Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments

On Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 5:34:22 AM UTC+10, Mike Finegan wrote:
On Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 2:55:09 AM UTC-5, RossFW wrote:
On Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 11:36:41 AM UTC+9:30, 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

That was SO cool! I remember as a kid seeing another Disney show about gliding- probably made later (I think Blaniks featured). It had more dialogue- sort of followed a family who had a gliding business- anyone know that one?

Ross - believe you are referring to Call To Glory, a TV series featuring Craig T. Nelson as an Air Force Colonel and included a young Elisabeth Shue as his daughter, who took flying lessons in a Blanik.

I actually DO remember that series- the X-15 and SR-71 featured, and If I remember, the Blanik was used to demonstrate spinning. Great show!

No, the one I remember would have been earlier, and I was young so only have a few memories. I remember a scene where a young guy is flying a girl on her first flight, and another glider comes along side inverted.

Hello Gary
No problem with you or I making low saves. Anything above 400 ft is fine with me and my very low wing loading ship. Are you going to be anywhere around S TX early june? We are going down to Refugio to make some record runs. We have tows set up for a whole week from the club, very reasonable price and are pushing for 800k in 1-26’s. Your sure welcome to jump in with us if Jim Neff hasn’t already gotten the word out to you.
Dan

On Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 12:34:22 PM UTC-7, Mike Finegan wrote:
That was SO cool! I remember as a kid seeing another Disney show about
gliding- probably made later (I think Blaniks featured). It had more dialogue-
sort of followed a family who had a gliding business- anyone know that one?

Ross - believe you are referring to Call To Glory, a TV series featuring Craig
T. Nelson as an Air Force Colonel and included a young Elisabeth Shue as his
daughter, who took flying lessons in a Blanik.

The Blanik movie had something to do with diamond smuggling. There was an article in Soaring mag about it. Only thing I recall is that there was a stunt involving some inverted flight. Camera guy in the back seat snagged his belt with equipment, so ended up smashed against the canopy, but never mentioned it to the pilot in the front seat.

Terrible plot.

Fun fact about Craig T.: He and family came to Tehachapi to get some rides. His wife loved it, but he was visibly scared and declined the offer, so his wife took a second ride.

5Z

An amazing coincidence: The gliderpilot/actor Cliff Robertson starred in the sequel. I think it was called "Three Days in a Condor", which in another coincidence happens to be the name of a glider simulator program!!

Amazing coincidences: The gliderpilot/actor Cliff Robertson starred in the sequel. I think it was called "Three Days in a Condor", which in another coincidence happens to be the name of a glider simulator program!! And yet another one, I believe the song "El Condor Pasa" was written expressly for the movie, but was recorded too late to be included. It's a song about a sparrow, or condor, I forgot which; maybe both.