I just acheived my PPL Glider rating yesterday in a Schweizer 2-33, similar to the 2-22 shown in this film, but most of my solo glider time is in the 1-26. It's a super fun aircraft to fly! Thanks for sharing
Same here probably saw this when I was 12/13 in the UK - solo'd at 16 (earliest you could do it in the UK at the time) and still flying sailplanes over 40 years later.....
The airport this was shot from for the take offs and training were filmed in my hometown of Tehachapi CA. There has been gliding in the area for at least as long I can remember.
NASA test pilot Milt Thompson (who appeared as himself in the movie, flying the plywood M2-F1 lifting body test glider at Edwards Air Force Base, California) also flew the 2-1/2 ton, metal, rocket-powered Northrop M2-F2 lifting body at Edwards AFB. (The other piloted, rocket-powered lifting bodies tested at Edwards AFB were the Northrop HL-10 and the Martin X-24A [later converted into the X-24B].) Also: Later that year (May 10, 1967), Bruce Peterson, one of Milt Thompson's fellow test pilots, was involved in a near-fatal landing crash in the M2-F2 (during its final planned glide-test flight before initiating rocket-powered test flights), the engineering film footage of which was part of the opening sequence of "The Six Million Dollar Man" TV series. Amazingly, both Bruce Peterson and the M2-F2 (re-built as the M2-F3) flew again, despite the fact that Peterson lost sight in one eye due to a post-crash infection of that eye--he flew as a NASA test pilot until 1971. (The other piloted, rocket-powered lifting bodies tested at Edwards AFB were the Northrop HL-10 and the Martin X-24A [later converted into the X-24B, which last flew in 1975].)
My grandfather, Vic Horton, was a NASA test pilot and engineer at Edwards in those days and knew both of them quite well. Grandpa was the project leader on the M2-F1, having been selected for the position by Dale Reed and FRC director Paul Bikle. During the M2 flight shown here, Grandpa would have been manning the topside observation dome on the C-47 Goonie Bird tow plane. Also, the day Bruce Peterson had his infamous crash in the M2-F2 (May 10, 1967) he was flying as launch panel operator on the B-52 mothership (hence the reason you hear someone say "Okay, Victor!" during the opening radio chatter on "The Six Million Dollar Man").
I am at the moment reading Milt Thompson's second book "Flying Without Wings" and in it he mentions this film and that made me look it up here on TH-cam.
Eh. Didn't age well, like so many other things that we've deemed inappropriate. The fact is: they made a point of showing off a 14 year old girl doing what grown men are afraid of doing. So whatever. I'm ok with it balancing out a bit. If that's the one take away you got from it then I feel bad for you. It was a great video.
I have always been fascinated by gliders...You have to admit that something about it is so interesting and exciting....as a kid you throw a paper airplane and wonder what it would be like to shrink down and be on board.Really an amazing sport..
this was shown on NBC Feb.19, 1967 as Walt Disney's wonderful world of color as it was called......2 days before I was born....season 13 (1966-1967) episode 20
Thank you for that information, Super Bee! I was almost exactly five months old (born September 20, 1966) when I saw it. (Since Walt Disney actually appeared at the opening and conclusion of it [he died on December 15, 1966], this movie was already “in the can” before 2/19/67-it might have been his last TV appearance.) Also: I remembered much of it from back then (the lake landing, the wooden M2-F1 lifting body test flight, the contingency takeoff tow behind the old prospector’s jalopy, etc.), even though I was so very young at the time. The “experts” say that it’s impossible for such young children to remember anything, but I also recall my mother holding me as an infant, at a firemen’s ball (I was attracted by the rounded-cornered square light fixture bezels on the ceiling, which I also saw some years later, at the same dance hall in Miami, Florida, where I'm from), and: This 1967 TV movie ignited my passion for gliding, which I got to do twice (at the age of nine, at Mount Dora, Florida, and at the Kendall Gliderport in southwestern Dade County) in the summer of 1975, and I enjoyed it as much as the boy in the movie! I’m contacting our local CAP (Civil Air Patrol) unit to see if it might be possible to open a gliderport here in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I now live, as we have all of the types of soaring conditions (thermal, ridge, and mountain wave lift), plus beautiful aerial vistas, here in our valley and over the surrounding mountains.
The boy in this short was my cousin Chris Jury. My great uncle (his dad) was a pilot for TWA for many years, so I wouldn't say they were rich, but they were comfortable. His dad passed down his knowledge and love of aviation to Chris.
@@cthompson5348 thanks. I purchased the dvd some months ago. I really enjoy it. I am a rc glider and I was inspired by this movie. Do you know what happened to chris ?
@@adbas6201 Cool hobby - I'm glad he was an inspiration to you. I'm not sure about the details of how he died. He died in 1972 (I never met him , I was born in '73) - family didn't talk about it very much, but my grandmother (his aunt) told me that his plane was shot down in Mexico. He was only 23.
This episode inspired me to become a glider pilot 10 years later. Watched it first in 1970 when I was 7 years old.
Me too!
I just acheived my PPL Glider rating yesterday in a Schweizer 2-33, similar to the 2-22 shown in this film, but most of my solo glider time is in the 1-26. It's a super fun aircraft to fly! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the 1-26 Championship next year at Caesar Creek Soaring Club in Waynesville, OH May 2-11, 2023
This aired when I was 12 years old. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I never ended up flying a sailplane, but maybe someday.
Do it!
I also saw this at 12 years old. Solo’d at14 and actively flew sailplanes for 50 years. Thank you Walt Disney!
Same here probably saw this when I was 12/13 in the UK - solo'd at 16 (earliest you could do it in the UK at the time) and still flying sailplanes over 40 years later.....
An absolutely fantastic movie. Been watching for almost 20 years and gotten my glider and powered license now.
what a beautiful film. I fly a 1 26 and this almost makes it feel glamorous.
The airport this was shot from for the take offs and training were filmed in my hometown of Tehachapi CA. There has been gliding in the area for at least as long I can remember.
NASA test pilot Milt Thompson (who appeared as himself in the movie, flying the plywood M2-F1 lifting body test glider at Edwards Air Force Base, California) also flew the 2-1/2 ton, metal, rocket-powered Northrop M2-F2 lifting body at Edwards AFB. (The other piloted, rocket-powered lifting bodies tested at Edwards AFB were the Northrop HL-10 and the Martin X-24A [later converted into the X-24B].) Also:
Later that year (May 10, 1967), Bruce Peterson, one of Milt Thompson's fellow test pilots, was involved in a near-fatal landing crash in the M2-F2 (during its final planned glide-test flight before initiating rocket-powered test flights), the engineering film footage of which was part of the opening sequence of "The Six Million Dollar Man" TV series. Amazingly, both Bruce Peterson and the M2-F2 (re-built as the M2-F3) flew again, despite the fact that Peterson lost sight in one eye due to a post-crash infection of that eye--he flew as a NASA test pilot until 1971. (The other piloted, rocket-powered lifting bodies tested at Edwards AFB were the Northrop HL-10 and the Martin X-24A [later converted into the X-24B, which last flew in 1975].)
My grandfather, Vic Horton, was a NASA test pilot and engineer at Edwards in those days and knew both of them quite well. Grandpa was the project leader on the M2-F1, having been selected for the position by Dale Reed and FRC director Paul Bikle. During the M2 flight shown here, Grandpa would have been manning the topside observation dome on the C-47 Goonie Bird tow plane.
Also, the day Bruce Peterson had his infamous crash in the M2-F2 (May 10, 1967) he was flying as launch panel operator on the B-52 mothership (hence the reason you hear someone say "Okay, Victor!" during the opening radio chatter on "The Six Million Dollar Man").
I am at the moment reading Milt Thompson's second book "Flying Without Wings" and in it he mentions this film and that made me look it up here on TH-cam.
"After all - if a GIRL could do it, why couldn't he?" . . .ouch.
Eh. Didn't age well, like so many other things that we've deemed inappropriate. The fact is: they made a point of showing off a 14 year old girl doing what grown men are afraid of doing. So whatever. I'm ok with it balancing out a bit. If that's the one take away you got from it then I feel bad for you. It was a great video.
I have always been fascinated by gliders...You have to admit that something about it is so interesting and exciting....as a kid you throw a paper airplane and wonder what it would be like to shrink down and be on board.Really an amazing sport..
Realy! It's the closest possible flight to bird flight, and many times when we're flying, birds follow us very closely.
Great film! Many thanx!
this was shown on NBC Feb.19, 1967 as Walt Disney's wonderful world of color as it was called......2 days before I was born....season 13 (1966-1967) episode 20
Thank you for that information, Super Bee! I was almost exactly five months old (born September 20, 1966) when I saw it. (Since Walt Disney actually appeared at the opening and conclusion of it [he died on December 15, 1966], this movie was already “in the can” before 2/19/67-it might have been his last TV appearance.) Also:
I remembered much of it from back then (the lake landing, the wooden M2-F1 lifting body test flight, the contingency takeoff tow behind the old prospector’s jalopy, etc.), even though I was so very young at the time. The “experts” say that it’s impossible for such young children to remember anything, but I also recall my mother holding me as an infant, at a firemen’s ball (I was attracted by the rounded-cornered square light fixture bezels on the ceiling, which I also saw some years later, at the same dance hall in Miami, Florida, where I'm from), and:
This 1967 TV movie ignited my passion for gliding, which I got to do twice (at the age of nine, at Mount Dora, Florida, and at the Kendall Gliderport in southwestern Dade County) in the summer of 1975, and I enjoyed it as much as the boy in the movie! I’m contacting our local CAP (Civil Air Patrol) unit to see if it might be possible to open a gliderport here in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I now live, as we have all of the types of soaring conditions (thermal, ridge, and mountain wave lift), plus beautiful aerial vistas, here in our valley and over the surrounding mountains.
A beautiful film, Thanks for Posting
Wow!!!!!! Thanks for loading this!!!!!!!!! I REALLY enjoyed this!!!!!
Does anyone know what happened to the boy and the girl pilots ? were they proper pilots or actors ?
In fact they are actors and pilots
I love birds
I don’t find Condors to be ugly or grotesque.
thank you
Did you intend to use the image stabilization on this?
It is true!
It would be nice if you spelled my sister in law Margaret BIRSNER's name correctly. BIRSNER
She is still flying gliders ?
They must be rich kids to be able to engage in that sport ( hobby? )
I can only imagine how much that glider cost. And what about school?
The boy in this short was my cousin Chris Jury. My great uncle (his dad) was a pilot for TWA for many years, so I wouldn't say they were rich, but they were comfortable. His dad passed down his knowledge and love of aviation to Chris.
@@cthompson5348 thanks. I purchased the dvd some months ago. I really enjoy it. I am a rc glider and I was inspired by this movie. Do you know what happened to chris ?
@@adbas6201 Cool hobby - I'm glad he was an inspiration to you. I'm not sure about the details of how he died. He died in 1972 (I never met him , I was born in '73) - family didn't talk about it very much, but my grandmother (his aunt) told me that his plane was shot down in Mexico. He was only 23.
@@garyswift135 that's really cool! This makes me happy - thank you
@@cthompson5348 even if it is long time ago, it is sad.