|
Wings In The Dark
''Wings in the Dark'' is a 1935 film directed by James Flood and starring Myrna Loy and Cary Grant and focusing on a daring woman aviator and an inventor thrust into a desperate situation. ''Wings in the Dark'' was produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. The film was the first that Loy and Grant made together, although Loy's biographer Emily Leider says that ''Wings in the Dark'' "wastes their talents and prompts an unintentional laugh fest."Leide2011, p. 151./ref> The film remains notable as a rare movie depiction of a blind protagonist (played by Grant) during the 1930s, and is also known for its accomplished aerial photography directed by Dewey Wrigley. Plot Skywriter and stunt pilot Sheila Mason (Myrna Loy) who has to work as a barnstormer because women were not allowed in other aviation fields, is attracted to ace pilot Ken Gordon (Cary Grant). Ken is trying to perfect instrument flying (flying "blind"), with his own design of an autopilot. He has devoted four years to perfecti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Flood
James Joseph Flood (1895-1953) was an American film director. Born in New York City, Flood became an assistant director with Biograph in 1912 and was active through 1952. Career When working on ''The Swellhead'', Flood decided he wanted to change a scene. He told his plan to actor James Gleason who was also an accomplished playwright and he re-wrote the scene. Actress Marion Shilling then had to quickly learn and execute the new dialogue. "I was a fast study, memorized the scene in a few minutes and we did the scene in one take. Mr. Flood put his arms around me and said, 'You g.d. little trouper.'"Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC: 1998. p. 205. Personal life Fellow director William Beaudine was his longtime friend and brother-in-law; actor and producer Bobby Anderson was his nephew (Bobby's mother was James's wife's sister). Death Flood died of complications after surgery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allowing the operator to focus on broader aspects of operations (for example, monitoring the trajectory, weather and on-board systems). When present, an autopilot is often used in conjunction with an autothrottle, a system for controlling the power delivered by the engines. An autopilot system is sometimes colloquially referred to as ''"George"'' (e.g. ''"we'll let George fly for a while"''). The etymology of the nickname is unclear: some claim it is a reference to inventor George De Beeson, who patented an autopilot in the 1930s, while others claim that Royal Air Force pilots coined the term during World War II to symbolize that their aircraft technically belonged to King George VI. First autopilots In th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Mantz
Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Mantz (the name he used throughout his life) was born in Alameda, California, the son of a school principal, and was raised in nearby Redwood City, California. He developed his interest in flying at an early age; as a young boy, his first flight on fabricated canvas wings was aborted when his mother stopped him as he tried to launch off the branch of a tree in his yard. In 1915, at age 12, he attended the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and witnessed the world-famous Lincoln Beachey make his first ever flight in his new monoplane, the Lincoln Beachey Special. Mantz took his first flying lesson at age 16 using money that he made from driving a hearse during the influenza epidemic of 1919. Although he had accumulated hours towards h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lockheed Vega
The Lockheed Vega is an American five- to seven-seat high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-range design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in one, and Wiley Post used his to prove the existence of the jet stream after having flown around the world twice. Design and development Designed by John Knudsen Northrop and Gerald Vultee, both of whom would later form their own companies, the aircraft was originally intended to serve with Lockheed's own airline routes. They set out to build a four-passenger (plus pilot) aircraft that was not only rugged but also one of the fastest aircraft of its era. Using a wooden monocoque fuselage, plywood-covered cantilever wings and the best engine available, the Vega delivered on the promise of speed. The fuselage was built from sheets of plywood, ski ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Travel Air 4000
The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH were open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Travel Air produced more aircraft than any other American manufacturer, including over 1,000 biplanes. While an exact number is almost impossible to ascertain due to the number of conversions and rebuilds, some estimates for Travel Air as a whole range from 1,200 to nearly 2,000 aircraft.Wilkinson, 28 February 2014, pp.? Design and development Design and development The Travel Air Model A was engineered chiefly by Lloyd Stearman, with input from Travel Air co-founders Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna, and Bill Snook and could trace its ancestry back to the Swallow New Swallow biplane. The Travel Air, however, replaced the New Swallow's wooden fuselage structure with a welded steel tube. An interim design, the Winstead Special, was developed by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lockheed Model 8 Sirius
The Lockheed Model 8 Sirius was a single-engined, propeller-driven monoplane designed and built by Jack Northrop and Gerard Vultee while they were engineers at Lockheed in 1929, at the request of Charles Lindbergh. Two versions of the same basic design were built for the United States Air Force, one made largely of wood with a fixed landing gear, and one with a metal skin and retractable landing gear, designated Y1C-25 and Y1C-23, respectively. Its basic role was intended to be as a utility transport. History A total of 15 Sirius aircraft were constructed in 1929 and 1930. The first and best known Sirius was bought by Lindbergh, and in 1931, as NR-211, it was retrofitted to be a float plane."Lockheed Sirius "Tingmissartoq", Charles A. Lindbergh." ''Smithsonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Born and raised in Atchison, Kansas, and later in Des Moines, Iowa, Earhart developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane (accompanying pilot Wilmer Stultz), for which she achieved celebrity status. In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham McNamee
Thomas Graham McNamee (July 10, 1888 – May 9, 1942) was an American radio broadcaster, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade. He originated play-by-play sports broadcasting for which he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. Early life and career Graham McNamee's father, John B. McNamee, was an attorney and legal advisor to President Grover Cleveland's cabinet, and his mother, Anne, was a homemaker, who also sang in a church choir. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, McNamee had early aspirations of being an opera singer. He studied voice as a youth and sang in churches, and in 1922 gave a concert in Aeolian Hall, New York. In 1922, while serving jury duty in New York City, he visited the studios of radio station WEAF en route to the courthouse and, on a whim, went to audition as a singer. Someone noticed his voice and asked him to speak through a microphone. He wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt McHugh
Matthew O. McHugh (January 22, 1894 – February 22, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 200 films between 1931 and 1955, primarily in small cameo parts. Career McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a stock theatre company and, as a young child, he performed on stage. His brother, Frank, who went on to become part of the Warner Bros. stock company in the 1930s and 1940s, and sister Kitty performed an act with him by the time he was fourteen years old, but the family quit the stage around 1930. His brother Ed became an agent in New York. McHugh made his Broadway debut in Elmer Rice's '' Street Scene'' in 1929, along with his brother Ed, and also appeared in ''Swing Your Lady'' in 1936. Despite his actual origins, McHugh usually performed his roles with a Brooklyn accent, and was often cast as characters explicitly from Brooklyn. In '' Star Spangled Rhythm'' (1941), his one scene is a protracted monologue during the climactic "Old Glor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russell Hopton
Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters from the city. Hopton directed the films ''Song of the Trail'' (1936) and '' Black Gold'' (1936). He died of an overdose of sleeping pills in North Hollywood, California. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. Selected filmography *''Ella Cinders'' (1926) - Studio Actor (uncredited) *'' Call of the Flesh'' (1930) - Captain Enrique Vargas *''College Lovers'' (1930) - Eddie Smith *''Remote Control'' (1930) - Frank *''Min and Bill'' (1930) - Alec Johnson *''New Moon'' (1930) - Dimitri (uncredited) *''The Criminal Code'' (1930) - State's Attorney (uncredited) * ''Desert Vengeance'' (1931) - Inspector (uncredited) *''Dance, Fools, Dance'' (1931) - Whitey *''The Miracle Woman'' (1931) - Bill Welford *''The Star Witness'' (1931) - D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King (director), Henry King's ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). Early life Dean Jeffries Jagger (or Dean Ida Jagger) was born in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Columbus Grove or Lima, Ohio. Growing up on a farm, he wanted to act, and practiced oratory on cows while working. He later won several oratory competitions. At age 14, he worked as an orderly at a sanatorium.Dean Jagger Got Start Denouncing 'Demon Rum' Hopper, Hedda. ''Los Angeles Times'', February 26, 1950: D1. He dropped out of school several times before finally attending Wabash College. While there he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and played football. He dropped out in his second year, realizing he was not suited to an academic life. At age 17, he taught all eight grades in a rural elementary school, before heading to Chicago. He stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roscoe Karns
Roscoe, also spelled Rosco or Roscow, may refer to: People * Roscoe (name) Places United States * Roscoe, California (other) *Roscoe Township (other) * Roscoe, Georgia, an unincorporated community *Roscoe, Illinois, a village *Roscoe, Minnesota, a city * Roscoe, Goodhue County, Minnesota, an unincorporated community *Roscoe, Missouri, a village * Roscoe, Montana, a settlement * Roscoe, Nebraska, an unincorporated community and census-designated place *Roscoe, New York, a hamlet *Roscoe, Pennsylvania, a borough *Roscoe, South Dakota, a city *Roscoe, Texas, a town *Roscoe Village, a neighborhood in North Center, Chicago, Illinois *Roscoe Village (Coshocton, Ohio) * Roscoe Independent School District, Texas Canada *Roscoe River, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, Canada *Roscoe Glacier, Queen Mary Land, Antarctica Other uses * Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles, a popular California restaurant chain * Roscoe Wind Farm, Roscoe, Texas * ROSCO, an acronym for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
