Author Topic: in the movie battle of britain  (Read 2348 times)

Offline Scherf

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3409
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2009, 08:09:42 AM »
Especially the bits re: Moose?
... missions were to be met by the commitment of alerted swarms of fighters, composed of Me 109's and Fw 190's, that were strategically based to protect industrial installations. The inferior capabilities of these fighters against the Mosquitoes made this a hopeless and uneconomical effort. 1.JD KTB

Offline Helm

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 600
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2009, 09:56:29 AM »
My dad worked on the The Battle of Britain, he was part of the team of R/C modellers who built and flew the 90 odd R/C planes they used in the film. A few things I can recall he said about the film:

The R/C Stukas were powered by 15cc engines and were faster than the 10cc powered Spits and Hurricanes. They had to throttle them way back so the fighters could keep up.

There is a sequence where two Stukas dive bombing the radar station have a mid air collision. This wasn't originally in the script. Dad and another pilot had an accidental mid air while making dive bombing runs on a camera safety cage. They thought they were going to get reamed for wrecking two aircraft and holding up the shoot but the director was delighted and had the script rewritten to incorporate the shot.

All the R/C planes were destroyed in the film. The special effects guys put balloons filled with petrol in the fuselage and ignited them by R/C. This tended to just make the wings blow off in one piece so they started sawing part way through structural parts to make the plane break up more realistically. They also attached dummy pilots to the tail of some planes and released them just before the explosion.

Dad spent ages building three R/C He 111s for the film. The shape of the Heinkel was difficult to get right, lots of double curvatures etc. Also the thing has loads of individual bomb bay doors all of which had to work. What really annoyed him was that the film company got short of money and he never got to fly them. Instead they filled the nose with concrete, suspended them from a helicopter and dropped them into the sea. The sequence where you see all the tail surface control cables snapping on a HE 111 as the crew bail out is to disguise the fact that the dropping cables snapped on one of the aircraft and can be seen trailing as it hits the sea.

Dad's the guy to the left of the Heinkel.


Greebo thats very cool!  Thanks for sharing. I love model building of any kind. From looking at your fathers work,  he is a true master!!

Thanks again for sharing!!!   :salute

Helm ...out
XO of ^"^Nazgul^"^
Proudly serving since campaign #13
"No Rain?" ...."No Rainbow, baby!" ....Bootsey Collins 2009

Offline BaldEagl

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10791
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2009, 09:58:52 AM »
Did you know there was more than one Lassie?
I edit a lot of my posts.  Get used to it.

Offline AWwrgwy

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 5478
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2009, 12:40:14 PM »
Did you know there was more than one Lassie?

And "she" was a boy.


wrongway
71 (Eagle) Squadron
"THAT"S PAINT!!"

"If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through."
- General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay

Offline Shifty

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9377
      • 307th FS
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #19 on: March 22, 2009, 05:24:28 PM »
My dad worked on the The Battle of Britain, he was part of the team of R/C modellers who built and flew the 90 odd R/C planes they used in the film. A few things I can recall he said about the film:

The R/C Stukas were powered by 15cc engines and were faster than the 10cc powered Spits and Hurricanes. They had to throttle them way back so the fighters could keep up.

There is a sequence where two Stukas dive bombing the radar station have a mid air collision. This wasn't originally in the script. Dad and another pilot had an accidental mid air while making dive bombing runs on a camera safety cage. They thought they were going to get reamed for wrecking two aircraft and holding up the shoot but the director was delighted and had the script rewritten to incorporate the shot.

All the R/C planes were destroyed in the film. The special effects guys put balloons filled with petrol in the fuselage and ignited them by R/C. This tended to just make the wings blow off in one piece so they started sawing part way through structural parts to make the plane break up more realistically. They also attached dummy pilots to the tail of some planes and released them just before the explosion.

Dad spent ages building three R/C He 111s for the film. The shape of the Heinkel was difficult to get right, lots of double curvatures etc. Also the thing has loads of individual bomb bay doors all of which had to work. What really annoyed him was that the film company got short of money and he never got to fly them. Instead they filled the nose with concrete, suspended them from a helicopter and dropped them into the sea. The sequence where you see all the tail surface control cables snapping on a HE 111 as the crew bail out is to disguise the fact that the dropping cables snapped on one of the aircraft and can be seen trailing as it hits the sea.

Dad's the guy to the left of the Heinkel.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Great stuff Greebo! I'm one of those guys that watches BOB at least three times a year. I've always wondered what the deal was with the cable trailing behind the crashing HE-111.
Now I know. Thanks for sharing this.  :aok

JG-11"Black Hearts"...nur die Stolzen, nur die Starken

"Haji may have blown my legs off but I'm still a stud"~ SPC Thomas Vandeventer Delta1/5 1st CAV

Offline pipz

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4899
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #20 on: March 22, 2009, 07:01:30 PM »
Thanks for sharing that Greebo.I too always wondered about the cables trailing behind the HE-111.The stuka story is great.I always thought that might be British pride "lets show some of the Huns hitting each other Wat!" <BG> Looks like you Dad was one hell of a modeling master.

Pipz
Silence tells me secretly everything.
                                                                     
Montreal! Free the Pitt Bulls!!!!!

Offline Angus

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10057
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #21 on: March 23, 2009, 05:35:00 AM »
Uttely cool Greebo  :aok
It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline rogerdee

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2286
      • http://rogerdee.co.uk
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #22 on: March 23, 2009, 09:01:54 AM »
Now we know where Greebo gets his talent from.
All i inhereted was butt ugly looks
490th battling bulldogs
www.rogerdee.co.uk

it does what it says on the tin

Offline Bodhi

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8698
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #23 on: March 23, 2009, 09:26:41 AM »
Behold, the 109's still exist too...   :noid











There are more of them in the same building, but the photos include things that I can not show and I am too lazy to edit out...
I regret doing business with TD Computer Systems.

Offline Fencer51

  • Aces High CM Staff (Retired)
  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4680
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #24 on: March 23, 2009, 10:11:22 AM »
Didn't Connie Edwards (may have that name wrong but he owned a P-51D that was in Yeagers or Anderson's colors) own alot of these airframes and have them in storage?

Oh yeah, sweet pics too.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2009, 10:13:28 AM by Fencer51 »
Fencer
The names of the irrelevant have been changed to protect their irrelevance.
The names of the innocent and the guilty have not been changed.
As for the innocent, everyone needs to know they are innocent –
As for the guilty… they can suck it.

Offline Tec

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1739
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #25 on: March 23, 2009, 10:27:20 AM »
You can show us, we won't tell.....

Can I come work for you Bodhi, for free, or maybe I could pay you by the hour? :D
To each their pwn.
K$22L7AoH

Offline Angus

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10057
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #26 on: March 23, 2009, 10:33:08 AM »
That is a Buchon too.
Just curious,- how does it stack up against a 109G, - performancewise?
It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Bodhi

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8698
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #27 on: March 23, 2009, 10:38:42 AM »
That is a Buchon too.
Just curious,- how does it stack up against a 109G, - performancewise?

 :O

Did the Merlin in the nose, or the four bladed props give it away?   ;)
I regret doing business with TD Computer Systems.

Offline Larry

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 6123
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #28 on: March 23, 2009, 11:55:39 AM »
There are more of them in the same building, but the photos include things that I can not show and I am too lazy to edit out...


I think I know where those stolen rook sheep went.  :noid
Once known as ''TrueKill''.
JG 54 "Grünherz"
July '18 KOTH Winner


Offline DrDea

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3341
Re: in the movie battle of britain
« Reply #29 on: March 23, 2009, 10:13:29 PM »
And "she" was a boy.


wrongway

  Actually,HE was a girl.The female collies were better to work with.In the series,Lassie was a "male" but in reality,they used female dogs. :aok
The Flying Circus.Were just like you.Only prettier.

FSO 334 Flying Eagles. Fencers Heros.