name this (NFB?) movie about building a plane - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

mason · 2007-04-01, 12:45 PM

I saw this film on TV in the early 90's, and remember it being very entertaining. I was hoping someone could help me identify it.

It revolved around an inventor's attempt to build a cheap one man fighter plane. I remember the inventor making some arguement about how it would be much cheaper to attack the enemy with 2,000 of these versus a multi-million dollar jet. It was basically two guys on a farm, and the various problems they encountered trying to make this crazy dog of a plane airborne (which I don't believe happened). If it wasn't, it should have been a mockumentary.

Bent · 2007-04-01, 01:11 PM

http://www.onf.ca/trouverunfilm/fich...v=h&lg=en&exp=

from Carman, MB?

stampeder · 2007-04-01, 01:55 PM

The Manitoba guy's masterpiece was the complete rebuild of a Japanese fighter plane. The documentary tells how he found the carcass in a jungle in SE Asia, found a wartime engineer in Japan that had saved original blueprints and provided info and guidance to him, and then follows the meticulous rebuild.

When it was all done, he flew it down to the U.S. where some idiot sabotaged the engine right before an air show because it was apparently okay for Nazi restorations to fly but not Japanese ones. Thankfully the Canadians fixed it and got it airborne.

The guy got a notion of a little fighter plane in his head but it was too far fetched, kind of like sending 2,000 soldiers into battle with bows and arrows when the opponent has a dozen state-of-the-art tanks. He was ridiculed and his prototype didn't have the power to take off.

mason · 2007-04-02, 11:44 AM

Thanks Bent/stampeder....thats the one!! I'd recognize that fuselage anywhere. The idea was kind of crazy, but at some level you got to admire the guy for even giving it a shot.

I was never quite sure if the whole thing was a put-on either... makes it even more curious that it was a real documentary.

IronCatt · 2007-04-03, 02:34 PM

It could have worked. Anyone remember the Biafran Airforce?

The following is from a comment on the recent air raids in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers:

"Swedish aviator and adventurer Carl Gustaf von Rosen entered the war on the Biafran side, but the only aircraft they could afford to counter the Nigerian Air Force, equipped with the latest Soviet bombers, were MFI-9s - tiny Swedish trainers. Equipped with light rockets, the MFI-9s did not cause major damage, but flying from tiny jungle airstrips, they destroyed several Nigerian jets on the ground. With better weapons and tactics, they could have been more successful, though.

The Biafran “air force” proved almost impossible to destroy, however. Flying from improvised airstrips, and moved by trucks through jungle tracks, they could not be found from the air. They flew too low to be hit by anti-aircraft weapons, and small-arms fire tended to go straight through the aircraft without causing major damage."

stampeder · 2007-04-03, 09:39 PM

I get your point, but the "Defender" was supposed to be an air-to-air interceptor craft that would counter Soviet Bear and Blinder bombers that would be traveling much higher and much faster, so the comparison isn't all together applicable. It was a strange idea, plane and simple. Couldn't resist the pun...

mason · 2007-04-04, 06:16 PM

Even if you could make a case for the 'overwhelming' airpower.... next step would be convincing pilots that that it wasn't just a massive kamakaze run. If I had to fly aircraft in a war, I'd personally be much more comfortable in a nice F18 or A10... with a lots of nice shielding around my body.

2007-04-01, 12:45 PM	#1
mason Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Greater Torana Area Posts: 118	name this (NFB?) movie about building a plane I saw this film on TV in the early 90's, and remember it being very entertaining. I was hoping someone could help me identify it. It revolved around an inventor's attempt to build a cheap one man fighter plane. I remember the inventor making some arguement about how it would be much cheaper to attack the enemy with 2,000 of these versus a multi-million dollar jet. It was basically two guys on a farm, and the various problems they encountered trying to make this crazy dog of a plane airborne (which I don't believe happened). If it wasn't, it should have been a mockumentary.

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2007-04-01, 01:11 PM	#2
Bent Veteran Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: MB Posts: 1,788	http://www.onf.ca/trouverunfilm/fich...v=h&lg=en&exp= from Carman, MB?

2007-04-01, 01:55 PM	#3
stampeder OTA Forum Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North Delta, BC (96Av x 116St) Posts: 23,338	The Manitoba guy's masterpiece was the complete rebuild of a Japanese fighter plane. The documentary tells how he found the carcass in a jungle in SE Asia, found a wartime engineer in Japan that had saved original blueprints and provided info and guidance to him, and then follows the meticulous rebuild. When it was all done, he flew it down to the U.S. where some idiot sabotaged the engine right before an air show because it was apparently okay for Nazi restorations to fly but not Japanese ones. Thankfully the Canadians fixed it and got it airborne. The guy got a notion of a little fighter plane in his head but it was too far fetched, kind of like sending 2,000 soldiers into battle with bows and arrows when the opponent has a dozen state-of-the-art tanks. He was ridiculed and his prototype didn't have the power to take off.

2007-04-02, 11:44 AM	#4
mason Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Greater Torana Area Posts: 118	Thanks Bent/stampeder....thats the one!! I'd recognize that fuselage anywhere. The idea was kind of crazy, but at some level you got to admire the guy for even giving it a shot. I was never quite sure if the whole thing was a put-on either... makes it even more curious that it was a real documentary.

2007-04-03, 02:34 PM	#5
IronCatt Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kitchener, ON Posts: 204	It could have worked. Anyone remember the Biafran Airforce? The following is from a comment on the recent air raids in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers: "Swedish aviator and adventurer Carl Gustaf von Rosen entered the war on the Biafran side, but the only aircraft they could afford to counter the Nigerian Air Force, equipped with the latest Soviet bombers, were MFI-9s - tiny Swedish trainers. Equipped with light rockets, the MFI-9s did not cause major damage, but flying from tiny jungle airstrips, they destroyed several Nigerian jets on the ground. With better weapons and tactics, they could have been more successful, though. The Biafran “air force” proved almost impossible to destroy, however. Flying from improvised airstrips, and moved by trucks through jungle tracks, they could not be found from the air. They flew too low to be hit by anti-aircraft weapons, and small-arms fire tended to go straight through the aircraft without causing major damage."

2007-04-03, 09:39 PM	#6
stampeder OTA Forum Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North Delta, BC (96Av x 116St) Posts: 23,338	I get your point, but the "Defender" was supposed to be an air-to-air interceptor craft that would counter Soviet Bear and Blinder bombers that would be traveling much higher and much faster, so the comparison isn't all together applicable. It was a strange idea, plane and simple. Couldn't resist the pun...

2007-04-04, 06:16 PM	#7
mason Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Greater Torana Area Posts: 118	Even if you could make a case for the 'overwhelming' airpower.... next step would be convincing pilots that that it wasn't just a massive kamakaze run. If I had to fly aircraft in a war, I'd personally be much more comfortable in a nice F18 or A10... with a lots of nice shielding around my body.