Great Waldo Pepper, How did Sopwith Camel Landed ?

[Triplane102]

Anyone here know how the Sopwith Camel rep. in The Great Waldo Pepper Movie, Landed ? We all know the gear was hinged on one side, but how did it "Locked" (?) back into place to land ! Thanks in advance to all the WW2 Plane Nuts who are ALSO WW1 Plane Nuts !

[Kyleb]

Anyone here know how the Sopwith Camel rep. in The Great Waldo Pepper Movie, Landed ? We all know the gear was hinged on one side, but how did it "Locked" (?) back into place to land ! Thanks in advance to all the WW2 Plane Nuts who are ALSO WW1 Plane Nuts !

I always assumed the "fallen" side was suspended by a cable or two. Tighten the cable(s) from inside the cockpit and the gear goes right back in place.

I hope.

[JohnB]

That's the one film secret I don't recall reading about when the film was released.

But..
-The Jenny (or was it a Standard?) that crashed into the pond was a Tiger Moth
-The crashed monoplane was a modified Chipmunk
-There were very small casters on the end of the gear legs to allow the Jenny to land after the wheels came off...

Tallman's book Flying the Old Planes came out before Waldo Pepper...so it isn't mentioned in there.

[Triplane102]

Thanks Kyleb, & JohnB ! Sounds good about the wires ( ) to me. The Tiger Moth & small casters are somethings to look for when I play the DVD again ! I do know that the Camel is still in England, and is (?) really Metal covered to LOOK like linen !

[JohnB]

The Tiger Moth & small casters are somethings to look for when I play the DVD again.

I'll save you the trouble...here are some photos from a 1975 Flying magazine. Scroll down to page 48.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4zFp ... er&f=false

As you'll see, the caster were on a Jenny, the Tiger Moth subs for it when in went into the water. Also, a Tiger Moth was used for the carnival crash scene....note the airfoil gas tank in the top wing.

[Pogo]

I know a guy who worked for Tallman, and on that movie, who should have an answer. I'll be seeing him next week, now if I can only remember to ask...

[bipe215]

Anyone here know how the Sopwith Camel rep. in The Great Waldo Pepper Movie, Landed ? We all know the gear was hinged on one side, but how did it "Locked" (?) back into place to land ! Thanks in advance to all the WW2 Plane Nuts who are ALSO WW1 Plane Nuts !

I always assumed the "fallen" side was suspended by a cable or two. Tighten the cable(s) from inside the cockpit and the gear goes right back in place.

I hope.

I also figured Tallman had a way to winch the gear back into the fittings, at least tight enough to stay together for one landing.

[Pogo]

Okay, here we go:

"They are right, it hinged on one side. It had a lock mechanism that held it solid for takeoff, and we used a little boat winch to raise and lower it. It was made so that the gear legs were held rigid with each other, and when it hinged, all of that bracing moved with it. When they were done, he winched it back up, and the spring loaded pins locked it in the up position. They worried about it, so they only did it once."

[p51]

isn't this forum great, sometimes? I would have never thought to ask that question but once I was asked, I started wondering, too.
And now we know!

[airknocker]

delete

[Triplane102]

Sorry for the late reply, But, Thanks Kurt ! & for everyone else here, ...now, the next WWI Aeroplane mystery,.. What ever happened to the OTHER Blue Max Fokker Tripe replica ? We know the "Red one" was found hidden (?) away in a hanger in the U.S & is/should be being rebult , & the Great Waldo Pepper, Black & Yellow "LOLA" ( Now Red ) is in a museum downunder, and all I've ever read about the 2nd B.Max tripe is.. maybe in China ?

[JohnB]

IIRC, some of the Blue Max aircraft were later used in "von Richthofen and Brown" and during filming there was a fatal mid-air...I don't know off-hand what types were involved.

[Chris Brame]

IIRC, some of the Blue Max aircraft were later used in "von Richthofen and Brown" and during filming there was a fatal mid-air...I don't know off-hand what types were involved.

Were you thinking of this one? From James Farmer's Broken Wings:

ZEPPELIN (WB, 1971): four deaths. One of the two full-scale flying S.E.5 replicas originally made for The Blue Max collided with the production's helicopter cameraship over Dublin Bay, Ireland, during the fall of 1970. The World War I replica had been on loan from the company filming Von Richtofen and Brown.

[DarenC1]

There were two crashes during the filming of Von Richthofen and Brown, one of them fatal.

From Wikipedia:

On 15 September 1970, Charles Boddington, a veteran of both The Blue Max and Darling Lili, was killed when his S.E.5 spun in during a low-level manoeuvre over the airfield. The next day, during the last scheduled flight on the shooting schedule, Garrison and Stroud were involved in a low-level sequence across Lake Weston in a Stampe, when a jackdaw struck Garrison in the face, knocking him unconscious. The aircraft then ran through five powerlines, snap rolled and plunged into the River Liffey inverted. Garrison and Stroud were rescued from the water. Stroud was uninjured, but Garrison required 60 stitches to close a head wound. Both incidents occurring in such a short period resulted in Irish authorities grounding the production. Corman lobbied for restoration of flying and a few days later, was successful.

Matthew Boddington, Charles's son, is actually restoring one of the smaller SE.5a replicas to fly.

[Jerry O'Neill]

I recall that there was another fatal crash during "Von Richthofen and Brown" when two pilots took off on their own and were "dogfighting" when one of the pilot, who was flying a slatless Tiger Moth, spun in. Can anybody confirm this?