Old 1982-era Movie: Motherlode DHC-2 Crash

[Spandau]

Just watching an old early 1980s movie tonight called “Motherlode”. Charlton Heston and Kim Basinger are in it. In the movie a Beaver on floats gets actually crashed and apparently it was an unplanned accident (I’m sure most of you have seen it). I was just wondering if anyone knew who was driving or the ident of the airplane?

[New Antique Pilot]

Beaver was C-GHCT serial # 274 registered to Tradewinds. Accident date Sept 16, 1981. Pilot J. Hughes and passenger uninjured. Aircraft now registered as N733PF.

NAP.

[Spandau]

Thank you. I had heard a rumour that it was Art Scholl flying at the time. Was that the same Joe Hughes that used to fly airshows with a 450 Stearman and a wing-walker?

[jamesel]

Yup. 650 hp R-1340 & many other mods on the Stearman.

In the Beaver accudent, apparently he had no or little Float time and was advised not to fly the approach from that direction due to steep terrain.

[pelmet]

In the Beaver accudent, apparently he had no or little Float time and was advised not to fly the approach from that direction due to steep terrain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHmTanno0E

That crash has always worried me. I realize that there is drift on the aircraft but as an inexperienced float pilot, is it really that bad? I guess it is. Any more analysis from the high time pilots.

[New Antique Pilot]

It looks like a steep approach onto glassy water and a relatively flat or slightly nose down attitude with the left float digging first and starting the sequence.

I am not sure of the exact details but there was apparently a union issue about who should fly the scene. The movie company wanted their own pilot versus the local experienced pilot.

NAP

[Spandau]

I just watched the crash again with my finger on the pause button. It wasn’t glassy water, just beautifully smooth. When he touches down he hits a little bit flat but not big time, it swings, and you see the rudder come in to correct the swing but you never see any up elevator, not until it’s way, way too late, and of course the “dig” just progressed. I’ve dug a Beaver many times on 4580’s and 4930’s and she was always tolerant of me, but they will bite. That piece of film shows a Beaver doing things faster than I’ve ever witnessed one doing anything, but everyone survived, including the airplane. I wish we could see all the film they didn’t use but I expect Transport saw it all.

[Daniel Cooper]

What causes a float to dart off in one direction like that? It didn't seem like that bad of a touchdown to me. This makes float flying look incredibly risky.

[BGH]

A friend of mine was one of the fellows who bid on the job & was rejected because he wasn’t from Hollywood.
Told me after the accident that the Hollywood dude had messed up.
Because the whole sequence was filmed from every direction Transport had everything they needed to investigate the accident.
Turns out that although the lake was calm,there was a quartering tailwind of something like 7 knots & unseen(on the lake) descending air causing the beaver to hit the water at a high rate of descent.
Pilot tried to recover ,but his actions aggravated the situation.
Of course memories can fade & some of my memories could be remembered incorrectly as it has been a while.

Daryl

[scdriver]

What causes a float to dart off in one direction like that? It didn't seem like that bad of a touchdown to me. This makes float flying look incredibly risky.

Slightly cockeyed on touchdown and too nose low. When you dig the forward part of the floats in it’s super sensitive to not being straight. It can be risky, it’s riskier if you don’t know what you’re doing especially in a lake such as lovely water.

[linecrew]

The aircraft was fixed up and looks better now than it did back then. https://dhc-2.com/id181.htm

[phillyfan]

You can dig a Beaver and you can land a Beaver sideways, but you can't dig a Beaver sideways, especially empty and nose heavy. If you do, an immediate pull back with fast power application can save you. It almost always happens in glassy conditions with poor technique.

[phillyfan]

You can dig a Beaver and you can land a Beaver sideways, but you can't dig a Beaver sideways, especially empty and nose heavy. If you do, an immediate pull back with fast power application can save you. It almost always happens in glassy conditions with poor technique.

[phillyfan]

You can dig a Beaver and you can land a Beaver sideways, but you can't dig a Beaver sideways, especially empty and nose heavy. If you do, an immediate pull back with fast power application can save you. It almost always happens in glassy conditions with poor technique.