Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments

I finally got around to watching this 1967 movie which I bought on
eBay more than a month ago. It was surprisingly well done. Not that
Walt ever put out a bad product, his production values were always top
notch. However, when the popular media shows soaring, I often see
realism and accuracy go right out the cockpit window, maybe especially
via Hollywood and their non-accuracy for the sake of making a movie
that sells (Thomas Crown Affair nonwithstanding). Anyway, it was a
pretty good show and I can imagine that watching this as a kid could
easily have gotten you bitten by the soaring bug.

Some general comments, questions and ramblings. Warning - there are
movie spoilers below (no pun intended);

* There is a reference in the movie to a pilot that "set a record of
over 600 miles between Odessa, TX and Nebraska riding a storm front".
Was that Dick Johnson? Jim Short mentioned Dick's record to me just
last night and said that it stood for over 10 years. He also
mentioned that Dick flew a glider of his own design (don't recall the
name). Damn shame about Dick. Great guy.
* While I am sure that many of the soaring types shown in the movie
are the real deal, did the two teenagers (Chris Jury and Margaret ???)
exist or were they simply Hollywood actors? If real, did they do
their own flying (the Torres Pines beach takeoff especially).
* I caught tail numbers for the 1-26 and 2-22 flown in the movie.
N2788Z and N8658R respectively. According to the NTSB the 1-26 is
currently owned by Paul Fuller and appears to still be flying in
Powell, OH. The 2-22 is currently owned by Craig Stanford and appears
to also still be flying in Beaverton, WA. I wonder if they know they
own famous gliders?
* The release from tow was shown as the standard tow plane goes left
and glider goes right. Except, that is, in the case of Chris' first
solo in which the tow plane goes right and the glider goes straight
ahead. Was the release flight path a standard as far back as 1964 or
was it less regimented back then?
* Chris gets his Silver, Gold and Diamond during the movie (pretty
impressive kid). They use the older "Silver-C" and "Diamond-C"
nomenclature. What did the C stand for? Is this nomenclature still
used outside the US?
* Leslie Nielson is the narrator and the only person credited in the
titles. My son only knows Leslie from his movie spoofs and was
surprised that he actually ever had serious roles (reference
"Forbidden Planet")
* Can a 1-26 really thermal away from an auto tow behind a Model T on
a 200 foot rope? Can you actually stand up-right immediately
following a 5 hour flight in a 1-26? ;-) Ahhh, that's Hollywood for
you.

Thanks, John

Hi John,

Some of the answers to your question are available on my web site, along
with many screen captures from the movie. I enjoy the movie very much.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/video...lewWithCondors

I can't answer all your questions, but my guess is that the scene where the
towplane goes right and the glider goes left was a shot that was mirrored
(flipped horizontally) for some reason. Meaning that the glider and
towplane flew the correct directions, but the editor switched the directions
by flipping the film to make it flow better with the next scene, or...?

I just love the scene with the water landing...

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"ContestID67" wrote in message
...
I finally got around to watching this 1967 movie which I bought on
eBay more than a month ago. It was surprisingly well done. Not that
Walt ever put out a bad product, his production values were always top
notch. However, when the popular media shows soaring, I often see
realism and accuracy go right out the cockpit window, maybe especially
via Hollywood and their non-accuracy for the sake of making a movie
that sells (Thomas Crown Affair nonwithstanding). Anyway, it was a
pretty good show and I can imagine that watching this as a kid could
easily have gotten you bitten by the soaring bug.

Some general comments, questions and ramblings. Warning - there are
movie spoilers below (no pun intended);

* There is a reference in the movie to a pilot that "set a record of
over 600 miles between Odessa, TX and Nebraska riding a storm front".
Was that Dick Johnson? Jim Short mentioned Dick's record to me just
last night and said that it stood for over 10 years. He also
mentioned that Dick flew a glider of his own design (don't recall the
name). Damn shame about Dick. Great guy.
* While I am sure that many of the soaring types shown in the movie
are the real deal, did the two teenagers (Chris Jury and Margaret ???)
exist or were they simply Hollywood actors? If real, did they do
their own flying (the Torres Pines beach takeoff especially).
* I caught tail numbers for the 1-26 and 2-22 flown in the movie.
N2788Z and N8658R respectively. According to the NTSB the 1-26 is
currently owned by Paul Fuller and appears to still be flying in
Powell, OH. The 2-22 is currently owned by Craig Stanford and appears
to also still be flying in Beaverton, WA. I wonder if they know they
own famous gliders?
* The release from tow was shown as the standard tow plane goes left
and glider goes right. Except, that is, in the case of Chris' first
solo in which the tow plane goes right and the glider goes straight
ahead. Was the release flight path a standard as far back as 1964 or
was it less regimented back then?
* Chris gets his Silver, Gold and Diamond during the movie (pretty
impressive kid). They use the older "Silver-C" and "Diamond-C"
nomenclature. What did the C stand for? Is this nomenclature still
used outside the US?
* Leslie Nielson is the narrator and the only person credited in the
titles. My son only knows Leslie from his movie spoofs and was
surprised that he actually ever had serious roles (reference
"Forbidden Planet")
* Can a 1-26 really thermal away from an auto tow behind a Model T on
a 200 foot rope? Can you actually stand up-right immediately
following a 5 hour flight in a 1-26? ;-) Ahhh, that's Hollywood for
you.

Thanks, John

I recall Fred Harris, who flew the actual stunt, saying he was astonished
how fast the 2-22 stopped - and sank. Fred was worried that it might "water
ski" across the pond and collide with obstacles on the opposite shore.


"Paul Remde" wrote in message
news:2n3tk.315629$yE1.188172@attbi_s21...

I just love the scene with the water landing...

It might interest some that a key connection that led to the Disney doing
"Boy Who flew With Condors" was Bob Gurr. IIRC, Bob was president of the
Orange County Soaring Association at the time. I think he still owns and
flies a Taifun 17E.

Bob Gurr was very close to Walt Disney and served as his "Chief Imagineer"
who designed almost all the rides at Disneyland. Google "Bob Gurr - Disney"
for some facinating background on Bob.

The pilot was Al Parker and the ship was a Sisu 1A . It was the
world's first 1000km flight, and the plane is now in the Smithsonian.
Flight was from Odessa TX to Kimball NE. See:
www.eaglebrandproducts.com/N6390X/ for more details

Dick's ship was the RJ-5, and that was in 1951 and the record stood 13
years. see:
http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/Pl...fm?planeID=274
A great guy indeed, and is already sorely missed by this pilot.

-Paul


Some general comments, questions and ramblings. Warning - there are
movie spoilers below (no pun intended);

* There is a reference in the movie to a pilot that "set a record of
over 600 miles between Odessa, TX and Nebraska riding a storm front".
Was that Dick Johnson? Jim Short mentioned Dick's record to me just
last night and said that it stood for over 10 years. He also
mentioned that Dick flew a glider of his own design (don't recall the
name). Damn shame about Dick. Great guy.

At 02:06 27 August 2008, ContestID67 wrote:
I finally got around to watching this 1967 movie which I bought on
eBay more than a month ago. It was surprisingly well done. Not that
Walt ever put out a bad product, his production values were always top
notch. However, when the popular media shows soaring, I often see
realism and accuracy go right out the cockpit window, maybe especially
via Hollywood and their non-accuracy for the sake of making a movie
that sells (Thomas Crown Affair nonwithstanding). Anyway, it was a
pretty good show and I can imagine that watching this as a kid could
easily have gotten you bitten by the soaring bug.

Some general comments, questions and ramblings. Warning - there are
movie spoilers below (no pun intended);

* There is a reference in the movie to a pilot that "set a record of
over 600 miles between Odessa, TX and Nebraska riding a storm front".
Was that Dick Johnson? Jim Short mentioned Dick's record to me just
last night and said that it stood for over 10 years. He also
mentioned that Dick flew a glider of his own design (don't recall the
name). Damn shame about Dick. Great guy.
* While I am sure that many of the soaring types shown in the movie
are the real deal, did the two teenagers (Chris Jury and Margaret ???)
exist or were they simply Hollywood actors? If real, did they do
their own flying (the Torres Pines beach takeoff especially).
* I caught tail numbers for the 1-26 and 2-22 flown in the movie.
N2788Z and N8658R respectively. According to the NTSB the 1-26 is
currently owned by Paul Fuller and appears to still be flying in
Powell, OH. The 2-22 is currently owned by Craig Stanford and appears
to also still be flying in Beaverton, WA. I wonder if they know they
own famous gliders?
* The release from tow was shown as the standard tow plane goes left
and glider goes right. Except, that is, in the case of Chris' first
solo in which the tow plane goes right and the glider goes straight
ahead. Was the release flight path a standard as far back as 1964 or
was it less regimented back then?
* Chris gets his Silver, Gold and Diamond during the movie (pretty
impressive kid). They use the older "Silver-C" and "Diamond-C"
nomenclature. What did the C stand for? Is this nomenclature still
used outside the US?
* Leslie Nielson is the narrator and the only person credited in the
titles. My son only knows Leslie from his movie spoofs and was
surprised that he actually ever had serious roles (reference
"Forbidden Planet")
* Can a 1-26 really thermal away from an auto tow behind a Model T on
a 200 foot rope? Can you actually stand up-right immediately
following a 5 hour flight in a 1-26? ;-) Ahhh, that's Hollywood for
you.

Thanks, John



Bronze/Silver/Gold 'C' -- Certificate

They use the older "Silver-C" and "Diamond-C"
nomenclature. What did the C stand for?

This originates from the stone age of soaring on the Wasserkuppe in the
1920ies. Fritz Stamer developed a pilot training syllabus which
contained an A, B and C test and the respective badges (one, two and
three seagulls) which the pilots wore with pride. The respective
requirements for those tests changed over time, in the beginning, the A
test was something like a 10 seconds flight or some such. In the
beginning the C test was the pilot's licence, later an official licence
was added. BTW, in Germany the A, B and C tests are still in use, the C
sometimes also called the "bronze C".

As soaring evolved, the "Silver C" badge was introduced. Wolf Hirth was
the first to receive that badge in 1931.

Even later Gold C and the diamonds were added to keep up with the progress.

They use the older "Silver-C" and "Diamond-C"

Addendum: There is no such thing as a "Diamond C". You add the diamonds
to your existing C-Badge. So you own the Gold C with one, two or three
diamonds.

* Can a 1-26 really thermal away from an auto tow behind a Model T on
a 200 foot rope? *Can you actually stand up-right immediately
following a 5 hour flight in a 1-26? *;-) *Ahhh, that's Hollywood for
you.

Thanks, John

I once thermalled away from a 300 ft auto tow in a 1-26

At 13:11 27 August 2008, wrote:

* Can a 1-26 really thermal away from an auto tow behind a Model T on
a 200 foot rope? =A0Can you actually stand up-right immediately
following a 5 hour flight in a 1-26? =A0;-) =A0Ahhh, that's Hollywood
for
you.

Thanks, John

I once thermalled away from a 300 ft auto tow in a 1-26

He was young!

I did 6:49 in a TG-3A to complete the silver badge and could hardly stand
up at the end of that, but I was pushing 40 at the time. A 1-26 is more
comfortable than the plank seat of the TG.