Hello, I'm Brandon Martini, a commercial pilot and flight instructor.
And I'm Carson Vasquez.
I'm a private pilot.
And you're listening to the aviation mentors podcast sponsored by Stratis Financial.
So buckle up because the aviation mentors are taking off.
Welcome back everybody to another amazing and awesome episode of the aviation mentors
podcast.
Today, we're actually going to be discussing something that all of us as aviators would
love and that is airplanes.
Airplanes, but better than that, airplanes in movies.
Aviation movies are really just awesome.
They're our favorite things and we just love watching airplanes in real life on a big
screen on a small screen.
It's really just our thing.
And, you know, there's a lot that goes into making these aviation movies and making them
a top hit.
And I think they're pretty consistently a pretty huge hit.
Yeah, I mean, a ton of them.
I mean, every single aviation movie I've ever seen really kind of turns into it, whether
it's a cartoon one or if it's a non realistic one or even some of the old movies that kind
of pick World War One, World War Two, they always become hits.
They pretty much always have a cult following like Top Gun becomes huge.
And even movies like Disney's, their planes movie, which I like, you know, I liked cars
and I liked planes and, you know, it's just a thing for me.
Okay.
So I think Planes Two or Planes Three, Fire and Rescue.
I think that was the best one, really.
If they make a series off of it, I'd probably watch it, you know, for being honest.
Anyway, you know, these movies are really just a big hit and they can spark the interest
for aviation, pretty much everybody.
And you know, there's always a movie for every generation, every age.
There's something you're going to like, and especially with aviation movies.
So Brandon, what do you think the big draw is for these movies?
First off, most of them are interesting.
It depicts something that not everybody can do.
Not everybody is an aviator.
Although I think everybody who's listening to this podcast either is one or wants to
be one, which is even better.
So it's something that you can't do.
People like watching other people do other things that they can't do for some reason.
I mean, I like watching a Bugatti on TV because I can't afford a Bugatti.
I also like yachts.
I can't afford a yacht.
So I like all the things and I like watching people enjoying the things because it gives
me inspiration to be able to do those things.
Right.
So I think that people watch movies like that just because they want to be inspired to do
something.
Right.
Also planes and becoming a pilot is always kind of often seen as being way too expensive
for normal people to get into doing it.
Or I have to be rich to become a pilot or all of these misnomers are out there.
Right.
Obviously Stratus funds this podcast.
So we'll always give them the shout out to Stratus financial.
So you can go get a loan to become a pilot and it is achievable.
And with the bonuses out with the airlines right now, you can pay off your loan early.
You won't incur that much interest.
So go and get your pilot certificate.
It's not that expensive or I mean yes it is expensive but it's it's not that far fetched.
You can do it.
But I do think that people watch these movies because they think that it's unattainable.
Right.
Especially movies like Top Gun like you mentioned.
Obviously planes.
It's a little far fetched but also really cool.
It's one of my favorite cartoon movies.
But yeah Top Gun.
Most people aren't going to be a fighter pilot.
I know I am never going to be a fighter pilot.
That's just the sad truth of it.
OK.
I'm too old.
I was too big.
I'm not too big anymore which is nice.
But I'm definitely too old and I'm never going to be one of those kinds of pilots.
Right.
But I can do all sorts of other things.
Yes.
Brands speaking of too big and now you lost all that weight we can probably fly the Icon
together right.
We can fly the Icon together by the way.
It is possible now.
So let's get some sort of like a tandem fighter jet.
We can do like an L39.
You and I can go fly it together.
So I can go fly a jet.
I mean I can go get type rated.
We can go fly a jet.
I just will never be a fighter pilot but I can probably go act like I'm one like I'm
in a movie.
That would be kind of cool.
But action movies are always awesome which we're talking about a couple action movies
right.
But one of my favorites is a movie called One Six Right.
And it's not like the number one the number six it's spelled out one spelled out the number
six and then right.
And they also have another one which I believe is called One Six Left which they do.
I just looked it up on Google real quick.
So One Six Right is a movie that was filmed and it's really about Van Nuys Airport Kilo
Victor November Yankee Airport in Southern California which is where a lot of movie stars
keep their airplanes still today.
A lot of them moved them from Santa Monica now that Santa Monica Airport's starting to
get closed down and the runway's gotten shorter over time things like that.
But Van Nuys Airport has a ton of history all the way from just a barnstormer with crop
dusters all the way up until filming a bunch of movies until today where it's still one
of the busiest general aviation airports in the world.
And I haven't watched that movie One Six Right in several years now but it's really about
the passion and love of flying.
And you can tell by the narrator I think his name's Hal Fishburne.
He was a news guy in L.A. for a long time and he created this movie and he helped produce
it along with a lot of other movie stars.
And it is probably one of the most high quality aviation movies you'll ever see in your life.
It's really really truly about the romance and love of flight.
I mean I'm getting goosebumps talking about the movie it's that awesome.
Anybody who has passion for aviation should go watch it.
I mean bar none it's probably the best aviation movie that has to do with that's a documentary
that I've ever seen in my life.
The quality of it's phenomenal as well.
I don't know if there's better than 4K but I think it looks better than 4K.
You know it sounds interesting just from you talking about it and believe me guys Brandon
gave me plenty of flack for not watching this one when we're talking about what we're going
to talk about today.
But you know back to it obviously like most of the Hollywood movies they're for entertainment
really just to make you interested in something and they don't always line up exactly with
reality.
And one of these movies is flight which although it's a really great movie it doesn't quite
match up with what flying is really like.
And for one very obvious reason right Brandon?
One very obvious reason.
They put that plane upside down and try to have it fly upside down.
It's just not going to happen.
The way that wings are designed if you want to fly an airplane inverted there are certain
wing designs that you need to use to fly an airplane inverted.
And I can guarantee you the one on whatever that type of airplane was a Boeing 747 or
whatever it was.
I don't know the exact type of airplane but I guarantee you that was not the correct wing
structure to fly upside down.
You're also going to lose your fuel supply.
Lubricants used in the engine systems aren't going to cope very well with inversion.
There's certain fuel pumps that aren't going to work at all.
I'm sorry not fuel pumps but just any types of hydraulic pumps are not going to quite
work the same way.
There's lots of reasons why you cannot fly an airliner upside down.
Although the movie was cool and it was really impactful to see it's probably not reality
unfortunately.
Yeah I mean a lot of parts of a plane they're just designed for staying upright and or even
a turn is the most it can do.
And they're gravity fed for some things so overall it just would not work.
But it is a good movie.
Now I will I will go on a caveat though.
If you can keep the aircraft in one G the entire time you could probably roll it and
I know there's a rumor that there was a test pilot trying to sell an airline a bunch of
Boeing airplanes and he rolled it and I think it was a 727 a long time ago and he rolled
it.
I don't know if it's true but it's a rumor that's been around for a long time.
So technically if you can keep the aircraft at one G the entire time or even whatever
the airplane can tolerate but as long as it's in a positive G force it's definitely possible
to be able to roll an aircraft probably any aircraft but an airliner would not be an easy
one.
But you know aside from the dramatically obvious like you can't fly an airliner upside down
stuff like that.
Aviation movies can actually have a pretty big impact on public perception and sometimes
that's even the purpose of it.
When Top Gun the first one came out there were quite a few claims that original movie
saw a 500 percent increase in military recruiting especially the Navy and the United States.
In reality though that one can be shot down no pun intended actually a lot of pun intended
sorry.
Thanks I was giving Brandon an opportunity to use that one but in reality that was an
8 percent increase in military recruiting after that movie.
So not a huge one but it actually had a really big way of bringing more unity respect and
kind of like awareness to our military aviators.
It really just had that profound impact on the public perception and the awareness of
military aviators.
And for many people it was really the first inside look into the high stakes world of
naval aviation and military aviation because it's just not something most people get to
go see unless you're going to a huge air show like Oshkosh.
We are you know a couple weeks looking forward to that one but yeah make sure you guys come
by and come see us on the Stratus financial booth.
We'll be around and you can even shoot us an email or hit us up on social media and
we'd be happy to meet with any of you guys.
Yeah it'll be pretty fun to see more of our fans and more of our listeners.
It was cool enough seeing you guys at Sun Fun and we have a better chance to see you
know Oshkosh so we're excited for it.
But you know going back to it Top Gun is really just it's an incredible movie and a lot of
people don't get the chance to see that kind of thing.
You know most people aren't going to go on a military base in their life.
Most people aren't going to get up that up close to any one of these military planes.
So it not only glamorized the profession but really brought some attention to the skill
and dedication and really bravery required to be a fighter pilot.
There's so much that goes into it.
But Brandon what do you think that people were thinking of pilots after that movie came
out.
I think that people thought a lot of things actually.
I thought I think that it brought back the passion of aviation for a lot of people who
either lost it or never had it in the first place.
I think it really inspired another generation to possibly become an aviator in the military
which is awesome.
And honestly it makes everyone ask me oh can you really go fly upside down in anything.
And that's kind of why I brought up the flight thing and we brought that up in our show notes
today because no you can't do that in every airplane.
And to be honest when I wanted to learn to fly I thought that oh you're always just going
to be spinning upside down and you're going to be doing dog dogfight maneuvers and that's
going to be what flying is all about.
But no it's not really like that.
It's more of a controlled climb and a controlled takeoff and a controlled cruise and controlled
descent.
It's all about control and controlling that airplane rather than just letting it do whatever
it wants and spinning upside down and doing flips and maneuvers all this stuff.
So I think that that's what kind of gives people a passion to go learn to go fly right.
But it also has a few misnomers in that movie.
Yes some misnomers in that first movie.
So for example it's very unlikely for somebody to crash an airplane like that.
There's a lot of I mean what I'm referring to is goose passing away.
If you haven't seen the movie sorry goose dies in the first movie and there's your little
alert for but it's already after.
In 1986 I think you've had plenty of time to go watch the movie.
Yeah I mean that's like 30 37 years or so.
I think I think I think they should have watched it by now.
But with that being said goose passed away the likelihood of all of those things going
wrong and somebody not being able to eject out of the airplane is is pretty slim especially
with the amount of work that the people do to maintain aircraft.
There's also some other things and in that movie with in regards to G forces and stuff
that aren't quite true.
But no matter what it brings brings excitement and joy to people who watch it.
And that's why I like it.
You know Brian I know we're not really we're not Top Gun pilots and you certainly aren't
to the best of my knowledge.
Although you have been a CFI for one right.
I've been to a CFI for several of them actually that it's not called Top Gun it's called something
else with the actual military school that they go to is called.
But essentially they they call it Top Gun as well.
I've actually trained to two pilots that went to Top Gun and one Blue Angel actually believe
it or not.
And the Blue Angel was the was the guy who didn't tell me until he was about to go take
his checkride by the way.
And the two Top Gun pilots told me within five minutes of me meeting them.
It was pretty comical but they were super cool guys.
They were humble about not knowing how to fly a small piston twin engine airplane.
It was pretty funny.
I'm sure they can go fly F16 or F18 with no problem whatsoever or F35 one case I think.
But they can fly those planes like no other.
But I put them in a Beechcraft Duchess for their ATP training and they're like what are
all these levers do.
It was pretty funny.
But everybody I've trained and even the Top Gun guys they've been really really great
pilots I mean fantastic pilots.
You don't become a Blue Angel you don't become a Top Gun pilot by not doing well in aviation
or not coming prepared.
I do a lot of training for ATP pilots.
They leave the military they want to go get their ATP because it makes them more marketable
to go to the airlines.
So I'll help them get their ATP done in a multi so they'll have a multi ATP completed
and when they apply for the airlines they'll just have one more rating outside of all of
their other the other pilots that are applying and hopefully that'll give them the slight
edge right.
So I have trained a bunch of those guys and they always come really prepared they always
read all my notes they always read everything prior so they're really prepared for the day
of which is really commendable to the Air Force and the Navy and all of our military
because they've trained these guys and girls really really really well.
They know how to study and they know how to come well prepared.
It's fantastic.
I absolutely enjoy and love flying with with all of those ex-military aviators.
Pretty cool opportunity to train them and watch them kind of struggle when they get
to such a slow plane going from something huge to the Duchess.
Yeah big time I mean they're going really really fast now they're going slow and they're
like what is what is P factor and why is the airplane doing this and how do I do a VMC
demo in this airplane and that's honestly that's the number one thing no one's ever
able to do the VMC demo.
Well you know all that being said and you having been around them and trained them how
realistic do you think Top Gun Maverick was?
Well Top Gun was filmed with a lot of aircraft flying a lot of airplanes they even have a
I think it's called like the Cinejet or something like that but it's got a giant camera in the
front of it that's like 8k or whatever it is but something really really nice and they're
able to fly around and follow all these jets.
I think that all of the jet scenes were all really cool and I think that it was awesome
that Tom Cruise did a lot of the flying in that as well.
He is a pilot and a good pilot at that obviously if he's able to do some of these maneuvers
and things that he did in that movie.
So all the planes were real a lot of the dogfights a lot of the stuff that they did was really
really cool.
Obviously not all of them were actually real so to the best of our civilian knowledge we're
not clear we have no clearance right.
There's nothing like the Dark Star that was in Maverick and actually if you try to eject
at Mach 10 the physics of that will tear you to pieces.
I mean you're basically going to hit a wall of air.
I mean air can turn into a solid if you're going fast enough.
That's why things burn up in our atmosphere right.
When coming back from space.
So by far the Dark Star that's really probably not possible.
I mean he definitely would have been dead and probably like splattered into a million pieces if he would have ejected at Mach 10.
There's no way he would have ended up in a coffee shop and hey can I use your phone.
Well with all this black smoke all around him a little kid looks up and like oh no that's
not going to happen.
The only the only way that would happen is if he was an actual alien like that little
kid thought he was he was like you just came from space.
It's pretty much he did.
He said where am I.
And the kid was like Earth but you know it doesn't make it any less of an amazing movie.
And when Brandon said we don't have the clearance.
Maybe think of clearance clearance which brings us to the next highly unrealistic aviation
movie airplane.
Thanks.
I really appreciate that one.
You know it's it's not super realistic and there's a lot of unrealistic parts of it.
It's a comedy of course but takes place in an airplane and that's what we love.
So let's let's talk about a couple of them right.
There are a lot of very unrealistic parts and everything from the flight attendants
to just having a like a hospital chair in the in the airplane.
You know they everyone has to be in a seat right.
But Brandon can you name the one part that actually is kind of realistic.
Yeah.
So in general it's not necessarily a rule or a law but pilots generally do eat different
meals especially on long haul flights.
I mean if you're flying with someone you don't want both of you to get sick to your stomach
right.
Most pilots do eat different meals and that's probably the most realistic thing in that
movie.
There is almost nothing else and maybe that an airplane flies like it actually goes to
the air and it takes off and I don't know if it lands in that movie or not.
I can't remember.
I haven't watched in a while but I mean the autopilot's a little bit off on that movie.
There's some things that are not quite right.
You know Brandon that may not be super realistic but I still like that movie.
So either way but it is interesting that the pilots do fly you know and eat different meals
it does make sense though.
You don't want your pilot getting sick.
But all in all Hollywood movies are really just they're fun they're entertaining and
they're there for a reason and it's to spark an interest and it's something that people
are passionate about and people like to watch.
So of course it generates so much attraction to them and everyone just wants to be a part
of it.
And lucky enough for us we're all we all love aviation here.
That's what we do and we hope that going through a couple of these made you add a couple to
your list to go watch right after.
Absolutely.
If you're going to give another plug for one six right.
Everybody should go watch that movie.
You can go to one six right dot com.
They don't sponsor us but that movie is so amazing.
I have to recommend seeing it.
Obviously if you want a comedy go watch airplane.
That's hilarious.
And if you want some awesome thriller slash action movie go see Top Gun.
Both of them.
But thanks you guys for listening today.
We had a lot of fun recording this episode and we will look forward to recording the
next few and then seeing all of you at Oshkosh which will be amazing.
If you'd like to reach out to us you can reach us at Carson at aviation mentors dot com or
Brandon and aviation mentors dot com.
And as a wrap up for the day remember here to guide you in your aviation journey.
So fly safe and enjoy the ride.