Bristol Super Freighter update!!!

[Garry Russell]

HI Kikko

It doesn't have a VC.....not yat and..........well I don't know

Thanks for the link. I wondered where exactly Wolverhampton Airport was..Quite a history in it's day.

Garry

[Trev Clark]

Some more 'slightly sepia' 'Frightener' shots now up, I think an add-on sky component has given my shots that odd hue, off to investigate further!

[Garry Russell]

Thanks Trev

Garry

[markw]

HI Kikko

It doesn't have a VC.....not yet and..........well I don't know

Thanks for the link. I wondered where exactly Wolverhampton Airport was..Quite a history in it's day.

Garry

There's a very good little book on Pendeford from the British Airfields people, who seem to have potted histories on a long list of airfields around the country. Certainly had a longer and more fruitful existance than Walsall Airport in it's fellow Black Country town.

[markw]

The book of course is in the "Airfield Focus" series.

On "The Man in the Sky" film, I've managed to obtain a copy from a site in America on DVD, I won't post a direct link here as I suspect the provenance is a bit dubious in legality (the copy I have has a discreet "TCM" on screen Digital Onscreen Graphic (DOG) in the lower left corner appearing from time to time, presumably as a "break bumper" either side of a TCM Movie Channel ad-break, which appears to indicate it is taken either from TCM stock or off their TV channel!) and although I normally would not condone video piracy, in this case given it is not available commercially, I decided the ethical dimension was sufficiently grey to take the plunge. The copy is very clear and cost USD20 (about £10) including p&p, so if anyone else is happy to prostitute their moral and ethical stance in order to obtain a copy, pm me for the website address. They accept PayPal and copying and postage takes about 14 days from the money clearing. Like I say I don't normally condone copyright theft and should the movie ever get a commercial release, I will obtain a proper copy if only to regain the missing three minutes TCM cut out for ad breaks (which are not on the dvd) and to lose the TCM DOG which appears briefly two or three times in the film, albeit discreetly.

As for the film, it's an excellent, typically Ealing production high in detail, accuracy and production values. What's more, the slushy family lovey-dovey stuff doesn't affect the flow of the film too much. There's lots of aircraft action and quite a few nice little in-jokes which will appeal to aircraft enthusiasts, like the fictional aircraft manufacturer being called "Conway", and the airline executive trying out the aircraft with a view to purchase mentioning his board were keen to go with the "proven Bristol aircraft", seemingly ignorant of the fact he's "flying" in one of them...There's no attempt to disguise the fact it's filmed at Wolverhampton, the aircraft is called the "Wolverhampton Freighter", callsign "Wolf"(!), Jack Hawkins calls up "Wolverhampton Tower" and Wolverhampton Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service do their best to get a BAFTA for Best Supporting Use of Lots of Bells in a rather snazzy Bedford fire engine, and Austin-Morris Ambulance. Considering the fire in the engine and technical problems, and Donald Pleasance, Victor Madern and others bale out by Parachute as a consequence, quite early on in the film, the suspense and engagement is kept going for the whole film quite well, Charles Crichton (an Ealing stalwart) doing a very good job of direction considering a fair bit of the "action" is in a studio based mock up of the "Wolverhampton Frightener". Ealing had a reputation for getting technical details correct, they were rumoured to have at least one railway enthusiast on staff who advised on railway sequences (which is why the early Ealing portmanteau disaster movie "Train of Events" doesn't suffer the kind of continuity errors many such films have) and I suspect they also had some very good technical advice in this case. The aerial sequences and flying displays are top notch, there's a good shot of a rocket assisted take off, and there are brief glimpses of regular Pendeford resident Dragon Rapides and Percival Prentices, as well as the obligatory Classic Car parade such films turn up. The "domestic" sequencesd are also interesting in it looks like they were filmed locally to Pendeford, there's a frustratingly brief glimpse of a Corporation trolleybus at one point, and the housing looks like it is the new estate that was being developed around the airport which ultimately led to it's closure. It's also interesting to see how kitchen development has moved on since the early 50's and how basic even up-market middle class housing was back then!

All in all an excellent movie which is only to be expected from Ealing. For those with Turner Classic Movies on their tv it might be worth scanning their listings from time to time to see if it appears on the UK TCM network, otherwise, if you can stand the criminal shame, there's always the option to buy the possibly hookey copy from the US. In the meantime, let's hope that those who are gradually releasing the Ealing back catalogue can work their way through to this one so we can get an official copy.

All in all a good all round film which frustratingly seems to have avoided UK TV airings.

[Garry Russell]

Thanks for that Mark

A very good and useful read

Garry

[Paul K]

Its coming along beautifully, Garry. Another Classic British Gap about to be filled. ;-)

[Garry Russell]

Cheers Paul

Still plodding along








Garry

[FlyTexas]

Beautiful!! I bow to your incredible skills. :prayer:

Brian

[kikko]

No problem Garry:) I look forward to fly the Superfreighter ASAP!

Unfortunately for you , my VHS "Man in the sky" is in italian....

kikko