Months ago, i’ve discovered what is perhaps one of the strangest and most bizarre WWI Aviation movies i’ve ever seen: Gunbus (Sky Bandits in the USA). What truly captured my fascination with this film were the replicas and miniatures that were used in it. They were quite impressive.
Among the replicas are the movie’s namesake, the Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus (actually a modified D.H.2 replica), the Salmsons (modified Caudron C.270s ) and a makeshift triplane, who’s fuselage resembles a B.E.2.
And among the miniatures, there is the giant ‘Gotha’ bomber (looks more like a Staaken R.VI), some makeshift flying machines, that couldn’t possibly fly in real-life, and my absolute favorites, the giant experimental Airship and it’s equally enormous hangar.
If anyone has any pictures pictures of these movie props. Please share them with me, thanks.
By: Arabella-Cox - 25th August 2020 at 13:29
Behind-the-scenes pictures of this plane would be much appreciated.
Picture: B.E.2 Triplane
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th August 2020 at 11:32
Does anyone have pictures of the replicas back when they were at Coventry or at Barton ?
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th August 2020 at 11:31
@K5054NZ
Thank you for clarifying what the two pictures were.
By: Zac Yates - 24th August 2020 at 03:51
Too bad that the two pictures are currently unavailable
I can see them! The Salmson photo at The Aerodrome is actually the first of two photos of that replica on Airliners.net by Mick Bajcar: https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/Salmson-2/750632?qsp=eJwtjEEKwkAMRe%2BStRsRXHSnF6gLLxAmHy2ddoYkoEPp3U0Hd4/34G2Uyur4%2BrNV0EAG1vSmE1VWXoyGjWa0T1Gxo3JerKyRrajfWyhhxy0lVIf8/agCPRIs9dMrzucA6KMzXa7hZbKauT/gPGXa9x%2Bn%2Bi%2BY
And with apologies/thanks to Major Larabee at The Aerodrome, here’s the Gunbus photo they also linked over there way back when:
Gunbus replica Major Larabee via The Aerodrome by Zac Yates, on Flickr
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd August 2020 at 22:09
@Prop Strike
Too bad that the two pictures are currently unavailable
By: Prop Strike - 23rd August 2020 at 21:09
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-32549.html
Quote -” I got a look at a “Salmson” and “Gunbus” a few years ago when they were at Barton.
I’m not sure whether they were originally flyers, but both had been rescued from a yard somewhere in the e-midlands (I seem to recall being told that the same yard housed a B-25 from “Hanover Street” in kit form)
The “Salmsons” were definately DH moth-derived. The remains………………(see link)
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd August 2020 at 18:45
Fascinating, but what happened to the other replicas (besides the Salmsons) like the B.E.2 Triplane ?
Did they manage to preserve the fuselage ?
By: TEXANTOMCAT2 - 23rd August 2020 at 18:39
We had the Gunbus at Sywell for a while IIRC Spitfire Spares bought it so it’s still around – it was powered by a Coventry Climax engine and was made out of steel and weighed a ton. I ‘flew’ it when hammered once!
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd August 2020 at 14:53
I‘ve already seen these, but still thanks. I will wait for some more responses.
By: avion ancien - 23rd August 2020 at 14:49
XX
By: avion ancien - 23rd August 2020 at 14:32
From Wikipedia:
In The New York Times, Vincent Canby ….. stated that:
‘….. what gives the film its isolated moments of distinction are the fanciful flying machines conceived by Tony Woollard, the movie’s production designer. They include what appear to be a Model-T Ford with wings, a six-engine bomber and a fearsome dirigible a half-mile long with the armament of a World War II battleship. Mr. Woollard’s designs look like Jules Verne ideas as they might have been executed by Ronald Searle.’
Maybe he would have done better to attribute their style to Rowland Emmet than Jules Verne and Ronald Searle!
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August 23, 2020 at 2:17 pm