Masters of the Air
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Oxfordshire
Age: 70
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Drove past this morning, on way to Oxford. Certainly some temporary looking buildings on the near end of the runway (portacabins it seems) but nothing remotely resembling a bomber. 
Dulce et Decorum Est
Way back in 1988, much of the Oscar Best Picture winner, Rain Man, was being filmed in Cincinnati. I lived a block away from the Vernon Manor Hotel, where the cast resided and several scenes were filmed. I visited "The Vernon" (where The Beatles/"Bayuls" stayed in their first American tour in 1964, but what of that?) almost every evening. The barmaid had become a friend and she made the dryest and best martini in the Midwest, and she poured me plentiful "mistakes". Can't beat free martinis, am I correct? The hotel also provided an unparalleled gratis hors d'oeuvres selection: barbecued pork ribs and chicken wings, numerous cheeses, cold cuts, crackers, and all the other things which put $$$ signs in your cardiologist's eyes. Enough for a complete dinner, and that it was for me most nights of the week.
One soft springtime eve I strolled into the hotel; Lori (my bartendress friend) had saved me my customary seat at the bar. As she shook my nectar so as not to bruise it, she gestured with her eyes and a nod of her head to look at the corner table, which was a banquet set up which might seat, say, six people. Only two were there in that darkened corner. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise!
Shyness has never been my strong suit. I asked Lori to send the stars a drink and she complied, smiling with a mouth full of teeth. As she brushed against me on her way back behind the bar, she stuttered "They want you to join them for a drink!" And so I did, and not just for one.
Both men are short, five-sixish, I would guess. Both look very much as they do on celluloid. Both are intelligent and have great sense of humo(u)r. Both were generous and calm. It got drunk that night!
The high spot of the evening occurred when I excused myself and adjourned to the Gentleman's Room. As I was completing my (e)mission at the urinal, the floor above me buckled and collapsed. I was showered in gallons of malodorous liquid. Turns out that the room a floor above me was a duplicate bathroom and several of the urinals had been leaking, errr, human excretions for weeks or longer! Just my Irish luck, eh? (If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all, sure an' doncha know?)
Having heard the cacophonous collapse, the management, including the very nice Orthodox Jewish brothers who owned the hotel, rushed to my aid. I was escorted to a room where I showered and changed into some decent clothing procured from the hotel's lost and found. I was offered free drinks for life! (Never a wise move if the promisee has Oirsh roots!) Before I decided on that kind offer, I returned to the banquet table and my 120 minutes of fame.
No one was there! My drinking companions must've smelled the disaster! All good things must come to an end.
Years before I had appeared in a 1983 Burt Reynolds flic. Unlike Dustin, I did not win the Oscar for Best Actor! Yet there is a moral to my tale and it is this: The population of Abingdon, Bledlow, and surrounds need to be very careful. Hollywood will tear a place up, and you never know what's gonna hit ya when the ceiling caves in!
- Ed
One soft springtime eve I strolled into the hotel; Lori (my bartendress friend) had saved me my customary seat at the bar. As she shook my nectar so as not to bruise it, she gestured with her eyes and a nod of her head to look at the corner table, which was a banquet set up which might seat, say, six people. Only two were there in that darkened corner. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise!
Shyness has never been my strong suit. I asked Lori to send the stars a drink and she complied, smiling with a mouth full of teeth. As she brushed against me on her way back behind the bar, she stuttered "They want you to join them for a drink!" And so I did, and not just for one.
Both men are short, five-sixish, I would guess. Both look very much as they do on celluloid. Both are intelligent and have great sense of humo(u)r. Both were generous and calm. It got drunk that night!
The high spot of the evening occurred when I excused myself and adjourned to the Gentleman's Room. As I was completing my (e)mission at the urinal, the floor above me buckled and collapsed. I was showered in gallons of malodorous liquid. Turns out that the room a floor above me was a duplicate bathroom and several of the urinals had been leaking, errr, human excretions for weeks or longer! Just my Irish luck, eh? (If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all, sure an' doncha know?)
Having heard the cacophonous collapse, the management, including the very nice Orthodox Jewish brothers who owned the hotel, rushed to my aid. I was escorted to a room where I showered and changed into some decent clothing procured from the hotel's lost and found. I was offered free drinks for life! (Never a wise move if the promisee has Oirsh roots!) Before I decided on that kind offer, I returned to the banquet table and my 120 minutes of fame.
No one was there! My drinking companions must've smelled the disaster! All good things must come to an end.
Years before I had appeared in a 1983 Burt Reynolds flic. Unlike Dustin, I did not win the Oscar for Best Actor! Yet there is a moral to my tale and it is this: The population of Abingdon, Bledlow, and surrounds need to be very careful. Hollywood will tear a place up, and you never know what's gonna hit ya when the ceiling caves in!
- Ed
Last edited by cavuman1; 27th Apr 2021 at 21:10. Reason: verbiage
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Filming for Masters of the Air has started ? Alert 5
Filming for Masters of the Air has started
The anticipated sequel for Band of Brothers miniseries, Masters of the Air, has started filming in Britain.
Director Cary Fukunaga disclosed on Instagram that the first week of filming was done on Apr. 23.
Executive producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg built an air base set in Buckinghamshire for the filming.
For more information, hit the Source below
Source
Filming for Masters of the Air has started
The anticipated sequel for Band of Brothers miniseries, Masters of the Air, has started filming in Britain.
Director Cary Fukunaga disclosed on Instagram that the first week of filming was done on Apr. 23.
Executive producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg built an air base set in Buckinghamshire for the filming.
For more information, hit the Source below
Source
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Oxfordshire
Age: 70
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Searchlights over Abingdon.
Drove past old RAF Abingdon (Dalton Barracks) Friday evening on way home from oop north.
Saw powerful searchlights and flashes, by the time I got home there was qute a display going on.
Grabbed this pic from bedroom window!
Looked like they were also flashing bursts of light off of the clouds, I guess to mimic bomb explosions or flak?
Lots of bangs crashes and explosions Saturday evening too!
Spring premiere?
Playtone, the production firm behind the nine-episode series, says it will be shown on Apple TV "in the spring" – one insider suggesting it will run from the end of March till the end of May (possibly on Memorial Day).
Masters of the Air - new WW II TV Mini-Series
"Masters of the Air" - a nine-episode TV mini-series is scheduled to debut the 26th of January, 2024 on Apple TV.
Masters of the Air TV Series to Premier January 2024 on Apple TV (commemorativeairforce.org)
It's being done by the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman - the same team who did "Band of Brothers" and "Pacific".
IF it's half as good as "Band of Brothers" it should be a must see...
Masters of the Air TV Series to Premier January 2024 on Apple TV (commemorativeairforce.org)
Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name and scripted by John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.
IF it's half as good as "Band of Brothers" it should be a must see...
The following users liked this post:
"Masters of the Air" - a nine-episode TV mini-series is scheduled to debut the 26th of January, 2024 on Apple TV.
Masters of the Air TV Series to Premier January 2024 on Apple TV (commemorativeairforce.org)
It's being done by the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman - the same team who did "Band of Brothers" and "Pacific".
IF it's half as good as "Band of Brothers" it should be a must see...
Masters of the Air TV Series to Premier January 2024 on Apple TV (commemorativeairforce.org)
It's being done by the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman - the same team who did "Band of Brothers" and "Pacific".
IF it's half as good as "Band of Brothers" it should be a must see...
I’ve read the book, a very long book, a very good book. But there are many very difficult to read parts. It’s the fullest story of the Allied Air War I know of, including the bravery, the difficult moral decisions, the suffering, the deaths, the betrayals and brutality against them. Hard to imagine how everything could possibly be in the series, but the story of these courageous airmen deserves to be told.
I read the book "Band of Brothers" (granted, after I'd first seen the HBO mini-series). Although there are obviously a few discrepancies (and even with a 9-hour miniseries, they couldn't include everything), it's remarkably faithful to the book.
IMHO, "Band of Brothers" is one of the best - it not the best - WW II movie series ever. "Pacific" was good, but (again, IMHO) not nearly as good as "BoB".
I hope the team can return to their BoB form for this one.
The following 3 users liked this post by tdracer:
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,967
Received 2,865 Likes
on
1,228 Posts
One of the early trailers. They changed the name BTW.
One of the early trailers. They changed the name BTW.
https://youtu.be/PhmFFtjB2qY?si=OLlFCWVBUZkNnEhr
https://youtu.be/PhmFFtjB2qY?si=OLlFCWVBUZkNnEhr
That was just 'click bait' from a chancer hoping to cash in on the early curiosity about the TV series, which was first mooted by HBO several years ago.
The Apple TV series will concentrate mainly on the Eighth Air Force's 'Bloody' 100th Bomb Group (based at Thorpe Abbotts near Diss) during a period of heavy losses of its B-17Fs in the autumn of 1943.
Donald Miller's book, which concentrates on members of the 100BG, is published in the UK with the title Eighth Air Force and also covers the history of the whole force from its arrival in Britain in 1942 until VE-Day.
It's been a long time coming to the screens, my youngest son was an extra in it and the filming was 2 years ago.
I think, like with many streaming services, they have been eking out their products due to the writers and actors strike in the US.
I think, like with many streaming services, they have been eking out their products due to the writers and actors strike in the US.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,967
Received 2,865 Likes
on
1,228 Posts
Yes, filmed at Abingdon and they built some replica B-17 too.
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19...fordshire-set/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...sters-Air.html
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19...fordshire-set/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...sters-Air.html
My buddy showed me this photo last week of the goggles his dad was wearing along with his flak helmet. Lt Alan Gould was a B17 bombardier with the 338th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb group. You can see a slight dent near the right bridge of the nose. An 8 mm round took out the right lens and was recovered in his helmet. Good illustration of what you see in that old trailer. They will eventually be donated to a museum.
My buddy showed me this photo last week of the goggles his dad was wearing along with his flak helmet. Lt Alan Gould was a B17 bombardier with the 338th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb group. You can see a slight dent near the right bridge of the nose. An 8 mm round took out the right lens and was recovered in his helmet. Good illustration of what you see in that old trailer. They will eventually be donated to a museum.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,967
Received 2,865 Likes
on
1,228 Posts
Some of the aircraft guns used as defensive were 7.9mm, so yes is possible LB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...g_World_War_II
https://www.historylearningsite.co.u...ight-fighters/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...g_World_War_II
The Messerschmitt Bf-110G was a very successful night fighter. With a top speed of 342 mph and a maximum ceiling of 26,000 feet, it could easily get among a formation of bombers. Equipped with 2 x 30mm and 2 x 20mm cannon with a 7.9mm machine gun, it also carried a formidable weapons load.