Tigres Voadores

Here is a movie straight out of the annals of World War Two. The Japanese Empire was sweeping through Asia and destroying large parts of mainland China. Few of their adversaries were able to stop them, but one unit made history, by encountering them over the skies of China. In 1940-41 General Claire Chennault formed a mercenary group of American Flighter pilots to combat the invading Japanese. The movie based on their exploits is called " Flying Tigers " and star's John Wayne as Capt. Jim Gordon. Although an America propaganda film, it was designed to stimulate America's involvement in the war. Later, it came to symbolize America's contribution to the multi-national effort to fight the Japanese. The movie is in Black and White, crude, coarse and blatantly patriotic. Still it gave a boost to morale at a time when things were not going well for the U.S. or China. As a result with the additional cast of John Carroll, Paul Kelly, Gordon Jones and Edmund MacDonald as 'Blackie Bales' the movie succeeds in creating a rousing yarn of heroic young men and the niche they created over the Asian skies. ****

Yes it's a propaganda piece; yes it's a bit cheesy; yes it's not accurate. What did you expect it's a Republic film and made for entertainment in a very dark time of our history: the beginning of WW2 when things weren't going so well.There is also the issue of security. We couldn't afford to name names and be historically accurate without spilling the beans to our enemies. Imagine laying out the entire contingent, personal conflicts, equipment and order of battle just so you could say in the middle of a war that your got it historically accurate. You must view such films in that context and so Flying Tigers turns up pretty well. The flying sequences were nominated for Academy Awards and were great for that day and age.I was especially intrigued by the twin engine transport which turns out to be a failed one off design from the early 1930's which was used for ground shots and model shots. Here's the scoop from Wikipedia.

The transport was the XC-12 1933 with two 525hp Wright Cyclone engines; span: 55'0" length: 42'0" load: 3000#. It was an all-metal; triple biplane tail; *partly-retracting gear, which extended automatically when the throttle was closed. Funded by local Greek restaurateurs as a promotional aircraft, and constructed with help from University of California students. US patent #1,745,600 issued to Socrates H Capelis, of El Cerrito, in 1930 (a modified application for patent of the design with a half-span dorsal wing and two more engines appears in 1932). The main spar was bolted together, and much of the skin attached with P-K screws rather than rivets. These tended to vibrate loose, requiring tightening or replacing every few flights. Promotional tours were soon abandoned, and its career ended as a movie prop, appearing in ground roles* in several motion pictures ("Five Came Back" 1939, "Flying Tigers" 1942, others) before reportedly being scrapped c.1943. * Flying shots in films were of a model; the plane itself was grounded by the studio's insurance company.

Johnmcmd

I am a real sucker for some of the old Republic films--particularly the wartime films. Yes, I know they are NOT artistic masterpieces and the movies of course take advantage of many cinema clichés BUT they also deliver wonderful, if somewhat low-brow, entertainment.

Despite John Wayne being billed as the lead, he is in fact somewhat of a background figure during much of the movie. Instead, the main focus seems to be on the incredibly glib and cocky John Carrol. He's a jerk and he's terribly selfish but boy can he fly. And, Wayne, being an old pal of Carrol's knows that down deep Carrol will prove himself in the end.

Along the way, we are treated to a liberal dose of the nobility of our Chinese comrades in arms as well as the inherent decency of our volunteer pilots. While all basically true, it has all the expected touches of a WWII American propaganda film. For me, that's not really a bad thing, as this film and others like it succeed in being great entertainment. In fact, because of this, I have seen this film several times. It's not exactly deep or sophisticated, but sometimes we NEED a film we can just enjoy and not think too deeply about.

Yes, this is a second-rate John Wayne war film (which probably makes it a third or fourth-rate movie for some). Its story resembles a Pat O'Brien/James Cagney military actioner of the thirties, or maybe even the Spencer Tracy/Clark Gable flight movie TEST PILOT, more than it does the real story of the Flying Tigers. Wayne plays the paternalistic leader always telling the hot shot to play with the team; ironically, it was because the Army Air Force wanted to deflate the cowboy attitude and emphasize team work that the real Flying Tigers got disbanded. Despite the corn and cliches, Wayne and the movie are lovable. Like all war movies made between 1942-1945, it's also an eye-opening time capsule.

Being born in 1939 I grew up watching all the John Wayne movies and remember quite well the impact this film had on me and eventually my chosen profession as a pilot. The question that always comes to mind whenever I see the film is; Who built the P-40 Warhawk replicas used in the movie? I assume Curtis-Wright had a hand in it as they are mentioned in the credits. The replicas were done fairly accurately and obviously had an engine and propeller with enough power to taxi. This also means that they had a steerable tailwheel and main landing gear brakes for stopping etc. Noticeable though is that while taxiing you do not see flight control surface movement especially in the rudder which would move with the tailwheel. No aileron movement is observed either, which you would see during taxi over rough ground and the pilot's hand holding the control stick naturally would transmit some vibration to the ailerons. The most obvious difference from the true P-40 is in the area of the canopy and windshield construction, kind of close but not convincing when the actual footage of aircraft taking off shows the true configuration and size of the aircraft. The film is not "TOP GUN" but is always a nice nostalgic event for this old retired pilot.