I wasn’t pointing and laughing – just following the thread and making a comment, as is the general point of forums I thought? Just seems a lot of effort for a few seconds on screen, I also mentioned how good the rest was and was curious at this, especially blowing it up.

Sorry, I wasn’t meaning you….I apologize for implying that. What I meant was these kinds of threads run every once in awhile and the tone seems overly critical to me. What are filmmakers supposed to use to represent MIGs? When some of these films were made it’s not like the Ruskies were leasing out their Air Force. The guys aren’t making the films for that 0.0001% in the audience who can tell the difference between a SBD and a TBD, or a B-17E from a B-17G. It’s entertainment, folks.

They want your money, and the less they spend of their money to get your money, the happier they are. If that means dipping into the film bin to avoid spending a $100,000, what would you do? For those of us smug film critics who laugh at their efforts at accuracy…well, don’t plan on getting your history from Hollywood. That guy on the grassy knoll will get you every time.

Hawke always said he was CIA but I have my doubts. In 1965 when you get caught gun running A-26 Invaders it was an easy to say you were doing it for the CIA. The actual court case details were a bit more interesting. Authoritative author Dan Hagedorn, on page 101 of his book Foreign Invaders, notes Hawke’s “lame attempt” to tie his smuggling to the CIA. In the end, though, Hawke was acquitted by a jury of his peers.

Most of his time after 1966 appears to be tied up with filmwork or can be accounted for, so his time in Southeast Asia flying for the CIA would have had to been brief at best.

A man who’s legend may have been greater in his mind, though his documented accomplishments were certainly legendary.

Laden Maiden, aka 44-30925, in better days with the CAF (John Stokes, really) at Airsho ’76 at Harlingen. It carried the same name in Catch-22 when operated by Tallmantz Aviation out of Orange County Airport, California.

My brief records on this airplane shows it was delivered to the AAF in January 1942 and originally earmarked for the RAF as BZ501. However, it was instead sent to Russia via Lend-Lease and that RAF serial reallocated to A-20G 43-21999.

The excellent AeroVintage (http://www.aerovintage.com/b17news.htm) site has this to say:

…used to film Dr. Strangelove…

I have to correct what I wrote on my website and duplicated here regarding this airplane as there is documented evidence that B-17G F-BEEA was the camera ship used to film the air-to-ground scenes used in Dr. Strangelove. I have to correct my long-mistaken information. What is peculiar is that Columbia Pictures owned N9563Z at the time yet contracted with the IGN to use one of their B-17s for the filming. Peculiar.

By the way, the A-20 book at Crowood is going out of print very shortly and won’t be available any longer from them.

http://www.crowoodpress.co.uk/2004/book_details.asp?ISBN=1+86126+670+7

A-20G 43-21627 is the airframe that was moved from Chino to Pima last year and is undergoing an active restoration to static condition as we speak. Expect the airplane to be completed in the 2008 timeframe. I was able to inspect the airplane in some detail in May and it is exciting to see the airplane begin to come back together. The skin on the aft left portion of the fuselage is being left unrestored with the paint and combat damage to be left intact and part of the static airplane. There are some interesting tidbits about this A-20 that I included in an article that FlyPast magazine should be running in the next few months. The museum has most of the major parts needed but the wings will require much work.