The Aviator

[Wild Root]

(a year later it was destroyed )

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ah man! That was such a beautiful plane! That’s really, really, REALLY sad! Man, what a loss for the pilot and plane.

I wanted to see it. Well, at least one of us here had the chance.

Root.

 

[Pen Collector]

Correct me if I am wrong..

but didn't the Spruce Goose barely fly just one time. If it never really got "off the ground" then how could it be used today to be "in the film"? Hence, the need for CGIs in the film. Does anyone know what the length of it's flight was back then?

 

[MKL]

but didn't the Spruce Goose barely fly just one time. If it never really got "off the ground" then how could it be used today to be "in the film"? Hence, the need for CGIs in the film. Does anyone know what the length of it's flight was back then?

Here are some specs:

Cargo Aircraft Prototype
Largest wingspan: 319 feet, 11 inches with a wing area that covers 11,430 square feet
Features full cantilever wing and tail surfaces
Tallest aircraft: 79 feet, 3 3/8 inches
Length: 218 feet 6 ¼ inches
Largest seaplane
Largest wooden aircraft: the entire airframe is composed of laminated wood
Primary control surfaces, except the flaps, are fabric-covered
Power: Eight Pratt & Whitney R-4360, 3,000 horsepower engines
Propellers: Eight, 17 feet, 2 inch diameter
Weight, Empty: 300,000 pounds
Weight, Loaded: 400,000 pounds (maximum take-off weight)

Capacity: 750 troops or two Sherman tanks
Normal Crew: 18
First And Only Flight: November 2, 1947
The most reciprocating horsepower ever installed in an aircraft
Estimated Performance:

Cruise Speed: 141 to 150 miles per hour at 5,000 feet
Top Speed: 227 to 231 miles per hour at 5,000 feet
Range: 2,975 miles with 12,500 gallons of fuel

 

[Wild Root]

Well, the plane flew about 20 or 50 feet off of the water for not very long. I'm sure it was capable of flying higher and longer, but for Hughes, it was just to prove to the public that it could fly. It was keep in a special hanger and ready to fly for the rest of Howard’s life.

Root.

 

[Sergei]

One of the many engineering obstacles that Howard Hughes solved, was that the government mandate required no use of precious resources like steel and aluminum. So he had to build the plane out of woood which really caused problems of weight vs strength. The other problem using wood, was that the weight per square inch would vary enough to cause building the darn thing within the calculations of weight/lift/horsepower. So he developed a special lamination process (with glue and steam) where the wood was lighter and stronger than aluminum and had a predictable weight per square inch like the metals.

Not too many people really appreciated the engineering marvel that this plane contributed to the world. It was also the first manifestation of multiple hydraulic components. I believe that hydraulics were only used for landing gear prior to the HK-1. It was the first time that a hydraulic system was used to control the massive wing and tail surfaces.

-S

 

[Wild Root]

Yes, very true! It is a one of a kind and will be forever!

Root.

 

[MKL]

flight

This info is from the www:

On November 2, 1947, a crowd of expectant observers and newsmen gathered. With Hughes at the controls, the giant Flying Boat glided smoothly across a three-mile stretch of harbor. From 35 miles per hour, it cruised to 90 during the second taxi test when eager newsmen began filing their stories. During the third taxi test Hughes surprised everyone as he ordered the wing flaps lowered to 15 degrees and the seaplane lifted off the water. He flew her for a little over a mile at an altitude of 70 feet for approximately one minute. The short hop proved to skeptics that the gigantic craft could fly!

 

[Wild Root]

Good info! Well, I wasn't too far off with my guess of it flying about 50 feet off the water. Only off by 20 feet.

Cool stuff!

Root.

 

[Andykev]

I just saw the Aviator

Ok I saw the Aviator today. Hummmm. I liked the period costumes and the overall theme of the picture. The aviation scenes were very well done for computer animation.

The film did a fairly good job of depicting Hughe's spiral into paranoia.

I was reminded how much of a genius he was and what he accomplished.

However, the ending of the film was as if the film just broke, and I waited to see if the guy in the projection booth was going to get it going again.

I felt the film should have AT LEAST had a final scene of Hughes in Vegas..and a hallway disolve where Noah Detrich is turned away when Hughes embraces the care of the Mormon's. Or maybe the last shot could have been the jet landing with the body of Hughes..and a fade away of his life.

Good film. Great? I don't know. Oscar contender..maybe not best picture, but definately for special effects, and cinematography. Leonard De did a wonderful job playing Hughes.

 

[flat-top]

I just got back from seeing The Aviator. I really liked it. I actually forgot I was watching Dicaprio sometimes--it was like he became Howard Hughes. I believed him completely. And I liked the unsettling ending. This IS a Scorsese movie after all!
flat-top

 

[Mycroft]

I saw and liked it alot. The only thing I would have liked to see was the time Howard Houges (HH) (forgive the spelling) was found as an American Airlines Skycaptain or luggage handler. Also the planes were nice, but ...correct me if I wrong. the "Spruce Goose" did not fly that high as shown in the film. Also didn't HH crash his plane at night?

 

[Wild Root]

Well, Howard Hughes didn't fly the Goose very high. If you look a few pages back in this thread you'll read that it flew only about 70 feet off the water for only like a mile or so. As for his crash, it was during the day. I have seen photos of him sitting in the plane ready for take off. It was a daytime flight.


Root.

 

[Hondo]

Ok I saw the Aviator today. Hummmm. I liked the period costumes and the overall theme of the picture. The aviation scenes were very well done for computer animation.

The film did a fairly good job of depicting Hughe's spiral into paranoia.

I was reminded how much of a genius he was and what he accomplished.

However, the ending of the film was as if the film just broke, and I waited to see if the guy in the projection booth was going to get it going again.

I felt the film should have AT LEAST had a final scene of Hughes in Vegas..and a hallway disolve where Noah Detrich is turned away when Hughes embraces the care of the Mormon's. Or maybe the last shot could have been the jet landing with the body of Hughes..and a fade away of his life.

Good film. Great? I don't know. Oscar contender..maybe not best picture, but definately for special effects, and cinematography. Leonard De did a wonderful job playing Hughes.

Hey folks, sorry for jumping on this late, I have my reasons, like the "rest room" I had to wait for the DVD, I enjoyed everyone?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s comments, and Bobby, yup, Blanchett did an adequate job of Hepburn, mannerism, I loved both of them, Dicapprio was good effort as Hughes and I am not a fan of his. Now seeing how I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m not as great writer as some here so I won?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get long on tooth, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll agree with AndyK, the ending missed something, I also wanted to see who was running the films, it had to be rewind and start all over again, who was in the booth, couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t he see Hughes and his milk bottles or the smell? Ewww, and yeah I hear ya BB with regards to the germs.
Good flick anyways, I too loved the costumes, sets and girls and was Hughes or Leo?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s eyes that blue? The color was so vivid in this film, very nice, just wish the ending was better, it did miss something.
Non the less, nice film, I want Hughes hat!!!

 

[airfrogusmc]

Speak'n of Scorsese I watched Ragging Bull last night. I hadn't seen it in a few years and what a movie. He seems to capture time periods very well.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Scorsese captures the "feel" of a time period reasonably well. He doesn't (by his own admission) seek to recreate a historically accurate view of the past however. Look at Gangs of New York for a good example of this.

 

[Daniel Riser]

I must disagree with Andykev about the ending. I will admit the first time I saw the picture I was very disappointed, but, as a filmmaker, I came to appreciate the experimental nature of Scorcese's and the screenwriter's choice to end it on such an abrupt note.

Scorcese didn't want Hughes' closure. He wanted The Aviator's closure. And Hughes, as the aviator, ended (for the most part) in 1947. His dealings in Las Vegas, embracing mormonism and his deeper dive into his obsessive compulsive disorder were different chapters of an ever-evolving Hughes.

Also the psychological tension that Marty created in the end scene is so effective that it causes us to be uneasy and therefore dislike it, just like Hughes disliked himself.

We hear an isolated voice in an echoed room, going to pure darkness and holding on that unbearable beat until the credits finally fade in. In my opinion this was genius filmmaking. Scorcese was isolating us so that we had nothing to look at, nothing to study, just this tormented voice of a man who never did heal. Howard Hughes is a man without closure. The ending of a single chapter of such a complex life should also be without closure. It isn't traditional Hollywoodian storytelling... and that's why I like it.

 

[Hondo]

I must disagree with Andykev about the ending. I will admit the first time I saw the picture I was very disappointed, but, as a filmmaker, I came to appreciate the experimental nature of Scorcese's and the screenwriter's choice to end it on such an abrupt note.

Scorcese didn't want Hughes' closure. He wanted The Aviator's closure. And Hughes, as the aviator, ended (for the most part) in 1947. His dealings in Las Vegas, embracing mormonism and his deeper dive into his obsessive compulsive disorder were different chapters of an ever-evolving Hughes.

Also the psychological tension that Marty created in the end scene is so effective that it causes us to be uneasy and therefore dislike it, just like Hughes disliked himself.

Never thought of it that way "Daniel Riser" that changes things, makes a bit of sense, I'm sure I'll watch it again, and view from an aviators point of view, its tough call when you start losing you mind, as Hughes did, sad no one was near him to get him help, money will buy almost anything, thanks for clearing this up.