A local network played this so-so B-17 film. I have a VHS copy of it from another local broadcast many years ago. I recorded the buzz job scenes onto a DVR and watched it in slow motion. 44-83684 was flown by Don Lykins and Bob Grider, almost shwacking N17W in the process. I think it’s often mistaken for the John Crewsdon buzz for the “War Lover” shoot at Bovingdon. Take a good look at this screen capture, this is after the plane started
climbing out 
:
http://www.aerovintage.com/1000-6.jpg It makes me wonder a few things:1. Didn’t the FAA go nuts about this? Can you get special exemptions for doing things like this? Or was it just “the good old days” where the FAA wasn’t all up in your face back then?
2. Did the film crew lose it because they came so close to hitting the ground AND another parked aircraft? Through personal experience, I know that in Hollywood, if you got the shot and nothing bad happened, you seek forgiveness and drive on.
3. It’s really hard to see, but I swear it looks like the tail wheel either touched the ground or came within a few inches of it. There’s gap between the ‘coming’ and ‘going’ portions, and going away it’s clear the tail wheel leaves no ruts, but does anyone know if it actually touched the ground?
4. I swear it looks like they were too far to the left for that pass, realized a split second before it was too late they were going to cut N17W’s rudder off if they didn’t bank to the right and pull up. From the angle of the ‘going’ shot, it’s hard to tell how close to the other B-17s tail they actually were.
5. How on earth did they not strike the ground with the props on number four? It looks like they’re actually below ground level as the left wing kicks up to avoid N17W!
6. They only did this once, right? They show more than one buzz, all the shot look exactly the same. Can I assume after they got it in the can, nobody wanted to try that again?
Does anyone know someone who was there? I have a few books on aviation films that talks about this, but with very little data.
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