In The Cockpit With Cliff Robertson

In the Cockpit with Cliff Robertson is the third volume in the Passion for Flight series. These short biographies (20,000 words or less) tell the stories of notable pilots who inspire young and old alike to take to the skies. Cliff Robertson appeared in more than one hundred roles in his career as an actor, including a young John F. Kennedy in "PT 109," his Academy Award winning performance in "Charly," astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the autobiographic "Return to Earth," Henry Ford in "The Man and the Machine," and most recently, Uncle Ben from "Spider-Man." Cliff always felt more comfortable in a plane than in Hollywood. His fascination for aviation began as a child. He accrued several thousand hours in the cockpit and held single-engine land and sea, multiengine, instrument and commercial licenses, as well as balloon, gliding and seaplane ratings. Over his lifetime he owned a variety of planes, including a Beech Baron 58, Messerschmitt Me 108, Stampe SV4, three Tiger Moths and a Spitfire Mk.IX. He gave others the opportunity he had as a youth when he became involved with the Experimental Aircraft Association. Within EAA, he founded the Cliff Robertson Work Experience, helped launch EAA's Young Eagles program in 1992, and served as its first national honorary chairman. At EAA AirVenture 2002, he was presented with the inaugural Key to the City Award, created by EAA and the city of Oshkosh, to honor distinguished personalities for significant contributions to the promotion and support of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and the aviation community. Di Freeze interviewed the Emmy and Academy Award winning actor for this short biography prior to his death. He reviewed and approved this approximately 5,000-word bio. This is not meant to be a comprehensive history of Cliff Robertson's life, but it contains the major milestones in his acting career and aviation history.

Since the Second World War, depictions of Royal Air Force operations in film and television drama have become so numerous that they make up a genre worthy of scholarly attention. In this illuminating study, S. P. MacKenzie explores the different ways in which the men of RAF Bomber Command have been represented in dramatic form on the big and small screen from the war years to the present day. Bomber Boys on Screen is the first in-depth study of how and why the screen-drama image of those who flew, those who directed them, and those who provided support for RAF bomber operations has changed over time, sometimes in contested circumstances. Until now dramas that focus on Bomber Command have tended to be mentioned only in passing or studied in isolation, despite the prevalence of surveys of both the British war film genre and of aviation cinema. In Bomber Boys on Screen MacKenzie examines the development, presentation, and reception of significant dramas on a decade-by-decade basis. Titles from the beginning of the war (The Lion Has Wings, 1939) to the start of new century (Bomber's Moon, 2014) are situated in the context of technical possibilities and limitations, evolving social and cultural norms in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the development of moral and utilitarian controversies surrounding the wartime bomber offensive directed against Nazi Germany. While the focus is on feature films and television plays, reference is also made to documentaries, memorials, veterans' organizations, book titles, war comics, and other representations of the war fought by Bomber Command.

Ever wondered how many aircraft were converted into Japanese Zeroes and torpedo bombers for Tora! Tora! Tora! or how French Gazelle helicopters were modified for the title role in Blue Thunder? This first of its kind reference book lists aircraft featured in 350 films and television shows, providing brief individual histories, film locations, serial numbers and registrations. Aircraft are also cross-referenced by manufacturer. Appendices provide brief bios on pilots and technicians, information on aircraft collections owned by Tallmantz Aviation and Blue Max Aviation and film credits for U.S. aircraft carriers.

Born into a family of aviators, Merrill Wien was destined to become a pilot. His father, Noel Wien, was one of the first pilots to fly in Alaska and his life was full of firsts, including making the first round-trip flight between Asia and North America in 1929. His mother played a big role in the founding and development of Wien Alaska Airlines, the second-oldest scheduled airline in the United States and territories. One of the most versatile and experienced pilots of his time, Merrill has flown just about every aircraft imaginable from DC-3s to Lockheed 1011s to historic military planes like the cargo C-46 and B-29 bomber to the Hiller UH-12E chopper. Although fundamentally modest by nature, family and friends encouraged Merrill to share his remarkable stories given his accomplishments and experiences with so many famous people and events. His tone is engagingly informal as he recounts crossing paths with such luminaries as Joe Crosson, Howard Hughes, Lowell Thomas Sr. and Lowell Thomas Jr., Sam White, Don Sheldon, Brad Washburn, Wally Schirra, and Bill Anders. He re-creates for readers his firsthand experiences flying top-secret missions for the Air Force, viewing the devastation of the Good Friday Earthquake in Anchorage, and the challenges of starting his own helicopter company, to name just a few. His fascinating narrative is complemented by photographs from his personal archives.

Forty years ago, Buzz Aldrin became the second human, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. The event remains one of mankind’s greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. In the years since, millions more have had their Earth-centric perspective unalterably changed by the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon, the blackness of space behind him and his fellow explorer and the Eagle reflected in his visor. Describing the alien world he was walking upon, he uttered the words “magnificent desolation.” And as the astronauts later sat in the Eagle, waiting to begin their journey back home, knowing that they were doomed unless every system and part on board worked flawlessly, it was Aldrin who responded to Mission Control’s clearance to take off with the quip, “Roger. Understand. We’re number one on the runway.” The flight of Apollo 11 made Aldrin one of the most famous persons on our planet, yet few people know the rest of this true American hero’s story. In Magnificent Desolation, Aldrin not only gives us a harrowing first-person account of the lunar landing that came within seconds of failure and the ultimate insider’s view of life as one of the superstars of America’s space program, he also opens up with remarkable candor about his more personal trials–and eventual triumphs–back on Earth. From the glory of being part of the mission that fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge to reach the moon before the decade was out, Aldrin returned home to an Air Force career stripped of purpose or direction, other than as a public relations tool that NASA put to relentless use in a seemingly nonstop world tour. The twin demons of depression and alcoholism emerged–the first of which Aldrin confronted early and publicly, and the second of which he met with denial until it nearly killed him. He burned through two marriages, his Air Force career came to an inglorious end, and he found himself selling cars for a living when he wasn’t drunkenly wrecking them. Redemption came when he finally embraced sobriety, gained the love of a woman, Lois, who would become the great joy of his life, and dedicated himself to being a tireless advocate for the future of space exploration–not only as a scientific endeavor but also as a thriving commercial enterprise. These days Buzz Aldrin is enjoying life with an enthusiasm that reminds us how far it is possible for a person to travel, literally and figuratively. As an adventure story, a searing memoir of self-destruction and self-renewal, and as a visionary rallying cry to once again set our course for Mars and beyond, Magnificent Desolation is the thoroughly human story of a genuine hero.