Charles Lindberg buys his Jenny

Jimmy Stewart, in the movie "The Spirit of St Lewis" was actually the pilot!! He was a WW2 B-24 pilot and retired in the USAF as a brig general. His first movie after he returned from the war was "It's a wonderful Life."
Funny clip from movie.....

[@CaesarInVa]

Sometime around 1923 or so, my Dad (he was about 6 or 7 at the time) and his mom were traveling through either St. Louis or Kansas City (I can't recall which). There was a barnstormer in town and so they went down to whatever the field was to watch his aerobatics. The pilot offered rides for something like a dollar, which was their dinner allowance. Dad wanted to go up, but his mom warned that they could either eat that night or he could fly, but they couldn't afford to do both. Dad chose to fly. So up he went in that old Jenny on that hot summer afternoon and he was hooked. He joined the Navy at 17 as a radioman striker, got an appointment from the fleet to Annapolis, graduated, did his requisite two years on a cruiser (he was actually at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th) and went to flight training in '42. He continued to fly until his retirement in '64. During his career, he accumulated over 20,000 hours throttle time and flew just about every reciprocating engine aircraft the Navy had in its inventory, including the F4F, the F6F, the F4U (his all time favorite), the F8 (Bearcat), the SBD, the SB2C (his first command), the AD1 and ultimately ended up his career flying ED-121 Lockheed Warning Stars. He actually flew WITH Admiral Byrd on his '46 expedition to the South Pole. I was almost 9 years old in the summer of '69 when Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldren landed on the moon. I can remember how excited my father was to watch Neal take man's first fledgling steps on the Moon's surface. I can still see him leaning forward on the couch watching in rapt attention. Even then, at only 9, I realized what it must have been for him, to have witnessed man's progress, from initial flight in rickety, wire-and-canvas aircraft to the Apollo spacecraft. Dad's long gone now, but I can't shake this feeling, when I look up at the sky late at night, that he's up there somewhere, doing Immelman's and Hammerhead's, looking down on us, laughing.

[@olmose]

Your Dad sounds like he must have been a real stemwinder! Thanks for the story!

[@joestephan1111]

My respects to your Father.

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

Great story!! I love reading stories like this. My uncle was a fighter pilot during WW2 in the Pacific theater. I haven't a clue what plane he flew or what battles he was involved in because he refused to talk about it. My Aunt warned me not to ask him about it also. After the war he became a smoke jumper and pilot for the US Forest Service. He was a tough man and the "silent" type. He lived to be 96.

[@scotttait2197]

Wow you're dad was getting on a bit in years by time you where born he'de be about 43 in 1960

[@jamesfrost7465]

Excellent, my Grand Father 1896-1999. Learned how to fly at the end of WW1. He flew most every thing the Army Air Corps and Air Force had. He retired full bird Colonel in 1954. He flew the proto type of the P-26 Peashooter, one of many just like your Dad. He also flew the first glider to ever fly in Hawaii. He spent a lot of time in Hawaii in the 20's. He had to escort Lindbergh around some airfield in Texas once, there are pictures of him with Lindbergh in a book he wrote, 'From Jenny's to Jets,' by Norm Frost. We kids were at his house when Neil stepped foot on the moon! I'm so thankful they brought us in to watch it on tv. Much fun was had by all as they would say. They toasted with champagne and we kids toasted with orange juice. Everybody was cheering with great joy. All of the men in our family were pilots. He lived to be 103, sharp as a tack, he just didnt wake up one morning. The things those men saw and did, It's such a diffrent world now. God bless you Sir, and your Dad.

[@richardthompson9836]

What a movie! What an actor! RIP Jimmy Stewart. They don't make 'em like you any more.

[@samburkes7552]

YES!..My family and I saw that movie when first released in the 50's at a theater in E. Meadow, L.I, NY..we lived in nearby Hempstead..We loved it!! Dad being a corporate pilot always loved Jimmie Stewart, knew about his history, being a bomber pilot in WW2, an all -around American. Stewart hangared his personal P-51 Mustang there at LaGuardia where Dad had his co. plane hangared..#7, Butler Aviation over on the field's west end! !

[@rodolfocastillo2821]

Ohhhh. Excelente 😊👍👍👍

[@larrykurtxt6773]

When Hollywood was full of real Americans, not socialists and pretty boys.

[@douglasdixon524]

U.S. Air Force Brigadier General James Stewart. Today's Hollyweirdos don't match up to real men like Jimmy Stewart.

[@robertcieslak1861]

This was when they used REAL airplanes in the movies.

[@inkyguy]

Watch the rest of the movie. They also made heavy use of models too, and not very convincingly either.

[@chrisstang1966]

Those were the days. Trade a motorcycle for a airplane. No title, Bill of sale or taxes . Just trade and go. Definitely couldn’t do this today. State and federal government would be very upset.

[@srothbardt]

This is a great movie. Always liked it a lot. Jimmy Stewart was perfect. I think he could fly since he was a bomber pilot in WW2.

[@kdrapertrucker]

He was a bomber pilot in the air national guard after the war as well, retired a general in the 1970s. Saw quite a bit of combat over Europe.

[@ghogue3953]

Also, he took his basic flight training at Moffett Field in California in early 1942, then trained other pilots in the AT-6, AT-9, and the B-17. He finally saw combat in 1944, flying in the B-24.

[@FPVREVIEWS]

My grand dad learned to fly on a Curtis Jenny. Says it was a real docile plane, and a joy to fly. But his favorite was the DC3

[@bjb7587]

In the 70s, I made my first skydives out of a DC3 in Lakewood New Jersey. The engine spat oil on you when you exited. All the students wore white coveralls with black spots on them. Good times.

[@MangoHombre]

You have to be a really good pilot to fly that "bad".

[@donf3877]

When this movie was made... Jimmy was flying B-52's with the Air Force. He actually flew in Vietnam. Throughout his movie career after WW2, he was active in the reserves... and commanded a reserve base in California. He retired as a one star general... but was promoted to two start general after his death.

[@curtcoltharp3719]

My grandad lived in a rural community and his girlfriend was named Mae Lane. Wylie Post came barnstorming through there and ended up eloping with Mae Lane. My grandad lost his girl to Wylie Post or at least that was the story he told. My Dad met Mae Lane Post in the 1960’s at some function in the Texas Panhandle and she substantially confirmed grandads story.

[@Maxwellwayne]

Legendary James Stewart

[@johnjubie7144]

Nice preflight.

[@noblegoldheart8508]

Bear in mind here, this scene takes place in the early twenties, I don't know the exact year. But back then, before the Air Commerce Act was created in 1926, you could literally buy a plane like you could buy a car at a dealerships without having any experience in flying. No logbooks needed, no maintenance records needed, no FAA registrations or anything. Aviation was very primitive back then, and it has come a VERY long way.

[@marttimattila9561]

Flying got ruined by bureucrats soon after.

[@poochie5543]

@@marttimattila9561 it’s so bad, even the experimental aircraft sector could not save us from aviation being so expensive.

[@Nord3202]

Much better before the government ruined everything & made it unaffordable like everything they get involved in.

[@beegee22]

One of the best and funniest scenes in any aviation movie ever!

[@scopex2749]

Good old Jimmy Stewart he WAS an Air Force pilot! I know the feeling of the love of flight. I was an aircraft engineer in the Air Force. I love the way he does no walk around just gets in and fires it up! I fly myself now only small aircraft but getting in and taking off is electrifying EVERY TIME. I learnt the story of Spirit of St Louis as a child and ALWAYS wanted to be a pilot.... i got there eventually! I also married an American gal and our honeymoon WAS IN ST.LOUIS!!! Bless ya Jimmy. To do what Lindbergh did took a MASSIVE pair bigger than 2 planets!! A hero of mine!!!

[@MarkWilliams-pg5gk]

Portions of this film was filmed at Hancock Field in Santa Maria. This appears to be filmed near present day Santa Maria Airport with the back round being the hills south and west of the town of Orcutt

[@zyxmyk]

I love the guy who sells him the plane. that guy could be my uncle.

[@jerrywestaway9316]

That's Olin Howland

[@actioncom2748]

I like this guy too. Not only was he able to peg Lindbergh as being full of it. He also had the best one-liners. "You better practice in that direction. That's where the hospital is... And The Undertaker!"

[@horsedoconfb]

Olin Howland played the first victim of “The Blob”. The movie that was his last and Steve McQueen’s first starring role.

[@billbright1755]

That take off reminds me of one of my RC plane take offs. A concrete parking curb hade re bar pins sticking up a couple of inches. I thought I’d clear it fine. Had a great flight but when I landed there was a 1/16” grove through the bottom cord of the left wing. Cut it a little close.

[@elfowl6873]

LOVED THE JENNY!!!!! Loved Jimmy Stewart better!!!!!

[@klodoen1]

He is not big on pre flight checks. Hahaha

[@starguy2718]

Kick the tires, light the fire.

[@Eliminator5555]

Cool clip.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

If I had a time machine I'd buy two.

[@colindhowell]

This is a great scene, as long as you remember that it's pure Hollywood. If you look up how Lindbergh really bought and soloed the plane, you get a very different picture, though it would have been a lot harder to make a good movie scene out of it. (Just for starters, it was a lot busier-Lindbergh was far from the only person out to score himself a Jenny that day-and the surplus Jennys were being sold still in their packing crates, so Lindbergh needed help in getting his plane uncrated and assembled, a process which took several days.) Also, lovable though Jimmy Stewart is, there's something hilarious about having a man who was nearly 50 years old play the role of a 21-year-old Lindbergh.

[@bobgriffith1810]

Colin D. Howell When your 72,, 50 is young enough , 21 would seem ridiculous , you just wait and see

[@thedave7760]

@@bobgriffith1810 Thanks Bob I'm 50 now and hate looking in the mirror.

[@inkyguy]

Thanks for helping balance the dramatic film with some realistic historical facts. People seem to accept what they see at face value and using confirmation bias use it to support personal prejudices and assumptions.

[@bjb7587]

@@bobgriffith1810 At 73 now and can confirm. Don't get me started on women....

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

@@bjb7587 Once you do get started.....how does it end????

[@robertgolden1080]

Great airplane. Greater man.

[@timandrew1091]

Love my Pietenpol. Looks like it was filmed in Calf. ...wonder if the old garage is still there.... probably condos now.

[@abundantYOUniverse]

That has to be Paul Mantz doing the stunts. You gotta have balls of steel to do those kinds of things in a jenny and for a camera. I helped restore a Jn4 Jenny at lackland afb in 84, it sits at wright pat air museum now. Thanks for the vid.

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

Might have been Jimmy Stewart doing the stunts, he was an accomplished pilot.

[@Maverick25ish]

2:56 XD

[@Ruckweiler73]

@@daytonasixty-eight1354 Being the principal star they wouldn't have let him stunt. He wanted to fly to replica Spirit but the producers said no.

[@beegee22]

@Chris Longski Either him or his partner Frank Tallman.

[@thedave7760]

@Chris Longski Hey guys not trying to be smart but in case you haven't heard there is this thing called IMDB. Aparently it was Stanley Reaver and James Thompson www.imdb.com/title/tt0051003/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 click full cast and crew link

[@yaknbo]

I love this movie, Lindbergh and the USA that had such opportunities for young people.

[@joestephan1111]

That movie was filmed here. If you know where to go around town you can see a lot of places in the movie that still exist.

[@yaknbo]

@@joestephan1111 filmed where?

[@joestephan1111]

@@yaknbo The action & outdoor filming took place in Santa Maria on the Central California Coast. The ranch scene in this clip took place southwest of town.

[@yaknbo]

@@joestephan1111 thanks

[@inkyguy]

We hadn't become a debtor nation by providing huge tax cuts, give seats and welfare to corporations and the rich. Instead, the rest of the world owes us money.

[@Steelgreyeyes]

Kind of funny because the plane was bought at Souther Field in Americus Georgia. There isn't a hill for 150 miles like those in the backgrounds!! Grew up in that town .... my father taught right across that field at the Technical College ... which was pilot training grounds both in WW1 and 2.

[@deancj1]

Filmed in santa maria california...... Ain't much there now.... Can't imagine what it was like then lol

[@srothbardt]

Great movie. Great acting.

[@davidspicer4330]

This is from one of my favorite movies.the Charles Lindbergh flight across the Atlantic to Paris France.they don't make men like him anymore.the spirit of st.louis

[@skipstalforce]

So much for preflight

[@PanhandleFrank]

Stewart was was about 48 when SSL was filmed. Lindbergh was only 6 years older than him. Just a little perspective ...

[@michaelfuller2153]

Supposedly, Glenn Messer soloed Lindbergh...you can take Messer Airport Highway to the Birmingham, AL airport today.

[@garyquan5575]

Fun fact: Charles Lindbergh flew 50 combat missions during 1944 (bombing and strafing affairs). On July 28th of that year, he shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-51 Sonia (a light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft) as a private citizen AKA a civilian. This ''victory'' was not officially recorded anywhere in the squadron books/records. Lindbergh's ''victory'' took place over Ceram Island while flying a P-38 Lightning fighter (present day Seram Island, the largest and main island of Indonesia's

[@garyquan5575]

Sorry, hit the send button too soon. Maluku province.🙂🙂🙂

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

The reason he flew on these missions was to convince the other P38 pliots that he flew with that he knew what he was doing by using high boost and lean throttle....to almost double the range of the P38. Everyone thought he would burn up his engines. He came back from missions with large amounts of fuel left in his tanks while those using the official settings were running on fumes.

[@4500X_Blackout]

Very cool

[@danielhetue6968]

Cool. I’ve never seen Jimmy Stewart ride a motorcycle in any film before.

[@1jeffr]

I guess Lindbergh didn't believe in preflights.

[@Tina-di4lx]

I’d like to see an engine of that vintage, no priming, come to life like that.

[@skyblazer9137]

My grandfather had a jenny but it had a 12cyl liberty engine not a 8cyl. No valve covers. I learned to fly in the jenny... 😎

[@jamesfrost7465]

And the rest is History.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

The reason he flew on Pacific war missions was to convince the other P38 pliots that he flew with that he knew what he was doing by using high boost and lean throttle....to almost double the range of the P38. Everyone thought he would burn up his engines. He risked his life to show them that he could come back from missions with large amounts of fuel left in his tanks while those using the official settings were running on fumes.

[@MarkWilliams-pg5gk]

Took a toll on the engines

[@donf3877]

He was in the Pacific because he was working on a twin engine fighter for the Navy, and he wanted to know what the Air Force pilots liked about the P-38. He flew a couple times, and was chewed out for running out of gas on the runway. He explained his settings, but the pilots and crew chiefs said it would destroy the engines. He flew missions right along with the squadron, and had lots of fuel left when he got back. After many missions, they took the engines apart, and there was no more wear than any of the other engines. He singlehandedly more than DOUBLED the range of the P-38. After further refinements, the P-38 was capable of 1900 mile flights nonstop, when they could only get 750-800 before. When he actually got a kill, the Army went nuts. He wasn't even supposed to be flying... let alone flying in combat. He was the type of man that, although he was totally against the war before it started, once we were in it... he did everything he could to help win it.

[@Nord3202]

Before the war he was invited to test fly the Luftwaffe planes & knew how much more advanced they where. Another reason he wanted to do avoid a war.

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

Funny how that old bike is probably worth six figures

[@65billh]

Olin Howland, a great character actor as the owner of Jenny biplane, was also great as the telegraph operator Bradley in the 1947 movie 'Angel and the Badman'.

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

People gave a lot less fucks about everything back then. Motorcycle sale with no pink slip transfer, plane sale with no paperwork, no license needed to fly.

[@Maverick25ish]

just wind her up and take her off XD

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

Must have been nice.

[@inkyguy]

It is a movie. You're making assumptions based on a dramatic narrative that skips over such details.

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

@@inkyguy Nope. I'm not. Life was far less regulated back then. People had a higher degree of freedom and they made more money. By all objective measures, our society is worse today.

[@timandrew1091]

@@daytonasixty-eight1354 yep.... some States helmet law, tax on bike, inspection here every year, insurance... helmet better be a DOT... registration.... RED TAPE AMERICA Blinkers? What's wrong w/ hand/arm signals....lol

[@greggweber9967]

My dad took us 2 sons to buy a cheap $300 car. The 1953 Ford in the back row wouldn't start so we went to another used car lot. That 1957 Hillman Husky in the back row started just fine.

[@mga2899]

3000 miles of ocean, no problem.

[@sandybarrie5526]

i wonder what happened to all the lovely aircraft used in this movie.

[@TomasAWalker53]

He flew P38s too

[@jeffhess7130]

👍🙏👍

[@BELCAN57]

From that day on they were just like peas and carrots.

[@joeharris3878]

I didn't know this movie was color. I only saw it on black and white TV as a kid.

[@alanww]

👍👍

[@inkyguy]

That dialogue is made-for-movie drama and comedy. Lindbergh was from the only student in his flight school. In fact, he started with over 100 other flight students. When he graduated he was only one of 18 left in the class due to attrition. He graduated first in his class.

[@sandybarrie5526]

after WW2 there were so many Tiger Moth trainer aircraft in Australia, that they were offered for sale for 5 Pounds.. (roughly 2-3 weeks wages).. and he never bought one, and they scrapped thousands.

[@gerrymasterman5766]

The story in my family is that he learned to fly, taught by my great uncle, Raymond Page in Lincoln, Neb. He worked for Page until he paid off the Jenny he bought from Page

[@jimm9157]

impressive flying by the stunt pilot.

[@Nigelrathbone1]

He didn't even check the fuel or oil or get a receipt.

[@rcsuccession8579]

When I hear the name Charles Lindbergh, the first thing that comes to my mind is the actual kidnapping case.

[@markoterava]

Now there's a solid preflight check!

[@edwardpate6128]

$500 in 1924 would be $7,610 in 2020

[@timandrew1091]

I paid 8K for my Pietenpol.... sounds a bout right

[@Conn653]

Love this movie 🙂

[@nigel900]

Better than Harrison Ford...

[@starguy2718]

...or John Denver.

[@gsp49]

He bought his Jenny in Americus, Georgia and taught himself to fly it.

[@jockellis]

I was a kid when I saw this and could tell it wasn’t Georgia.

[@b.atwater3904]

He went from a military "pre flight briefing" to what pre flight ...

[@dickjohnson4268]

A MAJOR blooper was CAL had an Excelsior motorcycle, not a Harley. But of course in 1956/57 the Excelsior was a forgotten mark by the public. No so much by the motorcyclists back then. I saw a few still going in the 1960s.

[@Imintune...]

Try trading a bike for a airplane today.🤣

[@farklefuster6876]

You could probably trade a brand new fully loadef Harley for an Aeronca

[@rw7051]

Jimmy Stewaart had a brilliant air force career. pilot.

[@ITS_DEMONA]

St. Louis! Not Lewis. Who writes this stuff?

[@eddiem.5811]

Guess they had not developed a "Pre Flight Inspection" back then. You know, check the oil, fuel level, controls, etc. Back then, it was blow off some dust....

[@rw7051]

Jimmy Stewart was born in 1908, so these machines weren't ancient history to him.

[@jamesringler987]

What movie

[@jrnumex9286]

a shorter moto driver rode up and faced a different direction

[@meherbaba-godman7483]

💖💖💘💘❤❤

[@carrellblack1014]

Lindbergh is spelled with an h on the end

[@weitzfc1]

he used to fly the st louis to chicago airmail , both ways . he'd land out by bradforton , illinois . my great grandmother and her father used to pickup and deliver the mail . grandma said everyone called him slim . she was a recent widow , and on the prowl for a new husband . he offered to her for a ride , but she turned him down . said he was a little scrawny for her taste . she said you know that durn fool flew all the way across the ocean all by himself. they called him lucky now or lone eagle or something . i said grandma , you passed up charles lindbergh ? she settled for a six foot tall , halfbreed indian , 14 years her junior . she said grandpa stoney was a good dancer , and that was something that could be done from the ground .

[@christaselig6735]

This is pure Hollywood--no genuine pilot in his right mind would ever hop in s plane without doing a walkaround inspection and checking the oil.

[@fuffoon]

He's got 12 Jenny's...wait, that's Forest Gump.

[@glennhedrich173]

What is the name of this movie?

[@zemetrius]

heheh

[@ThomasSmith-os4zc]

Don't look like Macon, Jawja too me.

[@philipberry6477]

Rather brief pre-flight inspection….

[@johnstirling6597]

Mantz flying?

[@fubartotale3389]

Weren't those aircraft made from fabric covered wood? It sounded like he was tapping on a 55 gallon drum there

[@drtidrow]

Some planes had the leading edges of the wings and control surfaces reinforced with metal, and the fuselage might be made of tubular steel covered in fabric, but a lot of it would still be wood.

[@markmclaren3836]

Tapping that hard on the fabric could produce the drumming sound that you heard. The fabric was painted with dope to shrink and harden it, like a drum skin, hence the Drumming type of sound, and it would also 'drum', or echo through the entire airframe.That aircraft was quite probably literally brand new, just made for the movie, or at least recently given a major overhaul and re-skin with fresh fabric, hence the tight skin.

[@williamleadbetter9686]

I think that's a Hispano Suzia Jenny Not an OX-5

[@billlewis9362]

Curtiss OX-5 or OXX-6 engine note open rocker arms! OXX-6 was twin ignition OX-5!

[@williamleadbetter9686]

@@billlewis9362 folks mr Billewis is correct the Hispano Suiza 8 did not have open rockers but a covered head valve. now lets see if the good folks can discern if it is indeed an OX-5 or the OXX-6. good spot billewis

[@davidhall8874]

I hate it when someone videos a tv!

[@thra5herxb12s]

The Car and the Motorcycle look very primitive, but the aircraft are timeless.

[@davidbradshaw3107]

.....and joins the luftwaffe.

[@stephenhewitt5835]

Shaky recording 👎

[@LordRawnsley]

I have flown to that airport. The terrain in the movie isn’t quite accurate.

[@user-fh4zd1wq6f]

м0ck0w

[@jjj1951]

Went from Hero to traitor in a few short years

[@irish89055]

Silly scene...probably one of the reasons Lindberg didn't like the movie

[@robertsullivan4773]

Jimmy Stewart did a great job with this role but unfortunately it was completely fictional. As I've gotten older I have little use for the real man he was a anti smite a Nazi sympathizer and overall a hole.

[@sgtjeff56]

Not only that but contrary to popular knowlege, Lindberg wasn't even the first pilot to fly across the Atlantic. John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown flew across the Atlantic before the Jew hating nazi made his flight.