I know a good film when I see one and "Rare Birds" is one of the best hours you'll spend in front of a flat screen (although I watched it on my PC). Produced by Up In The Air Pictures (whose first documentary was called "The Barnstormers - Pioneers of the Sky" which we also raved about), Rare Birds is the first in what producer/narrator Chuck Carson says will be a six part series. This one features six airplanes with beautiful air-to-air photography, both from inside and outside the aircraft, plus appropriate music and deft editing. The history of each plane is examined and the owner/pilots tell you the pros and cons of each one, holding back nothing. Where they leave something out, Carson adds the facts.
For example, the first plane featured is the DeHavilland JN-4H (an upgrade of the JN-4D with a Hispano-Suiza engine) that the owner spent 31 years restoring. "It's a terrible flying airplane, this airplane is all ideosyncracies," he says, although he loves flying it. One of his antique aircraft delivery pilots put it another way, "It's more of an honor to fly it than a pleasure to fly it." And these were the primary trainers for a generation of Army and Navy pilots.
Other aircraft featured are a Danish (or perhaps Swiss, I had to go get a drink) KZ7, which looks like a Stinson from afar but then you notice fully slotted STOL flaps on the front of the wing. Owner Carl Erik Olsen proves that he can get the airplane down to about 20 miles per hour and with a good wind, can fly backward. Each of the owners knows the exact specs and history of their airplanes and relates them to the viewer.
In the case of really historic aircraft, such as Delmar Benjamin's Gee Bee R2 Super Sportster replica, Carson fills in the history of the marque with original film. Then Benjamin explains what it's like to fly with a sense of wit and a twinkle in his eye. "I'm not really comfortable at any time flying it," he admits. There's some really beautiful photography of the plane, on the ground and in the air but it's now retired to a Florida museum and definitely missed on the airshow circuit.
Also featured is one of two 1929 Travel Air Model D's left, owned by Bruce McElhoe of Reedley, Calif. He restored the plane but admits that its no speedster. Like the other owner/restorers, McElhoe is articulate and informative when talking about his beloved aircraft, even to admitting its flaws.
Kent and Sandy Blankenberg give viewers a tour of their Pine Mountain Lake home/-hangar/museum (up for sale in our paper this month) and then explain how they came to own their well-known 1939 Spartan Executive. Only 34 were built, with six left flying, Blankenberg explains. The air-to-airs of the gleaming polished metal monoplane (kept spotless by Sandy) are worthy of any aviation calendar.
To finish off the hour-long film, the producers visited with George Willett, who flies an OV-10D for the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire. The plane, better known as a Bronco, was the first military plane we ever flew some 30 years ago and it was a hot rod used for all sorts of purposes. Now it's a spotter for the CDF and while Willett says he likes flying it, he can't wait to get into a water bomber. Carson said he plans to produce five more of these videos, one a year, and if the next ones are as good as this one, he's going to have six winners on his hands. First class work by a professional crew.
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General Aviation News staff
2/11/2005
"The Barnstormers, Pioneers of the Sky" is about as close as you can come to the real thing without leaving your house. The hour-long DVD begins with historic footage, as you might expect, but then takes you deeply into the world of modern barnstorming.
You've probably seen Jim Franklin's jet-powered (well, jet-enhanced) Stearman at air shows and wondered what it would be like to ride that thing straight up. This production will show you. Hang on to your lunch.
Well worth the $20 price – it's a lot cheaper than a thrill ride and you can do it as often as you like – "The Barnstormers" includes fascinating still photographs and early movies of the "pioneers of the sky," as producer Chuck Carson accurately calls them, but even better is the superb air-to-air photography of the modern era.
The historic footage shows us some airplanes that are legendary but gone. The modern footage shows us some that are legendary but rare, and still flying as their designers and builders intended. Among them: two of the last New Standard 53Cs in existence (see "Where's Waldo," P. 37), several Travel Airs, a Command Air, and a fine selection of Stearmans.
As impressive as the airplanes and flying is the highly professional quality of the production. It was filmed skillfully, its subjects were chosen carefully and interviewed intelligently – no stupid questions, no offhand answers – and the airplanes are stunning.
For more information: Up in the Air Pictures, 559-289-0887 or UpInTheAirPictures.com. The price is $20 plus $3.95 for shipping for both DVD and VHS.
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And you do. But after the history of the beginnings of barnstorming are explained to the uninitiated, the producers move quickly into the more modern iterations of those daring young men and women who build and fly antique aircraft at airshows or show up at fly-ins hawking rides.
We were quite pleased to see a couple of aircraft featured that had been on our cover along with interviews and aerial footage of PF friends such as Margi Stivers and Eddie Andreini. In fact, the air to air photography on the VHS we received from Up In The Air Productions was absolutely first rate, featuring a variety of aircraft ranging from two of the last remaining New Standard 53Cs, a Command Air, several Travel Airs, Jim Franklin's jet powered Stearman, Andreini's 450hp Stearman with a full canopy, and interviews with several original barnstormers (one aged 101 1/2).
The editing, narration and photography are all professional quality and the piece on the recreation of the National Air Tour and the planes used is worth the price of the tape itself. A lot of money was obviously spent on the production of this tape as the air-to-air photography is superb, the interviews intelligent and interesting, and the planes are outstanding.
Watching Jim Franklin light up his jet-powered Stearman and fly straight up from practically a dead stop — as seen from the sky overhead — is worth rewinding and watching several times.
Even better, this tape is only $20 (plus the usual $3.95 shipping and $1.57 tax to Californians) and is available from Up In The Air Pictures at 712 N. Piedra Rd., Sanger, CA 93657 or see their website at www.upintheairpictures.com.