wanttaja@ssc-vax.UUCP (Ronald J Wanttaja) (12/16/85)
One good reason for an aviator to see "The Jewel of the Nile" is the wild *motorized* F-16 mockup used in one of the chase scenes of the movie. For a "quickie" movie, the F-16 was very well done; only suffering in the cockpit, seat, and missiles. It was a very accurate copy. One thing that had me curious was *how* it was being moved around... I had assumed that they had a hidden cable pulling it. Then I saw it: Two driveshafts coming down from the fuselage, looking like the normal landing gear struts! They had U-joints to transfer the power to the wheels. My, my, my, but one can get some interesting fantasies contemplating aquisition of the mockup. Wonder if they'd take a 150 in trade? Ron Wanttaja (ssc-vax!wanttaja) If God had wanted man to fly, He would have given us wings... and, geeze, are mine uncomfortable under a coat!
kerry@ctvax (12/22/85)
Yes, I saw THE JEWEL OF THE NILE, and I didn't understand why they had decided to use a "B" model (two-seater). I figured it out after I saw three people hiding in it. The mock-up was very good, except for the little switch marked "afterburner" connected to the side-stick. Why couldn't they have just used the throttle 'as is', and had the actor shove it into afterburner? And, yes, the seats and the missile arrangement was a bit stupid-looking. Overall though, it was a real funny gag and seemed to real enough to make the scenes work.