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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
On Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 3:22:54 AM UTC-5, wrote:
* 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. Dick Johnson did set a distance record but the movie reference may likely be about Al Parker in an Arlington Sisu sailplane making the first 1,000 kilometer soaring flight in the world in July of 1964 from his hometown of Odessa, TX across Colorado to Kimball, Nebraska, well over 600 miles. That historic Sisu is on display in the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy aviation museum near Dulles, VA. Excellent article with better details about the flight in a 1964 fall issue of SOARING magazine. (I'm not in Marfa to access my fat file on the Sisu sailplane history - gone since April 27. Heading back to Marfa in a week or two.) |
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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? |
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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. |
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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. |
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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 |
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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!!
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Boy Who Flew With Condors - Dick Johnson? Other Comments
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.
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