That airplane
Does anybody know what kind of aircraft that was supposed to be? It looked like a C-54 fuselage with odd looking jet engines installed in a strange location.
shareDoes anybody know what kind of aircraft that was supposed to be? It looked like a C-54 fuselage with odd looking jet engines installed in a strange location.
shareThe rear mounted engines reminded me a little of a 727, but 1964 was a little early for that particular plane. Also, having the engines actually mounted on the tail surfaces is pretty silly from an aerodynamic standopoint. There was also that odd dip in the inner wing surface. My guess is the production designer wanted something that looked like a modern jet (circa 1964) but that didn't resemble an actual aircraft too closely so as not to stigmatize a real plane. I've never read the novel the movie is based on - maybe there was some detailed description in the book.
shareThere never was such an airplane. As far as the novel is concerned, it wasn't a novel; it's more an autobiography. Ernie sold the rights to the studio, but the only thing that resembles the movie is the title. He took them to court, but he lost. I've read the book four or five times. It is a classic.
The comment about the engines on the tail is strange to me. I'm a captain on a Douglas DC-9, and the aerodynamics seem just fine. If you read the book you will notice that Ernie never mentions American Airlines. He mentions every other carrier, and it made me wonder why. It turns out that he was an AA pilot himself. The people he talks about in the book are just as real. After I went to work for the same airline I found a book in operations with pictures of the old pilots. They were all there including Ernie. This book is a bible for airline pilots.
I read some where That The producers couldn't get an airline to give them a plane cause they didn't want to be associated with a movie about an air crash, Boeing and other production companies didn't want any of thier airframes used for the same reason.
Thats why the plane always looked wierd It was put together out of spare parts. Different wings, engines whatever You never really see it flying, except at the crash otherwise its being pulled around
I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy
I was looking at a website dealing with the "Planet Of The Apes" spscecraft set, and parked alongside it in the early 70s was the plane from "Fate Is The Hunter"
http://cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/ApesShip/Personal/PofAaccounts.html
It has square windows, so the fuselage and wings probably came from a DC-6 (most DC-4sbegan life as C-54s and had round windows) or DC-7 and the studio did the rest.
"The comment about the engines on the tail is strange to me. I'm a captain on a Douglas DC-9, and the aerodynamics seem just fine."
I think what the poster meant was the way the engines were stuck on the rear stabs themselves rather than on some kind of pylom as on the DC-9 and other rear engined planes.
The plane was just what the studio could cobble together from what they had to work with.
You can see how they mocked up a pitot on the tail a la 707 and gave it swept wings in the shots of the minature when it's supposedly taxiing--just a bunch of stuff to try to make it look what would pass for a jet airliner to 1964 audiences.
The production obviously doctored some airplane for this particular look. This plane would be a short haul jet like a 737 is for us now.
But they had two copies it appears, the full sized one that Glenn Ford appears to fly and the rebuilt-from the-crash one. Some bad looking miniatures are seen during the air shots and crashing shots.
I think the production knew that they'd have people saying, "no that's not a Douglas plane" or any other recognizable one for obvious reasons. No reason to scare the potential customers out there.
Those engines with the multiple exhause nozzles looks like science fiction--in fact their production designer worked for science fiction shows on TV--and then you see a boom extending from the nose, which isn't a feature of any jet then or now.
I'm glad I never booked a seat on Consolidated 22 or anywhere else that plane went!
Those exhaust nozzles slightly resemble the noise attenuators used on the Convair 880.
shareTo me it always has looked remarkably like a Caravelle, a French aircraft of the vintage, which was indeed used by airlines in America, namely Airborne Express, Midwest Air Charter, and United Airlines. It was manufactured by Sus Aviation. It was also used by many airlines world wide. It was an outstanding Medium Haul airliner.
shareThe link to the Planet of the Apes page is dead, but you can still access it through archive.org.
The plane also appeared in the opening sequence of the Green Hornet episode "Crime Wave".
BINGO!!! I grew up in Denver Colo A Literal stone's throw away From old Stapelton International Airport. First saw this movie in 1969 me & my buddy decided then, that a caravelle was the most likely most closely resembled aircraft type there were quite a few of them at the United Airlines maint hangar on Quebec st You could (in 1969)walk right up to the fence & take as long a look as you liked. Your answer was our exact answer wau back then ...Oh ...It's still one of my favorite movies even though it had absolutely nothing to do with Earnest K. Gahn's actual autobiographical novel
shareLikely a DC-7 fuselage due the windows forward of the left front door. The DC-7 and DC-4 did not have windows forward of the that door.
I watched the movie recently and remembered United Airlines used their -7s (with all identifying markings painted over) as trainers for their active DC-6s. DC-7s were readily available - PW pushed too far causing the engines to be unreliable. Airlines parked the -7 fleets before the DC-6s.
Looks like cuffs were added to the inboard half of the leading edges to give a bit of sweep.
Mention of the "pitot on the tail a la 707" is incorrect. Bad place for a pressure sensor - very long run and the air gets messy at high angles of attack. The spear on the 707 vertical stab top was a tunable HF antenna for international models. Early 747s had these pointing aft from the wing tips.
The Caravelle had shorter legs and the windows were triangular cough drop shaped.
With the exception of the test type pitot on the nose, silly engines and their location; a fairly reasonable studio faux plane. The real off the wall studio concoction was the empennage of the Raindeer in No Highway In The Sky. Must have had some drugs you should not take even once in 1951 ….
Wikipedia research reveals the airliner in "Fate Is The Hunter" to be a DC-7(B) with the wings "reversed," with a Boeing 707 nose w/supersonic spike; two nacelles added to rear section to accommodate jet engines; rear mounted spike styled HF antenna isolator and antenna were also added to the (upper) tail section. WHATEVER it is - its cool!
shareThis silly looking plane was used in the 1966 film "OUR MAN FLINT."
share