Napalmakita Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Watched this the other day. I forgot how much really good cold war era Naval aviation footage was in this flick. Pretty good movie overall, I thought. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
okthree Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 One of my favorite movies. Came out a few years before Top Gun, but just didn’t get the billing TG did. Some great flying scenes. My favorite part is when the Tomcats get the approval to “splash the zeros”. Man can you imagine what those Zero pilots would have been thinking in 1941. Grumman later used footage from the movie for a promotional video. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 1 minute ago, okthree said: One of my favorite movies. Came out a few years before Top Gun, but just didn’t get the billing TG did. Some great flying scenes. My favorite part is when the Tomcats get the approval to “splash the zeros”. Man can you imagine what those Zero pilots would have been thinking in 1941. Grumman later used footage from the movie for a promotional video. Agreed..i saw a debate, on YouTube maybe, about one of the Tomcats actually stalling while they filmed that scene...the way they cut it shows the f14 kinda flatten out then pitch down towards the deck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Great flick. Alt history stuff/parallel universe stuff makes for good entertainment when done right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 1 minute ago, fulcrum1 said: Great flick. Alt history stuff/parallel universe stuff makes for good entertainment when done right. Right! I like to dabble in a little quantum physics/fantasy stuff..,infinite possibilities. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ReccePhreak Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) ... Edited April 27, 2020 by ReccePhreak Changed mind Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 I was intrigued to see (IIRC?) that there was a close-up of the F-14' windscreen area in one shot - and there was what looked like a piece of string taped to the anti-glare panel !! Presumably a simple yaw indicator??? Fascinating stuff that showed how difficult it would be for a modern high-performance jet to dogfight with a WWII prop fighter. The Zero could out-turn a Tomcat, causing it to overshooet and the heat signature from the Zero's engine is probably at the limit of the IR seakers on the F-14's Sidewinders. Back in the 60's - during the Indonesian conflict, the RAF did some trials that pitted a Spitfire (the Indonesians had P-51's) against an English Electric Lightning - with interesting results. The Spitfire could not shoot down the Lightning with cannonfire - but the Lightning could not get behind the Spitfire without stalling, nor could it get a missile lock-on... The best method they came up with was for the Lighning to overtake the Spit from below and 'topple' the Spit with its jetwash !! Sorry for the divergance... Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Am I the only one who had that terrible '80s hair metal song pop into their hear after seeing the thread title? Now its going to be stuck in my head for days!😄 Great movie, BTW. Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 2 hours ago, Flankerman said: I was intrigued to see (IIRC?) that there was a close-up of the F-14' windscreen area in one shot - and there was what looked like a piece of string taped to the anti-glare panel !! Presumably a simple yaw indicator??? Fascinating stuff that showed how difficult it would be for a modern high-performance jet to dogfight with a WWII prop fighter. The Zero could out-turn a Tomcat, causing it to overshooet and the heat signature from the Zero's engine is probably at the limit of the IR seakers on the F-14's Sidewinders. Back in the 60's - during the Indonesian conflict, the RAF did some trials that pitted a Spitfire (the Indonesians had P-51's) against an English Electric Lightning - with interesting results. The Spitfire could not shoot down the Lightning with cannonfire - but the Lightning could not get behind the Spitfire without stalling, nor could it get a missile lock-on... The best method they came up with was for the Lighning to overtake the Spit from below and 'topple' the Spit with its jetwash !! Sorry for the divergance... Ken Yep..that piece of cord was exactly that..a low tech piece of equipment to give the pilot an idea of crosswinds/yaw. Reminds me, I have a few buds that flew Harriers and I asked one if he really paid attention to the weather vane thing in front of their windscreen. He said "absolutely, it's one of the most important things I use". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt B Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Ben Brown said: Am I the only one who had that terrible '80s hair metal song pop into their hear after seeing the thread title? Now its going to be stuck in my head for days!😄 Great movie, BTW. Ben Are you talking about Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone from Top Gun? I thought it was at least as good as any other pop-rock tune of the day 😊 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Ben Brown said: Am I the only one who had that terrible '80s hair metal song pop into their hear after seeing the thread title? Now its going to be stuck in my head for days!😄 Great movie, BTW. Ben Hahaha..mission accomplished! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 1 minute ago, Curt B said: Are you talking about Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone from Top Gun? I thought it was at least as good as any other pop-rock tune of the day 😊 There was a hair band back in the day that sung a song called the Final Countdown...May have appeared in a few cheesy movies. That's what he's referring to. I forgot about it till he mentioned it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 2 minutes ago, Napalmakita said: There was a hair band back in the day that sung a song called the Final Countdown...May have appeared in a few cheesy movies. That's what he's referring to. I forgot about it till he mentioned it You forgot about the Geico ad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 1 minute ago, Tank said: You forgot about the Geico ad. Bahaha...I totally did. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt B Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) Oh...you're talking about The Final Countdown by the band Europe. That song, other than the title, was not related to that movie; an unfortunate situation, though I suppose the band did get a little more mileage out of that tune than they would have, otherwise. I guess that's why I didn't think of that song when I read your post. I think a lot of people have that same misconception. Edited April 27, 2020 by Curt B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 17 minutes ago, Curt B said: Oh...you're talking about The Final Countdown by the band Europe. That song, other than the title, was not related to that movie; an unfortunate situation, though I suppose the band did get a little more mileage out of that tune than they would have, otherwise. I guess that's why I didn't think of that song when I read your post. I think a lot of people have that same misconception. I had forgotten all about that song too...maybe I can edit the title😬 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 About the Yaw String, we use to joke that we worked on a modern 40 million dollar aircraft who's primary flight instrument was a 12 inch piece of string. And it was a downing discrepancy if the yaw string wasn't free to move. It was common for it to get caught in the radome when the radome was closed, had to "crack" open the radome many times just prior to the bird launching in order to free the yaw string. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 7 hours ago, Napalmakita said: I had forgotten all about that song too...maybe I can edit the title😬 Too late for me but maybe that would save others from that ear worm! 🤣🤣🤣 Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drifterdon Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 36 minutes ago, Ben Brown said: Too late for me but maybe that would save others from that ear worm! 🤣🤣🤣 Ben NOPE! Ear worm firmly planted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 12 hours ago, GW8345 said: About the Yaw String, we use to joke that we worked on a modern 40 million dollar aircraft who's primary flight instrument was a 12 inch piece of string. And it was a downing discrepancy if the yaw string wasn't free to move. It was common for it to get caught in the radome when the radome was closed, had to "crack" open the radome many times just prior to the bird launching in order to free the yaw string. What was it . a length of 550 or para cord? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bounce Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 ALERT ONE THIS IS EAGLE ONE YOU ARE CLEARED TO FIRE SPLASH THE ZEROES!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Then the symphony music kicks in...instant goose bumps! Good call👍 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bounce Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 hell yeah baby!! there's good story about the tomcat stall scene online floating around. I know its on Arfcom somewhere... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, Bounce said: hell yeah baby!! there's good story about the tomcat stall scene online floating around. I know its on Arfcom somewhere... I thought so...i read about it in the comments of a YouTube video I think...the scene where one cat pitches down towards the water Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bounce Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Fun Facts: The Zeroes were actually NA T-6 Texans. Also, the pilots were simply told to "dogfight" which they did and the F-14 stall at around 3 minutes was real. The fight was so dangerous that it established new rules and safeguards for future films When an F-14 does a steep dive at 2:45 and pulls out just before crashing into the ocean while “playing” with one of the Zeroes, the “scream” the F-14 made was created by mixing the sound of the jet engines with the actual scream of the pilot’s wife when she saw that clip for the first time. Edited April 28, 2020 by Bounce Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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