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Old 16th Feb 2024, 17:59
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treadigraph
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Interesting... this Thunderbirds film just popped up, was rather taken by the Tiger Moth sequence starting at around 13 minutes - combination of model and real life use of G-ANFM, a picture of which appeared in Alan Bramson's Tiger Moth Story "painted in a garish scheme for a film" or some such caption! Now I know!


Blimey - Tiger was flown by Joan Hughes and wound up with an unsuccessful prosecution:
The fictional M104 motorway was represented by the then-unfinished M40.The Tiger Moth's near-miss with the bridge was filmed between Junctions 4 and 5 at Lane End on the High Wycombe Bypass. Before this sequence was filmed, the Ministry of Transport and local police had told the crew that for the stunt to be performed legally the plane's wheels had to remain in contact with the ground while it passed under the bridge. During one of the takes, a crosswind sprang up and the drag from the dummies caused Hughes to fear that she would lose control if the plane connected with the motorway. She therefore stayed airborne, clearing the bridge by nine feet (2.7 m) as originally intended. During another take, the continuing crosswind necessitated another glide, angering the Ministry of Transport official who was supervising the shoot and leading to the arrests of Hughes and Foster.

Hughes was charged with seven counts of dangerous flying and Foster with three of aiding and abetting. However, their trial at Aylesbury Crown Court did not take place until March 1968, by which time production had ended. After a two-day hearing, during which the jury viewed the finished film, the defendants were found not guilty. Commenting on his acquittal, which was reported in the Daily Express with the headline "Under The Bridge Goes Lady Penelope", Foster said that the incident had "opened the way for much greater realism in filmmaking." Hughes remarked that the stunt marked the first time in her career that she had been afraid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_6

Last edited by treadigraph; 16th Feb 2024 at 18:11.
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