"Flying On Film", anybody read this book?

[Jerry O'Neill]

Just wondering if anybody has read "Flying On Film", by Mark Carlson?

[Hal Bryan]

I've read it, and got to spend some time with Mark at the "Reel Stuff" Aviation Film Festival in Dayton, OH last spring. I'm a little biased, as Mark and I got to be friends (and he does some writing for us here at EAA), but I think it's an excellent book - a must for anyone interested in aviation films. I disagree with one or two of his opinions, and I believe he's going to be working on polishing up some of the visuals in the book, but the man knows his stuff inside and out.

[Rajay]

Can either of you tell the rest of us any more about the book, what it is about, etc - at least more specifically than the "obvious" from the title?

It sounds like it could have something to do with stunt flying in (or just for) Hollywood, but it could just as easily be something else entirely. A bio of Frank Tallman and/or Paul Mantz for examples. Or of Tom Danaher...

Little more help, please! How does it describe itself on the inside flap of the dust jacket, for example?

[ALAN.L]

From Amazon.
Airplanes and motion pictures were born within a year of one another. In 100 years they have both risen from uncertain infancy through growing adolescence to robust maturity. While Hollywood's actors and directors learned the art of making movies, the aircraft industry and pilots learned how to conquer the sky. In peace and war, prosperity and depression, the airplanes and motion pictures have become a part of American culture. The relationship was symbiotic. While airplane movies helped sell box office tickets, the movies helped promote aviation. In Flying on Film movie fans and aviation buffs can find their common bond. From wooden biplanes to armadas of warplanes, from majestic China Clippers to huge 747s, from slow monoplanes to swift jets, the movies told the story of the airplane. William A. Wellman's 1927 masterpiece Wings was the first of the breed, the standard to be emulated. Flying on Film is the history behind the films. Veterans and aviators from past and present tell the real story of one of the most fascinating genres of motion pictures in Hollywood. About the Author: Mark Carlson is an aviation historian, writer, classic film buff and student of film making. He has written articles for several national aviation magazines and organizations. As a docent and researcher at the San Diego Air & Space Museum and member of many aviation-related organizations, Carlson has gained an insight into the people who lived the world of airplanes and the movies. He and his wife live in San Diego.