THE GREAT SANTINI aviation scenes

These are the aviation clips from the 1979 movie THE GREAT SANTINI starring Robert Duval. Overall a great movie based on the book by Pat Conroy. There are some great aerial shots of F-4 Phantoms. The movie is worth watching in its entirety.
Bing Crosby Productions
ORION Pictures

[@rudyyarbrough5122]

Man! Seeing those clouds that were always present over the Beaufort, SC area brought back a lot of memories. I flew the F-4B out of there and played with those clouds on almost every flight. Beautiful country and nice people. Loved that old bird and she always brought me home.

[@brianjob3018]

My understanding is the -B was a 60’s model. We’re you ever in Vietnam, sir?

[@alpha51omega38]

People have NO idea today what an air show used to be like when F-4 Phantoms would turn and burn those two big engines. "Old Smokey' lived up to the nickname in noise and black smoke. Sure enjoyed them. AND the Great Santini is one of the best movies ever made to reveal family-military conflicts and what life was like to be on the move from base to base with kids.

[@joejaydee]

Lillian!

[@Skank_and_Gutterboy]

Gotta admit, that really is a great opening scene. This whole movie is great.

[@eldtaylo]

My step father was a mechanic who worked on the F4s. We lived in Beaufort for a while when he was there TDY working on their jets. I think it was around the time this movie was made. He used to say the F4 was proof you could put an engine in a brick and it would be able to fly.

[@ericstyles3724]

..& the F-18 is proof you can land a manhole cover if just steer it.

[@warshipsdd-2142]

Miss the F-4 days, was in VMCJ-2 in the 60s when we got the first RF-4B and still flew the RF-8U as well. Had the pleasure of beers with Bull.Santini when we both lived in Altanta in the late 70s. he was a real Marine and a solid aviator. SF

[@garylawson5381]

Besides first of all being a great movie about veterans and their families, the F4 Phantoms was among my favorite fighter jets of that age.

[@curtiswilmore1611]

I watched them make this movie and got to meet Mr Robert Duvall and supporting cast!

[@randybarnhill3098]

Loved this movie, and the F-4S Phantom II. Worked on them my first two years in the Navy. VF-103 Nas Oceana.

[@leoperidot482]

What was it, they called the Phantoms the flying brick? It's the only time the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds used the same model.

[@joeblow5037]

F-4J's

[@ianmangham4570]

Walking the spine 15ft in the air

[@ironroad18]

F-4S, F-4D (LORAN), and RF-4C were my favorite Phantom models. Those beautiful F-4S's were probably brand new when they filmed this in 1978-79.

[@joeblow5037]

@@ironroad18 They all were F-4J's They didn't do the conversion until after I got out in in May of '79.

[@Void304]

Holy shit, man! I haven't seen this movie in 20 years! Long live the Rhino.

[@orvillemeadows3492]

I always thought that the f-4 got a bad rap

[@av8rgrip]

The F-4 was called the Rhino? I thought that was a squadron name. The Rhino’s room at the ‘91 Tailhook had a phallic daiquiri machine. “Milking the Rhino”. It disappeared and was rumored to be in the possession of John Weissman (Trader John).

[@zeeeman8744]

This was filmed at MCAS Beaufort. The Phantoms were from VMFA 333, the Shamrocks. The story goes that our squadron was first asked to do the flight scenes but our skipper said that we were fighter pilots not movie actors so trip trey got to do the movie and got to work with the actors. They had a great time helping to make the movie.

[@AirTales]

Yes, and at 4:32 you can see the FJ-3 Fury at the Geiger Blvd west gate at Beaufort, which is now accompanied by a F-4, F-8 and F-18. Too bad you didn't get to participate in the filming. I think the air-to-air shots came out really well, especially against those cumulonimbus clouds.

[@calvinballew5411]

Too bad your skipper was a dick

[@johnjohnson5162]

Put away the crack pipe. 312 did the movie.

[@mikeframe5450]

Was on carquals in the early 70's with Trip Trey. I was in VF-101.

[@richardalonzo4717]

I was training at Beaufort with 115 during the filming. Ran into the whole menagerie twice. I sat behind Blythe Danner during the screening. Good times.

[@AirTales]

These are the aviation clips from the 1979 movie THE GREAT SANTINI starring Robert Duval. Overall a great movie based on the book by Pat Conroy. There are some great aerial shots of F-4 Phantoms. The movie is worth watching in its entirety.

[@seansky2721]

One of the Super Gooney's few movie appearances as well!

[@PlasmaCoolantLeak]

Great book, great movie. Have always liked the Phantom, mean-looking bird even sitting still.

[@johnbrewer1893]

i played tennis w/ robt duvall twice while he was in Bfort…my squadron, triptrey was more involved w/ carrier ops at the time….didnt have time to be movie stars..but i can still tell you the names of each guy in the rdy room scenes….the author, Pat Conroy has written several and successful novels, most of which have a theme of father/son conflict..not hard to figure that out..Col Conroy was base skipper at the time and a hardass

[@joeblow5037]

They made this movie while I was in MCAS Beaufort. I was in VMFA-333

[@scottkaczor2065]

I was a hamster, H&MS-31 Group Supply, 78-81.

[@joeblow5037]

@@scottkaczor2065 good times!! and so long ago

[@scottkaczor2065]

@@joeblow5037 yo Joe, did you go to Turkey with Trip Trey in 79?

[@joeblow5037]

@@scottkaczor2065 hmmmm, we did a NATO trip to Denmark in '78 (i was short so they put me on the advanced party...and I had the time of my life) The last deployment I went on was Yuma in early '79...I got out in May. Must have been after... I DID do the 76-77 Nimitz cruise 🙂

[@scottkaczor2065]

I believe the Turkey deployment was October of 79.

[@justinkase7763]

DW identifier & Thunderbolt is vmfa 251. In the book, I believe F-8 crusader was the acft in use. A single seater. For those that don't know, the author Pat Conry, was the son of the Duval character, who of the went on to write prince of tides. That Checkerboard design on his helmet is from vmfa 312, known as the checkerboards. Multiple squadrons from the base contributed.

[@LloydCole-fi9nk]

You are correct sir. The aircraft in the book was the F-8 Crusader. The fact that there wasn’t a RIO in the F-4J in the movie always bugged me. I don’t know if there was any Phantoms that were flown without a gib as depicted . I know that the Navy/Marine Phantoms did not have any flight controls in them unlike the USAF birds.

[@silverman785]

Great movie. It’s been years since I’ve seen it

[@brianpesci]

Great book, almost a great movie only because of Robert Duvall.

[@donwilson1307]

I had the same english teacher as Conroy did, only 3 yrs later. Somehow he got more out of englush than I did..Good ole Beaufort high. Went on to same college where he was the editor of the school paper. Unfortunately Pat is no longer with us.

[@frankharley1000]

Was your English teacher's name Gene Norris by chance?

[@donwilson1307]

Yes it certainly was.

[@easttexan2933]

A bit corny, but when I first saw this movie it became one of my favs. Hadn't even thought about this one for 25 years or more.

[@malcolmcook7007]

Duvall you Are Great! The music is spiritually moving Military 🎖️!

[@markdennis4170]

Some of the best times of my career were there at MCAS Beaufort MAG 31. Love the place!!!!

[@pufferrat]

I may have my facts wrong, but I remember this first being released under the title “The Ace”. It went straight to HBO or another of the first paid TV channels. A few months (year?) later it was released to movie theaters under “The Great Santini”. I was a teenager, but recall very clearly that the first time I saw this it was called “The Ace”.

[@davidgoldin2577]

You are correct. My dad told me that story.

[@porcupinecone7188]

I saw it on HBO as a kid when it was first shown. I've racked my brain all these years trying to find the name. In the "Santini" crash scene, did the family hear the crash and know without seeing, that it was their dad who crashed?

[@scottpeters8640]

Yep...I saw this film on HBO way back when that network was new and it was "The Ace" at the time.

[@deanpatterson9036]

The perfect cut!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[@fightingtwozeroone]

Great jets! They're called "Ol Smokey" for a reason!

[@Malbeefance]

Althought Lt. Col. Meechum was not the nicest person it doesn't diminish that this movie was made at a time when the US military was still feared and repected.

[@checkyoursix5623]

Watched the movie in '79 at the base theater at NAS Cubi Point.

[@KutWrite]

Didn't Michael O'Keefe, the older boy in this film, also star in "Caddyshack?"

[@johnjohnson5162]

Yes he did

[@silverman785]

Yep. Danny Noonan

[@christophereast2794]

Too bad his "Cougar" character in the original Top Gun wasn't named Meechum as well. Would have been a fun tie-in.

[@MeyersCTR]

This is the film that started my long running love of the Phantom.

[@johnjohnson5162]

This was filmed with vmfa -312 as the squadron he commanded. Trip trey 333 had a takeoff shot and movie poster shot. The navy planes were from 251.All were from MAG -31.

[@leoperidot482]

It does explain why they all have the same DW tailcode.

[@KutWrite]

Did the Marines fly with an empty rear seat as in the movie? Would the Navy squadron be part of a MAG?

[@zeeeman8744]

So you were there ?

[@ScottRasmussen1111]

Yes. VMFA-312 flew as Col. Meechum's Werewolf squadron. Clay Lacy Aviation flew a special camera equipped Lear 23 to film the scenes. In all, 2 hours of film was shot, then edited down to the 8 minutes that made it into the movie.

[@allgood6760]

Cool movie!.. aka The Gift of Fury🎥 👍✈️

[@AmericusMaximus]

Grew up in Laurel Bay. Father was a RIO in VMFA-333. Early Saturday mornings still in our pajamas, watching cartoons my brother and I would look out of the kitchen window and see a Marine like this PT’ing his three poor kids.

[@frankharley1000]

When did you live in Laurel Bay? Dad was a maintenance Chief Warrant Officer, we lived on Laurel Bay Boulevard near the end by the woods. 1974 to 77

[@AmericusMaximus]

@@frankharley1000Same timeframe, 265 Beech St.

[@raymondyee2008]

Cool been wanting to see this.

[@dwave81]

It's been a while but one time we had two Navy pilots crash near where I live and they died going down with the plane in order not to crash into the surrounding neighborhoods.

[@bryanenglish2303]

VMFA-333 Ordnance 1981-1985. Fighting Shamrocks. Semper Fi

[@stanstenson8168]

IYAOYAS.

[@stevehicks8944]

You probably knew an old friend of mine; he was the ordnance master gunny at -451. His name is Barry Sanders.

[@mikehunt9884]

back when men were men.. Even the kid is more manly than the majority of the people today.

[@MrCarlos93B]

He was toight, like a toiger.

[@CompaspointPH]

That kid was a military brat! Back then brats were also held to a higher standard too

[@kithill1423]

Just a note: Some of the planes had Navy" on them but VMF for the squadron number. From what I understand VMF means "Heavier-Than Air Vehicle Marine Fighter"

[@michaeljohnson4258]

V means fixed wing, F means fighter, and M means Marines so a Marine fighter squadron

[@Nghilifa]

@@michaeljohnson4258 Maybe they changed it along the way. Back in the day "V" meant "Heavier than air vehicle" like the OP stated.

[@michaeljohnson4258]

@@Nghilifa I have always known V meaning fixed wing aircraft. Decades ago it did mean heavier than when there were blimps in the Navy but that was a long time ago back during WW2.

[@brianl0604]

Very odd markings on the aircraft in the opening sequence, apparently done for practicality in filming with a few available aircraft, I assume - the "Navy" jets bear Marine squadron markings (VMFA-251, with correct thunderbolt tail flash and DW tail code...all Navy Phantom squadrons were designated "VF"), and a Marine jet at 1:12 with fictitious "VMFA-812" and "DF" markings.

[@michaeljohnson4258]

@@brianl0604 agree. In the opening scene the Phantoms’ tail markings are correct but should say “Marines” on the rear fuselage instead of “Navy”.

[@raywhitehead730]

I loved my time at Beaufort, SC. And i.loved flying at night.

[@bobharrison7693]

In the book Santini flew F-8s, not F-4s.

[@sorryforthings72]

F4’s are prettier

[@robbenmitchell2286]

You say potato I say potato

[@njaneardude]

F-8 gunfighter, that's him.

[@michaelthorin5718]

They retired the F-8’s from fighter roles and placed them into reconnaissance service with most going into reserve units in 1976, which meant that they would not have been set up to have been used for filming for “The Great Santini” released in 1979 (configuration with a reconnaissance pod and with the classified equipment on a recon aircraft wouldn’t allow for its’ use). The F-4 was used as a “best available replacement”. I do wonder if they would have made the movie about 8 years earlier if they would have been able to use the Gunfighter. Would have been cool to see it for accuracy, but still a good adaptation of the novel.

[@bobharrison7693]

@@michaelthorin5718 They did manage to find F-8s for the later movie on the Cuban missile crisis.

[@jeffreyphipps5099]

I occasionally teach at MCAS Beaufort and often have a beverage in the Santini bar.

[@williamwinsor7376]

Some of the phantoms finally kicked the smoking habit I see!

[@randyshaffer9939]

Good movie

[@jwlamb63]

Am I the only one who noticed the Navy Phantoms had a Marine squadron designation

[@donaldsiler6779]

Donald Conroy was a Marine they were fighting Navy

[@jwlamb63]

@@donaldsiler6779 I am aware they were fighting the Navy. What I noticed is the Navy Phantoms had Marine squadron designations.

[@donaldsiler6779]

It's free on KZbin right now. You were correct about the VMFA. The Marines gave cooperation so they must have made over the word Marines rather than paint the entire plane.

[@Paul-lm5gv]

The great F-4 Phantom!

[@PanaGringoBarefootBass]

And to think, as a ADJ in the USN I could had very well worked one or more or all of those J-79 turbojets. (The opening dialogue is pretty damn hokey)

[@jimwest850]

Werewolf one coming out of the dark Unannounced watch out watch out

[@CallsignJoNay]

0:20 "This is Marines against Navy, 1v1, try not to shoot down your wingman". 🤔

[@AirTales]

Yep, "1v1", and then they show a 2 v 3...haha

[@soundknight]

Sooo cool!

[@TheBlackAce2]

In the book, Bull Meechum was part of an F-8 Crusader Squadron, not a Phantom squadron. The 'Werewolves' fly air superiority during the Bay of Pigs. I don't believe the marines ever flew F-4's.

[@leoperidot482]

VMFA-312 callsign is Checker.

[@rayaylor448]

The Werewolves were VMFA 122 for a tour in Iraq. Pat Conroys father flew A4s out of Beaufort during Cuban crisis out of Roosevelt Roads PR. This Hollywood taking liberty with a film. The F4s were from VMFA 251 Hollywood again with Navy on the fuselage and VMFA 251 on the turtle back. Don't over think it. Those were the T-Bolts birds

[@jdelaney9325]

Great book!

[@LloydCole-fi9nk]

The Phantom was flown by the Marines until the F/A-18s replaced them in 1982. Now the Hornet is being phased in by the F-35B

[@TheBlackAce2]

@@LloydCole-fi9nk What year did the Marines start flying F4's?

[@LJDRVR]

Multiple jarheads humming on simplex UHF? Must be some kind of new radio magic.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

Movie magic! 🙂 Good point, though... I didn't pick up that detail when watching it.

[@Alex-kp2db]

How do you like that sports fans?

[@orlandoengland9184]

N'deed, the F-4 was one of the very BEST fighter jets ever built! One draw back though was that it left a smoke trail that even a BLIND man could see and she was HEAVY!!.🤣😂

[@lawrencequave7361]

I was a Marine Air Interceptor Controller (GCI) before I later became a Marine pilot but not a fighter pilot. Now I know where Top Gun (1986) got all its greatly exaggerated 'macho' from: The Great Santini (1979). Both great fun to watch (especially if you know nothing about military aviation), but both complete BS in terms of showing human interaction and radio (com) discipline. Who would want to watch a 'documentary' (the truth; i.e., boring) over Hollywood hype (fun and games)? Yes, real mil. aviation has its lighter moments, but not like this. Anybody ever see a real squadron commander perform a fake 'throw up' scene in the officer's club? I knew a Group 1st Lt who brought a girlfriend to a Group change of command reception who wore something the Group commander's wife thought a bit risque. The following Monday the Lt had been reassigned to our Squadron. Comments from real military welcome.

[@scottw5315]

I saw a guy eat his own vomit in a taco eating contest. Also, strippers in the Tustin O club late 80s. It was more fun back then for sure depending on your CO.

[@jgrazzi]

VMFA-251 but also had NAVY paint? Isn’t VMFA a Marine fighter squadron? Also saw one painted MARINES correctly. I grew up next to MCAS El Toro in the 70’s & 80’s and saw many Marine Corps squadrons.

[@jsfbr]

Question: Santini is a Marine pilot. Why do they show Navy Phantoms?

[@lawrencequave7361]

Why do F-4s from VMFA-251 have NAVY on the side and not MARINES?

[@jamesbulldogmiller]

@4:15 the C-47 has a tail from an A-26 invader

[@aerofan1772]

At 6:20 (and otherwise) where is his RIO? Good movie though!

[@AirTales]

Yes, but look how everyone is still shook-up over losing Goose, so maybe they did the right thing by sparing us from another on-screen RIO death...

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

​@@AirTales who flies an F 4 at night without a RIO?

[@AirTales]

@@WALTERBROADDUS I KNOW, right!!!!

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

@@AirTales another weird thing. I forgot that the son in the movie. Goes on to play the Caddy in Caddyshack.

[@CompaspointPH]

For military brats this was the only movie that kind of showed what it was like from our point of view

[@irish89055]

What's he got on his helmet?..

[@alparker7212]

Chamy....so the inside of the canopy wouldn't get scratched.

[@jamiegumm4398]

Phantom Phlyers ! !

[@davido1953]

VMFA with NAVY eh?

[@TheRealCFF]

@0:51 Ask your doctor about MULLINAX. Side effects include aching joints, rectal bleeding and in rare cases cardioencephaly...

[@mingotography]

"'You're gonna see a floorshow the likes of which is gonna make Marine history... All squids and rust pickers...Harugah, Harugah, Hah-rugah!!!" Chow on me, hogs. Harugah, Harugah, Hah-rugah!!!"

[@KutWrite]

Hahaha! I remember that scene.

[@joejaydee]

Care to dance with the great Santini, ma'am?

[@Truckergregg]

“No one tells you anything Dad”

[@charlesestrada9203]

VMFA-251 with Navy on the on it, that’s not right.

[@rogeriodearaujobonito6377]

Warm up to Final Countdown !

[@leiag201]

The "flying brick"

[@Thesaurcery4U2C]

3:51 I swear to God your my sweetest little girl

[@dunbar555]

F4J is best look phantom !

[@stijnvandamme76]

why did he have a helmet cover over his helmet, is that at all normal? looks goofy

[@AirTales]

Helmet covers are normal, but I rarely used them. Helmets are covered in reflective tape to help locate you if you had to eject. The covers are helpful in minimizing the glare/reflection of your helmet from the inside of your canopy, as well as helping you evade if you went down over enemy territory, and you could remove it to expose the reflective tape once the friendlies are in the area to help them locate you. But agreed, the ones in the movie look silly.

[@nocalsteve]

There’s a Marine tradition that pilots wear a camo cover.

[@leoperidot482]

@@AirTales Why did the USN and USAF get rid of the visor housing? Is is just easer and cheaper to replace the visor? I think the only units still using visor housing are; Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.

[@AirTales]

@@leoperidot482 I don't know why specifically, I did have the old style HGU-33 in the early days and was happy to get the new HGU-55 when I got to the fleet. It was way more comfortable fit much better and was lighter, and that might be the main reason, less material makes it lighter and less strain on your neck when pulling G's. Maybe the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds still use the HGU-33's because they look 'cool'??

[@leoperidot482]

@@AirTales Since you're a former military aviator, why do Thunderbirds wear gas masks and Blue Angels don't during exhibition flights? I just kind of curios why Thunderbirds don't use the same breathing techniques. Is one team pulling harder g's.

[@jacobmccandles1767]

Some good aviation scenes, but the story looks a bit depressing.

[@thatzwhat]

Indeed. It's a semi-biographical coming-of-age tragedy about the older son, Ben. The book is better than the movie, IMO. Pat Conroy was a terrific writer.

[@AudieHolland]

"Over Spain 1962" Showing USMC and Navy engaging in dogfight maneuvers, apparently using their guns, not missiles. Isn't that rather anachronistic? I always thought the Phantom II did not have a gun when it was first deployed during the Vietnam War (with US forces joining the war in 1964), because it was intended as a flying missile station, firing radar guided missiles from beyond visual range. Also, "Top Gun" was established because of the poor experience the US had flying and fighting in Vietnam, again because its pilots were trained to be flying missileers, not dogfighters. The US did fine in Korea because they still had many WW2 veteran pilots who had learned dogfighting to survive that war. And this opening scene showing dogfighting as a regular occurrence during flight combat training, *in 1962,* with *guns,* makes me wonder.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

It's actually a very interesting note that you bring up. Navy and Marine Corps Phantoms did not have guns. However, they could carry a 20 mm gun pod.

[@hitorque2734]

@@WALTERBROADDUS Hughes twin-barrel, notorious for jamming. Flew it once on the gun range. Sure enough, it jammed after a couple rounds. Never saw one again.

[@checkursix]

Flew with the Hughes Toy Gun a lot out of ChuLai RVN. When it worked, it was devastating. When it didn’t, it was a “thud, thud” and done. Couldn’t get any sand or dirt in the thing and the air base was built on sand dunes. Typical load for close air was a gun and 4 napes.

[@LloydCole-fi9nk]

The Phantom that was used by the Navy and Marines never had guns . They were missiles only as their primary weapons. They had a gun pod that was carried in the center in place of the large fuel tank. The USAF F-4E had the M-61 gun in the nose, once the fact that it needed a gun.

[@decimated550]

don't know why they give him a tan helmet cover , to make his character distinctive? don't think it was necessary

[@garyodle5663]

The F-4 Phantom II had a two seat cockpit but you'd never know it from watching this movie. The Weapons System Officer is never, ever referred to or shown. Never. That makes this movie extremely inaccurate if it can't even show two crew members in a two crewmember airplane. Robert Duval is a great actor but the writing and filming of this movie really let him down.

[@57hound]

In the book the movie was based on they were flying F-8s-single seaters. Maybe the movie people gambled on most of the audience not knowing any better.

[@scottw5315]

Back seaters are an endangered species in the Corps. Once the last F18D retires, that era is over.

[@dikhurtz2406]

I don’t see any reason for a marine to be in the air.

[@LloydCole-fi9nk]

No body knows how to do close air support better than a Marine aviator. Marine Air. When it needs to be destroyed !

[@markgrudzinski914]

Possibly the most boring dog fight sequence ever captured on film.

[@stevoschannel4127]

Man that F4 was a mean looking bird.

[@tomlee7956]

F4EVER!

[@kdkeiser8438]

A very unique movie... the people of the south can, still, be quite rasict. And the F-4 Phantom was a mediocre jet at BEST. That's why it has to have all those offset angles on the wings and the tail. Cut it out!

[@LloydCole-fi9nk]

The Phantom was designed during the 1950s and the thought was that the day of the gun was past and that the missiles were the main weapon. The angles of the Phantom were part of the aerodynamics package.

[@kdkeiser8438]

@@LloydCole-fi9nk they HAD to be part of the aerodynamics... otherwise the aircraft would not fly. At least controllably. And I am pretty sure every US fighter has a gun since then, except for certain models of the F-35. But you can mount a gun pod for ground attack on the one's that don't.