Movie Ships

[PeterL]

Recent threads have inspired me to take another look at an area of modelling I haven't considered for a few years. Viz: Movie Ships.

I have a copy of the excelent Wylam drawings of the Thomas Morse/Boeing MB3 which I believe were published in the late forties, but only two photographs of the type..Can anyone point me at a good source of photographs for this and other movie ships?

DAGADAGADAGA

Peter

I have a book on the great movie stunt pilots (that may even be its title) which has a great many photos. Don't know how many are of the MB-3, but I'll check.

Incidentally, there's a great story about Howard Hughes and the MB-3 which I may post in its own thread, since it also relates to a number of other discussions about rotary-engined aircraft.

Here's the citation as promised:

Wynne, H. Hugh: "The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies." 1987, Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co.

(The address of the above is/was 713 South Third West, Missoula MT 59801)

There are several pictures of Morses, including a nice three-quarter shot of a Tommy that was crashed for "The Dawn Patrol."

I wondered about the MB-3/S-4 thing. Wynne never refers to either the S-3 or S-4, yet all of his references to Tommys talk about rotary engines. Am I to assume that the MB-3 was a radial-engined variant? Wynne was one of the founders of the US Cross & Cockade Society, so presumably he knew the difference.

[PeterL]

Thanks for that, I shall follow it up..Yes the MB3 is quite a different beast, greatly influenced by the Spad and with a Wright built Hisso nailed to the front..Americas first true persuit ship and one that would probably have proved its worth in 1919. As it was it had to make do with a Hollywood
career..
thanks again

Peter

If the MB-3 has an in-line engine, then Wynne definitely errs when he refers to the Thomas-Morse as MB-3: all of the photos and most of the anecdotal text refer to rotary-engined Tommys -- in other words, S-3 or S-4 models.

[PeterL]

Still and all Michael I don't think I'd want to critisize such a book on those grounds. If it's written from the stand point of movie history then aviation buffs such as you and me must make allowances for "Hollywood Hokum".

cheers

Peter L

Peter:
I did what I should have done originally: looked up the MB-3 and then re-read Wynne's book. The MB-3 is a rather hunnish-looking bus, isn't it? (Reminds me a bit of the Sopwith Dolphin.) No comparison at all with the Tommy. I think the reason I was confused is that Wynne never actually refers to the Tommy as the S-4; he refers to Thomas-Morse MB-3s and Thomas-Morse Scouts. The latter, I'm assuming, are S-4s. (Compounding the problem is the fact that there is only one photo of an MB-3 in Wynne's book, and it's from directly behind.)

Are you aware of the MB-3 being used in any films besides "Wings"?