Death-Defying Pilots Who Became Hollywood Legends

I'm glad you documented this. I was also amused to hear one of the contributors using the term 'intestinal fortitude' - it's been a while since I heard this expression!

The audio is truly a hidden Jem, as is this video. Thank you sincerely.

What a wonderful film Mr.Hoffman. Thank you for sharing this. You and the Mrs.have a wonderful memorial weekend.

David you did a masterful job in creating this short movie. Seeing such huge crowds just watching the planes was incredible. The woman's words at the end says it all and piloting a plane then was dangerous. About twenty years ago, a lot of pilots flew some WW1 and early WW11 planes to our airport. I saw them and to me, they didn't look sturdy but they had to have been. I have two cousins ( a male and a female,) who own small planes and fly a lot. Yes I was asked to go with either but declined." Too risky" was my thought and still is. It was amazing to see the actual footage of the pilots then and they had to be gusty or we wouldn't have known about them. Thank you for a job well done. Kudos!❤

That's a beautifully spliced action with voiceover. Once again, you have touched an area of my interest. I love to fly and flew out of my 'back yard' for 20 years. Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the Mecca for the aviation community every summer when hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of planes arrive for a week or so. I saw Delmar Benjamin fly in that GeeBee (Granville Brothers) after it was recreated for the movie, Rocketeer - a giant radial engine with barely room behind for the pilot. Steve Wittman lived there. He won races in his own planes for decades. The field bears his name. The best part of the event is that you could chat with folks like Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, Burt Rutan, etc. My son still remembers saying 'hi' to Chuck Yeager when he was a little kid. EAA flew one of the replica's of Lindbergh's plane. The Concorde gave rides (for $900😄 - Arctic Circle and back in 30 minutes or whatever). The SR-71 blasted off for home with afterburner flames that painted half the length of the runway red. A few of these guys were still around, and most of the planes have been there. You captured the essence: not just the novelty or the technology, but the personalities. The EAA museum in Oshkosh is worth a visit.

Thank you, this was fascinating! Fabulous film. The audio a treasure. I appreciate the work you put into your films and sharing them with the world. 💜

You lucky devil, you interviewed Jimmy Doolittle! Great work with this piece. “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward” - Leonardo daVinci

Beautiful little film. The spirit of persevering in the face of destruction for that joy of freedom is so wonderfully human. I think it strikes me as the realness that is missing from so much of the modern dialog. My great, great grandfather was the president of Packard motorcar company. If you have any footage of their cars from that time I’d love to see it. Not much remains from that connection in my life. I was well educated, and then spent 6 years homeless in L.A. If I need something to hold onto, I remember my grandmother and her love of class and bravery, two qualities we don’t hold in anywhere near the level of regard we should anymore. I have learned a lot from these time capsules. They’re a window into the feelings that formed the spirits of important people in my life and I’m grateful for them

Wow!

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