man!!!! those iron eagle movies are sure lame!!!

[AIRIC]

I was lucky enough to do my first A2A photography during IEIV. It was filmed in Oshawa, Ontario with Hannu Halminen’s fleet of three Harvards and Waco YMF-5. It was a blast with lots of flying and fun and I’m in a few of the flying sequences as a back seater. Norm and Kent Beckham from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association also performed some aerobatic work in the movie. One of Hannu’s Harvards flown by Stan Miller had no less then seven cameras attached for one shoot. There were some special mods made to carry the larger cameras but some were just pencil cams. One camera was mounted just outside the front cockpit looking in and they took up two of the actors to do some aerobatics. Joanne Vanicola could not get enough and even after the film ran out she still wanted to play. On the other hand Jason Cadeaux only lasted about two loops and was done for the day. I had to help clean up and from then on I make sure any passengers know where the bag is and instructed to use it.

The movies are pretty lame and with all the flying they did and the resources they had I’m surprised they did not do better. The best part was they did a 10 minute flying segment to classical music for Hannu that was fantastic. Lou Gossett Jr. is a fantastic person and very approachable. If anything these movies helped pump some money into some warbird collections which was good.

When I get a chance I will scan some images I took from those memorable days.

Eric

[Randy Haskin]

Did 'ya ever wonder how many kids saw the first flick and then grew up thinking that rock'n'roll made jets fly faster?

I dunno...I tried playing Queen's "One Vision" over the intercomm in the F-15E when I was pushing toward Baghdad the first night of Iraqi Freedom, and it didn't seem to help much. Must be an F-16 thing.

[TAdan]

Correct me if I am wrong but didnt one of these movies have a P-51 dressed up as a 109?

I was little when I saw these movies, but even then I knew something was wrong!

[DanteC]

Correct me if I am wrong but didnt one of these movies have a P-51 dressed up as a 109?

I was little when I saw these movies, but even then I knew something was wrong!

Yes, I believe it was POF's Allison 'Stang.

Who flew POF's P-38 in that movie? They got a little wild with it in the beginning scenes.

Dante

[Lynn Allen]

Charlie Hillard flew the P-38...

Lynn

[astixjr]

Of all the people I met during the filming of Iron Eagle III, Charlie Hillard sticks out in my memory the most. An incredible pilot and a perfect gentleman.

[dors]

you mean that if a teenager stole an f-16 flew it to the middle east bombed a bunch of military/government installations they wouldn't welcome him home as a hero? I have to go re-evaluate my life........ I just don't know anymore.

Here's an idea for Iron Eagle V; 12 year old girls steal 4 pt-19s to shoot down a russian satellite.

[Bill Greenwood]

Tom, no imagination? It's on my preflight checklist to make sure I have my Bazooka properly stowed in the spacious cockpit baggage area, right next to where I keep my scuba tank and pole vault. If outturning jets gets too boring,I just reach down and pull out the M-79. Standing up to fire adds a little barnstorming flavor to it.

[Jack Cook]

Bill,
Do you hang outside the cockpit while flying inverted also?

[tom d. friedman]

very good bill!!

[Lynn Allen]

Tom, no imagination? It's on my preflight checklist to make sure I have my Bazooka properly stowed in the spacious cockpit baggage area, right next to where I keep my scuba tank and pole vault. If outturning jets gets too boring,I just reach down and pull out the M-79. Standing up to fire adds a little barnstorming flavor to it.

And your McGiver knife as well. Did you make it out of Midland Sunday to Waco ok? I was the one you talked about the WX with. Good to see you again.

Lynn

[Robbo]

What a superb thread! I've only seen IE 1 & 2, that was enough for me.

[Chris Brame]

The sad thing about that picture was that some of it seemed to be intentionally humorous - if the writers had pushed it more, it could have been funnier than HotShots!. Maybe there's another WIX project - we could dub funnier dialogue to it, and when the villain meets his doom when the bell drops on him, we can all sing "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead"! Too bad Mystery Science Theater 3000 isn't around anymore...

[Bill Greenwood]

Lynn, were you the guy in the 172 that left in front of us? Or the helpful controller? Anyway we did zig-zag through barely VMC above 4000' ok. I was concerned as the sectional shows obstacles to 3600'. I wouldn't try that in a Warbird. It was a little harder with the FBO weather out of service, but the forecast for the next morning was poor. Last night I saw FLYBOYS. Some good scenery at first at the French airfield, then a lot of computer simulation broken by the romance stuff. I'd give it a C at most, Waldo Pepper was better. Never knew people walked on the outside of a zepplin!

[Lynn Allen]

Lynn, were you the guy in the 172 that left in front of us? Or the helpful controller? Anyway we did zig-zag through barely VMC above 4000' ok. I was concerned as the sectional shows obstacles to 3600'. I wouldn't try that in a Warbird. It was a little harder with the FBO weather out of service, but the forecast for the next morning was poor. Last night I saw FLYBOYS. Some good scenery at first at the French airfield, then a lot of computer simulation broken by the romance stuff. I'd give it a C at most, Waldo Pepper was better. Never knew people walked on the outside of a zepplin!

That was me, you were the A-36 that circled back around to the north to the A/P and then on east? My Garmin 396 was sniffing out the towers and showers for us. I went south and did a right 270 up the hwy. It looked like a lazer show with the lighting around us, glad it was Steve Dickey leg . We then circled Connie's place and on to Breckenridge to drop Steve off.

I'll see you down the road.

Lynn