Flyboys

According to the trailers that I've seen on TV, it's coming out 19 Oct. Any such movie should have potential for models, but I'm not holding my breath any more as to seeing them come out.

On a related note, I have a question. One of the actors in the piece is black and he's dressed as a pilot. I didn't think that there were any black officers during the First War so I have to ask this: were there ~any~ black pilots during that war? I know that the Tuskagee Airmen had to fight like hell to go into combat, but this was twenty-three years earlier. What say? Regards,

Saw Flyboys today. Lafayette Escadrille. The black guy joined the French Air Force so no problems there with his flying. Good guys flying "Nieuport 17's". Bad guys flying "Fokker Triplanes"

All the triplanes are painted red with white bands & Maltese crosses. Look like a bunch of Richthofen clones. Head bad guy is flying an all black triplane.

Plenty of good action, realistic cgi. Not a bad flick...

about halfway down.

Good movie actually, I was rather impressed. Of course there was the requisite love story thrown in, but still.... The battle scenes were graphic enough; in one scene a German pilot very clearly takes a bullet in the top of the head--you can see the top of the leather helmet pop. Bet that hurt like hell...for about a millisecond.

Excedrin headache No .303

Just apply directly to the forehead...

Thanks for this information.

Andrew M said the following on 08/10/06 23:19:

Periodicals

Cockfield, Jamie. Eugene Bullard, America's First Black Military Aviator, Flew for France During World War I. Military History 12:10+ February 1996.

Gatski, John. Enlisted History: Eugene J. Bullard, the First Black Combat Pilot. Sergeants 27:42-43 January-February 1988.

Smith, Mary H. The Incredible Life of Monsieur Bullard. Ebony 23:120 December 1967. World's first black fighter pilot (flew for France in WWI).

One view;

Richard.

99% of the flight scenes were computer generated (:<

Did some secondary continuity work for the film. Screw top wine bottle in the bar scenes and the like. They fixed everythng that we noted with one huge exception. All shots of the Nieuports and Fokker Dr.Is from head on reveal the engines to be radials as opposed to rotories. As maybe on out of every thousand moviegoers would notice the difference they left those scenes alone. They also didn't want to hear it when we noted that almost all of the Dr.Is being all red was a big no no!

Other aircraft, both real and cg, in the film include SE.5as, Gotha bombers, Handley-Page 0-400s, Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutters.

All in all a really enjoyable flick with some superb acton sequences and excellent research.

Now, how about The Frank Luke Story?

Tom

Richard Brooks wrote:

FWIW There was a brief article on Eugene Bullard in a back issue of Windsock International in their series on the Lafayette Flying Corps. He flew an aircraft, I don't remember if it was a Nieuport or a SPAD, with the personal emblem of a heart dripping blood on the side. Under the heart was written "All blood runs red" in French. Interesting guy, there is a bio page on him in Nordhoff and Hall's History of the Lafayette Flying Corps. There is a more complete biography of Bullard in "The Lafayette Flying Corps" by Dennis Gordon, Schiffer Publications, ISBN #o=7643-1108-5. This last is still available from the publisher I believe.

Bill Shuey

sadly, this is the first i've ever heard of this amazing guy. a quick read shows that more study is called for. say what you want about the french, it's cool to french bash no, i guess, but they are a lot more tolerant than the rest of europe. i was laways very disappointed by the rampant racism in england.

e said the following on 09/10/06 19:48:

One thing. Tuskegee Airmen!

I think you'll find pockets of resistance to change in all countries and it depends on where you are. Our Asian Mela's are a great success and I've felt very proud to have been adopted by a lovely family of Sikhs when I was a lad and also the only white in a carribean club, whilst playing in a reggae band.

Like most countries there is some good humoured animosity in the two or more countries involved and it's usually the press and government of those countries who keep prodding the other country with sticks even when the folk who live in those countries are tired of it all and more interested in how they're just going to get on with the normal things in life such as paying bills and being able to afford things. In the Cold War, most of the old folk living next to USAF Brize Norton were more worried about the next cup of tea and should we get some vodka in for our guests!

I like the French and like any good friend, they should still be considered your friend even if they disagree on something important, such as invading another country! ;-)

Richard.

How about the Jesse Brown story?

While he was a couple wars later, you can find another amazing story in the book "The flight of Jesse Leroy Brown."

Even more obsure is the story of Lola Peppers:

This is all I could find on her on a quick web search. The only reason I know is because Lola was my cousin's grandmother by marriage. She was known by a number of Tuskeegee Airman, whom I am told attended her funeral.

What is really sad is that my family told me that Lola stopped talking about her life as an aviatrix when she was older because no one believed her. It wasn't until her funeral and the relation of her life by the attendant Airmen that the family paid more attention to her life story.

And what troubles me is that I missed out on a chance to talk with a part of living history. She never knew I am a model builder, pilot, skydiver, and aeronautical engineer...what a chat we could have had...

apparently a lot of vets didn't talk about their expiriences for the same reason. i spoke with a blackcat ariman who quit going to veterans things because the other airmen considered him a liar when he told of bombing and starfing ships in a cat. the simple didn't believe him. he was really excited when i took him to lunch and listened for over 4 hours. this quiet little wimpy guy had more balls than any 10 ehllcat pilots and never thought himself exceptional. damn.....

Yup. If you know the story of "Chico the Gunfighter" - an F4E operated over Viet Nam as a roving CAS/Attacker, I spent a few years with one of Chico's last WSOs as a officemate.

What a guy - if there was ever a "fighter-jock for life", this guy is that guy. Halloween was a particularly fun time, as he would come in his Black Widows party bag (which he still fit - he's a serious runner), and bring in all sorts of memorabilia and photos from his combat days. I used to get goosebumps when he'd let me handle his charts...real living history.