I posted this on the old site, but here it is again. What movies feature a 170? I can think of two - both sci-fi flicks: "Them!" from 1954, about giant ants in the Southwest (don't laugh, it's a highly regarded film) with a 1952 170B in New Mexico Highway Patrol colors and 1955s " Tarantula", about a large you-know-what...not as good as "Them!" but entertaining enough, with a young Clint Eastwood flying an F-86. That one has a 1949 to 51 170A.
Does anyone know of any other movies with a 170? Russ Farris
P.S. Still on the Sci-Fi theme, "This Island Earth" (1955) has a flying saucer bring aboard a 1946 Stinson 108 in mid-air...very cool!
Last edited by russfarris on Mon Oct 21, 2002 6:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
"This Island Earth" was based on a real life incident. The guy who was flying the Stinson when it was taken aboard the alien ship back in the early 50's nowadays flies a J-3,based at my airport. No s.........
I haven't gotten too many details yet, but one of our members keeps calling me for parts, etc. to refurbish a non-flying 170 to look like his flying 170, both of which are being used shooting a movie in Hawaii. The non-flying airframe is being used for the cockpit closeups, and one of the problems is making it look exactly like the interior of the other.
I don't know anything of the plot, but it involves tundra tires landing on soft surfaces. I'll post more as I learn it.
zero.one.victor wrote:"This Island Earth" was based on a real life incident. The guy who was flying the Stinson when it was taken aboard the alien ship back in the early 50's nowadays flies a J-3,based at my airport. No s.........
Yeah, we have a guy here in Rock Hill, SC like that too. He flies a 1946 Ercoupe and an ultralight, and I understand about every third word he says-maybe they know each other!...Russ Farris
zero.one.victor wrote:"This Island Earth" was based on a real life incident. The guy who was flying the Stinson when it was taken aboard the alien ship back in the early 50's nowadays flies a J-3,based at my airport. No s.........
Yeah, we have a guy here in Rock Hill, SC like that too. He flies a 1946 Ercoupe and an ultralight, and I understand about every third word he says-maybe they know each other!...Russ Farris
Maybe "Nawlins" is someplace/something other than Louisiana? Ya suppose? That'd explain a few things.
A friend of mine here in western Washington owns the 170 (or one of the 170's?) used in filmong Northern Exposure,it's a red & white ragwing with "Northern Exposure" painted on the tail.
Another friend,the gal who ran the flight schoolwhere I got my ticket,did some of the flying for the show as Janine Turner's "stunt double",but strangely enough,doesn't look anything like her.
From what they both have told me,those Hollywood types are pretty hard to handle.
I've only seen bits & pieces of Northern Exposure,were there very many flying scenes? There was a movie put out several years ago called "Alaska" that had some good opening scenes of a Super Cub flying along.
I checked out a video of "Them" from my local library. It has some good shots of the 170B,with a 1952 paint scheme, flying slow with a notch or two of flaps hanging out. Also a fly-by followed by a nice hammerhead-type 180' turn and another fly-by. Pretty cool!
Alas,it's only onscreen for about a minute and a half. Never does show enough of the tail number (on the left wing-bottom and right wing-top) to read. Too bad--I wonder who owns that movie star now?
The stripes on the side of the fuselage are interupted to make room for "New Mexico State Police" in big block letters. Doesn't look too hokey,even almost authentic. Anybody know if NMSP had any 170's back in 1954 when this movie was made?
These 170's sure look good flying along,don't they?!!
They sure do, Eric. Last weekend a friend who flies an ultra light took some air to air photos of my plane. One came out real nice- I had two notches of flaps and was almost falling out of the sky !
I'll post the pic on this site as soon as I figure out how.
Rudy
When flipping through the channels the other day I tripped across an old James Bond movie (I think it was--didn't get the title) and they were taxiing around an airport in a 170 being chased and ended up taxiing between two structures, which removed the wings. Anyone else remember this? I guess I should have paid attention.
I kinda remember that one,but it seems to me that it was a 140. As I recall,James Bond leaped into an airplane in which was a hapless student pilot waiting for her instructor,and away they went!
"Run for the Sun" was on Turner Movie channel Sunday. It was a 170 (A?) XA-ILM registration (I think....that was several days ago and old-age is in persistent pursuit.) The movie starred Richard Widmark, Jane Greer, and Trevor Howard, about 2 Nazi war criminals in deep Mexico who Widmark/Greer drop in on with engine troubles. Howard has a 170 hidden in the jungle and Widmark/Greer steal it and make a get-away. Not a lot of flying scenes, and very few views of the airplane.
All this Hollywood talk reminds me of a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movie,I think it was "Road To Rio". In that movie,they charter an Ercoupe in which they are flown into a little airstrip in the jungle somewhere. After landing,they both climb out,followed by the pilot,co-pilot,and stewardess! Kinda like the clown car at the circus--it was a crack-up!
One evening I believe last week, on TV, was a movie called "The ticket", starred Shanon Dougherty. A couple was flying a plane, I believe in Alaska, to cash in a lotto winning ticket. The plot was their plane was sabotaged by another couple so they could get to the "wreck site", to retrieve the ticket. The bad guys flew the area to find the wrecked plane in a C170B with an 0360 or Doyn conversion. They made several passes and showed several scenes with the 170 in them. Weak story line but some neat scenery and flying sequences.
Jon
In the #2/97 170 News,Utah member Neil Salmi wrote an article about doing some fancy flying in his B model on camera for an episode of "Walker,Texas Ranger". The storyline was that some bad guys fly into a small town & land in front of the bank,which they promptly rob! Of course,there are power lines,water towers and other stuff to contend with--a little trickier than the Hollywood types figured.
I was just re-reading the article,turns out that Neil and his 170 are the ones in "The Ticket"! He also did some flying in the 170 for a Saturn car ad. He has a B with Lycoming powerplant,STOL kit,180 gear,and to quote him " a stack of 337's over one inch thick".
in the Southwest (don't laugh, it's a highly regarded film) with a 1952 170B in New Mexico Highway Patrol colors and 1955s " Tarantula", about a large you-know-what...not as good as "Them!" but entertaining enough, with a young Clint Eastwood flying an F-86. That one has a 1949 to 51 170A.
