Will and I are pleased to announce our participation in the first-ever AOPA Aviation Summit “GA at the Movies” Luncheon.

AOPA President and CEO Craig L. Fuller will kick off this exciting event by presenting the Joseph B. “Doc” Hartranft Award and the Laurence P. Sharples Perpetual Award to recognize each winner’s contributions to general aviation.

During the three-course lunch, attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at two aviation movies, “A Pilot’s Story” and “Amelia.”  Will & I will talk with Mr. Fuller about why we’re making the film, what’s surprised us about pilots, and the highs and lows of the production process.

Then, key contributors from “Amelia” will share their insider perspective on how the freedom and adventure of the legendary aviator’s life were captured on the silver screen.

GA at the Movies Luncheon

Friday, November 6

12:00 to 1:30 P.M.

Marriott Grand Ballroom

Purchase tickets online at

http://www.aopa.org/summit/register.html

See you at Summit!

To see trailers of the film, please visit: http://www.apilotsstory.com/

Prior to the start of the week long AirVenture event at Oshkosh, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Tom Poberezny, EAA’s president to capture on film his own passion for flight and the Young Eagles program.  The interview tool place inside the EAA museum.  Mr. Poberezny was very gracious with his time and provided us with an excellent interview and great sound bites.

Another highlight during the week at Oshkosh was in the form of a flight with Chuck Aaron, the Red Bull aerobatic helicopter pilot.  Rico got a once in a life time opportunity to film inside the cockpit of the Red Bull helicopter while Chuck ‘The Master’ Aaron gracefully performed a number of loops and rolls.  It was out of this world!

Will had an opportunity to record a number of episodes of his aviation podcast: The Pilot’s Flight PodLog with co-host David Allen:http://pilotwill.libsyn.com/

While at AirVenture/Oshkosh 2009, we had an opportunity to screen the latest trailer of the production at the Fly-In Theater on July 31st at Oshkosh. The screening took place before the evening’s scheduled film and was well received buy the audience.  We were then interviewed on stage by Skip Lehman of Mach 2 Management and discussed the making of the film.

To watch the latest trailer, please visit: http://www.apilotsstory.com/

We would love to hear your feedback.

Large Screen at the Fly-In Theater

It was my fine pleasure that I had a chance to pack up the cameras, jump into the Arrow, and fly north to a small airport community to meet with air show performer Julie Clark. We landed and taxied right to her home. I have never been or landed at an airport community like this but now I may need to live at one. Beautiful homes and each one has an airplane in the “Garage” or parked outside, my kind of place. As we shut down the aircraft the “garage” door opened to unveil her air show T-34 Mentor tucked behind a beautiful     T-28, Julie calls her around town plane. We should all be so lucky.

Julie was a delight to talk with and just gave us gold during the interview. Julie has such an amazing story to tell as we all do. But to hear about her about her trails and tribulations as she worked her way into the airline world is just inspiring. She is a Spitfire for sure and I would fly with her any time. Her air show performances are a thing to see as well. Rico and I had a great time watching her show at the Salinas air show. . If you would like to learn more about Julie and her air shows you can find her at www.americanaerobatics.com 

Also new on www.apilotsstory.com you might notice that we now have a way for you to help out in the production of the film. We are currently taking donations to help out. This is not an investment or charitable donation. But this is a way for you to be a part and help tell our story to the world. Please stop by the website and donate if you can, every little bit helps.

Thank you for your interest in the story that needs to be told.

-Will

Well we got one of the coolest interview we could ever hope to get. A few weekends ago we interviewed Maj Samantha Weeks, lead solo #5, of the Thunderbirds. There we were on the tarmac of Travis Air Force Base right next to the number 5 Thunderbird F-16. I mean wow, how cool is that. Maj. Weeks was great and we grabbed a great interview. She is one cool steely eyed Missile woman. Cooler then the other side of the pillow, she gave us gold. A little tidbit, her very first solo was in a jet, the T-37. I can only dream of flying a jet, her first solo was in one. Well we would also like to thank Capt. Elizabeth Kreft, the Thunderbirds Public Affairs officer, for getting us the interview. She was great and really let us get some great stuff for the film.

Well I thought I would let everybody know I have survived the poison oak attack. It was bad for a long time. Things I learned were I should have gone onto the steroids  that I was worried about taking. Next time  will do that. It would have gone away much faster. Would I do it again? Yes, it is a beautiful shot, it really is. Art is pain, art is pain.

So as it turns out that was indeed Poison Oak I was walking through to get a shot the other day. It also appears that I am allergic to Poison Oak. I once thought I was not, it appears that I was wrong. Well it is all over my legs and I am having a hard time trying not to scratch. And the worst part is I think I gave it to my wife. So now she has it, “Sorry honey”. Man I hope this shot was worth it. It is a great shoot for sure. Now I am defiantly going to use it in the film. Art is pain, right? Art is pain… Or in this case art is itchy.

-Will

Last weekend we started shooting the opening scene to A Pilot’s Story. I will not tell you want we shot as that would spoil the film, but lets just say it involved the stunning California coast line and a beautiful little Piper J-3 Cub.

I will tell you about one aspect of the shoot just because you should know what I will do to get the shot. We were shooting on the side of a tall cliff on the Northern California coastline. I wanted to get a shot of the Piper Cub flying along the water from above. So my pilot in the Cub was to fly along and bellow the cliff and I would get the shot from above. There was a good amount of ice plant and other vegetation in my way to the edge of the cliff. No worries I am a hiker, I have my hiking boots and my good cargo shorts on . So off I trudged through the thick brush with camera and tripod in hand. About half way to the edge I noticed the green and red leaves of the bushes I was walking through. It was all around me, and I had about fifty more feet to go before I found the edge. I look down and notice that each leaf had a smooth side and a bumpy side. I think to my self, “Hey this is Poison Oak” and it was bushing up all over my legs. I looked back to see the fifty feet or so I had already walked through and said to my self. “Art is pain, move on Will!” Laughing it off and kept going. I got the most beautiful shot of the Cub flying along the empty beach and across the crashing surf. It is a beautiful shot and will defiantly make it into the film. 

Somehow I didn’t get any kind of a breakout of poison oak thank goodness. The film Gods must have been smiling down on me that day. So with the Gods on my side you now know I will do just about anything to get the shot.

-Will

Just a quick update about A Pilot’s Story project. We are continuing to get great feedback from the trailer. Rico and I attended the National Aviation Hall of FameInduction ceremony last week after being invited  by a wonderful aviator named Zoe Dell Nutter. It gave us a chance to meet some of our nations great aviators and spread the news around about our project. The ceremony was being held in Dayton Ohio so us California boys jumped on a plane and made our way there. 

The first nights event was held in the National Museum of the United Air Force at the Write Paterson Air Force base. The museum is one of the best aviation museums I have ever seen. If you ever find your way out to Dayton you must spend at least a day there. Rico and I spent must of our Saturday enjoying the museum. 

Saturday night was the main event, the induction ceremony. A black tie affaire held at the Dayton Convention center. Over 700 people in attendance to see four outstanding contributers to aviation accept their awards. The four inductees this year were Col. Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, USAF (Ret.), Herbert D. Kelleher, William A. Moffett, and Sean D. Tucker. We had a great time at the event and got a chance to meet some amazing aviators.

Now, back home in the real world, we continue to work on A Pilot’s Story, as well as other projects. I am currently in the design and building process of creating a way of attaching my steady cam rig to a helicopter. This will allow us to get some really amazing footage from a flying platform. I can’t wait to try it out. In the past I have always just handheld a camera with a gyroscopic device attached to it in the helicopter. With a full steady cam rig on the helicopter we should be able to eliminate all jerky movement we get when handheld.  Check back for more on that.

-Will