The Mosquito flight sequences from the 1964 film '633 Squadron'. And yes, there is a suspicious white car in the background. It's a meme at this point.
In 1958 while in the Royal Air force, a team of us were sent on detachment from RAF Buckeburgh to RAF Sylt in northern Germany to do some aircraft modifications. There were two Mosquitos there belonging to the South African Air Force that were being used as target tugs.------I got a flight of about 20 minutes in one of them, my beret pulled down over my ears to reduce the noise, came back to earth simply breathless and partially deaf !
I worked as an aircraft mechanic at Biggin Hill airport when the film 633 Squadron was made although not filmed there we worked on the B25 Mitchel bomber for several weeks after the film was completed the three Mosquitoes provided an extreme flyby, they flew the entire length of the airfield no more than 5feet off the ground. A sight I will never forget
The flying sequences in the mountains were shot in the Cairngorms Mountains and about and the Mosquitoe(s) were based at RAF Kinloss for the filming. I was brought up just outside the small town of Forres which is about five miles from Kinloss and I remember as a child seeing a Mosquito flying over our farm, a couple of thousand feet up, every morning for about a week. A beautiful sight and and I can still see it now 60 or so years after the event.
@@colinbarron4 Dalcross (Inverness Airport) is about 20 miles north of Forres and the flight path at the time did not come near Forres as Kinloss was an operational RAF base. Whether or not the Mosquitoes were based at Kinloss that is where they came from as they were in a direct line from Kinloss.
@@mikeross4 i wrote a chapter on the film for my book 'Planes on Film.' My reference material was just about every book and article ever written about the film. All of these sources stated that the 3 Mossies used in the Scottish sequences were based at Dalcross in August 1963.
I was living in Watford, near Leavesden Aerodrome at the time of the film-making. It was great fun to watch them in formation come over the house and then to go up to Bovingdon to see them.
Nothing beats the old movies filmed with real planes. Battle of Britain tops the list. (mostly because I love Spitfires). 633 Squadron has great Mosquito footage (anything with Merlin's sounds great).
... filmed with real planes and cast who served in the War. Richard Todd, who played Commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters, was one of the first group of British soldiers who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day - 6th June 1944. Watch his face - especially his eyes - during the dambuster mission take-off sequence... his Wikipedia biography is VERY interesting.
Absolutely right. Movies from the last 20 years are complete fiction, all computer scenes, made by graphic designers with no knowledge of flying. I like Battle of Britain, Midway, Memphis Belle, Top Gun.
My Dad took me to see this when he was stationed in Krefeld, I think it was the first time I'd been to the cinema. The next day I was after a Mosquito so had him make Airfix ones, they were all I wanted. The movie theme was often on the radio back then and my Mum would call me in, my Mossies would then be out, lined up on the living room carpet. Almost 60 years later still in awe of that aircraft.
A great score too. Just saw Top Gun Maverick tonight. I believe the filmmakers were inspired by "633 Squadron." This film deserves great fame and fortune. Cruise has shown that heroism in film is possible, and audiences are craving it. Maverick deserves to be a monster box office success.
I lived in Garston, Watford, when this film was being made. Being a mad keen plane spotter, my mate and I (future best man, Colin Ellis) would cycle to Bovingdon to watch for any action from the road at the end of the main runway. We were lucky enough to see the 'crash' sequence being filmed, when they fast taxied a Mossie on the grass and retracted it's undercart. Previous to that time, Bovingdon was host to many RAF Ansons and a few Percival Princes. We had our ATC wing parade there (2F Squadron) and some of the Mossies were still parked around. We also cycled from Watford to Redhill, across London and back, for a couple of hours plane spotting! Happy days!
I first saw this film, when it was new, in 1963 at the cinema, having seen it lots of times since, I only noticed the Mini a couple of years ago when watching it on DVD.
Here in Sweden we had Mosquitos as "J30" nightfighters in the 50's. The groundcrew had to spray water over the aircraft at sunny days to avoid the wooden skin from cracking up.
Have just attended a talk by a group here in the UK who are building a new Mosquito incorporating parts remaining from a crashed one. No doubt it had many faults and short comings. But overall, especially given the dire shortage of aluminium and other materials at the time, this plane was a work of genius.
The late Cliff Robertson had his Private Pilots License, he had said "that only reason he took up acting was so he had money learn how to fly", first aircraft he learned to fly was a Piper Cub. Cliff also owned some vintage aircraft which included a super marine Spitfire but a can't remember what the Mark was.
My father did the aerial photography for this movie in his B-25 "Moviemaker" which now rests in Duxford. He said the mosquitoes had to throttle way back and the ol' B-25 was going flat out trying to keep up in the all the shots.
The guy playing Cliff Robertson's navigator was the same guy in 'The Great Escape' that couldn't stand being behind the wire any longer. He charged the wire and was climbing it when the German guards shot him.
Early stunt safety trick for crashlandings. Land normally with a smoke canister at the back going off, and retract the landing gear once you've almost come to a complete stop for dramatic effect.
Wow. My Farthing in law was one of the designers of the wings for the Mosquito. In Christchurch Dorset Then he was sent to Coventry and Halifax. (War Work). He witnessed the blitz on Coventry As time goes by: I worked with a Flight Sargent who fly them. Also a Flight mechanic. He told me that after the service. He had to go up for a test flight… The pilot had full clothes… he said I had shirt sleeves (frost bite) I worked for Halls Bros in Whitefield in the 1980’s (Halls Mentholiptus).. The factory, before the war was a CO-OP furniture Factory, requisitioned for war work. They made the Plywood frames for the Mossis
My Granddad was a fire man, He was There during the Blitz, it must have been bad, he hardly ever said anything about it(something to try and forget I suppose).
On an unrelated note- In basic in 1967 we had a full field inspection. I was almost incapacitated by a throat infection. A friend had some Hall's Mentholyptus and it saved my ass. So, what you helped produce was much appreciated. Great stuff. Still use it even now.
I remember as a small boy Watching this movie with my older brother in the theater! Ah the smell of the popcorn then and sound of the Merlin’s! Great era to be alive! It was a better time to be alive!
I was based at RAF Bovingdon when the film was being made. Mosquitos everywhere, some flying and others as realistic mockups. I was paid £5 to stand in front of a cardboard bridge while ‘633 sqn mosquitos,, practised bombing runs. Saw the film a few times, and I think my ,part, was cut out !!
'Cardboard bridge?' .I am wondering whether the film you participated in was actually 'Mosquito Squadron', filmed summer 1968 at Bovingdon. For this film an archway was constructed at Bovingdon and Mossies practised bombing runs against it.
I watched this,with my father on sauchihall st,in glasgow,when I was 6or 7,the second movie was the great escape. I woke up and fell in love with steve mcQeen,truimph motorcycles,aversion to all flying and barbed wire. but,love the m spitfire,and mozzy.
Back in the early 1980's I was at RAF Swanton Morley, which had Mossies during the war, and was a grass airfield. We had annual air displays and some years what was the last remaining flying mossie visited. It belonged to Rolls Royce.
wow, i have known this theme song from childhood, but never knew what movie it was from. i must have been around 4 or 5 when we saw this at the drive-in, and all i came away with was the catchy tune.
The really cheeky thing about this movie is that when the same company made Mosquito Squadron the bombing attack is taken from 633 Squadron. "Lets not bother with that bit - just use the 633 Squadron attack - no one will notice " we did !!!
MarsFKA Sorry to say, it was quite bad. I remembered one scene, where the model aircraft casts a shadow on the backdrop, for example. They probably just wanted to get the most out of the expensive flying scenes.
b17s were great planes did a fantastic job brought their crews home time after time but if you wanted to kick them nuts and slap them across the face and make them fear the sound of your planes then a flight of Mosquitoes was the answer the germans hated them because they always got the job done even the U.S. used them on spy missions in ww2 the b17 and the Mosquitoe did their jobs well along with all the brave crews
Does make me wonder why they did not build more and use in pin point targeted sorties say against oil making facilities. Bomber Harris and co too wedded to killing civilians.
@@cripplehawk drop tanks they could leave hours behind a bomb wing fly to Berlin with a bomb load mark the target fly home be asleep for 4hours before the heavies got back. According to a pilot who flew. With rockets and the regular 4 .303 and 4 20mm it had the broadside of a cruiser. One version had a rapid firing 6lbs artillery piece. Was faster than most anything else in the war didn't need a 6second water injection button. Not bad for a flying piece of furniture. In '48 china bought 200 planes and used them to stop a invasion flotilla of 1000 ships by sinking 500 of them. Bomb load without armament was 4000lbs B29's bomb load was 6000lbs to get the altitude for reducing loss in daylight raids. They could carry more but went for altitude instead.
LOL !! Co pilot / Navigator / bomb man just along for the ride. No checking of instruments, awareness of any sort, just sits there with a blank expression !
Great to see the compilation of Mosquito footage. They were super-fast, versatile, and maybe the best aircraft in the whole war. They could do almost everything a B-17 could do, do it faster, outrun the German aircraft, and pack a real punch. Shame they weren't used more throughout the theater, or by the Americans.
There are holes aircraft nuts such as myself can pick in the film since there were only 3 flying examples, all of different types available for the film. Let's just be grateful for what we have in terms of flying footage. The Imperial War Museum used to have a flight simulator which woould allow you to experience the Amiens Raid using the footage shot from the aircraft on the raid. I enjoyed that about 20 years ago.
There were actually five airworthy Mossies used in the film but in most shots there are only three aircraft. There is a single shot in the film where they have four Mossies airborne at the same time. Of the five airworthy Mossies four were B35s and one was a T3.
@@iainmcelhone2021 The B.35 Mosquitoes had clear perspex noses and side windows which were painted over for the film. They also had four dummy machine guns fitted. The T.3 was a dual control trainer with a 'solid' nose which usually did not carry any guns.For the film the T.3 was fitted with dummy guns.
It's a shame that almost no Mosquitos are in flying condition anymore. Those wooden frames gave them a hell of a lot of speed, but they didn't hold up to long-term stress, especially with the way those pilots were throwing them about.
that Mitchel bomber was parked at biggin hill and as a kid we got in side and sat at the front and back and pilot seat we was told to get out and found they riveted up the door but I remember a note on the front saying was inn film 633 squadron
I was at the Biggin Hill Air display to witness the last flight of these aircraft before they were pensioned off. Also watched English Electric Lightning beat up runway and do vertical climb with abs on. A day I shall always remember. !
Loved this film since 6 years old, first seeing it at cinema release; still have the 7" soundtrack EP somewhere. Have only just noticed the white Austin Mini in the background at 5:46 !
I forget the name of the book I read written by a copilot. He always wondered why the engineers put a tube for the pilot to piss in but not the copilot.
@asgrrr Well, I think they used all the flying examples they could find to make this movie. One "T.III" (trainer) and two "35" (bombers). They also had two taxiable "35's" which they destroyed, plus some statics in background. So, there wasn't many Mosquitos left even then. Now no flying examples exist. The "T III" was destroyed in a fatal crash and the "35's" are in museums.
Burning a mosquito is a SIN!!! And weird to see as my granddad got killed in one. He was in 107 squadron as a pilot & got it on his very last trip of his tour.
They actually burned TWO!!! Bloody vandals... One where they folded the undercarriage (filmed from two angles and used for two scenes) and one that crashed into a fuel truck.
At 5:45 as the bombs are being transported, a Mini goes past in the background! Also when they show cockpit shots during take off, the runways that appear behind them have broken white lines down the middle which are clearly not there when the planes are taxi-ing about before take off...still a great film though!
Mike Baldwin from Coronation Street and Shoey from Crossroads an all star cast. I don't know why the Spitfire got all the praise, give me the Mosquito and Hurricane anyday which incidentally shot down more enemy a/c 75% compared with 25% for the Spitfire.
Love the fact original Plexiglas nose has been painted over and dummy guns bolted on, isn't the yoke wrong for a fighter/bomber version , as well as crew access?
Christ even the camera angles are the same in Star Wars, the cockpit view, the camera on top of the AA gun, Lucas really did just set 633 squadron in space didn’t he?
Yes, but at that time there were still quite a lot of them around. I've read somewhere that that particular aircraft had been part of an A-bomb test (placed at a distance from "ground zero"), was slightly contaminated by radoactivity and would anyhow be scrapped. The formidable stunt pilot Paul Manz got the highest salary up until then for a single movie stunt to crash it. Also, most of the other B 17's in that movie were "drones". Modiefied to be radiocontrolled targets for missile tests.
It's ironic that the star, Cliff Robertson, was a qualified pilot, owned and flew a Spitfire and was denied flying in the film for insurance reasons! It's therefore no surprise that he looks at ease in the cockpit.
Well "slightly" enough to be painted for it's part in the film, flown by Mantz and salvaged to be scrapped... I've searched around a little more and found that I might have been wrong, stating that it was placed on ground in a test. Maybe, maybe not, since radio controlled B-17, loaded with instruments, also flew near, and even through, the mushroom cloud to study the effects.
