Up, Up & Away: Flight in the Movies Quiz

Answer: Twelve O'Clock High

"Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) is often ranked among the best aviation movies ever. The story is not just about killing the enemy but the anguish of a commander sending his comrades to their death day after day. The flight sequences are realistic, often using actual combat footage. Gregory Peck, himself a bomber pilot during the war, makes the cockpit scenes authentic. If you haven"t already seen this, do so immediately.


"Dive Bomber" is a 1941 movie with Errol Flynn as a pilot in the Pacific. Also from 1941, "A Yank in the RAF" features Tyrone Power as a pilot ferrying planes across the Atlantic prior to America's entry in the war. In "Eagle Squadron" from 1942, Robert Stack joins the Royal Air Force shortly before Pearl Harbor.

Answer: The Blue Max

"The Blue Max" (1966) is known for its spectacular dogfights, using impressive replicas of period aircraft, including the Pfalz D III. The story line is not quite as spectacular but nevertheless respectable as Peppard's character encounters conflict from aristocratic officers who show disdain for his common background.

The 1971 release, "Zeppelin" is about a fictitious raid by a Zeppelin airship which features air combat scenes use replica airplanes made for "The Blue Max". The 1958 "Lafayette Escadrille" with Tab Hunter is about American pilots who volunteered with the French prior to America's entry into the war. "Mosquito Squadron" (1970) is about a WW II RAF Squadron"s attacks on the Germans.

Answer: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

To be correct, the full title of this 1965 movie is "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes". It features a large cast with many stars, as teams from various countries compete to cross the Channel. For aviation-lovers, the authentic replica airplanes are the real stars, despite some other anachronistic mistakes in the movie.

Robert Redford plays "The Great Waldo Pepper" in 1975 is about an American barnstormer after the first World War. The 2006 feature "Flyboys" is about US pilots serving in WW I. "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" with William Holden and Grace Kelly is a 1954 film about air combat and romance in the Korean War.

Answer: Tora! Tora! Tora!

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" had an all star cast and at least two directors, American and Japanese. The film contrasts the meticulous Japanese preparations for the attack with the arrogant American dismissal of the warning signs. Excellent flight scenes use replicas of Japanese planes including A6M Zeros, Kate torpedo bombers and Val bombers as well as American P-40 Warhawks, PBY Catalina and others. A B-17 Flying Fortress crashed during filming and the footage was included in the final cut. "Tora! Tora! Tora!" won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects.

The 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" with Ben Affleck was also a box office smash, but was more of a buddy story with both buddies loving the same girl. The 1953 "From Here to Eternity" with Burt Lancaster is another excellent flick set in Pearl Harbor. It too is more of a love story set on the cusp of war. Finally "1941", released in 1979, is a comedy starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroid preparing for the defense of California in the weeks following the Pearl Harbor attack. Funny but not much flying.

Answer: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson star in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" which is based on an account written by one of Doolittle's Raiders. The movie follows the B-25 crews through training to the carrier take-off and raid over Tokyo.

"Flight of the Phoenix" (1995) shows survivors of a desert plane crash who struggle to turn the wreckage into a flyable aircraft. The 1980 film "Final Countdown" is a science fiction fantasy in which a contemporary aircraft carrier is taken back in time to Pearl Harbor shortly before the Japanese attack. "Aces High" is a 1976 movie about a young British flying officer assigned to the the German front during WW I.

Answer: Battle of Britain

The "Battle of Britain" featured a stellar cast of both actors and aircraft. Sir Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Sir Laurance Olivier are just a few of the box office favorites in the film.

On the aviation side, over 100 period planes were used including over two dozen Spitfires and a half-dozen Hawker Hurricanes. On the German side some Heinkels, Messerschmidts, and Hispano Buchon. Adding to the realism, ground scenes were filmed at the airfield at Duxford where they actually burned a WW II hangar for the movie.

The other choices are all excellent aviation movies, just not about the subject. "Flying Leathernecks" (1951) features John Wayne as a Marine Corps pilot at Guadalcanal. "Wing and a Prayer" (1944) stars Don Ameche and Dana Andrews on a carrier at the Battle of Midway. Finally "633 Squadron" is a 1964 film with Cliff Robertson about the RAF squadron attacking a German rocket fuel factory in Norway.

Answer: Strategic Air Command

Jimmy Stewart portrays a baseball player in the Air Force Reserve who is recalled to active duty. Aerial shots of the B-36 and B-47 are simply beautiful. Stewart, who was a really a bomber pilot in WW II, gives a realistic portrayal of a pilot flying an airplane being constantly alert and making numerous minor corrections instead of dramatic movements as he is forced to crash land a damaged B-36.

"Only Angels Have Wings" is a 1939 movie with Cary Grant about pilots flying the mail in a remote part of the Andes. Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic and arrogant airline pilot in the 2012 movie "Flight". In "Air America", Mel Gibson plays a pilot in the covert CIA airline operating during the Viet Nam war.

Answer: The High and the Mighty

Ernest Gann actually wrote the screenplay in addition to this aviation-disaster novel, "The High and the Mighty". John Wayne plays a past-his-prime co-pilot on an ill-fated trans-Pacific passenger flight. The story line is so memorable that it became the basis for many knock-offs, including the 1980 "Airplane".

"Executive Decision" is a 1996 movie about the in-flight rescue of an airliner seized by terrorists. Also from 1996, "Fly Away Home" is about a father and daughter who fly an ultralight to lead a flock of geese. "A Guy Named Joe" from 1943 is about a WW II pilot who is killed and becomes a guardian angel who coaches another young pilot.

Answer: Always

Excellent flying scenes abound as Richard Dreyfuss stars as a dare-devil pilot who dies while fighting a fire. He becomes an angel assigned to coach a young pilot who is taking his place both with the flying service and his girlfriend.

"The Aviator" is 2004 picture about the life of aviator Howard Hughes. The Best Picture of 1929 is the silent film "Wings" (released in 1927) features awesome flight scenes using a variety of contemporary planes. "The Big Lift" (1950) shows the story of the Berlin air lift.

Answer: Top Gun

Tom Cruise and Navy Aircraft star in this over-the-top film about a pilot being assigned to the Navy's Fighter Weapons School at Miramar Naval Air Station. While the surrounding story leaves much to be desired, the carrier and flying scenes with F-14 Tomcats and F-5 Tigers pretending to be MiG-28s make the movie one to watch.

"Iron Eagle" in 1986 is another movie with a story that stretches believability but contains some nice shots of F-16 Falcons. "Sky Fighters" is a little known 2005 movie in which a French Mirage 2000 vanishes from an international aviation exhibition. "Hells Angles" is Howard Hughes' 1930 extravaganza and has some monumental flying scenes scattered among the otherwise bland movie.