Warbird Information Exchange

The movie "Amelia" is shooting down in the Dunnville area of Ontario this month should be a few interesting Vintage Aircraft in the area. Hillary Swank is playing Amelia Earhart. VWC Tapperwing is going down
This post has a photo of the Ford Trimotor heading down as well as the Tapperwing.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hp?t=21880

As well as the Lockheed 12A mentioned here with pics.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hp?t=11735

Should be a few vintage sightings down that way this month.

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

hello

I am the Airplane wrangler/ aerial coordinator for the movie.
The Ford has done it's scenes and is now on it's way back to Min.
The Dunnville shoot is the next big aerial sequence and i am bringing in 12 a/c for shooting.
there are a few other aerials to do some aerobatics and ground stuff.
Right after Dunnville , I will fly the last aerial scenes to be done in Canada at which point the remaining non aerial will be completed,then shooting will start in S. Africa

Fleet16b

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Can you let us know what aircraft will be at the Dunnville shoot?

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

K225

At present, we are not publishing the list of a/c being used as we don't want to give away the movie.
We looked all over N America for period a/c but due to age most did not want to risk the distance the had to come.
However , my overall plan was to use as many local a/c and pilots as possible. The result is all the a/c and pilots used for the Dunnville scenes are all Canadian
We have some Wacos , Fleets, Dh Moths, etc.
all together 12 biplanes make up the group.
No twins etc in these scenes.
The Ford Tri-Motor has gone home and we used a Lockheed 12 from Georgia.
We could not meet Air Canada's demands to use their Lockheed 10 and the Lockheed at St Catherines is undergoing ground up restoration.

Keep'em Flying

Fleet16b

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Hi Fleet16b,

Here's the IMDB page for Amelia:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129445/

Hilary Swank? Interesting choice; she's among good company following Rosalind Russell (incognito), Susan Clark, and Diane Keaton. Likewise Richard Gere as George Putnam, following Fred MacMurray (incognito), John Forsythe, and Bruce Dern. There's no listing in the cast for Fred Noonan or Paul Mantz, though.

Not to give away too much, but how are they going to handle the crash on takeoff in Hawaii? The last two versions banged up a real Lockheed 12 and a real C-45...

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

We have a real Electra for that scene....sorry thats all i can say.

fleet16b

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

That's a joke, there's lots of suitable Wacos and Travel Airs around that could make it. I've heard a couple of owners say that they were approached to take part, but that the movie people just were too cheap to pay anything reasonable. I guess 1929 Los Angeles will be full of Tiger Moths??

And DC-3s perhaps?

More on the Lockheed 12A here.
http://www.electrajr.com/index.html

_________________
“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

Sorry guys

But it's no joke, money was not an issue. Believe me I know.
Most of the owners I spoke with just did not want to risk bringing their a/c all the way to Canada to film. The film company was shooting only in Canada with the exception of a few scenes
Yes there are some T/moths used as well as a Gypsy Moth.
Please not there are many pics of the real Amelia with a Gypsy Moth as there were many used in the US in the Late 20's.
We have Wacos and some are the proper year some not.
One DC 3 acting tongue in cheek as a DC2.
Like all aviation movies, all us in aviation are quick to point out mistakes inaccuracies etc.
All we working the movie can ever do is advise, not make a movie company change unless it wants to.
Overall they did try to be as accurate as possible given what they could get.

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Here's anoher article about Mike Potter standing in for Hillary Swank. She did do the start up on the Tapperwing. (oops) A Gypsy Moth beating the WACO !

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/sto ... 57c66a56da

_________________
“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

K225

Hilary did not start up the Staggerwing, she started the Taperwing.
All was done under the watchful eyes of myself and Mike Potter.
She did a great job and both of the VWofC a/c looked great.

As for a Gypsymoth beating a Waco, totally realistic.
Remember this was not a speed race but a cross country race with each pilot setting off at timed intervals.
With weather, pilot skills and mechanical issues in those days , the race could be anyones. It was not always the fastest a/c that won.
Overall we had a great time doing the Dunnviulle scenes.

Fleet16b

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Now Amelia's flying a Waco Taperwing, outrunning a Gipsy Moth, and there's a Staggerwing involved also? And you call that "totally realistic"? It would take a heck of a lot of "issues" for that to happen. One wonders if they're so far off on these kind of details, how far off they're going to be on the big picture. Does Amelia sleep her way to the top? I think these things are worth complaining about, because if nobody ever complains why would you guys have any motive to do it right next time? You say that money was no object, but you made such meager offers to the owners of the correct airplanes, it starts to sound like the plan all along was to give the business to the locals, even if that meant using the wrong airplanes (Which is supported by your earlier quote, " However , my overall plan was to use as many local a/c and pilots as possible."). Sorry, but it looks like it's going to be more Hollywood hokum. I'll try to hold my tongue from now on....

Barnstormer

From your statements, you seem to be privy to to much confidential info as to offers made to the a/c owners.
Seeing as I was one of the people that was contacting owners and doing the negotiating, I would love to see your list of people we supposedly made meagre offers to. Please feel free to P.M. me your list though i doubt you have an accurate one.
Please note before doing this. We never contacted any owners and made them offers. We asked them if they would like to participate and to give us the cost to hire them.
Also Beech Staggerwings came about in 1932 and the a/c was used as a filler a/c in the background and is hardly seen.
I have already explained the Waco/ Gypsy
Moth scenario (both a/c are 1929 models and are correct for the movie.Actual period photos back this up)
Evne though some a/c are the wrong year, at least they are real a/c. Not like that Fly-Boys crap that out a couple of years ago.
I will end this post in saying that you seem like someone much more happy with negatives and one that is more interested looking for an argument. Hope you will enjoy the movie in spite of how you feel and I look forward to seeing this list of owners that you supposedly have.

Fleet16b

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Personally any movie including flying scenes is worth seeing. Knowing the aircraft being used in this film and the fact that they are actually flying aircraft will make this a must see for anyone interested in aviation.

_________________
“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”