"The Unit" on CBS Features GA

[Marco Leon]

One of the few shows I follow on a regular basis (thanks to DVR). The latest
episode had a good 15 minutes of GA and the two planes they flew were
Pipers--an Archer and a J-3 cub. It had all the elements of a very enjoyable
show for me except for the fact that the J-3 was carrying a stolen can of
nerve agent and was on autopilot to kill the city of St. Louis. *sigh*

GA just can't catch a break. AOPA's got another front in their campaign--the
Hollywood writers and producers.

Marco

__________________________________
KFRG Feed at LiveATC.net
http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kfrg.m3u
http://alt.liveatc.net/kfrg (if firewalled)

[Marty Shapiro]

"Marco Leon" > wrote in
:

> One of the few shows I follow on a regular basis (thanks to DVR). The
> latest episode had a good 15 minutes of GA and the two planes they
> flew were Pipers--an Archer and a J-3 cub. It had all the elements of
> a very enjoyable show for me except for the fact that the J-3 was
> carrying a stolen can of nerve agent and was on autopilot to kill the
> city of St. Louis. *sigh*
>
> GA just can't catch a break. AOPA's got another front in their
> campaign--the Hollywood writers and producers.
>
> Marco
>
> __________________________________
> KFRG Feed at LiveATC.net
> http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kfrg.m3u
> http://alt.liveatc.net/kfrg (if firewalled)
>
>

This was just a rehashed plot from over 40 years ago when Pussy
Galore's Flying Cirus used Piper Cadets to spray nerve gas over Fort Knox.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN[_2_]]

Marty Shapiro wrote:
> "Marco Leon" > wrote in
> :
>
>> One of the few shows I follow on a regular basis (thanks to DVR). The
>> latest episode had a good 15 minutes of GA and the two planes they
>> flew were Pipers--an Archer and a J-3 cub. It had all the elements of
>> a very enjoyable show for me except for the fact that the J-3 was
>> carrying a stolen can of nerve agent and was on autopilot to kill the
>> city of St. Louis. *sigh*
>
> This was just a rehashed plot from over 40 years ago when Pussy
> Galore's Flying Cirus used Piper Cadets to spray nerve gas over Fort Knox.


Piper: the aircraft of choice by Nogoodniks everywhere! In any case, I thought
the midair collision was well done. But thank the Lord that the Archer owner
was thoughtful enough to leave the keys in his aircraft for the hero in these
days of heightened airport security.

Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an episode....



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

[Marty Shapiro]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in
:

> Marty Shapiro wrote:
>> "Marco Leon" > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>> One of the few shows I follow on a regular basis (thanks to DVR).
>>> The latest episode had a good 15 minutes of GA and the two planes
>>> they flew were Pipers--an Archer and a J-3 cub. It had all the
>>> elements of a very enjoyable show for me except for the fact that
>>> the J-3 was carrying a stolen can of nerve agent and was on
>>> autopilot to kill the city of St. Louis. *sigh*
>>
>> This was just a rehashed plot from over 40 years ago when Pussy
>> Galore's Flying Cirus used Piper Cadets to spray nerve gas over Fort
>> Knox.
>
>
> Piper: the aircraft of choice by Nogoodniks everywhere! In any case,
> I thought the midair collision was well done. But thank the Lord that
> the Archer owner was thoughtful enough to leave the keys in his
> aircraft for the hero in these days of heightened airport security.
>
> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an
> episode....
>
>
>

They also did a similar stunt to disengage the autopilot on J.A.G.
Rabb slipped the wing tip of his Tomcat under the wing tip of another
Tomcat which had had a bad O2 supply and was on autopilot at a sufficient
altitude to put the pilot to sleep. By raising the wing enough, the
autopilot disengage, the O2 deprived Tomcat descended, the pilot revived
and returned to the carrier.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
"Marco Leon" > wrote:

> One of the few shows I follow on a regular basis (thanks to DVR). The latest
> episode had a good 15 minutes of GA and the two planes they flew were
> Pipers--an Archer and a J-3 cub. It had all the elements of a very enjoyable
> show for me except for the fact that the J-3 was carrying a stolen can of
> nerve agent and was on autopilot to kill the city of St. Louis. *sigh*
>
> GA just can't catch a break. AOPA's got another front in their campaign--the
> Hollywood writers and producers.
>

I think that this attitude stems from the CBS management, which has
sporadically run hit pieces on GA -- especially on residential airparks.
Did you notice that it was "Pine Bluff Airpark" from which the bad guys
launched?

A J-3 with an autopilot? Give us a break, CBS!

Can anybody say, "Jump the Shark?"

[Marco Leon]

"john smith" > wrote in message
...
>
> I am trying to figure out what Bob "Cool Blue" did with that tennis ball
> sized mic-muff. It was on the DC boom mic in the first airborne scene,
> then subsequent scences displayed the mic sans the muff.

I knew this thread would soon turn to the inaccuracies! Should we expect
less from us pilots?? ;)

The one I saw was the altitude. When Bob called in at 4000 feet and
climbing, his panel showed 1,300 feet and level. The wonders of DVR and the
rewind/pause function!

The Archer he was flying was an '81 model owned by Hollywood Aviators.

Marco

[Marco Leon]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
...
>
> Piper: the aircraft of choice by Nogoodniks everywhere! In any case, I
> thought the midair collision was well done. But thank the Lord that the
> Archer owner was thoughtful enough to leave the keys in his aircraft for
> the hero in these days of heightened airport security.
>
> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an
> episode....

I agree about the mid-air. The CGI was well-done. Quite real. Even the J-3
crash looked real (maybe it was).

Marco

[Ross]

Orval Fairbairn wrote:

>snip
>
> I think that this attitude stems from the CBS management, which has
> sporadically run hit pieces on GA -- especially on residential airparks.
> Did you notice that it was "Pine Bluff Airpark" from which the bad guys
> launched?
>
> A J-3 with an autopilot? Give us a break, CBS!
>
> Can anybody say, "Jump the Shark?"

I saw just that part of it with the Pine Bluff. My first thought was
Pine Bluff, AR. But there is no tarrain in central Arkansas like that. I
just walked in at that point, so I may have missed something earlier.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

[JGalban via AviationKB.com]

Marco Leon wrote:

>
>I knew this thread would soon turn to the inaccuracies! Should we expect
>less from us pilots?? ;)
>

Of course not! It's what we do.

I don't normally watch the show, but I happened to catch the action while
channel surfing. The J-3 doing 100 kts, with fairly sophisticated autopilot
(not just a wing leveler) was pretty impressive. At one point, the Archer
pilot is instructed to "squawk your transponder" so that he can be located,
but they don't give him a code to squawk. I don't have Tivo, so I'm still a
bit leery of how the Archer was able to hit the J-3 hard enough to pitch it
up into a stall, yet avoid what should have been a fairly major prop strike.
Also, the terrain was obviously CA and not AR.

I checked the registration on the Archer and it apparently was registered
to a new owner about 3 weeks ago. I wonder if the new owner was surprised to
see his new bird bashing J-3s on TV :-)

Overall, for an aviation-related Hollywood production, they didn't do too
badly on the technical details. I've seen a lot worse.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

[news.verizon.net]

ident was too foreign for them to say at least squawk your transponder can
be puzzled out. that and the whole idea that the bad guys would have turned
on his transponder to begin with was a joke. I don't believe there is skin
paint radar in that area that can paint down that low. As I recall they
were operating in the 2-4000 foot range.

"JGalban via AviationKB.com" <u32749@uwe> wrote in message
news:797f49b72164b@uwe...
> Marco Leon wrote:
>
>>
>>I knew this thread would soon turn to the inaccuracies! Should we expect
>>less from us pilots?? ;)
>>
>
> Of course not! It's what we do.
>
> I don't normally watch the show, but I happened to catch the action while
> channel surfing. The J-3 doing 100 kts, with fairly sophisticated
> autopilot
> (not just a wing leveler) was pretty impressive. At one point, the
> Archer
> pilot is instructed to "squawk your transponder" so that he can be
> located,
> but they don't give him a code to squawk. I don't have Tivo, so I'm
> still a
> bit leery of how the Archer was able to hit the J-3 hard enough to pitch
> it
> up into a stall, yet avoid what should have been a fairly major prop
> strike.
> Also, the terrain was obviously CA and not AR.
>
> I checked the registration on the Archer and it apparently was registered
> to a new owner about 3 weeks ago. I wonder if the new owner was surprised
> to
> see his new bird bashing J-3s on TV :-)
>
> Overall, for an aviation-related Hollywood production, they didn't do too
> badly on the technical details. I've seen a lot worse.
>
> John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)
>
> --
> Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com
>

[Blueskies]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
...
days of heightened airport security.
>
> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an episode....
>
>
>

Figures...

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN[_2_]]

Blueskies wrote:
> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
> ...
> days of heightened airport security.
>>
>> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an episode....
>>
>>
>>
>
> Figures...

Do you have a point?

[R. Gardner]

Speaking of the squawk, No one seemed to notice that he then reached up and
appeared to be pushing the buttons on the #1 Nav radio. Boy I just hain't
that when they can do it right and screw it up so bad.

Other than that I'd like to know just how they filmed the midair it did look
pretty good. I agree the J3 had to be a real special plane!!

Ron Gardner


"JGalban via AviationKB.com" <u32749@uwe> wrote in message
news:797f49b72164b@uwe...
> Marco Leon wrote:
>
>>
>>I knew this thread would soon turn to the inaccuracies! Should we expect
>>less from us pilots?? ;)
>>
>
> Of course not! It's what we do.
>
> I don't normally watch the show, but I happened to catch the action while
> channel surfing. The J-3 doing 100 kts, with fairly sophisticated
> autopilot
> (not just a wing leveler) was pretty impressive. At one point, the
> Archer
> pilot is instructed to "squawk your transponder" so that he can be
> located,
> but they don't give him a code to squawk. I don't have Tivo, so I'm
> still a
> bit leery of how the Archer was able to hit the J-3 hard enough to pitch
> it
> up into a stall, yet avoid what should have been a fairly major prop
> strike.
> Also, the terrain was obviously CA and not AR.
>
> I checked the registration on the Archer and it apparently was registered
> to a new owner about 3 weeks ago. I wonder if the new owner was surprised
> to
> see his new bird bashing J-3s on TV :-)
>
> Overall, for an aviation-related Hollywood production, they didn't do too
> badly on the technical details. I've seen a lot worse.
>
> John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)
>
> --
> Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com
>

[Bob Fry]

>>>>> "news" == news verizon net <news.verizon.net> writes:

news> I don't believe there is skin paint
news> radar in that area that can paint down that low. As I
news> recall they were operating in the 2-4000 foot range.

Primary radar? Sure it can operate low, in fact they have software
that removes cars on freeways.
--
This monkey mythology of Darwin is the cause of permissiveness,
promiscuity, prophylactics, perversions, pregnancies, abortions,
porno-therapy, pollution, poisoning and proliferation of crimes of all
types.
~ Judge Braswell Dean

[Bob Fry]

And what's with Cool Breeze (I think that's his handle--the youngest
guy flying the Piper), obviously a competent pilot, asking "what
happens when a plane stalls?"
--
You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Douglas Adams

[Marco Leon]

"Bob Fry" > wrote in message
...
> And what's with Cool Breeze (I think that's his handle--the youngest
> guy flying the Piper), obviously a competent pilot, asking "what
> happens when a plane stalls?"

I think that was more for the audience than himself. All things considered,
they did a pretty good job of getting the aviation details down. There was a
minimal amount of "Hollywood-izing" of the details and some could even be
attributed to the editing room (e.g. saying his altitude was 4000 ft and
climbing while the instruments indicated 1,250 ft and level.)

My guess is that they had a pilot available for consultation.

Marco

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN[_2_]]

Marco Leon wrote:
> I think that was more for the audience than himself. All things considered,
> they did a pretty good job of getting the aviation details down. There was a
> minimal amount of "Hollywood-izing" of the details and some could even be
> attributed to the editing room (e.g. saying his altitude was 4000 ft and
> climbing while the instruments indicated 1,250 ft and level.)
>
> My guess is that they had a pilot available for consultation.


It was probably a brother in law of some member of the production staff. I
don't imagine anybody with a technical background would have let some of that
stuff slip if he'd been there to correct it. After all, it wouldn't have taken
any time or money to correct the dialogue; nor would it have detracted from the
story. Why not do it right?

1. Squawk IDENT, not 'transponder".
2. Not only did the instruments not agree with his claim of an altitude of
"four", the window didn't either. When he said "four", I didn't know whether he
meant four hundred or four thousand. Looking out the window, I'd have said
about 2000 feet.
3. I'm going to ignore that super duper J-3. Amazing how quickly it flew out
of visual range on takeoff yet was ultimately overtaken by the Archer with
apparent ease on down the road.
4. When the Archer pilot made the near vertical dive on the J-3, did he really
expect to hit it? Trying to make a balls to the wall vertical approach as
opposed to say, just slipping over a few feet from the side and chewing up the
tail with your prop? Banzai!

But this is hardly unusual. When I see hospital scenes on TV, I usually note
all the siderails are down, the oxygen nasal cannula is being worn backwards,
and people's hair is never greasy or uncombed. But that's just me....



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

[Bob Fry]

And altitude references using AGL instead of MSL....

--
If one were to take the bible seriously one would go mad. But to take
the bible seriously, one must be already mad.
~ Aleister Crowley

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN[_2_]]

john smith wrote:
> In article >,
> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Trying to make a balls to the wall vertical approach as
>> opposed to say, just slipping over a few feet from the side and chewing up
>> the tail with your prop?
>
> Metal prop on steel tube fuselage isn't the best of ideas for the pilot
> behind the metal prop.


He was going to make a kamikazi approach from above. Do you really think at
that point it would have made any difference to him?



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

[Marty Shapiro]

john smith > wrote in
:

> In article >,
> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Trying to make a balls to the wall vertical approach as
>> opposed to say, just slipping over a few feet from the side and
>> chewing up the tail with your prop?
>
> Metal prop on steel tube fuselage isn't the best of ideas for the
> pilot behind the metal prop.

That was a tactic used by Russian pilots in WWII. Just because they
ran out of ammo was no reason for them not to attack a German fighter.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

[Blueskies]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
...
> Blueskies wrote:
>> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
>> ...
>> days of heightened airport security.
>>>
>>> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an episode....
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Figures...
>
> Do you have a point?
>

IMHO that show is the most gawd awful show on TV, perpetuating the myth that the gov't will keep us 'safe' at any cost,
freedom be damned...

[Marco Leon]

"Blueskies" > wrote in message
...
>
> IMHO that show is the most gawd awful show on TV, perpetuating the myth
> that the gov't will keep us 'safe' at any cost, freedom be damned...

Then get a different government. Better yet, GO to a different government.
You are free to do so.

Still, it doesn't explain why you said "figures" to Mortimer's post. Are you
so familiar with his personality or behavioral profile to "figure" that he
would like a show like the Unit?

[Blanche]

Blueskies > wrote:
>
>"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
>> Blueskies wrote:
>>> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
>>> days of heightened airport security.
>>>>
>>>> Lest anybody get the wrong idea: I love the show. Never miss an
>episode....
>>>>
>>> Figures...
>>
>> Do you have a point?
>>
>IMHO that show is the most gawd awful show on TV, perpetuating the myth
>that the gov't will keep us 'safe' at any cost,
>freedom be damned...

Well, some of us are able to tell the difference between reality and
a tv show.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN[_2_]]

Marco Leon wrote:
>> IMHO that show is the most gawd awful show on TV, perpetuating the myth
>> that the gov't will keep us 'safe' at any cost, freedom be damned...
>
> Then get a different government. Better yet, GO to a different government.
> You are free to do so.
>
> Still, it doesn't explain why you said "figures" to Mortimer's post. Are you
> so familiar with his personality or behavioral profile to "figure" that he
> would like a show like the Unit?


I wondered that myself. Are those who happen to enjoy this show irregardless of
its warts in some sort of undesirable class? And what did I do to earn his
enmity?



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

[JGalban via AviationKB.com]

Marty Shapiro wrote:
>
> That was a tactic used by Russian pilots in WWII. Just because they
>ran out of ammo was no reason for them not to attack a German fighter.
>

It was also a tactic used by the Germans. They had specially equipped FW-
190s with steel propellers and limited armament. The plan was that they
would use their props to cut the tails off of Allied bombers. The German
pilot would then presumably parachute to safety.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

[Marco Leon]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
...
>
> I wondered that myself. Are those who happen to enjoy this show
> irregardless of its warts in some sort of undesirable class? And what did
> I do to earn his enmity?

I think he's just one of those liberal anti-everything-military that gets
annoyed when anyone in the military is portrayed to be hero-like.

[Blueskies]

"Marco Leon" > wrote in message ...
> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> I wondered that myself. Are those who happen to enjoy this show irregardless of its warts in some sort of
>> undesirable class? And what did I do to earn his enmity?
>
> I think he's just one of those liberal anti-everything-military that gets annoyed when anyone in the military is
> portrayed to be hero-like.
>
>
>

If that show is representative of our military then yes you are right. However, I know that it is a fantasy show that in
no way mimics reality. The reason it is such a bad show is exactly because of responses from folks like you who seem to
think it is a reality show....

[Marco Leon]

"Blueskies" > wrote in message
et...
>
>
> If that show is representative of our military then yes you are right.
> However, I know that it is a fantasy show that in no way mimics reality.
> The reason it is such a bad show is exactly because of responses from
> folks like you who seem to think it is a reality show....

What makes you think that me or anyone in this thread thinks the show is a
"reality show?"

[Marco Leon]

"JGalban via AviationKB.com" <u32749@uwe> wrote in message
news:79998ea12b0a0@uwe...
>
> It was also a tactic used by the Germans. They had specially equipped
> FW-
> 190s with steel propellers and limited armament. The plan was that they
> would use their props to cut the tails off of Allied bombers. The German
> pilot would then presumably parachute to safety.

For more info, see the History Channel's Dogfights series episode titled
"Kamikaze."

Marco