Battle of Britain movie...

[Wing Nut]

Well, I got this finally tonight and watched it.  I must say, I felt a little let down.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  The flying sequences were beyond belief.  It was simply amazing seeing Hurricanes and Spits all over the screen.  I was hoping for a bit more detail as to the battle plans on both sides and a bit more about the tactics used.  To be frank, I felt like I did after seeing Pearl Harbor.  Not enough info on the war, too much fluff and love story.  

But, as I said, anything that had to do with flying the planes themselves on screen left my mouth on the floor.  I would love to know where they got the Stuka, since there are supposed to be only 2 left in the world.  Same with the HE-111's for that matter.  I didn't know there were any left flying (even back in the 60's).

Two things that caught my eye...

I didn't see a single Mk1 in the whole flick.  It looked like they were all Mk IX's.

and the 109's looked different on the engines, kind of like they had (ulp...) Merlins in them.  To me, that's sacriligious, even if they did have RR engines in the early models.

Kevin

[denishc]

[quote]

[Hagar]

The Stukas were radio-controlled scale models. I don't believe there was an airworthy example in 1968 when the film was made. I'm not sure there is one today. The Bf 109s were actually the Spanish-built Hispano HA-1112  Buchon. These are basically a Bf 109G with a Merlin engine. The He 111s were the Spanish built CASA 2.111. There is still no genuine He 111 flying anywhere in the world. The last remaining airworthy CASA 2.111 unfortunately crashed last year in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing both crew members. http://www.warbirdalley.com/he111.htm
I believe this was one of those used in the film. Although some of these aircraft were still in service with the Spanish Air Force at the time & flown by their regular crews some were privately owned. Many examples were tracked down & purchased specially for the film by the late Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie. http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/place/gdg18/battleofbritain.shtml
These aircraft & the film itself were responsible for the renewed interest in restoring WWII aircraft & many are the ones we now see on the display circuits in various parts of the world. If it wasn't for that film many would have disappeared for ever.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with the film. I saw it soon after it was first released & have watched it many times since. Although I thought the "aerial ballet" sequences were a little overdone it was well made & I always thought of it as a classic. It gives a good idea of what the BoB was all about & how it affected the ordinary people involved.

PS. There was no example of a Spitfire Mk I or II available in 1968. The BBMF MkIIa P7350 is the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world and the only survivor of the Battle of Britain still flying.

She is believed to be the 14th aircraft of 11,989 built at the Castle Bromwich "shadow" factory, Birmingham. Entering service in the August of 1940, she flew in the Battle of Britain serving with 266 and 603 Squadrons. During this period, on or about 25 October 1940, she was involved in combat with Bf 109s and forced to crash land. The repaired bullet holes can still be seen. She was quickly repaired and flew again on 15 November, only 3 weeks after the crash landing.

[SilverFox441]

Just as a bit of trivia...

George Lucas based the fighter combat in Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope) on the footage of BoB. Some of the fighter sequences are actually special effects mapped over the exact sequence used in BoB.

[denishc]

 Were these the same He-111 used in the film "Patton"?

[Hagar]

I must have seen the "Patton" film at some time but have no recollections of it. This film was apparently made in 1970, 2 years after "Battle of Britain". I think it's almost certain that any He 111 aircraft used in "Patton" came from the same source. If they were the real thing they would almost certainly have been the CASA 2.111 as no original airworthy He 111 would have been available. It's possible that Hamish Mahaddie was the aviation consultant or asked to procure the aircraft.

Many film directors use artistic licence & feature different types or scale models to represent rare aircraft so there's no guarantee they used a genuine He 111/CASA 2.111 at all. It should be easy enough to tell. The main difference between the CASA 2.111 & the genuine He 111 is the shape of the engine cowlings. This is not so marked as on the Buchon but the Spanish versions never looked quite right.

He 111.



CASA 2.111

[Felix/FFDS]

If my sources are correct, wooden mockups were used in the BoB film.  On of these mockups made it to Kissimmee, FL.  Of course, it could have been from a later movie, but it's (now) marked as Spit I DW-K.

I wonder if one could take the mockup, build up the interior and set it up in a CFS3 based "simulator" ...

[Wing Nut]

I knew they only used mock-ups in the BoB film, but I still almost cried like a baby when I saw all those Spitfires blow up...  

[Hagar]

[quote]If my sources are correct, wooden mockups were used in the BoB film.

[Wing Nut]

Movie trivia from the Internet Movie Database...


The large number of aircraft collected for this production made it the 11th largest air force in the world.


27 Spitfires in various degrees of repair were found for the film, but only five Hurricanes, three of which were flyable. The Messerschmitts and Heinkels were on loan from the Spanish Air Force.


According to the book written about the making of the movie the production crew used more ammunition (blanks of course) to film the movie - due to the fact that directors re-shoot scenes numerous times - than was actually used in the real historical battle.


Adolf Galland, the Luftwaffe pilot who fought during Battle of Britain, who later became the youngest German general at the age of 29, was hired as a technical advisor.


American special effects creator 'John Fulton' was going to do the special effects for this film. He died in England before principal photography began.


There were to have been scenes featuring Lord Beaverbrook. Alec Guinness was hired to play Lord Beaverbrook, but these scenes were cut from the script shortly before filming.


**  Any film with Alec Guiness in it automatically get's a extra star added to it's approval rating.  :)

[Hagar]

[quote]I knew they only used mock-ups in the BoB film, but I still almost cried like a baby when I saw all those Spitfires blow up...

[4_Series_Scania]

If you ever get to watch "633 Squadron" cry a few real tears when you see a Mosquito crash into a fuel bowser & blow up. This was a perfectly good airworthy aircraft. They only had one chance to get it right. The chap running behind it (out of shot) & steering it into the bowser with lines attached to the brakes was a friend of mine. He told me all about this & many other aviation films he was involved with. Unfortunately he died some years ago.

Wow! Thanks ! I'm looking forward to the weekend to watch my copy.... again...  ;D