Meanwhile, my favorite part of the movie begins. A suspicious reporter (Elliott Gould) is almost killed when he begins to investigate, and he eventually figure out the astronauts are somewhere in the desert. He heads out in his Datsun Z-car and decides he needs to take to the air.
Enter the crusty old barnstormer, played by Telly Savalas. He has no idea what's going on, but he sees money, so it's all good.
Eventually they see the black choppers, so they follow them.
The last crewmwmber is holed up in a gas station:
The pilot (who is in fact the brilliant Frank Tallman) swoops in to try to save him.
this guy is tough... dehydrated and bewildered, he's going to try to escape on the wing of a Stearman, with armed helicopters in pursuit. Will he make it?
Next: the amazing aerial chase!
