme photog at Oshkosh Jul96 & Jul09. Valid Mar13.
Regards,
Bob Parmerter
By: DC Page - 15th March 2013 at 22:46
Hi T.J. and Bob,
Here are 11 really nice pictures of N8389H, most of them at Poplar Grove (C77). Click on the thumbnails and then most of those 800×640 images can be clicked again to see them at 1280×960.
Beech C-45G #51-11836A N8389H
By: Arabella-Cox - 15th March 2013 at 22:02
Hi T.J.
I finally identified the dark blue Beech 18 used in the 1995 film “Innocent Lies” that you asked about.
It was C-45G N8389H AF-393 ex USAF 51-11836 that was ferried to the UK from Lakeland, FL to Lutton, UK in Apr92. It had “Beech Belle” nose art and US national insignia on rear fuselage & red & white rudder stripes. Those marks were painted over & red/orange rudder vertical stripe applied. Everything except those marks, match a color photo of it I have (antennae, post-WWII l/g, Hartzell 3-bladed props, cabin door, windows, nose lights & even the pilot name in red under the cockpit window). It left Biggin Hill, UK on 28Aug95 for the return flt to the US. The last I knew it had a nice two tone blue civil paint scheme & was flying out of Poplar Grove, IL.
Love to see Beech 18s in films, thanks for pointing out this one.
Regards,
Bob Parmerter
Historian, Beechcraft Heritage Museum & Air-Britain Beech 18 Specialist
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March 9, 2013 at 9:44 pm