Inspired by several different sources including a biography written by Charles Higham, "The Aviator" details Hughes' extraordinary life, from the 1920s until just after World War II. Reilly and Alec Baldwin, "The Aviator" is a biography of aviation and cinema magnate Howard Hughes. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, John C. Shortly, they realize their planes are too damaged to land and each flies away.
While filming a famous air battle, Waldo and the German ace begin to dogfight, repeatedly hitting each other with their airplanes, Waldo flying a Sopwith Camel and the German ace in the Fokker. A German air ace is hired by the producers to fly a replica of a Fokker Dr. Using an alias, he gets a job as a stunt pilot in a Hollywood war film. Waldo is severely injured during one of the more dangerous stunts, and takes time out to recuperate Over time, the two rivals become friends and begin stunt flying together. Soon he is battling another war veteran and barnstormer named Axel Olsson. Now that the war is over, he begins barnstorming to make money, naming himself "The Great Waldo Pepper.” Redford is an unhappy World War I pilot who thinks he missed out on the aerial battles of the war due to his role as a flight instructor. Starring Robert Redford, it is set in the postwar 1920s. Unlike the dramatic battle scenes of the wartime movies on the list, “The Great Waldo Pepper” is set in peacetime, and features joyous stunt flying, barnstorming and the innocence of the early days of aviation. The great thing about "The Great Waldo Pepper" is that aviation is a central part of the story. In addition, a pair of Junkers Ju 52 transports were utilized as well. Also, a couple of Heinkels and several Messerschmitts were used in the filming. The Buchons were made to look like Bf 109Es. On the German side, the producers found several CASA 2.111 bombers, a Heinkel He 111H-16, and Hispano Aviación HA-1112 MiL 'Buchon' fighters. In addition, a Hawker Hurricane VII was flown in the film, as well as a North American B-25 Mitchell N6587D used for aviation sequences. Some non-flying Spitfires and Hurricanes were used as set pieces on the ground. Also, a couple of Spitfire trainers were modified with camera platforms to capture the incredibly realistic air battle scenes. Since only a few of the spitfires could be made to fly, the producers used several different Marks, some of them built after the Battle of Britain. One of the benefits of the film is that many vintage aircraft were preserved, including a very rare Spitfire Mark II.įor the air combat scenes, all of the Royal Air Force spitfires were either variations of Spitfire Mark Is or Spitfire Mark IIs.
They also used six Hawker Hurricanes, and only three of those were flyable. The producers found 27 Spitfires but can only make 12 of them flyable.
The movie featured a tremendous amount of aircraft from the time period. This is considered one of the turning points of the war. Despite relentless attacks, Britain held firm, and handed Germany one of their first major defeats. “The Battle of Britain” was one of the first wartime theaters contested mainly by air forces. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." The name of the battle comes from a speech by Winston Churchill when he said, "the Battle of France is over. “The Battle of Britain” reenacts the early days of World War II as the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe battle for control of the skies over the English Channel. Here then, are my ten best aviation movies: 1. How do you choose the ten best? For my selections, I looked for great stories, good acting (mostly), spectacular flying scenes and beautiful classic aircraft. Since then, there have been many movies about aviation. The Wright Brothers took off from Kitty Hawk, Henry Ford began cranking out Model Ts, the bicycle became wildly popular, and the movie business was changing from a boardwalk novelty to a full-fledged entertainment business. “I’m going to make the greatest aviation movie of all time.” - Howard Hughes New and exciting inventions, and new ways to manufacture them, were springing up everywhere. The Industrial Revolution gave way to the Technological Revolution. After the turn of the 19 th century, and before World War I, a new age was dawning. Two of the man’s most wonderful inventions, movies and aviation, came of age around the same time.