Making ‘The Blue Max’

I came across this on the Facebook. I saw it in 1967 at a drive-in theatre in Billings, Montana.
It is still one of my favorite movies. It has airplanes in it. Little did I know they were basically hand built for the production.

"Filmed 50 years ago, long before the advent of CGI, the World War I aviation epic required two air forces built from scratch and stunt pilots willing to risk it all.

Arriving at Ardmore Studios, Dublin, Ireland, in 1965 to begin work on a new 20th Century Fox World War I dogfight movie, stunt pilot Derek Piggott learned he was in for more than just zooming around the skies, popping off smoke bombs and fake bullets while cameras rolled. The script called for a biplane to fly under a bridge, and producer Christian Ferry did not intend to use remote-control models. He meant to make the greatest WWI air combat film of all time: The Blue Max."

I may have to get a copy on DVD.

A Bitz Flugzeugbau-built Fokker Dr.I heads a lineup of "D.VII-65s" warming up for takeoff in a "Blue Max" production scene.