I am curious which shots in Always were models.

I suppose the Invader flying through the flames, and blowing up , but what else ? Probably the Invader dumping on the PBY.

Some good points are made in defence of Red Tails, and of course, it is quite true we are far from the audience GL said he was trying to reach.

As aviation enthusiasts, though, naturally we look particularly at flying sequences, and it has to be said they were not very memorable, which was a shame since they had a number of real aircraft on the set, and there was an opportunity to do something more striking.

Probably the grumpy tone is a broader regret that the film industry has not produced a big budget flying film for decades ( no doubt they have their reasons ) , and recent productions like Red Tails and FlyBoys have felt lightweight and ersatz

For myself, Magnificent Men set the bar, and that was made back in 1965 🙂

What a shame, a cliche to say it, but really the end of an era.

Nobody produces a journal like this for a profit, and 30 years (or so ) is a damned fine run.

The number of active piston aircraft is dwindling of course, so I suppose every endeavour has a natural ending.

Thanks to all the team, and a good time to remember Stephen Piercey.

” By this time he had launched as a spare-time hobby Propliner, a quarterly journal devoted to the world’s surviving propeller airliners and their past glories. He edited it in his bedroom among his Argonaut souvenirs and a collection of slides which, by the time of his death, had risen to 25,000. We hope that this collection, a unique record of piston-transport’s twilight, will find a good home. And perhaps one of Steve’s countless friends throughout the world might name a propliner after him.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1984/1984%20-%200984.html

I was lucky enough to meet Jim Lovell last year (Apollo 13 Flight Commander ) and he was a fascinating and generous fellow to spend a couple of hours with.

Oddly enough, he, the real hero could walk down Piccadilly unrecognised whilst Tom Hanks ( screen portrayal ) would be mobbed !

With anyone very famous, I think there is a public persona/story which they present, and it is very hard to get underneath that, and maybe it is intrusive to even try.

Spitfire (MH434?) low in the Biggin Valley, the same spot where the Invader came to grief.

There are Invader images in this link but they are graphic and not in the spirit of this thread.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=50&with_photo_id=50604149&order=date_desc&user=232613

Also with Reflectaire at Squires Gate was Mew Gull GAEXF and that has been restored, the Sabre ( GATBF) was scrapped eventually. A few Hurricane frames from a local scrapyard were also likely scrapped.

We (the forum) mulled over this at length and concluded the Sabre went back Stateside and was incorporated into the drone project.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?37743-Blackpool-F86-(xb733)-on-Lancashire-farm-any-leads

The Enstone example no longer exists in any meaningful sense.

This photo of remnants was 10 years ago.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duke_of_milan/5848013833/in/photostream/

I f you like this sort of thread, go to the Vintage & Classic Light Aircraft group on Facebook, which is stuffed with this sort of content, and plenty of the old lags from here 🙂