Warbird Information Exchange

...getting back OFF TOPIC...


IMHO, Band of Brothers is the hands-down best motion picture story telling of a non-fiction book made by/for English-speaking people. No knowledge of foreign language motion pictures, so no offense meant towards those.

Having read and enjoyed the book many years ago, I appreciated the way they told the many stories from the original Band of Brothers source book in an interesting and engaging way that is also respectful and still feels "real" after many viewings. I especially enjoyed the juxtaposition of the actual veterans speaking on-camera in every episode.

Motion pictures can tell a story different than a book can and vice-versa. I thought the HBO series Band of Brothers combined the best of both...and we are richer for it.

Thanks Peter A and Peter G for some GREAT pics.

Must have been grand to hear that many 17s in one place at either event.

SPANNER

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Since this thread is going on a bit, I thought I'd as a request from those out there who might have access to some specific photos of the production?

The things I've always been interested in are some images of the sound stage B-17 mock-up and how it was set up,
the smaller scale B-17's and raised taxiway they used for the takeoff sequence,
The rig with the big model B-17 that was driven around on the back of a truck,
and the fullsized B-17 cockpit that was apparently mounted on a flat bed truck and driven around the field with the actors inside.

Anyone have anything like those?
i've always wanted to see the variuos behind the scenes contraptions that they build for films.
Thanks.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

All very well covered with photos in the 'After the Battle' No.69 which includes 'Remaking Memphis Belle' by some chap called Roger Freeman...

After the Battle is, IMHO essential for the film-widget-nuts like us, having covered the majority of the great war films over the years.

http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Great shot taken on the old taxiway to/from the north-eastern end of the main runway........all gone now of course, although the old 5 and 11 Sqn hangars in the background still remain

The production company were lucky the timing of the filming co-incided with the closure just 12 months before of what was essentially one of the last relatively unmolested wartime RAF airfields.

so what is the field now?

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S.

Exactly that.....a field.

All the runway and most of the taxiways have been dug up and it's been returned to farmland, the old 5 and 11 Sqn and LS Hangar's are now used for storage, as is the old Q shed at the southern end of the runway.

Click this to see pretty much what's left of RAF Binbrook.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.448321,-0.205221&spn=0.013597,0.027294&t=h&z=15

I have some of all of that, Had a great tour of the sound stage at Pinewood from Eric Rattray(associate producer), and at Binbrook, wont be able to post pictures as I have not got a photobucket account, I could e-mail them to another party perhaps for them to post?
Have loads on the film as I took part in it.

Wow.., that was one heck of an operation at one time.

That is a massive base.

Obviously also utilized in the 'jet' age.

What happened to it? Whay did they close it down?

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S.

Fortress Fan ~ Welcome to the thread !

Your contribution would be much appreciated by all B-17 fans I'm sure.

If no one has beaten me to it yet and offered to help ~ just follow the link onto my web site and my email address is on the contact page

http://www.bomberflight.info/contact_us.htm

It would be an honour and a privilege to help sir

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Blue Skies .....

Peter

Consolidated by US state ~ see if there's a heavy bomber tour stop coming to an airport near you ...... http://www.bomberflight.info

Warbirdapps on facebook ~ every day a new image from my personal journey thru the world of warbirds ..... https://www.facebook.com/Warbirdapps

I couldn't find it in the Google image. Was there a WW2 Control tower still extant at the time of the movie, or was that a recreation by Hollywood?

If it was not a real tower it sure looked convincing, or I'd hate to think they demo'd a real one.

Pete

Binbrook was a wartime RAF bomber base, and after the war was home to the first Canberra jet bombers through the 1950's.
In 1960 it was taken over by RAF Fighter Command, and became home to the CFE (Central Fighter Establishment) with a few of their new Lightnings plus a resident Javelin squadron. By the mid 1960's the Javelins were gone and for the next quarter of a century RAF Binbrook was 'Fightertown UK' and the spiritural home of the glorious EE Lightning, and by 1977, becoming the only base to operate the type through to it's final retirement in the summer of 1988 when the Lightning was retired from the RAF and Binbrook was closed down.

The created a fake W.W.II control tower on site.

As to Peter's film still:

Larry Carne was the only Jeep owner prepared to let his treasure be overloaded with the Memphis Belle crew...

Which of the B-17s in the photo aren't real?

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

I think just two.
Top one on the left face the camera head on?
Right side top one rear left 3/4 view?
Jerry

PS: Is his Jeep still in the film markings?

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Binbrooks control tower was there during filming, it wasn't demolished until 1995, but it had been much modified from it's wartime configuration.

Linky here for info on Binbrook's tower, including a photo of the Memphis Belle film fake tower.
http://www.controltowers.co.uk/B/Binbrook.htm