mustanglover wrote:
Question about this picture for those of you who have seen prop dings before and are familiar.
Why are the prop tips in the picture curled forward? Would that not mean that the aircraft was stationary at best or perhaps moving backwards? Can I assume that it is evidence that the aircraft pivoted around the main gear wheels and the prop arc was actually moving backwards while the tail was moving up? Would that not indicate that either the aircraft was chocked or the brakes were locked up causing the aircraft to pivot around the wheel axles?
Some other interesting questions:
1) Why would Rod Lewis provide aircraft to support any kind of Hollywood movie? He is independently wealthy and clearly does not need the money to support his operations. AFAIK, he has never supported a movie in the past, why would he start now?
2) Why would they film a "Reno-type" air racing movie at a major international airport 1200 miles from the races? Movie sets are very expensive - both in terms of set-up and stopping potential use and/or traffic from the affected area being filmed. Why stop aviation traffic at such a busy place as San Antonio international airport? This makes no sense.
3) Why would Hollywood travel so far to get the film shot? Steve Hinton could provide a Bearcat at Chino, or the CAF So Cal wing could provide one at Camarillo, California - both of which are within a 1.5 hour drive from Hollywood. Why go to Texas for a shot and/or plane which is readily available in Southern California?
4) Why is the Bearcat angled the way it is? The angle of the fuselage is greatly off the taxiway heading. Even if the pilot of the Bearcat was "S-turning" during taxiing, like normal, the longitudinal axis of the aircraft should be no more than about 30 degrees off of taxiway heading. To me, that looks like the Bearcat was set at an angle on the taxiway, perhaps an engine run-up or something. A run-up would appear to be consistent with what I explained earlier about the prop tips curling forward as opposed to backwards.
Lotsa questions - something here smells fishey and doesn't add up.
