USN Carrier Based Aircraft on the Silver Screen

[stikpusher]

For entertainment or reference purposes, here are some Hollywood takes on USN Naval Aviation from three different eras... in glorious color... just planes and flight ops

1941, Dive Bomber



From 1954, The Bridges at Tokyo Ri



and from 1980, The Final Countdown

[kyledehart5]

Man. That is all just too cool. What incredible footage!! Love the final countdown too. Great flick of the era.

[Medicman71]

There's nothing cooler than US Navy air ops.

[Tojo72]

For me,you can't top the opening sequence of the original 1986 Top Gun with the Kenny Loggins musical score,man I still Google that once in awhile.How many Tomcat builds did that inspire,I remember I did my 1st 1/32 Tamiya Tomcat then

[stikpusher]

Mar 1, 2024 10:32:37 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

For me,you can't top the opening sequence of the original 1986 Top Gun with the Kenny Loggins musical score,man I still Google that once in awhile.How many Tomcat builds did that inspire,I remember I did my 1st 1/32 Tamiya Tomcat then

Yes, that sequence sure has the “cool factor” needle pegged at max level with the music, cinematography, and pacing. But these films sure give a better view of the everyday nuts & bolts of flight ops of their times.

[aaronw]

I'm a sucker for anything from the Yellow Wing period.


I have Dive Bomber on DVD. It is kind of dorky, but fun to watch. There is a very funny scene between Fred MacMurray and Errol Flynn where they become fascinated with the operation of a lipstick as it relates to their project and they completely forget about their dates (who are displeased). The footage of the aircraft is spectacular, basically aviation porn.  

[keavdog]

Back when NAS North Island was called NAS San Diego.
Cool shot of all those panthers on the deck. Did the HO2/3s have a name? I don't recall. Westland built ones were called Dragonflys

[armornutii]

Mar 1, 2024 10:32:37 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

For me,you can't top the opening sequence of the original 1986 Top Gun with the Kenny Loggins musical score,man I still Google that once in awhile.How many Tomcat builds did that inspire,I remember I did my 1st 1/32 Tamiya Tomcat then

   I'm ashamed to admit it but that scene you're talking about was the first hit of my Naval career coffin. Though" man that is so cool, I wanna be there"  second day on the deck and it was the last place on Earth I wanted to be. Still coolest job I ever had.

[aaronw]

Mar 1, 2024 13:18:56 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Back when NAS North Island was called NAS San Diego.
Cool shot of all those panthers on the deck. Did the HO2/3s have a name? I don't recall. Westland built ones were called Dragonflys

The H-5 was nicknamed the Horse, probably from its USN designation HO3S-1, but as far as I've seen never had an official name in US service.

As far as I have found US helicopters did not receive names initially. Hoverfly (R-4) and Dragonfly (R/H-5) appear to originate with the British. Not sure when official names started to be provided, but I'm guessing late 50s or early 1960s (maybe 1962 as part of the Tri-services designation system).

I have found a few articles stating that US Army General Hamilton Howze became the first Director of Army Aviation in 1947 and he is the one who suggested using Native American Tribes for helicopters. However these articles seem flawed (likely just repeating the first one printed). General Howze (per Wikipedia so...  ) was in that position from 1955-58, not in 1947.


Anyway big helicopter nerd here.