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Various real-worldaircraft have long made significant appearances in fictional works, including books, films, toys, TV programs, video games, and other media.

The first aviation film was the 1911William J. Humphrey–directed two-reeler,The Military Air-Scout,^[1] shot after anAero Club of America flying meet atLong Island, New York. The stunt flying was done by Lt.Henry H. Arnold, "who picked up 'a few extra bucks' for his services" and "became so excited about movies that he almost quit the Army to become an actor."^[2]

The years betweenWorld War I andWorld War II saw extensive use of aircraft, a new technology, in film, a new medium.^[3] In the early 1920s, Hollywood studios made dozens of now-obscure "aerial Westerns" with leads such asTom Mix andHoot Gibson, where the role of the horse was taken by aircraft, or used aircraft as nothing more than vehicles for stunts to excite audiences.^[4] In 1926, the first "proper" aviation film was made;Wings is a story of two pilots who sign up to fly and fight in the First World War.^[5] Made with the cooperation of theUnited States' then-Department of War (a relationship that continues to this day), it used front-line military aircraft of the day such as theThomas-Morse MB-3 andBoeing PW-9, flown by military pilots.^[6] Future U.S. Air Force generalsHap Arnold andHoyt Vandenberg were among the military officers involved with the production: Arnold as a technical consultant and Vandenberg as one of the pilots.^[7]Wings was a box-office hit when it achieved general release in 1929 and went on to win the award for Best Production at the firstAcademy Awards.^[8][9]

InFascist Italy in the 1930s, aviation-themed films were used as propaganda tools to complement the massed flights led byItalo Balbo in promoting the regime domestically and abroad.^[10] One such film was the most successful Italian film of the pre-World War II era;Luciano Serra pilota (Luciano Serra, Pilot) was inextricably linked to the Fascist government viaMussolini's sonVittorio, who was the driving force behind the film's production.^[11] The film, set between 1921 and theItalo-Abyssinian War, was used to compare the allegedly moribund state of aviation in pre-Fascist Italy with the purported power of theRegia Aeronautica and Italian aviation in general in the 1930s.^[12] However, by the time thatLuciano Serra pilota was shown at the 1938Venice Film Festival, the link between aviation and Fascism had already been firmly established in the minds of the Italian people through widespread depictions of aircraft in a variety of media.^[11] For example, there was an entire branch of theFuturist Art movement devoted to aviation, known asAeropittura ("Aeropainting").^[13] While many of theAeropittura works were devoted to flight rather than aircraftper se, some did celebrate Italian aviation exploits, such as Alfredo Ambrosi'sIl volo su Vienna (The Flight over Vienna) which depicted in Futurist style theWorld War I exploit ofGabriele d'Annunzio; although the city of Vienna is shown in abstract in accordance with the aims ofAeropittura – namely to show the dynamism and excitement of flight – theAnsaldo SVA aircraft are carefully and accurately rendered.^[13][14]

The U.S. military controls whether its aircraft may be used for movie or video production. Requests for such use must be accompanied by the proposed production's script, allowing military officials to withhold aircraft when they believe the work will not portray the U.S. military in a sufficiently positive light. Because alternatives to using real military aircraft can be expensive, films that do not get U.S. military approval often do not get financed or made. Sean McElwee, writing forSalon.com, concluded of this problem,

This is aprima facie case for de facto censorship...If the government wants to allow its equipment to be used by studios, it needs to grant access to anyone who wants to use it – that is the meaning of pluralism. The Pentagon fears that some of the movies may hurt the military's reputation and recruiting efforts. These concerns are legitimate, but it's more important that we allowJohn Stuart Mill's 'market place of ideas' to be a place for free trade, rather than favoring some over others.^[15]

Aircraft have also appeared in televisionminiseries andseries around the world. These include the American productionsTwelve O'Clock High,Airwolf,Baa Baa Black Sheep,Sky King andWings; the Australian seriesBig Sky,Chopper Squad andThe Flying Doctors, and the miniseriesThe Lancaster Miller Affair; British shows such asAirline,Piece of Cake andSquadron, the Canadian seriesArctic Air;JETS – Leben am Limit andMedicopter 117 – Jedes Leben zählt from Germany; and the Canadian–British–German co-productionRitter's Cove.

Two privately ownedSkyraiders depicted U.S. Air Force "Sandy" search-and-rescue escort aircraft in the 1991 filmFlight of the Intruder.^[16]

The 1986Stephen Coonts novelFlight of the Intruder is about twonaval aviators who take theirGrumman A-6 Intruder on an unauthorized bombing raid onHanoi during the Vietnam War. It was made into a 1991 filmof the same name.^[17]

TheA-10 Thunderbolt II is featured in the 1989 video gameA-10 Tank Killer.^[18]

Most incarnations of theAutobot Powerglide, who first appeared inHasbro'sTransformers toy line in 1985, transform into an A-10.^[19][20][21]

TwoA-26firebombers were featured in the 1989Steven Spielberg filmAlways.^[22] Attempts to use radio-controlled models for special effects shots were abandoned as unworkable; instead, models were "flown" from wire rigs.^[23]

TheMitsubishi A6M Zero was featured in the filmThe Wind Rises, a 2013Studio Ghibli animated fictionalized biopic of Zero designerJiro Horikoshi.^[24]

Zero fighters are shown in the 2013 Japanese novelEien No Zero (The Eternal Zero) byNaoki Hyakuta, which was made into a 2013film of the same name directed byTakashi Yamazaki.^[25]

A heavily modifiedAérospatiale Gazelle was the centerpiece of the 1983John Badham action filmBlue Thunder.^[26] Thesame helicopter appeared in the short-lived 1984TV series by the same name starringJames Farentino. The modified Gazelle went on to be used in the TV mini-seriesAmerika.^[27]

At the climax of the 2012James Bond filmSkyfall, an armedAgustaWestland AW101 Merlin transport helicopter is used in the main villain Silva's assault on Bond and M at Bond's childhood home.^[28][29][30]

TheBoeing AH-64 Apache had a major role in the 1990 action-thriller film directed byDavid Green,Fire Birds (orWings of the Apache).^{[31][better source needed]}

The Apache helicopter has also made an appearance in the hardcore study-level simDCS: World, being praised for its accurate depiction of the systems and procedures.^[32]

The assault on what would later be known as thePegasus Bridge over theCaen Canal in France by British commandos landing inAirspeed Horsa gliders was depicted in the 1962 war epicThe Longest Day. Only one Horsa replica was actually constructed.^[33]

Ten non-flyable Airspeed Horsa mockups were fabricated for the filming of the 1977 filmA Bridge Too Far.^[34]

At least twoAmerican Eagle A-1s were employed in the production of the 1930 filmYoung Eagles which was directed byWilliam A. Wellman and starredBuddy Rogers andJean Arthur. The film portrayed American pilots serving in France during the Great War. Although the A-1 was a post-WW1 trainer, the filmmakers considered it suitable to portray wartime aircraft. One Eagle was painted with USAS insignia while a second was painted with German markings. Stunt pilotDick Grace was hired to deliberately crash-land both of them in separate scenes, which severely damaged both aircraft. Grace escaped injury on both occasions.^[35]

AnAvro Ashton, in its six-engined, Olympus testbed form, appeared as the fictitiousPhoenix airliner inCone of Silence (1960), based on the novel of the same name^[36] byDavid Beaty, a formerBOAC pilot. This concerned the takeoff problems of thePhoenix, and the subsequent accident investigation; it was based on two takeoff accidents to thede Havilland Comet.^[37]

TheAvro Canada CF-105 Arrow makes a prominent appearance in Daniel Wyatt's 1990 novel,The Last Flight of the Arrow. In the novel, the real-life destruction of the fighter is a cover for a secret U.S.-Canadian continental air-defense initiative that fields a fleet of Arrows. A Polish-CanadianRoyal Canadian Air Force pilot flies one Arrow on a high-speed reconnaissance flight over Russia to find proof that the Soviet Union is planning an airstrike on North America.^[38]

TheAvro Lancaster was the best-knownRoyal Air Force heavy bomber of World War II.^[39]

Lancasters appeared in the 1952 British war filmAppointment in London (released in the US asRaiders in the Sky) directed byPhilip Leacock and starringDirk Bogarde.^[40]

Avro Vulcans are central to the 2008 aviation novel by English authorDerek Robinson, titledHullo Russia, Goodbye England. A BritishRAF pilot named Silk, a veteran of Bomber Command in the Second World War, rejoins the service at the height of theCold War.^[41]

The 1965James Bond filmThunderball portrays the hijacking of an Avro Vulcan for its nuclear bombs.^[42]

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses appear in the 1951 novelThe Sun is Silent bySaul Levitt which traces the journey of a B-17 crew from their training through to daylight bombing missions over Germany. The author himself had served as a radioman/gunner in a B-17 during the war.^[43]

The B-17 Flying Fortress was the subject of the 1990Warner Bros. filmMemphis Belle.^[44] During filming, one of the five vintage B-17s was destroyed in an accidental crash and a second was damaged when an engine cowling detached in flight, tearing a chunk out of the aircraft's tail. There were no injuries in either incident.^[45]

ForGeorge Lucas' 2012 filmRed Tails about the332d Fighter Group, theTuskegee Airmen, the B-17G "Pink Lady" operated by theAssociation Forteresse Toujours Volante, appeared as a351st Bomb Group aircraft named "Yankee", coded ED-N. Filmed in theCzech Republic in 2010, the film company funding allowed the warbird to fly for an additional year before being retired to museum status. Other Flying Fortresses were rendered throughCGI.^[46]

Consolidated B-24 Liberators appear in the 1944 20th Century Fox filmWinged Victory which was directed byGeorge Cukor and which portrayed cadets undergoing training as aircrew in theU.S. Army Air Forces during WW2. The AAF detached several B-24s to the production, which was filmed at Santa Ana Army Airfield in California.^[47]

B-24s are a central feature in the 1952 novelAngle of Attack by Joseph Landon. The story concerns navigator Irwin 'Win' Hellman, whose B-24 is attacked by enemy fighters and badly damaged over Vienna. The B-24's pilot signals to the enemy fliers that he wishes to surrender but Hellman, who is Jewish and dreads being captured alive, believes they can still escape and, with the backing of the other crew, he takes command.^[48]

B-24s are a major feature of the 1979 novelRider on the Wind byDavid Westheimer. The novel portrays a B-24 pilot of the USAAF stationed in Palestine during the Second World War and who meets a Jewish resistance-fighter. The author himself served as a navigator in a B-24 with the 98th Bomb Group stationed in Palestine and Egypt in 1942.^[49]

TheNorth American B-25 Mitchell had feature roles in the filmsThirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944) (pilotTed Lawson's account of theDoolittle Raid^[50]),Hanover Street (1979) based on a fictional B-25 unit stationed in England,^[50] andForever Young (1992), following a B-25 test pilot's story both in the past and present.^[51]

B-25s appear in the 1976 novelWhip byMartin Caidin, which portrays a B-25 unit based in Australia and commanded by Captain 'Whip' Russell and they are employed in low-level bombing missions against Japanese convoys carrying reinforcements to Guadalcanal and Rabaul in 1942.^[52][53]

The B-25 was the focus of the second half of the 2001 filmPearl Harbor, although critics complained that the bomber and its role were being depicted inaccurately.^[54]

B-25s also appear in the 2019Hulu mini-seriesCatch-22 directed byGeorge Clooney.^[55] Two vintage B-25s were used in the production^[56] and other B-25s were re-created with CGI.^[57]

TheBoeing B-29 Superfortress has played an important role in several Hollywood films, particularly theEnola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb. The Enola Gay was depicted inAbove and Beyond andThe Beginning or the End.^[58]

The 1957 filmBombers B-52 focused on the introduction of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber by the U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the 1950s, using extensive footage of early model B-52s.^[59]

The 1963 filmA Gathering of Eagles focuses on the stresses of aB-52 wing commander at the height of the Cold War. Some excellent visuals of the B-52 including a complexinflight refueling operation which nearly ends in disaster.^[60]

The B-52 was also a key part ofStanley Kubrick's 1964 black comedy filmDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.^[61]

A B-52 was a focal point of the 1983 novelTrinity's Child, byWilliam Prochnau, and the 1990 telemovie adaptation,By Dawn's Early Light.^[62]

The 1950s syndicated American television seriesWhirlybirds, produced byDesilu Studios, starred a pair ofBell 47 helicopters. The association withWhirlybirds continues to be used to promote helicopters and the Bell 47 in particular.^[63] A Bell 47 was also one of the 'stars' of the Australian television seriesSkippy the Bush Kangaroo.^[64]

A Bell 47G3B-1 was used as the "Batcopter" in the 1966Batman film. This airframe had previously appeared inLassie Come Home.^[65]

A Bell 47 depicted a supposed German helicopter in the 1968 action filmWhere Eagles Dare. Although experimental German helicopter types did exist in this time period, theFocke-Achgelis Fa 223 was a larger, twin-rotor machine, which was used on only a limited basis.^[66][67]

The Bell 47, in its military configuration as aH-13 Sioux regularly appeared in theM*A*S*H film (1970) andtelevision series (1972-1983).^[68]

Chopper Squad was a 1970s Australian television series about aBell 206 JetRanger used for rescue work in Sydney. The helicopter used was an actual rescue helicopter operated by theWestpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service.^[64]

TheBell UH-1 Iroquois (commonly called theHuey) was the most common helicopter during theVietnam War, as an aircraft used to insert and remove troops from the field, transport casualties for medical treatment and as a gunship.^[69] As such, it has appeared in many works of fiction related to the war.

The UH-1 was an important part of the 1968 filmThe Green Berets. The production company paid $18,623.64 for the material, the 85 hours of flying time by UH-1 helicopters, and 3,800 man-days for military personnel taken away from their regular duties.^[70]

The UH-1 was inFrancis Ford Coppola's 1979 filmApocalypse Now. Several Hueys were rented from the Philippine Air Force.^[71] The distinct and iconic sound of the helicopters was featured prominently in the film'ssound design of the soundtrack.^[72]

UH-1s were prominently featured inOliver Stone's 1986 filmPlatoon.^[71]

The UH-1 is a central part of the 2002 Vietnam war filmWe Were Soldiers. The helicopter is shown ferrying troops into theIa Drang valley as part of the then-new concept ofair cavalry. The film particularly focused on the flights of MajorBruce Crandall, who was later awarded theMedal of Honor for his actions while piloting his UH-1 during the battle depicted in the film.^[73][74] Four of the UH-1s used were provided by theGeorgia Army National Guard.^[75]

UH-1D helicopters are seen as the primary transport aircraft in the 2017 filmKong: Skull Island, and are attacked by Kong after launching seismic bombs in an attempt to map the Island's caves. Most are equipped with the M134 and FFAR pod armament.^[76]

TheBell X-1 was depicted early in the filmThe Right Stuff. The film showed the historic flight of the X-1 becoming the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight under its own propulsion. This achievement helped usher in the US space program that was the subject of the rest of the film.^[77]

The 1936 movieWithout Orders centers on the emergency landing of aBoeing 247 by the stewardess.^[78]

The 1936 movie13 Hours by Air takes place largely aboard a transcontinental Boeing 247 flight and includes significant historically interesting second-unit footage of actual terminal facilities onUnited Air Lines's then-new transcontinental route network.^[78]

The 1961 episode "The Odyssey of Flight 33" of the television seriesThe Twilight Zone takes place on aBoeing 707 with the aircraft traveling through various periods of history.^[79]

A Boeing 707-349C leased fromFlying Tiger Line portrayed two aircraft in the 1970 filmAirport, based on the 1968Arthur Haileynovel of the same name.^[80]

The Boeing 707 is featured as the titular aircraft inAirplane!, a 1980 disaster-parody film produced byJon Davison.^[81]

In 2011, the American television seriesPan Am took place in the early and mid-1960s and featured interior sets and exterior CGI representations of the 707 on the ground and in flight; it was Pan Am's flagship airliner during that time. Additional footage of John Travolta's Boeing 707 in Pan Am livery has also been used in the TV series.^[82]

Industrial Light and Magic constructed a large-scale model of aBoeing 727 of fibreglass and aluminum for use in the 1990action filmDie Hard 2.^[83]

The 1996 filmEraser includes an elaborate action sequence involving a parachute jump from a crippled Boeing 727.^[84]

The 1998 filmU.S. Marshals depicts the crash of a 727 from theJustice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS).^[85]

In the 2008 TV seriesBreaking Bad, the mid-air crash between aBoeing 737 and aBeechcraft Super King Air overAlbuquerque, referred to as the Wayfarer 515 disaster, takes an important part in the plot. Because of it, this model is featured and mentioned several times during the second season. Also, the episode "Seven Thirty-Seven" is named for the aircraft; it is the first of several episode titles that collectively foreshadow the Wayfarer 515 disaster. When placed together, they read "Seven Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ".^[86][87]

In the 1990 action filmDie Hard 2, a 747 that has been hijacked by terrorists is destroyed byJohn McClane.^[88]

A 747-212B, rented fromKalitta Air, was the title subject of the 1997 filmAir Force One, portraying the real 747-200-basedVC-25 that transports the US president.^[89][90]

ABoeing 757 is the setting of the 2006 filmUnited 93, that is based on the events on boardUnited Airlines Flight 93 which was hijacked during theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001.^[91]

A modifiedBoeing 777 was used as theUnited States Air Force mothership for an experimentalNASAspaceplane in the 2006 filmSuperman Returns.^[92]

In 1950,Paul Mantz tore the wings off aBoeing PT-13D (Model 75) Stearman by flying between two oaks for the 1950 filmWhen Willie Comes Marching Home.^[93] A crop-dusting Stearman, N6340, was featured early in the 1963Elvis Presley filmIt Happened at the World's Fair.^[94]

In the final sequence ofMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, two Boeing-Stearman feature in a plane chase whereTom Cruise wing walks as the planes engage in aerobatics.^[95] The scene involves Cruise jumping between planes, in reality this mid-air transfer was actually shot between a Boeing-Stearman and a helicopter with a rig to make it appear to be the wheels of the other plane.^[96] In total, four Boeing-Stearman were used in production.^[95]

Comics writerGarth Ennis' 2007 revival of the old British war comic heroBattler Britton: Bloody Good Show, featured the ace fighter pilot commanding a squadron ofBristol Beaufighters in North Africa during the Second World War.^[97]

Bristol Blenheims appear in the 1945 British filmThe Way to the Stars (released in the US asJohnny in the Clouds). In the early part of the film, Pilot Officer Peter Penrose (John Mills), a '15-hour sprog' (rookie) arrives at Halfpenny Field, a Royal Air-Force aerodrome, in the summer of 1940 and joins B-Flight of No 72 Squadron, equipped with Blenheims and commanded by Flight-Lieutenant David Archdale (Michael Redgrave).^[98]

A Bristol Blenheim IV, restored from aBolingbroke IVT, appeared in the 1995 filmRichard III, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play directed by and starringIan McKellen; who set the play in an imaginary 1930s England ruled by a fascist-style Monarch.^[99]

ABristol Type 175 Britannia airliner was the central feature of the 1959 filmJet Over the Atlantic (also released asHigh Over the Atlantic), a drama directed byByron Haskin and starringGuy Madison andVirginia Mayo. The film's plot is about an airliner en route from Spain to the United States. Among the passengers is an American who has been arrested for murder and is being extradited back to the US. Another passenger, rendered mentally unstable by the loss of his daughter, releases a toxic gas on board the aircraft, rendering the flight crew unconscious, and leaving the prisoner as the only person capable of flying the aircraft. Despite the film's title, the Bristol Type 175 was a turbo-prop engined aircraft rather than a jet-powered plane.^[100]

In the long-running British First World War comic stripCharley's War, published inBattle Picture Weekly 1979–1986 and written byPat Mills and illustrated byJoe Colquhoun, the storyline goes on a tangent when Charley Bourne's younger brother Wilf enlists under-age and becomes an observer/gunner in aBristol F2B squadron in France in early 1918.^[101][102]

ABristol Type 170 Freighter Mk. 11A played a major role in the 1957 British filmThe Man in the Sky (distributed in the U.S. asDecision Against Time) directed byCharles Crichton and starringJack Hawkins. In the film, one of the engines catches fire during a test flight, and Hawkins' character struggles to use up enough fuel to make an emergency landing. During filming, the aircraft was damaged in a crash, but was repaired and returned to service withSilver City Airways until it was retired and scrapped in 1962.^[103]

In the 1963epic filmThe Great Escape, theprisoners of war played byJames Garner andDonald Pleasence steal aLuftwaffeBücker Bü 181.^[104] No aircraft were involved in the actual escape fromStalag Luft III. Pleasence, who had been an aircraft wireless operator withNo. 166 Squadron, was imprisoned inStalag Luft I after hisLancaster was shot down over Germany on 31 August 1944.^[105]

In the 2018 filmMission: Impossible – Fallout,Ethan Hunt performs aHALO jump from aBoeing C-17 Globemaster III belonging to theUAE Air Force.^[106]

Eleven aircraft were gathered for airdrop scenes in the 1977 filmA Bridge Too Far, all of which had to be of a paratroop configuration, representing the C-53 Skytrooper variant.^[34]

A Douglas C-47 DL Skytrain featured in the climactic scenes of the 1978 filmThe Wild Geese which starredRichard Burton andRoger Moore as the leaders of a group of British mercenaries sent to rescue a deposed African leader. The C-47 used in the film belonged to United Air of South Africa and was nick-named 'The Wild Goose' after its film role. The aircraft was destroyed in a crash in South Africa in 1988 which claimed the lives of all 24 people on board.^[107]

The20th Century Fox productionThe Big Lift (originally titledQuartered City), set during theBerlin Airlift, was filmed in Berlin at a former German studio nearTempelhof in 1949 andDouglas C-54 Skymasters were prominently featured. Military personnel fromRhein-Main Air Base appeared as extras.^[108]

Lockheed C-121A Constellation tail number 48-615 was used in the 1977 filmMacArthur, starringGregory Peck, painted inSupreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) markings.^[109]

In the 1990action filmDie Hard 2,John McClane ejects from the cockpit of a groundedFairchild C-123 Provider for a parachute recovery just before terrorists destroy it. A full-scale fuselage mock-up, molded from a real Provider, was rigged with 3,000 bullet hits, each one drilled and loaded with a charge, tapped, and wired to discharge in sequence. Actual pyrotechnics work was done atIndian Dunes, California, with actorBruce Willis' ejection composited into the shot later; real C-123s do not haveejection seats.^[110]

The C-123 was featured in the 1997 filmCon Air, with much of the film's action taking place in and around the aircraft.^[111] Three C-123s were used in the production of the film. One aircraft was used for all of the flying sequences. Another was used for thetaxiing scenes and the third Provider, non-airworthy and in poor condition, was dismantled and its fuselage was used for the filming of the climatic crash scene.^[112]

The 1976 filmRaid on Entebbe was based on a real-life Israeli military rescue mission which relied on the unique short-field capabilities of theLockheed C-130.^[113]

Guy Ritchie's 2023 filmThe Covenant features an AC-130 gunship in the final scene, coming to the rescue of Jake Gyllenhaal's MSG Kinley as he's pinned down at the Darunta Dam.^[114]

TheCaproni Ca.60 Noviplano, a nine-wing flying boat of which only a single prototype was constructed and which crashed on its first test flight in 1921, features in the 2013 Japanese animated featureThe Wind Rises, a romantic dramatization of the life of Japanese aircraft designerJiro Horikoshi. In the film, the Italian aeronautical designerGiovanni Caproni appears as a mentor to Horikoshi in several dream sequences, one of which features a tour of the Ca.60.^[24]

Several ex-Spanish Air ForceCASA 2.111s were used as "stand-ins" to depict GermanHeinkel He 111 bombers in the 1969 filmBattle of Britain.^[115]

Four ex-Spanish CASA 2.111s, playing the role of Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s, were also used in the production of the 1970 Oscar-winning filmPatton, starringGeorge C. Scott.^[116]

The protagonist of the 1950s American television showSky King, played by actorKirby Grant, flew aCessna 310 in later episodes.^[117]

ACessna 402, operated by the fictional small airline Sandpiper Air at Tom Nevers Field airport,Nantucket, was featured in theNBC-TV sitcomWings which ran for eight seasons, 1990–1997.^[118]

The protagonist of the 1950s television showSky King flew aCessna T-50 in early episodes; the aircraft was later replaced by a Cessna 310.^[117]

Westland Wessex helicopters portrayedSikorsky CH-34 Choctaws inStanley Kubrick's 1987 filmFull Metal Jacket.^[119]

In the 2017 filmThe Wife, two significant scenes, including the final one in the movie, take place onConcorde flights transporting aNobel Prize winner. They were shot in the aircraft displayed at Scotland'sNational Museum of Flight.^[120][121]

Lego released a set based on the Concorde. The set has 2083 pieces and features the iconic design plus inside area of the plane.^[122]

The novelHornet Flight by Ken Follett is a thriller ofthe Resistance against the Nazi occupation of Denmark in World War II. In the novel ade Havilland Hornet Moth is used by the protagonists to fly from Denmark to the United Kingdom with information about a German radar system. The author drew inspiration from an actual flight that took place during World War II.^[123]

De Havilland Mosquitos play the title role of the 1969 filmMosquito Squadron, starringDavid McCallum andCharles Gray.^[124]

The Mosquito plays an important role with thede Havilland Vampire inFrederick Forsyth's 1975 novellaThe Shepherd.^[125]

De Havilland Vampires appear in the 1954 British motion pictureConflict of Wings, a drama about the conflict that arises when an RAF squadron based in Norfolk is allocated a small island to use as a range for low-level attack training only to encounter the protests of nearby villagers who want the island preserved as a bird sanctuary.^[126]

Vampires appear in the 1966 novelShooting Script by former RAF pilot and thriller writerGavin Lyall.^[127]

The Vampire is central to the plot of the 1975 novella,The Shepherd by British novelistFrederick Forsyth, the story of an RAF pilot attempting to fly home for Christmas fromRAF Celle, Germany, toRAF Lakenheath on Christmas Eve 1957. The fact that the DH.100 was not fitted withejection seats until about ten years later, and hence was a major challenge to bail out of, is an important element of the story.^[128][129]

ADouglas DC-2, PH-AJU, "Uiver", race number 44, was depicted byDouglas DC-3, VH-ANR, in the 1991 Australian mini-seriesThe Great Air Race, about the 1934 London toMelbourneMacRobertson Trophy Air Race.^[130] It is also known asHalf a World Away.^[131]

The 1961 episode ofThe Twilight Zone entitled"The Arrival" features aDouglas DC-3 on Flight 107, which arrives at its destination with no one on board. It originally aired on 22 September 1961.^[132]

The chief character of the 1965 novelHigh Citadel byDesmond Bagley is an alcoholic former Korean War fighter pilot who flies a Douglas DC-3 for a small airline in a fictional Andean country in South America. He is forced at gunpoint by his co-pilot—a Communist agent—to crash-land the DC-3 at a remote abandoned mine in the Andes so that Communists planning a coup can capture and kill a politician travelling as a passenger.^[133] The 1966 suspense novelFlying Finish byDick Francis features a DC-3 being used to transport race horces.^[134]

A DC-3 starred in the 1982 British television seriesAirline. The aircraft used to depict the DC-3 of the fictionalRuskin Air Services was also used in the 1980s television seriesTenko and the 2001 seriesBand of Brothers.^[135][136]

TheDouglas DC-4 appears in theErnest K. Gann novelThe High and the Mighty. A former USAFDouglas C-54 Skymaster operated byTransocean Airlines portrayed the Douglas DC-4 in the John Wayne 1954film of the same name.^[137] Ironically, this airframe was lost over the Pacific on 28 March 1964 with an engine fire just as depicted in the film. There were no survivors of the nine "souls on board" and the wreckage was never found.^[138]

In the 1990 action filmDie Hard 2, aDouglas DC-8 is given false landing instructions by terrorists and crash lands in a blizzard, resulting in fatalities to all on board.Industrial Light and Magic used a 23-foot-long model to shoot the effects of the crash and explosion. Filming was done at a remote airstrip in theMojave Desert of California. "However, shots of the passengers' frightened reactions to the initial impact, which had been shot on a set and originally cut into the movie, were so terrifying (made all the more authentic by preproduction research ofFederal Aviation Administration test crashes and data from real aircraft crashes) that they were ultimately cut before the film's release." ILM constructed five DC-8 models for the production.^[88]

Protagonist Lt. Harry Brubaker flew aMcDonnell F2H Banshee in the 1953James A. Michener novelThe Bridges at Toko-ri. In the subsequent 1954film adaptation, his aircraft was changed to aGrumman F9F Panther.^[139]

The Gobots character Mach 3 and the Transformers characterFireflight both turn intoMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.^[140]

In the 1988 filmIron Eagle II, F-4s appear as Soviet MiGs. The aircraft were provided by the Israeli Air Force for the production.^[141]

Vought F4U Corsairs featured in the latter part of the 1951 RKO war movieFlying Leathernecks which was directed byNicholas Ray and starredJohn Wayne andRobert Ryan. The film's fictional Marine Air Corps unit exchange their older fighters for new F4Us as they support the drive across the Pacific in the latter stages of the war. For the film, the producers borrowed a number of flying F4Us which were then serving as trainers at the Marine Air Base at El Toro, California, and they also incorporated some wartime colour footage of F4Us taken during WW2.^{[142][need quotation to verify]}

F4Us also featured in the 1952Monogram filmFlat Top which was directed byLesley Selander and starredSterling Hayden. In the film, Hayden plays Commander Dan Collier who takes command of a squadron of un-disciplined fighter pilots on board an aircraft carrier and is tasked with getting them combat-ready before the invasion of the Japanese-occupied Philippines in 1944. The film made extensive use of colour wartime footage of carrier-borne F4Us.^{[143][need quotation to verify]}

The F4U Corsair is also featured in the 2022 Korean War drama filmDevotion.^[144][145]

The soleGrumman XF5F-1 Skyrocket, which never entered production or squadron service, was incorporated as the primary mount forBlackhawk and the Blackhawk Squadron in wartime editions of the anthology seriesMilitary Comics published byQuality Comics, the first issue of which was published in August 1941. The long-running title was later acquired byDC Comics, with the squadron upgrading to more modern types.^[146]

Grumman F6F Hellcats appear in the 1964 novelThe Last Tallyho byRichard Newhafer, a work inspired by the author's real-life experiences as a Hellcat pilot during WW2.^[147]

TheF8F Bearcat are to appear in the 2022 Korean War drama filmDevotion.^[144][145]

TheGrumman F9F-2 Panther was prominently featured in the 1954 filmsMen of the Fighting Lady andThe Bridges at Toko-Ri. The latter film was based on the 1953novel of the same name, whose protagonist flew aMcDonnell F2H Banshee.^[139]

TheGrumman F-14 Tomcat was central to the 1986 filmTop Gun.^{[148][149][150]} The U.S. Navy provided F-14s at $7,600 per flight hour for a total bill of $886,000 ($2,542,000 today^[151]).^[152][153] The aviation-themed film created such interest in naval aviation that the Navy set up recruitment desks outside some theaters.^[154] The F-14 also appears in the climax of the 2022 sequelTop Gun: Maverick.^[155]

The F-14 is the primary focus of theAfter Burner video game series bySega.^[156]

TheMcDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle appears in the 1980 novelEagles by M.H. Davis, a work which portrays pilots of the USAF.^[157]

The F-15 has appeared in numerous video games, including the 1985Microprose titleF-15 Strike Eagle.^[158] F-15 also appears inJane's Combat Simulations 1998 gameF-15.^[159]

TheGeneral Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was one of the stars of the 1986 filmIron Eagle. The US Air Force refused to assist with production of the film because it found the plot about a teenager flying an F-16 into a foreign country to be "a little off the wall".^[152]

The aircraft appears in the 2000 video gameF/A-18, part ofJane's Combat Simulations series.^[160]

Two F/A-18s are depicted as having gone rogue in the filmCaptain America: Brave New World, leading to them being destroyed by theFalcon andCaptain America^[161][162]

TheNorthrop F-20 Tigershark appears a number of times inKaoru Shintani's manga/animated franchiseArea 88, as a personal unit of main character Shin Kazama.^[163][164]

TheLockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is the subject of a flight-simulation video game,F-22 Interceptor, which was released byElectronic Arts andIngram Entertainment for theSega Mega Drive console in 1991.^[165]

The first major film appearance of a representation of aLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II was 2006'sSuperman Returns. During this film, a pair of F-35A fighters escorted the modifiedBoeing 777 mothership for an experimentalNASAspaceplane. This visualization was a combination of an actual cockpit andCGI for the aircraft in flight.^[92]

The next major film appearance of an F-35 was inLive Free or Die Hard (released asDie Hard 4.0 outside North America) in 2007. The film used a combination of a full-scale model and CGI effects.^[166]

For the 1955 biographical filmThe McConnell Story aboutaceJoseph C. McConnell, eightRepublic F-84s of the614th Fighter-Bomber Squadron donned dark blue paint with red stars to portrayMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s doing mock battle for the cameras withF-86 Sabres of the366th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, both units based atAlexandria AFB, Louisiana. Air Defense Command headquarters notified its pilots in January 1955 that the mock MiGs would be operating over portions of the southwestern US.^[167]

TheNorth American F-86 Sabre appears in the 1956 novelThe Hunters byJames Salter.^[168]

F-86s appear in the 1957 junior fiction novelSabre Pilot byStephen W. Meader about a youngster named Kirk Owen who enlists in the USAF and serves as a fighter pilot in the Korean War.^[169]

F-86s were a feature in the 1958 filmJet Attack which was directed byEdward L. Cahn and starredJohn Agar andAudrey Totter. The film, also released asJet Alert andThrough Hell to Glory, was a drama set in the Korean War about a pair of pilots who parachute behind North Korean lines to rescue a captured scientist. The film, a low budget production, relied heavily on stock footage of F-86s for the aerial scenes.^[170]

F-86s appear in the 1959 novelMiG Alley by Robert Eunson which portrays a pilot Captain Homer 'Mac' McCullough who flies F-86s during the Korean War and is frustrated at being forbidden to engage enemy MiGs beyond the Yalu River.^[171]

Desmond Bagley's 1965 novelHigh Citadel features F-86 Sabres, which make up the frontline equipment of the air force of the fictional South American country in which the book is set. There are four squadrons of Sabres; two are loyal to the current corrupt government; one is secretly loyal to a reformist politician who is returning from exile to take over the country; and the fourth is secretly loyal to Communist forces who are attempting to kill the politician. The latter part of the novel features adogfight between a Sabre flown by one of the main characters—a CIA agent and former Sabre pilot who fought in the Korean War—and aircraft of the Communist squadron.^[133]

Gen.Charles "Chuck" Yeager's 10 December 1963 flying accident during a test flight in a modified rocket-boostedLockheed NF-104A Starfighter was featured inThe Right Stuff motion picture. The aircraft used for filming was a standard GermanLuftwaffe F-104G, flying with its wingtip fuel tanks removed; it otherwise lacked any of the NF-104A's modifications, most visibly the rocket engine pod at the base of the vertical stabilizer.^[172]

The F-104 is featured heavily in the 1964 filmThe Starfighters, directed by Will Zens and starring future US CongressmanBob Dornan. The film later appeared on theComedy Central seriesMystery Science Theater 3000 as the subject of episode #612.^[173]

An F-104 Starfighter flown by Captain John Christopher, USAF, intercepts the USSEnterprise after the ship is thrown back in time by an encounter with a previously unmapped "black star" inStar Trek first-season episode 1/19, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", as the starship is struggling to climb out of Earth's atmosphere over Omaha, Nebraska.^[174]

Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters is a 1974satiricalconcept album byRobert Calvert and others, telling a fictionalized tale of theF-104G's acquisition by and service with theGerman Air Force.^[175] The album included tracks with names such as "The Widowmaker" and "Catch a Falling Starfighter".^[176]

AFairchild Hiller FH-227D was featured inAlive: The Story of the Andes Survivors byPiers Paul Read, and the 1992 film adaptationAlive.^{[177][need quotation to verify]}

TheFairey Fox I, G-ACXO, race number 35, which participated in the 1934 London toMelbourneMacRobertson Trophy Air Race, was portrayed in the 1991 Australian mini-seriesThe Great Air Race, also known asHalf a World Away,^[131] by an unlikelyBoeing Stearman.^[130]

TwoFairey Swordfish starred in the 1960 filmSink the Bismarck!. Swordfish LS326 was marked as "5A" of825 Naval Air Squadron, while NF389 was marked as LS423 / "5B".^[178]

Fairey Swordfish of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm are a central feature in the 2020 graphic novelThe Stringbags written byGarth Ennis and illustrated byP J Holden. The story is about a reserve FFA crew who take part in the three most famous actions of the Swordfish during the Second World War including the attack on the Italian Fleet atTaranto in 1940, the attack on theBismarck in 1941 and theChannel Dash in 1942.^[179][180]

Focke-Wulf Fw 190s appear in the 1980 novelBetrayed Skies by Rudolf Braunburg which depicts a Luftwaffe fighter unit based in Poland in 1944.^[181]

ModifiedNorth American T-6 Texans portrayed Focke-Wulf Fw 190s in the 1977 filmA Bridge Too Far.^[34]

AFokker E.III Eindecker appeared in the BBC TV seriesWings (1977–1978), a drama series about pilots of theRoyal Flying Corps in the First World War.^[182]

A Dr.I appears in the 1971 filmVon Richthofen and Brown (released in the US asThe Red Baron) which was directed byRoger Corman and starredJohn Phillip Law as the famous German ace. The aircraft makes its first appearance at a cocktail party thrown by the aircraft's designerAnthony Fokker (played byHurd Hatfield) who shows off his creation to guest of honourManfred von Richthofen (Law) but the latter's eyes are drawn more to Fokker's attractive mistress.^[183]

John Wayne was depicted piloting aFord Trimotor in several episodes of the 1932serial filmHurricane Express. A Ford Trimotor appeared in Chapter 1 ofFlash Gordon (Universal, 1936).^[184] DirectorHoward Hawks' 1939 filmOnly Angels Have Wings features a Trimotor that catches fire after a freak accident with acondor, eventually performing an emergency landing on an airfield. A real and a model Trimotor were used for the sequence.^[185]

A Ford Trimotor 4AT-B featured in the 2009 filmAmelia, a biopic of aviatorAmelia Earhart starringHilary Swank andRichard Gere. The aircraft featured in the film belonged to theGolden Wings Museum, Minnesota.^[186]

TwoGee Bee Model Z Super Sportster racing aircraft were featured in the 1991Walt Disney filmThe Rocketeer.^[187]

Kermit Weeks, founder ofFantasy of Flight, used a Gee Bee Model Z as his main character "Zee" in a 2008 series of children's books set in theinterwar period.^[188]

A Mexican Gee Bee Racer named "El Chupacabra" is one of the characters in the 2013Disney animated filmPlanes.^[189]

Gloster Gladiators appear in the Second World War novelSigned with their Honour, written in 1942 by Australian author and war correspondentJames Aldridge. The novel is set during the Axis invasion of Greece in 1940–41 and the central character is a British pilot named John Quayle who flies Gladiators withNo. 80 Squadron RAF.^[190] An attempt in 1943 to make a film based on the novel was abandoned when two Gladiators were destroyed in a mid-air collision during the production.^[191][192]

A privately ownedGloster Meteor TT20, N94749 appeared in the two-part 1976 episode, "The Feminum Mystique", of the first season of theWonder Woman television series, as the experimental "XPJ-1" fighter which is stolen by the Nazis. This airframe has been donated to theEdwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center museum.^{[193][need quotation to verify]} The episode title was borrowed fromBetty Friedan's 1963 bookof a similar title, which is widely credited with sparking the beginning ofsecond-wave feminism in the US.^{[194][need quotation to verify]}

AGloster Meteor T.7, either WA634 or WA638, owned byMartin-Baker appeared in the episode "Many Happy Returns" of the 1967 British TV seriesThe Prisoner.^[195]

The 1944 filmWing and a Prayer is the fictional account of a torpedo squadron equipped withGrumman TBF Avengers in early 1942. The movie culminates when the squadron fights at theBattle of Midway.^[196]

The Bollywood war filmBorder is a fictionalized account of the 1971Battle of Longewala between India and Pakistan. In the film a formation ofHAL HF-24 Marut fighter-bombers of theIndian Air Force bomb Pakistani armoured ground forces consisting of 300 tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers.^[197]

ARoyal Air Force Harrier was used byMI6 in the 1987James Bond filmThe Living Daylights to smuggleKGB defector Georgi Koskov out of Austria.^[198]

The Harrier was one of the aircraft types featured in the short-lived 1982 BBC-TV seriesSquadron which was a drama about a fictional Royal Air Force unit, 373 Squadron. The unit was a Rapid Deployment Force and featured an unusual mix of aircraft including Harriers, C-130 Hercules and Puma helicopters. The series ran for ten episodes.^[199]

The novelA God in Ruins (2015) byKate Atkinson features theHandley Page Halifax heavy bomber. The central character, Teddy Todd, is a Halifax pilot serving with RAF Bomber Command during WW2 and flies over 70 night-bombing missions over Germany.^{[200][201][202]}

The music video for the 2000 electronica single "Sunset (Bird of Prey)" byFatboy Slim features aHawker Hunter trainer in U.S. Air Force livery, as the titular "Bird of Prey".^[203]

A number ofHawker Hurricanes, including the last one built, registered G-AMAU, "The Last of the Many", and five provided by thePortuguese Air Force, which flew the type until mid-1954, were used in the making of the Templar Productions Ltd. production provisionally titled "Hawks in the Sun", based on the bookWhat Are Your Angels Now? by Wing Commander A. J. C. Pelham Groom, then released in March 1952 asAngels One Five.^[204]

The Hawker Hurricane Mk. I is the aircraft for the fictional RAF pilots depicted in the 1983 novelPiece of Cake by Derek Robinson.^[205] The 1988miniseries based on the novel used Supermarine Spitfires instead of Hurricanes.

TheHeinkel He 111 has a prominent role in the filmBattle of Britain.^[206]

TheZeppelinLZ 129 Hindenburg was the subject of the 1975 filmThe Hindenburg, which speculatedsabotage as the cause of the 1937 disaster atNaval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey.^[207] The studio model of the airship is now displayed in theSmithsonian Institution'sNational Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.^[208]

Twenty-eight former Spanish Air ForceHispano Aviación HA-1112s were used in the 1969 filmBattle of Britain as "stand-ins" to depictMesserschmitt Bf 109 fighters of theLuftwaffe,^[115] These aircraft included 27 single-seat M1Ls and one two-seat M4L.^[209] Eighteen were flown, six could taxi, the rest used to dress sets.^[210] In the mid-1960s at the time aircraft began to be collected for the film to be made, the only genuine Bf 109s known to exist were unairworthy examples in museums such as theImperial War Museum and theSouth African National Museum of Military History or in private hands; whereas the HA-1112 was just being retired from service with the Spanish Air Force and several airframes in flyable condition and some 50 dismantled Buchóns were up for disposal bid.^[211] The four airframes acquired by theConfederate Air Force just prior to the start of filming "were the first Buchóns in truly civilian ownership, early members of the fledgling warbird preservation movement."^[212]

Several Buchóns were painted in RAF markings for the 1969 Italian "macaroni combat"war filmEagles Over London, also known asBattle Squadron andBattle Command (Italian:La battaglia d'Inghilterra), directed byEnzo G. Castellari.^[213] "In 1979, much of the footage shot forEagles Over London appeared in the direGeorge Peppard filmHell to Victory".^[212]

Three of the Buchóns were "hastily converted intoP-51B Mustangs for the 1970 filmPatton. This involved the attachment of a large Mustang-esque fibreglass air intake to the underside of the fuselage."^[212]

One CAF Buchón flew as a Bf 109B inCondor Legion markings for the filmThe Hindenburg which began filming in August 1974.^[212]

One Buchón, which had taxied inThe Battle of Britain, flew in the 1988LWT miniseriesPiece of Cake,^[214] and was one of three flyable HA-1112s used to depict Bf 109s in the 1990 filmMemphis Belle.^[209][215] ThePiece of Cake Buchón also appeared in the 1991ITV television miniseriesA Perfect Hero.^[214]

A Buchón now with thePlanes of Fame Air Museum,Chino, California, is under repair after a landing accident atLydd in Kent during filming of the 2001 filmPearl Harbor in 2000.^[214]

A former training airframe that did not appear in theBattle of Britain but which was restored to Bf 109G-10 standard in the early 1990s, and operated by the Old Flying Machine Company, appeared in the 1995 telemovieOver Here starringMartin Clunes.^[214]

A Buchon appears in the 2017Christopher Nolan filmDunkirk.^[216][217]

TheHughes H-4 Hercules, also known as theHercules HK-1 and"The Spruce Goose", is a largeflying boat which has made a number of appearances in fiction. The aircraft was central to the plot of the 1987Hanna-Barbera animated filmYogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose.^[218]

In the 1988 biopicTucker: The Man and His Dream, a pivotal meeting between automakerPreston Tucker andHoward Hughes takes place in front of the Hercules, within its hangar, where Hughes briefly tells Tucker that whether the Hercules flies is not the point, as well as how to circumvent the "establishment" and SenatorFerguson.^[219]

In the 1991 adventure filmThe Rocketeer, hero Cliff Secord uses a large-scale model of the Hughes H-4 Hercules to escape some eager federal agents and Howard Hughes himself. After Secord glides the model to safety, Hughes expresses relief that the craft would actually fly.^[220]

A Ju-52 appears in the 1973 novelBand of Brothers byErnest K. Gann in which an abandoned example is resurrected and flown on two engines by a team of pilots.^[221]

Two Ju 52s appeared in one of the early scenes in the 2008 Second World War filmValkyrie directed byBryan Singer and starringTom Cruise. One aircraft was painted in a Luftwaffe scheme, the other in an all-silver finish.^[222]

In the second season of the television seriesBabylon Berlin, characters Gereon Rath and Reinhold Gräf use a Ju 52 to inspect the then-secret German-operatedLipetsk fighter-pilot school in the Soviet Union. The appearance is anachronistic, as the episode takes place before the aircraft entered production.^[223]

The 1941 Nazi propaganda filmStukas, produced byKarl Ritter, described the wartime exploits of a squadron ofJunkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers and their pilots during the Invasion of France during World War II.^[224]

In the 1934 screwball comedyIt Happened One Night, thefoppish bridegroom "King" Westley (Jameson Thomas) arrives at his own wedding "piloting" aKellett Autogiro CorporationK-3autogyro, c/n 16, NC12691,^[225] (although the real pilot can be seen crouching in the cockpit after Westley deplanes).^{[226][227][228]} The same autogyro appeared in the 1933W. C. Fields filmInternational House.^[225]

AStinson L-5 Sentinel was shown in the 1969Mike Nichols filmCatch-22 as the aircraft that a pilot commits suicide in after accidentally killing another squadron member with his propeller.^[229] The title ofJoseph Heller's 1961satiricalnovel of the same name has entered the lexicon.

Lockheed Constellations ofTrans World Airlines were depicted in the 2004Martin Scorsese filmThe Aviator. The preserved Super Constellation, "Star of America", N6937C, of theAirline History Museum was filmed atSan Bernardino International Airport, California, for thisHoward Hughes biopic. A fleet of grounded Connies was rendered in CGI.^[230]

The same aircraft (N6937C) was also used in the 1992 filmVoyager which starredSam Shepard and was directed byVolker Schlöndorff.^[231]

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars appear in the 1953 novelTroubling of a Star by Walt Sheldon which portrayed a USAF unit stationed in occupied Japan during the Korean War.^[232]

ALockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, registration NC17342 appears in the 1940 filmFlight Angels as an experimental aircraft called the "Stratosphere". This particular aircraft also appears in the filmsRosalie,Nick Carter, Master Detective,Secret Service of the Air, andMurder Over New York.^[233][234]

A Model 12 Electra Junior appeared as the French airliner in the climactic final scene from the 1942 filmCasablanca^[235] (the aircraft carries theAir Franceseahorse logo,^[236] although Air France did not operate the type). A "cut-out" stood in for a real aircraft in many shots.^[235]

A pair of restored Lockheed Model 12 Electra Juniors was used in the filming of the 2009 movieAmelia, a biopic of aviatorAmelia Earhart which starredHilary Swank andRichard Gere. One of the aircraft was repainted to resemble aLockheed Model 10 which was the aircraft in which Earhart and her navigatorFred Noonan were flying when they disappeared in 1937. The owner and restorer of the latter aircraft, pilot Joe Sheppard, flew the plane during filming and he had to shave off his moustache and wear a wig to resemble Swank.^[186]

Lockheed Hudsons appeared in the filmsA Yank in the R.A.F. (1941) andCaptains of the Clouds (1942)^[237]

Lockheed Hudsons appeared in the 2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) mini-seriesAbove and Beyond which portrayed the work of theAtlantic Ferry Organisation in flying military aircraft across the North Atlantic from Canada to deliver them to the RAF in Great Britain during the Second World War. An actual Hudson appeared in the series along with a number of others recreated with CGI.^[237]

SeveralLockheed L-1011 TriStars were depicted in the 1990action filmDie Hard 2, with two large models constructed byIndustrial Light and Magic "flown" on wires for the cameras through "storm clouds" made of non-toxic vaporizedmineral oil. Filming was done at a remote airstrip in theMojave Desert in California. Whipped by theSanta Ana winds coming through theTehachapi Pass into the valley, the smoke effect contributed convincing heavy weather to the shots.^[88]

The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar appears in the 1992 filmPassenger 57 as the location of a terrorist hijacking.^[238] The aircraft, registration N330EA, was formerly operated commercially byEastern Airlines and was painted in the livery of the fictional airlineAtlantic International for the film.^[239]

In Payne Harrison's 1990 novelStorming Intrepid, the US deploys anSR-71 Blackbird over the USSR on anELINT mission to record communications between the hijacked shuttleIntrepid and Soviet commanders on the ground. The Soviet air defenses attempt to shoot down the aircraft as it tries to get out of Soviet airspace. The aircraft briefly flames out, but successfully recovers and narrowly escapes a missile trap byMikoyan MiG-31 interceptors.^[240]

In 2015,Steven Spielberg's filmBridge of Spies recreated the 1960 events of aLockheed U-2 piloted byFrancis Gary Powers being shot down while on a reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union.^[241]

In the 1980s television seriesCall to Glory, the U-2 was the "main ride" of U.S. Air Force Colonel Raynor Sarnac from the October 1962 Cuba Crisis to 1979.^[242]

ALockheed Vega DL-1B Special, one of only two that remain in flying condition, was used in the 1976 television miniseriesAmelia Earhart, starringSusan Clark as Earhart.^[243]

AStinson Reliant stood in forLockheed Vega DL-1 Special, G-ABGK, c/n 155,Puck, race number 36,^[244] in the 1991 Australian mini-seriesThe Great Air Race, about the 1934 London toMelbourneMacRobertson Trophy Air Race.^[130] It is also known asHalf a World Away.^[131]

The 1927William Wellman filmWings featuredMartin MB-2s among many types depicting World War I aircraft.^[245]

InMichael Crichton'sAirframe, one of the characters uses the crash ofAmerican Airlines Flight 191 which involved aDC-10 to describe how a highly publicized accident can destroy a good airplane's reputation because "a media industry that has grown hostile and shallow with the ascendancy of television always jumps to the wrong conclusion."^[246]

TwoMesserschmitt Bf 108 Taifuns substituted for unavailableLuftwaffe fighters again in the 1964 film633 Squadron.^[247]

27 SpanishHispano Aviación HA-1112 M1L 'Buchon' single-engined fighters,Messerschmitt Bf 109s built under license in Spain, were used in the 1969 filmBattle of Britain. The Buchons were altered to look more like correct Bf 109Es, adding mock machine guns and cannon, redundant tailplane struts, and removing the rounded wingtips.^[248]

AMesserschmitt Bf 110 appears in the 1952 British war filmAngels One Five.^[249] The Messerschmitt used in the film was a captured Bf-110G-4 which was later scrapped after filming.^[250]

A flyableMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 appears in the 2022 Korean War drama filmDevotion.^[145][251]

Prior to its retirement with theIndian Air Force, theMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 appeared in 2025 filmPeace and War.^[252]

Mi-8s appear in the 2019 HBO mini-seriesChernobyl.^[253] Mi-8s were among the Soviet helicopters used to firefight and monitor the exploded reactor in 1986.^[254]

In the 2013Bruce Willisaction filmA Good Day to Die Hard, aMil Mi-26T, leased from theBelarus Ministry for Emergency Situations and painted in washable military camouflage, was used in various scenes.^[255]

For the 1991 Australian mini-seriesThe Great Air Race, about the 1934 London toMelbourneMacRobertson Trophy Air Race, also known asHalf a World Away,^[131]Miles Falcon, VH-AAT, played Miles M.3 Falcon, G-ACTM, the prototype fitted with extra fuel tanks, race number 31.^[130]

TheMitsubishi A5M Type 96 fighter, known to the Allies as the "Claude", features prominently in the 2013Studio Ghibli animated featureThe Wind Rises directed byHayao Miyazaki. The film is a semi-fictionalised lyrical portrayal of Japanese aircraft designerJiro Horikoshi and depicts him designing the A5M in the 1930s.^[24]

TheMoller M400 Skycar appears in the 2010 telemovieThe Jensen Project withLeVar Burton andKellie Martin.^[256] It also appears inClive Cussler's novelAtlantis Found, where it is flown byDirk Pitt.^[257]

TheMorane-Saulnier MS.230 appears as the fictional "new monoplane" in the 1966 World War I epicThe Blue Max and was the aircraft in which the central character Bruno Stachel (George Peppard) meets his demise.^[258] Peppard purchased the aircraft and took it back to the US where it joined the collection of the San Diego Aerospace Museum.^[259] The plot, which has Stachel wringing-out a new design until it sheds its wings, is based on the experience with the late-warFokker E.V, a parasol design, three of six of which crashed within a week of being delivered toJasta 6 in August 1918. Grounded for investigation, the problem was traced to shoddy workmanship at theMecklenburg factory where defective wood spars, water damage to glued parts, and pins carelessly splintering the members instead of securing them were discovered. Upon return to service two months later, the design was renamed theFokker D.VIII in an effort to avoid the type's reputation as a killer.^[260][261]

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N Canarys were shown in the 1941 Warner Bros. filmDive Bomber.^[262]

Nakajima Ki-27s, lifted from Japanese film, appeared in the 1942Republic filmFlying Tigers.^[263]

A replica of aNakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa appeared in the 2007 Japanese motion pictureFor Those We Love,^[264] a drama about WW2 Kamikaze pilots.^[265]

TheNieuport 17 was one of the main aircraft in the 2006 filmFlyboys.^[266][267]

An authenticNieuport 28 was provided and flown byFrank Tallman, a Hollywood film pilot, forThe Twilight Zone episode"The Last Flight" in which a World War I Royal Flying Corps pilot is transported in time in a cloud to the 1960s.Norton Air Force Base, California, was the filming site. The episode first aired on 5 February 1960.^[132]

Canadian-built variants of theNorth American T-6 Texan are seen in the 1943RKO filmBombardier, filmed atKirtland Field, New Mexico.^[268]

TheNoorduyn Norseman appears in scenes in the 1942 Warner Bros. filmCaptains of the Clouds, withJames Cagney as a Canadianbush pilot at the start of World War II.^[269]

The 1994Stephen Coonts novelThe Intruders mentions theNorth American A-5 Vigilante where the main character Jake Grafton described it as themost beautiful airplane the navy owned and regardedthe Vigie pilots were supermen, the best of the best.^[270]

The 1941Paramount Pictures filmI Wanted Wings featured flights of more than 50North American T-6 Texans fromKelly Field, Texas.^[271]

An SNJ-5 Texan, a naval variant of the AT-6, appeared in several television productions. It was modified to play the role of a JapaneseZero in the TV seriesBaa Baa Black Sheep (1977) and the mini-seriesPearl (1979) and it played the roles of both a Zero and anSBD Dauntless in the 1987 mini-seriesWar and Remembrance.^[272] T-6 Texans, one piloted by World War Two Marine AceArchie Donaue represented Japanese Zeroes in the 1980 science fiction filmThe Final Countdown. North American Harvards, the British Commonwealth name for the AT-6, appear prominently inCaptains of the Clouds, starringJames Cagney.^[273]

North American BT-9 and BT-16 basic trainers were filmed atRandolph Field, Texas, for the 1941Paramount Pictures filmI Wanted Wings, based on the 1937 novel of the same title by 1st Lt.Beirne Lay, Jr.^[271]

On 5 November 1959, a small engine fire forced pilotScott Crossfield to make an emergency landing onRosamond Dry Lake,Edwards Air Force Base, California, in aNorth American X-15. Not designed to land with fuel on board, the X-15 landed with a heavy load of propellants and broke its back, grounding it for three months. Footage of this accident was later incorporated inThe Outer Limits, episode "The Premonition", first aired 9 January 1965.^[274]

The rocket craft is also the subject of the 1961 Essex Productions filmX-15, a fictionalized account of the program, directed byRichard Donner in his first outing, and narrated by USAF Brigadier General (Reserve)James Stewart in an uncredited role.^[275]

The X-15 is portrayed as the FFE Space Fighter (宇宙戦闘機 Uchū Sentōki, lit. Space Fighter) armed with atomic heat cannons to fight the Natarl UFO's in the 1959 movieBattle in Outer Space.^[276]

In the opening scene of the 2018 filmFirst Man,Neil Armstrong, played byRyan Gosling, pilots a North American X-15 during a test flight.^[277]

Test flights of the X-15 are the background story of aBuck Danny Album byJean-Michel Charlier andVictor Hubinon.

TheNorthrop A-17 makes an appearance atMarch Field at the conclusion of the 1941Paramount Pictures filmI Wanted Wings.^[271]

TheNorthrop M2-F2, a NASA research aircraft, appears in the 1970s TV seriesThe Six Million Dollar Man, starringLee Majors. In the first episode, protagonistSteve Austin crashes the aircraft during a test flight and is severely injured. The footage used was from a real M2-F2 accident that took place on 10 May 1967 in the California desert.^[278] The clip of the crash was also used in the opening titles of each episode. The opening titles also used footage of the laterNorthrop HL-10 aircraft.

Paramount Pictures' 1953 film,The War of the Worlds incorporates color footage of aNorthrop YB-49 test flight, originally used in one of Paramount'sPopular Science theatrical shorts. In theGeorge Pal film, the Flying Wing is used to drop anatomic bomb on the invadingMartians.^[279]

In the filmThe Final Countdown (1980) aGrumman E-2 Hawkeye is used byUSS Nimitz as an airborne command and radar facility to track the Japanese Fleet heading to attackPearl Harbor.^[280]

In the 2022 filmTop Gun: Maverick, the E-2 plays an important role in the topical air attack operation, conducting the strike pack (consisting of fourF/A-18) and detecting enemy aircraft.^[281]

The 1990 filmAir America, which loosely recounted the exploits of theCentral Intelligence Agencyproprietary airline in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s, featuredCessna O-1 Bird Dogs.^[282]

United States NavyCurtiss O2C-2 Helldivers fromFloyd Bennett Field were used in filmingKing Kong in 1933, but asCarl Denham observed, "Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast." Writer and directorMerian C. Cooper portrayed the pilot who kills Kong, while directorErnest B. Schoedsack plays his gunner, in uncredited roles.^[283] In the 2005remake of the film, directorPeter Jackson plays one of the gunners while the pilot is portrayed byRick Baker, who played Kong (in a rubber suit) in the 1976 remake.^[284]

The 1927William Wellman filmWings featuredCurtiss P-1 Hawks among many types depicting World War I aircraft.^[245] The P-1s were used to portray GermanAlbatros D.V fighters.^[285]

A civilianizedSeversky P-35, the Seversky S2, which won the 1937Bendix Trophy race, appeared as the "Drake Bullet" in the 1938MGM filmTest Pilot.^[286]

A Guy Named Joe (1943) hasSpencer Tracy returning as a guiding spirit looking after youngLockheed P-38 Lightning pilotVan Johnson.^[207]

The 1944 short featureP-38 Reconnaissance Pilot, starringWilliam Holden as Lt. "Packy" Cummings, dramatises the work of photoreconnaissance pilots in World War II.^[287]

The 1965 filmVon Ryan's Express begins with main protagonist, USAAF Colonel Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra), crash landing a P-38 Lightning in World War II Italy and being held as a prisoner of war.^[288]

P-38s appear in the 1968 novelOrder of Battle byAlfred Coppel, a work that portrays US P-38Fs in the fighter-bomber role over Europe in WW2.^[289]

In the 1992 action filmAces: Iron Eagle III, the main character, Brig. Gen. Chappy Sinclair (Louis Gossett Jr.), pilots a P-38J as part of a mission to field old Second World War airshow aircraft against a drug cartel in Peru.^[290] The aircraft, registration N38BP, came from the Planes of Fame museum.^[271]

TheCAPCOM game1942 for the arcades and theNintendo Entertainment System features the P-38 as the default plane of choice.^[291]

In the 1942John Wayne filmFlying Tigers, realCurtiss P-40 Warhawks are featured.The New York Times critic called the P-40s "the true stars" of the film.^[292] Republic Studios also built replicas for the film due to material shortages during the war. These can be identified by the fairings hiding the cylinder heads of the automotive V-8 engines installed in them, and the lack of elevators on the horizontal stabilizer.^[293]

Future US PresidentRonald Reagan appears in theRecognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter (training film, 1942) as a young pilot learning to recognize the difference between a P-40 and a Japanese Zero. In this film Reagan mistakes a friend's P-40 for a Japanese Zero and tries to shoot it down. In the end, Reagan gets a chance to shoot down a real Zero.^[294]

A P-40 featured in the 1973 made-for-TV filmDeath Race (also known asState of Division) which starredLloyd Bridges andDoug McClure.^[295] The film featured a damaged Allied fighter, unable to take off but still able to taxi, being pursued across North Africa by a German tank.^[296]

Steve Earle's 1988 song "Johnny Come Lately" from the albumCopperhead Road is about an AmericanP-47 pilot in World War II; it contains a verse "My P-47 is a pretty good ship. She took a round comin' cross the channel last trip."^[297]

ModifiedT-6 Texans depicted P-47s in the 1977 filmA Bridge Too Far.^[34]

P-51 Mustangs featured in the 1948Warner Bros. filmFighter Squadron which was directed byRaoul Walsh and starredEdmond O'Brien andRobert Stack. In this film, P-51Ds belonging to the California Air National Guard played the role of German Bf-109 fighters to which the P-51 bore some resemblance from certain angles. For the production, P-51s were coated with acrylic Luftwaffe paint schemes. The aerial sequences were filmed nearVan Nuys in Los Angeles, California.^[298]

A P-51 Mustang piloted byJimmy Leeward features as an antagonist in the 1980aerobatics movieCloud Dancer.^[299][300]

TheSteven Spielberg filmEmpire of the Sun (1987), based on theJ. G. Ballard novelof the same name, featured models and restored Mustangs in an attack on a Japanese airstrip next to the internment camp where the story's protagonist is imprisoned. This was the most complex and elaborately staged sequence of the film, requiring over 10 days of filming and 60 hours of aerial footage of Mustangs. Film historians and reviewers regard the scene as a significant cinematic achievement: "Spielberg's most emotionally reverberant moment, and one of the rare movie scenes that can truly be called epiphanies."^[301]

In the 1998 filmSaving Private Ryan, a flight of P-51s save embattled American troops from German ground forces.^[302]

Red-Tailed P-51s play a central role in the 2012 filmRed Tails when the332nd Fighter Group is assigned to bomber escort duties, finally replacing their aging P-40s.^[303]

A P-51 Mustang, privately owned byTom Cruise, is repaired and flown by his characterPete Mitchell, in the final scene ofTop Gun: Maverick.^[304]

The Transformers character Darkwing disguises itself as aPanavia Tornado.^[305]

TheRoyal Air Force's ground attack aircraft, the Panavia Tornado, featured extensively in the television pilotStrike Force, produced in the 1990s for ITV in the UK.Strike Force did not enter series production.^[306]

RAF Tornadoes featured in the 1998 BBC science fiction TV mini-seriesInvasion Earth written and co-produced byJed Mercurio. In the series, Tornado jets are scrambled to intercept a UFO.^[307]

The Tornado was the subject of the 1985 video gameTornado Low Level, in which the titular aircraft was used to destroy enemy target markers. The markers could only be destroyed when the Tornado's wings were fully swept back, and moving at full speed.^[308]

APBY Catalina features in the 1947 filmHigh Barbaree (also released under the titleEnchanted Island) which was directed byJack Conway, starredVan Johnson and was based on the 1945 novel of the same name byCharles Nordhoff andJames Norman Hall. The film portrays a PBY crew during WW2 in the Pacific. During a depth-charge attack on a Japanese submarine, the PBY is damaged and crash-lands in enemy waters, leaving only two survivors, pilot Lt. Brooke (Johnson) and navigator Lt. Moore (Cameron Mitchell).^[309]

A formerRoyal Danish Air Force PBY-6A Catalina appeared in the 1976 filmMidway.^[310]

A PBY-5A Catalina appeared in the opening sequence of the 1989Steven Spielberg filmAlways as afirebomber picking up a water load and bearing down on two startled fishermen.^[310]

In the 2002 submarine filmBelow, theUSS Tiger Shark is directed to pick up three survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship by a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina, marked as AH545, WQ-Z ofNo. 209 Squadron. The PBY-5A was marked as the Catalina that had a decisive role in the sinking of theBismarck.^[311]

United States NavyPB4Y-2M Privateers ofVP-23, based atNaval Air Station Miami, Florida, were filmed at the close of the 1948 hurricane season and the footage used in the 194920th Century-Fox filmSlattery's Hurricane.^[312]

The most prominent of the real aircraft inNevil Shute's 1951 novelRound the Bend is a war-surplusPercival Proctor, which is used by the protagonist Constantine Shak Lin (also known as Connie Shaklin) to tour Asia to spread his teachings. At the end of the book the Proctor is the basis of a shrine to Shaklin and his new creed, laid up in a hangar in a state of uncompleted maintenance for pilgrims to view.^[313]

In 1968, three Proctors were remodelled withinverted gull wings and other cosmetic alterations to representJunkers Ju 87s in the filmBattle of Britain but, in the event, radio-controlled models were used instead.^[314]

A pair of flying replicaPfalz D.IIIs were constructed to appear in the 1966 epic First World War filmThe Blue Max, based on the novel of the same name byJack D. Hunter. The aircraft subsequently appeared inDarling Lili (1970) andVon Richthofen and Brown (1971).^{[citation needed]}

APfalz D.XII which is now in theNational Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., was flown inThe Dawn Patrol (1930),Hell's Angels (1930), andMen with Wings (1938).^[315] Footage of the Pfalz fromThe Dawn Patrol also featured in the1938 remake withErrol Flynn.^[316]

The STOL-capablePilatus PC-6 Porter was depicted in the 1990 filmAir America, loosely recounting the exploits of theCentral Intelligence Agency proprietary airline in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s.^[282] The PC-6s in this film were actuallyFairchild AU-23A Peacemakers, the US-built version of the aircraft. Five examples were used in the production, four of them belonging to the Royal Thai Air Force and a fifth which was a hybrid re-constructed from a number of derelict Porters. The latter was used for the filming of a landing on a hill-top airstrip because the Thai Air Force refused to risk one of their own Porters in the filming of that scene.^[317]

A Pilatus PC-6 Porter was used for the first jump and training scenes in the 1994 filmDrop Zone.^[318]

The characterPussy Galore in the 1964James Bond filmGoldfinger is the leader of "Pussy Galore's Flying Circus", a group of women who flyPiper PA-28 Cherokees, trained acrobats turned cat burglars, in thenovel of the same name byIan Fleming. In the film the arch-villain uses the Cherokees in his plan to deprive the US government of the gold inFort Knox.^[319][320]

Mark Haddon's 2019 novelThe Porpoise starts with the flight en route toPopham Airfield in Hampshire and subsequent crash of aPiper PA-28 Warrior caused when the pilot crashes into a silo betweenGapennes andYvrench inSomme department resulting in four deaths including a pregnant woman, the only survivor being an unborn baby saved by a passing doctor. The baby becomes the protagonist of the novel.^[321]

In the 2017 filmThe Mountain Between Us, two people are stranded in a mountain wilderness after the pilot of thePiper PA-31 Navajo they chartered suffers a stroke and it crashes.^[322] Initially they stay in the wreckage waiting for searchers to find them, but they eventually realise that they will have to find their own way out of the wilderness. The film is based on a book of the same name, but in the book the aircraft is a single-enginebush plane.

Pitts Special S-1S and S-2A airplanes feature prominently in the 1980 filmCloud Dancer, in which flying scenes were filmed with cameras adapted to resist up to 12 g, mounted on the planes. The story follows acompetition aerobatics champion through his show season, starringDavid Carradine. The role ofCurtis Pitts was played byWoodrow Chambliss in a short scene; the movie had the participation both in performance as in advice of pilotsTom Poberezny,Charlie Hillard,Leo Loudenslager, andJimmy Leeward. The movie is dedicated to pilot Walt Tubb, who died a few months after the filming, coincidentally while doing the same maneuver that in the movie causes the death of one of the characters.^[299][300]

The cancelledBoeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche appeared in directorAng Lee'sHulk film in 2003.^[323]

The 1993 shooter gameJungle Strike has the main character flying the RAH-66 Comanche to complete various missions.^[324]

The 2013 military simulation gameArma 3 depicts the Comanche's real-world cancellation as something that almost happened, and the design brought back from the edge of being shut down and adopted as the "AH-99 Blackfoot".^[325]

TheRepublic RC-3 Seabee is an amphibious aircraft whichJames Bond uses in the 1974 filmThe Man With the Golden Gun, to get to the island lair of villainFrancisco Scaramanga. Bond lands the plane at the island, but it is later destroyed by Scaramanga's solar-powered laser gun.^[326]

The RF-8 is a reconnaissance version of theVought F-8 Crusadercarrier-basedair superiority aircraft. In the 1980 filmThe Final Countdown an RF-8 is used byUSS Nimitz to overfly thePearl Harbor naval base.^[327] The photos taken during that mission of the US Navy Fleet prior to the 1941 Japanese attack, convinceNimitz's commanders that somehow they have gone back in time from the 1980s to the 1940s.

The RF-8As that played a pivotal role in obtaining low-level reconnaissance photographs of Sovietmedium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Cuba during theCuban Missile Crisis were depicted in the 2000 filmThirteen Days. The aircraft were portrayed by ex-Philippine Air Force F-8H airframes refurbished for use in the movie.^[328]

A replicaRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c was used in the production of the BBC Great War drama seriesWings which aired in 1977–1978.^{[329][330][331]} The replica was originally commissioned in 1969 by Universal Studios for a proposed big-budget filmBiggles Sweeps the Skies but the project was cancelled after the aircraft was built. The replica was constructed by engineer and pilot Charles Boddington, who was later killed during the making of the 1971 filmVon Richthofen and Brown. On June 14, 1977, the plane was damaged in a crash in Wisconsin and deemed beyond repair. In 2004, Charles Boddington's son Matthew acquired the plane and began rebuilding it. By 2011, the plane had been restored to a functional state.^[332]

The 1927William Wellman filmWings featured aRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a among many types depicting World War I aircraft.^[245]

The 1938Paramount filmMen with Wings, starringRay Milland, featured a reproduction of theSpirit of St. Louis fashioned from aRyan B-1 Brougham.^[333]

A recreation of theRyan NYP was used for the 1957 Warner Bros. filmThe Spirit of St. Louis, starringJimmy Stewart asCharles Lindbergh.^[334]

Saab JAS 39 Gripen is one of the main fighter aircraft featured in the 2019 anime seriesGirly Air Force.^[335]

ADouglas SBD Dauntless was used in the production of the 1976 motion pictureMidway. An SBD-5, which had formerly served in the RNZAF and which was (in 1976) non-airworthy and wingless, was used in the filming of the cockpit close-ups for actors such asCharlton Heston.^[336][337]

Later in 1987, the same aircraft (BuNo 28536), now in airworthy condition, was used in the production of the epic 1988–1989 TV mini-seriesWar & Remembrance. The aircraft appeared in the sequence depicting the Battle of Midway and during filming, was flown off theUSS Lexington the first time an SBD had taken off from a carrier in 42 years.^[338]

Douglas SBDs are a major feature in the 2019 filmMidway directed byRoland Emmerich. The aircraft were recreated digitally and at least one full-scale static replica was built.^[339][340]

The loss of a US NavyCurtiss SB2C-1 Helldiver, BuNo 00154, ofVB-5, during launch nearTrinidad on 28 May 1943^[341] during the shakedown cruise of theUSS Yorktown was incorporated by20th Century Fox into the 1944 filmWing and a Prayer: The Story of Carrier X.^[342]

Two USAAFCurtiss RA-25A Shrikes collided during aflypast for an air show nearSpokane, Washington, on 23 July 1944, the accident filmed by aParamount Pictures newsreel crew. This footage was used in the 1956 filmEarth vs. the Flying Saucers, apparently being shot down by a saucer.^[343]

Vought SB2U Vindicators were featured in the 1941 Warner Bros. filmDive Bomber.^[262]

TheShort Sunderlandflying boatpatrol bomber takes a key part inIvan Southall's autobiographical 1974 novelFly West, where the writer tells his life as aRAF Coastal Command Sunderland pilot duringWorld War II. Many details about the aircraft's looks, performance and procedures are given throughout the book, and as almost the entirety of the book is set inside Sunderlands, the warplane practically becomes a character. Other aircraft, both fromAllied andGerman origin, are also featured and mentioned.^[344][345]

A Short Sunderland was the setting for much of the 1980 novelThe Flying Porcupine by Richard Haligon. The novel takes its title from a nickname reputedly given to the Sunderland by German pilots thanks to its defensive armament of as many as 16 machine guns.^[346]

CIA officerJack Ryan (played byAlec Baldwin) is flown from an aircraft carrier to the submarineUSS Dallas in aSikorsky SH-3H Sea King in the 1990 filmHunt for Red October, based on theTom Clancy'snovel of the same title.^[347]

At the end of the successful rescue mission forApollo 13, two SH-3 Sea Kings, historically painted as Helos 66 and 406, retrieve the astronauts from their spacecraft after splashdown in the 1995Ron Howard film.^[348]

The 1954 filmThe Bridges at Toko-Ri, based on the 1953James A. Michener novella of the same title, opens and closes with scenes of a US NavySikorsky HO3S-1 of utility helicopter squadron HU-1 operating from anEssex-classaircraft carrier in pilot rescue and recovery during theKorean War.^[271]

In the 1954 science fiction filmThem!, a Sikorsky S-51 is used to spot giant ants in theNew Mexico desert.^[349]

AWestland Widgeon, a UK-built version of theSikorsky S-51, appears in the 1971 British filmWhen Eight Bells Toll, starringAnthony Hopkins, directed byÉtienne Périer and based on theAlistair MacLean novel of thesame name. Aerial scenes were filmed over the Scottish islands of Staffa and Mull.^[350]

ASikorsky HO5S-1 is featured in the 2022 Korean War drama filmDevotion. When the film was made, the helicopter was one of the few flyable examples remaining in the world.^[145][251]

The 1955 Warner Bros. filmThe McConnell Story, about Capt.Joseph C. McConnell, Jr., the top American ace of theKorean War, includes footage of aSikorsky H-19 Chickasaw rescuing a downedB-29 crew in that conflict, while under heavy fire. A Chickasaw was furnished by the48th Air Rescue Squadron,Eglin AFB, Florida, for seven days of filming atAlexandria AFB, Louisiana, in February 1955.^[351]

The character of "Harold the Helicopter" from the British children's book series,The Railway Series and its TV program adaptation,Thomas & Friends is based on theSikorsky S-55, built in the UK as theWestland Whirlwind.^[352]

The Sikorsky S-55 appeared inIrwin Allen's 1960 film,The Lost World.^[353]

The book,Retreat Hell, byW. E. B. Griffin, takes place inKorea during theKorean War. It centers on the use of a Sikorsky H-19A helicopter during the fall 1950. Much of the action is driven forward by the abilities of the helicopter.^[354]

ASikorsky S-58T appears as the "Screaming Mimi" in the 1980s television seriesRiptide. This S-58 is still in service as a heavy lift helicopter.^[355]

AHH-53B Sea Stallion appears in the 1974 filmAirport 1975, where a pilot is lowered on a tether from the helicopter to a damagedBoeing 747 in flight.^[356]

The HH-53C variant was used in the combined combat search and rescue and VIP delivery sequences in the 1982Malpaso Productions spy andaction filmFirefox,^[357] produced, directed by, and starringClint Eastwood, based on the 1977novel of the same name byCraig Thomas.

TheSikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion appears in the 2002 filmThe Sum of All Fears, based on theTom Clancynovel of the same title.^[358]

A CH-53E Super Stallion is featured in the 1997 filmThe Jackal, where it flies over Washington, D.C., and hovers between buildings during a fast rope sequence.^[359]

TheSikorsky MH-53J is featured in the2007Transformers film as the alternate mode ofBlackout. Production designer Jeff Mann stated "the Pave Low looks butch ... the size made it the logical choice."^[360] Toys for Blackout were MH-53 replicas, which were reused for the characters ofEvac,Spinister andWhirl.^[361]

The heavier CH-53E Super Stallion is the alternate form for theDecepticonGrindor in the 2009 filmTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen.^[362]

TheSikorsky MH-53 appears in the 2009 video gameCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, referred to simply as the "Pave Low".^[363]

An HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant appears inKong: Skull Island. Portfolio images of various CGI artists on the team show it as being gray, like a CH-53 Sea Stallion, in early stages of production, but in the final cut, it's green, lacks any USMC markings and even comes from a USAF airbase, all meaning it must be a Super Jolly. Despite this, characters repeatedly and incorrectly refer to it as "the sea stallion".^[364]

In the 1996 filmIndependence Day aSikorsky S-64 Skycrane is fitted with an array of flashing lights to communicate with an alien spaceship.^[365]

A Skycrane also appears in the 2001 filmSwordfish, near the climactic ending in which it has a bus full of hostages slung loaded underneath, and is flying through downtown Los Angeles.^[366]

In the 1994 filmClear and Present Danger, a pair ofMH-60K Black Hawks are used to insert a special ops team into a Colombian jungle.^[367]

Black Hawks were also featured in the 1997 filmAir Force One, having been rented from the US military.^[90]

TheSikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk was the title aircraft in the 2001 filmBlack Hawk Down.^[368] For this film too the filmmakers rented the aircraft, paying the US Department of Defense about $3 million to ship eight helicopters and about 100 crew members to the film location in Morocco.^[358]

In the 2003 filmTears of the Sun threeSH-60 Seahawk helicopters bring evacuated US embassy staff and their SEAL team rescuers from Nigeria to the aircraft carrierUSS Harry S. Truman. Two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters are used to retrieve a SEAL team and refugees in Nigeria.^[369]

Igor Sikorsky'sSikorsky S-29-A, previously owned byRoscoe Turner, doubled for aGotha bomber inHoward Hughes' 1930 aerial epicHell's Angels.^[370] It was destroyed during filming. At the time of the aircraft's demise it had flown 500,000 miles.^[371]

Replicas of theSikorsky S-38 were used in the filming of the 2004Martin Scorsese biopic ofHoward Hughes,The Aviator.^[372][373]

WhenMGM produced the 1959 filmThe Gallant Hours, based on the life of US Navy AdmiralWilliam "Bull" Halsey, the studio rented aSikorsky VS-44A, N41881, namedMother Goose, from Catalina Air Lines, Inc., and painted it in wartime camouflage to depict a secret flight that Halsey had made to the South Pacific in aConsolidated PB2Y-1 Coronado. Although the studio had promised to repaint the flying boat after the production, this did not happen, and the airline had to restore the civilian livery itself.^[374]

The First World WarSopwith Camel fighter features prominently in theBiggles stories ofW. E. Johns such as the collections:The Camels Are Coming (1932),^[375] andBiggles of the Camel Squadron (1934).^[376]

The 1934 novelWinged Victory byVictor M. Yeates features the Sopwith Camel in action during the Great War.^[377]

Sopwith Camels appear in the 2013 novelA Splendid Little War byDerek Robinson which depicts a fictional RAF unit – Merlin Squadron – flying Camels in support of theWhite forces during theRussian Civil War in 1919.^[378]

A 1/6 scale radio-controlled model of aSopwith 1½ Strutter was constructed by Proctor Enterprises to appear in the ABC television seriesThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Attack of the Hawkmen" (1995) produced byGeorge Lucas.^[379]

A replica Sopwith 1½ Strutter featured in the 2006 filmFlyboys, a drama about theLafayette Escadrille. The replica, built in 1992, was purchased from a private museum in Alabama.^[380]

The fictional RFC squadron inDerek Robinson's 1999 First World War novelHornet's Sting flies theSopwith Pup.^[381]

The Transformers Combaticon named Blast Off, the Autobot Sky Lynx, and Decepticon triple-changer Astrotrain all disguise themselves asSpace Shuttle orbiters.^[382]

In the 1979 James Bond filmMoonraker the film opens with the disappearance during a routine transfer flight, on the back of a Boeing 747 (N905NA) still in itsAmerican Airlines bare metal livery, of the eponymous space shuttle, built and operated by the Drax Corporation.^[383]

InPayne Harrison's 1990 novelStorming Intrepid, the shuttleIntrepid – one of four new shuttles built by the US government – is hijacked by its mission commander, who is a Russian agent. The plot revolves around American efforts to prevent the agent from landing the shuttle in the USSR with its advancedSDI system intact.^[240]

In the 2000 filmSpace Cowboys, four retired astronauts launch into space aboard the shuttleDaedalus to repair a crippled Russiansatellite.^[383]

InJon Amiel's 2003 filmThe Core, space shuttleEndeavour is sent off course by a disruption in theEarth's magnetic field, forcing it to land in the concrete-lined channel of the Los Angeles River.^[383]

In the 2013 filmGravity, space shuttleExplorer is destroyed by an out of control satellite in the early portion of the film.^[384]

The 1927William Wellman filmWings featured aSPAD S.VII among many types depicting World War I aircraft.^[245]

Race Bannon, flying aSPAD S.XIII, fights a dogfight with aFokker D.VII, flown by Baron Heinrich von Frohleich in Episode 10 ofJonny Quest, "Shadow of the Condor", first aired 20 November 1964.^[385]

The 1976 filmAces High uses several modifiedStampe SV.4 aircraft made to look likeRoyal Flying CorpsRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 aircraft. These were prepared by Bianchi Aviation Film Services and flown by well-known pilots includingNeil Williams.^[386]

AStandard J-1 appeared in the 1923 filmThe Eleventh Hour, which starredAlan Hale Sr. During the film, a J-1 attacks a submarine on the surface but the aircraft is hit by return fire from the vessel and it explodes in mid-air. To film the scene, stunt pilot Dick Kerwood was required to fly over the submarine (loaned by the US Navy) in San Diego Bay and, at about 3,000 feet, parachute out of his plane after setting the timer to explosives which would detonate ten seconds later. However the timer proved faulty and the aircraft exploded before Kerwood could bale out. He was seriously concussed but otherwise escaped injury and he managed to open his chute in time.^[387]

AStearman C3R featured in the 1958 filmNo Place to Land directed byAlbert C. Gannaway and starringJohn Ireland. The film was a drama about crop-duster pilots in post-war rural California competing with each other for work.^[388]

A static replica of aStinson Model A was featured in the 1988 Australian TV-filmThe Riddle of the Stinson which starredJack Thompson. The film was a dramatisation of thetrue-life crash of an Australian Airlines Stinson in Queensland in 1937 which claimed the lives of 5 men and the subsequent rescue of two survivors ten days later by localBernard O'Reilly who treked into the rainforest and found the crash site.^[389][390]

TheSu-24 is featured in the 2021 Russian filmSky (Russian:Небо), depicting the events surrounding the Turkishshootdown of a Russian Su-24 in 2015.^[391]

TheSukhoi Su-25 appears in the 2005 filmMirror Wars: Reflection One.^[392]

Su-27 variants feature prominently in theAce Combat video game series, often being the aircraft of choice for main antagonists. Examples include the Yellow SquadronSu-37s inAce Combat 04: Shattered Skies; Strigon TeamSu-33s inAce Combat 6: Fires of Liberation; Andrei Markov'sSu-35S inAce Combat: Assault Horizon; and Sol Squadron Su-30M2s and Mihaly A. Shilage'sSu-30SM inAce Combat 7: Skies Unknown.^[393]

TheSukhoi Su-57 appears inTop Gun: Maverick as the aircraft used by the unnamed hostile nation, and referred to by its NATO reporting name "Felon" or as "fifth-generation fighters".^[394] Two were shot down by a stolen F-14A Tomcat flown by Maverick and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, and another by a F/A-18E Super Hornet flown by Hangman.^[395]

Along with theHawker Hurricane,^[396] theSupermarine Spitfire fighter is strongly linked to theBattle of Britain in summer 1940, where theRoyal Air Force fought the GermanLuftwaffe over the skies of Britain for air superiority.^[397] It has been featured in many works of fiction related to the Battle of Britain.

The 1951 filmMalta Story is about Spitfires and their pilots defending Malta in 1942.^[398]

A Spitfire IXc was one of at least two used in the production of the 1962 World War II epic filmThe Longest Day. The same aircraft also appeared inVon Ryan's Express (1965),Night of the Generals (1967), andBattle of Britain (1969).^[399][400]

The Spitfire was a central part of the 1969 filmBattle of Britain, directed byGuy Hamilton, a fictionalized account of the realBattle of Britain that one critic called "the definitive depiction of war in the air".^[401] The film led to an increase in the popularity of the aircraft among collectors ofwarbirds. According to one property dealer the appearance "did for Spitfires what the James Bond films did for the Aston Martin."^[402] Producers secured 35 Spitfires for use in the film.^[401]

The Spitfire was also the main aircraft used in the 1988 miniseriesPiece of Cake. The series was based ona novel by the same name. Pilots in the novel flew the Hawker Hurricane, but the lack of airworthy Hurricanes forced the producers to change aircraft types, using five privately owned airworthy Spitfires and a collection of static and taxiing replicas.^[403]

Real-life World War II RAF aceDouglas Bader was portrayed as a night-flying Spitfire pilot duringThe Blitz in an episode of the second season of the animated Disney seriesGargoyles. In the episode ("M.I.A.") Bader's life was saved during air combat byGoliath andGriff.^[404]

The 2001 Czech filmDark Blue World, a World War II drama about Czech pilots who flew with the Royal Air Force directed byJan Svěrák, featured Spitfires. The vintage Spitfires cost the filmmakers US$7,500 an hour to use. The aerial sequences were a combination of live aerial footage, CGI and out-takes from the 1969 filmThe Battle of Britain.^[405]

Spitfires starred in the 2006 seven-minute short filmPilots, produced as a commercial by the Swiss-German watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen to promote its Big Pilot's Watch Collection.John Malkovich featured in the film.^[406]

In the 2017 movieDunkirk, directed byChristopher Nolan, three Spitfires were featured defending the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk against attacks by the German Luftwaffe.^[407]

The second prototypeSupermarine Swift appeared as thePrometheus in the 1952 filmThe Sound Barrier.^[268][408]A Supermarine or Vickers-Supermarine Attacker appears in the 1952 British movie,The Sound Barrier

Douglas TBDs appear in the 2019 filmMidway directed byRoland Emmerich. To portray the aircraft, the producers recreated TBDs digitally^[339] and also constructed a full-scale static replica which, after filming was completed, was donated to theUSSMidway Museum in San Diego.^[409] In the film, TBDs are depicted as simultaneously carrying a pair of 500-pound bombs on wing racks in addition to a torpedo, a scene which would not have happened in reality, as under-powered TBDs struggled enough with the weight of just a torpedo.^[339]

ATupolev Tu-154B was in the centre of the plot of the 1979 Soviet filmAir Crew. The film is a recognized classic inCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.^[410]

TheUFM Easy Riser was one of two ultralight aircraft that lead theCanada geese south in the 1996 filmFly Away Home. The film was a highly fictionalized account based onBill Lishman's autobiography and work withOperation Migration, but both Lishman's real-life migratory experiments teaching birds to migrate and the film used the Easy Riser, due to its low cruising speed, which allowed the birds to pace the aircraft in flight.^[411][412]

A replicaVickers FB5 was constructed to appear in the 1986 filmSky Bandits (also released under the titleGunbus) which was about a pair of cowboys who flee the US to escape prison for a bank robbery and end up serving in the RFC during the Great War. The replica, built as a taxiing prop for the film, is currently housed at Sywell Aerodrome in the UK.^[413]

TheVickers Wellington features in the 1941 filmTarget for Tonight.^[414]

Nevil Shute's romancePastoral is a wartime story of a pilot and his crew of a Wellington bomber based at a fictional RAF station called "Hartley Magna".^[415][416]

A Vickers Wellington features in the 1961 comedy filmVery Important Person (released in the US asA Coming Out Party). In the film, the central character, a military scientist named Sir Ernest Pease (James Robertson Justice) is taken over Germany during WW2 to test a top-secret apparatus. However the Wellington is hit by anti-aircraft fire and Pease is sucked out through a hole in the fuselage, parachuting into enemy territory and ending up in a POW camp.^[417]

The 1968 Czechoslovak filmNebeští jezdci (Sky Riders) about Czechoslovak airmen in RAF Bomber Command featured a Vickers Wellington.^[418] It was depicted by a taxiing replica based on an extensively modifiedLisunov Li-2. Flight sequences were shot with large-scale replicas and the film also incorporated wartime stock footage, including scenes fromTarget for Tonight.^[419]

A haunted Vickers Wellington is the subject ofRobert Westall's macabre, and critically appreciated, 1982 short storyBlackham's Wimpy.^[420]

Irish graphic novelistGarth Ennis chose the Wellington to be the aircraft flown by the Australian crew of RAF Bomber Command in his 2010 graphic novelHappy Valley, set in 1942 during the early phase of the night bombing offensive and one of hisBattlefields series.^[421]

TwoBell-Boeing CV-22 Ospreys (of only three in the USAF inventory at the time)^[422] were filmed in flight atHolloman Air Force Base,New Mexico, in May 2006 for the 2007Transformers film.^[423][424] This would inspire a host of Transformers toys and characters based on the Osprey including the Decepticons Incinerator andRuination as well as the AutobotsSpringer andBlades.^[425]

At least sevenWaco 10 biplanes were employed in the production of the 1928 silent filmLilac Time, a romantic drama about a British pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in WW1. The film was directed byGeorge Fitzmaurice and starredGary Cooper. Wacos played the role of generic RFC planes and three were deliberately crashed during filming of the aerial combat scenes.Dick Grace, only just recovered from injuries he sustained while working on the filmWings the previous year, was the stunt pilot for two of the crash-landing scenes.^[426]

TheWallis WA-116 Agile was anautogyro offering improved stability over previous designs. It was developed in the 1960s byKen Wallis, a formerWing Commander of theRAF. Following a prototype, five WA-116s were built byBeagle Aircraft atShoreham, three of which were for evaluation by the BritishArmy Air Corps.^[427] In 1966, one of the Beagle-built WA-116s, registeredG-ARZB, was modified for use in the 1967James Bond filmYou Only Live Twice. The WA-116 was dubbed "Little Nellie" and was flown by Ken Wallis, who was doubling forSean Connery's James Bond.^[428]

TheWright brothers'Wright Flyer is featured in the seventh season episode ofThe Simpsons "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming". In the episode, first aired 26 November 1995,Sideshow Bob steals theFlyer while it is on display at an airshow. WhileKrusty the Clown is making a television broadcast from a shack, Sideshow Bob flies into the side of the building in an attempt to stop the broadcast. Instead of demolishing the building, the frailFlyer merely bounces off the wall undamaged.^[429]

Several replicas of theWright Model B were constructed for the filming of the 1978 telemovieThe Winds of Kitty Hawk. One of the replicas is now owned and preserved by Wright B Flyers Inc. based in Dayton, Ohio.^[430]

TheMartin XB-51 depicted the fictional Gilbert XF-120 in the 1956 filmToward the Unknown, starringWilliam Holden as a test pilot.^[431] On 25 March 1956, the first XB-51 prototype,46-0685, crashed in sand dunes nearBiggs Air Force Base,El Paso, Texas, killing both crew, while staging toEglin AFB, Florida, for filming of scenes for the motion picture.^[432]

AZeppelin appears in the 1929Fox Corporation filmThe Sky Hawk which was directed byJohn G. Blystone. The film portrayed an aristocratic Englishman Jack Bardell (played byJohn Garrick) who joins the Royal Flying Corps during the Great War. In the film, Bardell is badly injured in a crash in France which leaves him with only partial use of his legs. The unclear circumstances surrounding the crash lead him to suffer accusations of cowardice. Determined to reclaim his honour, Bardell secretly rebuilds a derelict aircraft and attaches special stirrups to the rudder pedals so he is able to fly it. He takes off on an unauthorised patrol over London and destroys a Zeppelin raider, restoring his reputation in the process.^[433]

A German Zeppelin is shot down in the 1930Howard Hughes filmHell's Angels.^[434]

A bombing raid by a Zeppelin comprises a major plot point in the Elsie McCutcheon novelSummer of the Zeppelin.^[435]

In the 2017 filmWonder Woman, aZeppelin-Staaken R.VI is loaded with 4,500 pounds of bombs filled with poisonous gas intended forLondon.Steve Trevor destroys it by detonating the payload mid-flight, sacrificing himself.^[436]

• List of fictional spacecraft
• Airborne aircraft carrier
• Aviation accidents and incidents in fiction