The DVD for this movie just came out, I rented it from Netflix. I am not a
big John Wayne fan, but this is one of the best aviation movies I've seen
(the recent "The Aviator" is up there too). The author was a pilot and the
director an aviation enthusiast and it shows in the attention to detail; in
many ways the airplanes themselves are part of the cast. Of special interest
is the use of navigation equipment available in the 1950s, taking bearings
on a radio signal and using the ADF to guide them towards the stranded
pilots. I got a kick out of the character played by Andy Devine (usually the
pot-belleyed cow-poke sidekick with the half-shining drawl in Wayne's cowboy
movies). He demonstrates the minimalist technique for flying a DC-3 (I think
its a dc3); using a clothespin for a cigarette holder and pulling out a
little telescoping extension tool out of his pocket so he can tune the radio
without having to shift too much in his seat. The little touches were great.
One of the co-pilots is Carl Switzer -- "Alfalfa" from the Little Rascals,
in a rare adult movie appearance before getting himself killed in an
argument over money. He should have stayed a kid.

A week in the Canadian wilderness, and they ran out of almost everything --
but seemed to always have an ample supply of cigarettes. Maybe they found
some native plants to use as a substitute.