Original Dam Buster Film

Looking at the way the interior shots were filmed I’m thinking there must have been at least two nose/cockpit sections used for the filming, or at least one rig that could be broken down into sections? For filming the crew face-on they would surely have had to have a section with nose and windscreen removed, then there were the side and forward facing shots that included the windscreens and instrument panels etc and there were the nose shots from the BA’s position which would have been difficult to shoot with the cockpit in place.

ballturret,

You’re right about the cockpit section. To quote Johnathan Falconer’s book Filming the Dam Busters: [QUOTE]For the scenes depicting action inside the Lancasters themselves, Associated British constructed mock-ups of the various crew stations, as well as installing a complete Lancster nose section in the studio, mounted on a pivoting platform. […] The cockpit controls were linked to a motor beneath the platform to create what was in essence a simple flight simulator. […] During the long spells of filming in the studio, Richard Todd was strapped into the pilot’s seat in the nose section for hours at a time while scenes were shot again and again […] To help pass the time between takes, Todd was taught how to ‘fly’ the platform correctly by an RAF flying instructor.[/QUOTE]
Sadly, the book doesn’t answer your question about where this ‘compete Lancaster nose section’ came from or what happened to it.

Pete

I’d say there were at least a couple of cockpit sets used for the close ups, or at least – a couple of different / repainted pilot’s seats. If you look at the yellow circle on the armour plate behind the pilots’ head there’s a distinctive “nick” in the paint in some shots that’s not there in others. It’s most obvious during the flights to the dams and the “Here Leader” sequence when we’re supposed to be cutting between the various aircraft.

What’s that you say? A nerd?? Me??? Well…