Stirling Castle (near where I live) was also used for many of the location shots of “Colditz” though the main courtyard set was created at Ealing Studios.

I know what you mean about the traffic jams to/from Leuchars. The last time I went to Leuchars in a car was in 1987. I tried to leave the airfield at 4.30 p.m. and my car was stationary in a jam for 5 hours before we got moving.

The way I go to Leuchars now is as follows – I put my bicycle onto the carrying rack on my car. Then I drive to Dundee and park in the Discovery Centre Car Park. Then I cycle over the Tay Bridge to Leuchars (takes 30 minutes).

I have tried going by train but that is problematic. The trouble is that there aren’t enough trains going between Leuchars and Dundee to cope with the demand. The last time I went by train (2005) I had to wait for an hour at Leuchars station to get a train home then there was a wait of another hour or two at Dundee for a train to Dunblane. I have also tried walking from Dundee to Leuchars but it is really too far and there no footpaths for most of the journey meaning you have to walk on the road or the grass verge.

Believe me the best method is to buy a bike and a carrying rack or else buy a folding bike. When I go to East Fortune I take my bike on the train to Drem Station then cycle from there to the airfield (4 miles). I have also cycled from Cambridge to Duxford in the past. Believe me the bike is the way to go.

Colin

This is a very interesting discussion. When I first saw the film in 1969 one thing that puzzled me was that gun flashes from wing guns were not usually depicted. There was one shot in the Polish Hurricane sequence where you see a Hurricane firing its guns (filmed from head on) and another similar shot elsewhere in the film of a Buchon firing its guns but on looking at these sequences again I think they were both done in the studio with back projection.

When I visited the Palm Springs Air Museum ,in California in November 2001 I noticed that their Mark XIV Spitfire had been painted with washable 1940 -style camouflage paint (which had been partly removed) and the gun ports had strobe lights fitted. This had been done for “Pearl Harbor” though the producers later changed their plan and filmed the Spitfire sequences in the UK.

I read somewhere that during WW2 the Americans were interested in producing a version of the B-17 with Merlins to give it a better performance but obviously nothing ever came of the idea.

Colin

It is a well – known fact that the Merlin would cut out momentarily when early Spitfires and Hurricanes were inverted. Later Spitfires were fitted with carburettor modifications to stop this happening but it is my understanding that Hurricanes never received this mod thus the engine would always cut out briefly when a Hurricane was inverted.

In the film “Reach for the Sky” there is a scene where Bader apparently flies his Hurricane upside down at low level over his airfield but this effect appears to have been achieved very simply by inverting the film!

Colin

One thing you mentioned in your website was the fact that the aircraft in the “Flight of the Phoenix” novel by Elleston Trevor was called the “Skytruck” (and in the movie James Stewart’s character calls the aircraft a “Skytruck” on one occasion.)

I read the novel a few years ago and recall that the full name of the fictional aircraft was the “Salmon – Rees Skytruck”

So why did Elleston Trevor come up with a fictional aircraft instead of just referring to the C-82 Packet? I think it was because in the book part of the plot dealt with the fact that the survivors were having to take some coolant from the aircraft’s engines liquid cooled cooling system and distil it to get water. This would obviously not be possible with air cooled radials as in the C -82 hence the use of a fictional aircraft type with liquid – cooled engines.

In the film version the screenplay therefore had to add the fact that the aircraft was carrying drums of anti-freeze which could then be distilled to provide some extra water.

Of course one plot point which still did not make sense in the film was the scene where Coffman cartridges are used to start the engine when I understand the C-82 never used such a system. Of course that was understandable artistic licence since a battery and starter motor would never have given us such an exciting scene!

Colin

I wonder if some of the Lanc replicas will have motorised props and even the ability to taxi as was the case with some of the FSMs used in “Battle of Britain”,”Piece of Cake” etc.

Another thought – it is Autumn in New Zealand . Since the events in the film largely take place in the Spring maybe they are waiting till the British Autumn (the New Zealand Spring ) before filming commences. Just a bit of speculation!

Colin