Searching for name of old flying movie.

[Blue Chips]

Many years ago (the 60's) I watched a movie that depicted the trials and struggles of breaking the sound barrier, it was a movie and not a documentary.
There were rocket powered speed sleds that I recall, it was in color and the location was mostly on a Military base.
Seems it was called "90,000 Feet Into the Blue" or similar but searching that and variations of that turns up nothing.
Would love to locate it to watch again.

Any of you remember this movie and/or shed any light on the actual name?

Thanks
Ken

[FlyingRon]

3597
Destination 60,000?

[Blue Chips]

Not what I remembered but just about has to be the one and will be looking into finding it.
OK so I missed it by 30,000 feet, big deal :D


Thanks

[lnuss]

I've not seen that one, but there was another back then called Fate Is The Hunter (the only relation to Ernie Gann's book is the title), which also was supposedly about breaking the sound barrier (in a DH Swallow?).

[vaflier]

Wow Ron, I am impressed.

[Victor Bravo]

"Above and Beyond", starring William Holden and Lloyd Nolen. I believe the USAF gave them full access to Edwards AFB. The plot was a thinly disguised version of the exploits of (a famous test pilot who broke the sound barrier, can't mention his name on EAA forums)

[rwanttaja]

"Above and Beyond", starring William Holden and Lloyd Nolen. I believe the USAF gave them full access to Edwards AFB. The plot was a thinly disguised version of the exploits of (a famous test pilot who broke the sound barrier, can't mention his name on EAA forums)
I was thinking of that one, too, Mr. B. To the rest of you folks, find it...it's a good "snapshot" of Edwards in the early '50s, and you see a lot of very rare early jets.

Another one that I thought matched the OP's description (to some extent) was "Breaking the Sound Barrier." This is an early '50s British film directed by David Lean, that's a fictionalization of Geoffrey De Havilland Jr's death during flight testing in 1946.

Ron Wanttaja

[Blue Chips]

Found lots of information on "Destination 60000" but no video trailer to compare.
The one I mentioned was in color where it is BW as is "Above and Beyond".

Both seem to have lot of wonderful flying pictures though, they look like they would be enjoyable to watch.

Ken

[Jonathan Harger]

I've not seen that one, but there was another back then called Fate Is The Hunter (the only relation to Ernie Gann's book is the title), which also was supposedly about breaking the sound barrier (in a DH Swallow?).
There was also "The Sound Barrier," from 1952, which is a ridiculous film in which the hero reverses the flight controls while the plane is transonic, which somehow helps him survive breaking the sound barrier. Those Brits. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/Soundbarrier.jpg

[crusty old aviator]

It couldn't be any cheesier than Jet Pilot, with the lovely Janet Leigh, who plays a Soviet fighter jock visiting the US, flying our jets, and playing with the Duke's heart. Hollywood's idea of the Cold War???
http://www.classicfilmfreak.com/wp-content/uploads2/2010/05/JET-PILOT.jpg

[crusty old aviator]

In the compressibilty wave patterns of supersonic flight, the rules of aerodynamics tend to be reversed, so what you describe from the movie is not all science fictiion...even if they can't pronounce aluminum correctly.

Aluminium??? (Where is that on the periodic table?)

[Mayhemxpc]

On the other hand, I have to emit that they have it right with "aeroplane." A Brit friend once challenged me on it so I looked up the Wright Brothers patent. Sure enough…aeroplane.

Back on to the thread…I looked up "Above and Beyond" on Google and the only 1952 movie it comes up with is the story of Col. Paul Tibbets.

[Jonathan Harger]

In the compressibilty wave patterns of supersonic flight, the rules of aerodynamics tend to be reversed, so what you describe from the movie is not all science fictiion...
I first learned of the film from the awesome Tom Wolfe book The Right Stuff. The relevant excerpt from that book follows:

"Breaking the Sound Barrier happened to be one of the most engrossing movies about flying ever made. It seemed superbly realistic, and people came away from it sure of two things: it was an Englishman who had broken the sound barrier, and he had done it by reversing the controls in the transonic zone.
Well, after the showing they bring out Yeager to meet the press, and he doesn't know where in the hell to start. To him the whole goddamned picture is outrageous. He doesn't want to get mad, because this thing has been set up by Air Force P.R. But he is not happy. In as calm a way as he can word it on the spur of the moment, he informs one and all that the picture is an utter shuck from start to finish. The promoters respond, a bit huffily, that this picture is not, after all, a documentary. Yeager figures, well, anyway, that settles that. But as the weeks go by, he discovers an incredible thing happening. He keeps running into people who think he's the first American to break the sound barrier… and that he learned how to reverse the controls and zip through from the Englishman who did it first. The last straw comes when he gets a call from the Secretary of the Air Force.
"Chuck," he says, "do you mind if I ask you something? Is it true that you broke the sound barrier by reversing the controls?"
Yeager is stunned by this. The Secretary—the Secretary!—of the U.S. Air Force!
"No, sir," he says, "that is… not correct. Anyone who reversed the controls going transonic would be dead."

[Rick G.]

I'm trying to find an old movie titled "High Frontier." Has anyone seen it or know if it's available? It supposedly contained good footage of the B-36 Peacemaker.

[rv8bldr]

In the compressibilty wave patterns of supersonic flight, the rules of aerodynamics tend to be reversed, so what you describe from the movie is not all science fictiion...even if they can't pronounce aluminum correctly.

Aluminium??? (Where is that on the periodic table?)

Actually, Aluminium is historically correct, although AlumiNUM is more widely used these days.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

[FlyingRon]

The reason you can't find that movie is that they never made it. RKO (what the -- is a radio picture?) was to planing it with Richard Widmark. I think that was during the the Howard Hughes era at RKO and a lot of things either didn't get made, finished, or released on any time schedule. Hughes's own Jet Pilot (mentioned earlier) took almost eight years to get released.