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Wednesday, January 17 - My Big Day has come!... Today's location will be at HobbyTown USA, the local hobby store. I get there at daybreak. Half the parking lot in front of HobbyTown is filled with the movie trucks and motor homes. The crew is hard at it stringing cables, rolling around equipment. There's lots of equipment and stuff piled around HobbyTown. I spot Tyler, the Props Assistant and Scot, the Props Master, the guys I've been closely hanging out with for three days... We exchange our daily "Good mornings", and I'm off to my props truck. I know what to do. Today is the day! MY DAY! My chance at stardom has arrived! I get on the lift on the back of the truck and activate the switch. As I rise into the truck I start to hum the Beatles song that has been on my brain since late December. "They're gonna put me in the movies... - "They're gonna make a big star out of meeee..." ... "... and all I have to do is ... act naturally..." I find the wing of the plane and the navigation lights. I get a 9 volt battery to check the system out. Then I notice the white light lens cap is gone and the tiny light bulb broken! $^&•*! And the red lens cap is missing! ®†¥•*¢ §¢! Today is my big day, this is the plane I'll be flying later, and now nothing works!... I plug the lights up anyway. A brief flash and a wisp of smoke signals the end of the white tail light... ¶•ªß©¬! Then I notice the clear bulb that is supposed to be green is barely glowing! Oh man! ¢ §¶•ªß©¬¥¨#!!!! Why this - why now - and why me??? Scot stops by the truck and asks how it's going. I tell him about my problems. He takes a deep breath and with his head cocked over to one side stares at me for a second. "You can fix it, right? We've GOT TO have working lights. It's in the script." (To hell with the script, I'm thinking...) "Sure." I say, "I'll fix them..." Scot smiles, turns around and heads for the store. After I tape the wires of the light set to the bottom of the wings with MonoKote tape I walk over to the hobby shop to see if by chance there's another set of lights, even though Scot had already indicated that what he had bought was their last set. Today's filming will all be inside the store, and there's already much activity going on in there. Crew members are redecorating most of the store! Even the planes hanging from the ceiling are moved around. A new rack of shelves full of containers of fuel has appeared near the front of the store. The place is total chaos. Seth and Jeff, the regular store employees, look bewildered and don't appear too amused... Rob Baker, the store's owner, is trying to accommodate several crew members who are re-hanging things while standing on ladders. Love Liza, the movie, has taken over... I explain my problem to Seth and he starts looking in the store's many nooks and crannies. Jeff gets involved in the search and he mentions that perhaps I could use the bulbs used in model train sets. Now we're getting somewhere! These are tiny grain-of-wheat bulbs and there are several types, styles and voltage ratings. Some are too small, but I find a couple that might do. I grab one package of each type that looks promising and as I walk out I tell Jeff to charge them to the movie... I remove the bad bulb and install one of the new ones. Not bright enough... ¬´¥¨•#! I use the a different new one... Brighter but still not bright enough... ¢¨ •#! Well - it's got to do - the show must go on. It's in the %^&¶•ª script! Philip is already busy acting inside the store. The skies are turning darker... Lunch is being served so I wait to finish the soldering job. I have the bar-B-que pork chop, the blackened tuna, a Caesar salad and some cake... They eat well on the set! I sit across from Tyler and next to a nice young blonde lady who Tyler introduces to me as Jill Nolastname. She's Jill Newell, the costume designer, and she has pretty sparkly purple nails. Philip sits four seats away from me with one of the directors and one of the producers. I keep trying to make eye contact with him, but he never looks in my direction. I go back to the truck. I plug up the soldering iron, and discover that I had forgotten to bring solder. I ask Scot where the solder is. "I don't have any." he says. ¢ ©•ªº!! I thought he had EVERYTHING on this truck! There's a Radio Shack right there in view of the truck. I head for it after Scot gives me some money. I find the solder... and right there on the rack to my right I see some tiny clear bulbs! I select one that looks close in size and voltage rating, pay and head back to the truck. I spot a local Channel 15 NBC camera man roaming around... I climb in the truck. My legs are about to kill me... The NBC reporter starts to interview someone close to the truck with his camera pointing in my general direction. As I'm working on the plane's lights I move farther out to the back of the truck to make sure I get into the shot... Filming has now moved to another scene where Wilson (the character Philip plays) tries to get some fuel from the shop owner even though the store is closed. I hear Philip hollering his lines and banging on the store's window as I install the new light. It works, although still not as bright as the other one. I now have two flashing clear bulbs... I ask Scot for some paint to paint them. He drags out a what looks like a Gleem paint store compressed into a RubberMaid container! He gets out some red and green paint and a small brush. After he paints them, I plug in the battery. The lights look pretty realistic. They should look great if you were flying in the dark! IN THE DARK?! Oh, rats, that's right. I'm supposed to fly this thing this evening at dusk in a parking lot at Demetropolis Road and Highway 90! I know that parking lot. Light poles, curbs, trees, bushes... Oh, man, what have I gotten into?... I plug up the lights. Flash... flash... flash... I unplug them. I turn on the transmitters and receivers on both planes and check everything. Looking good... I'm feeling a bit nervous... I get a Phillips screwdriver and an Allen wrench and check everything on both planes for tightness... The sky is getting darker now... Tyler casually mentions that there has been a chance in schedule. "Oh, how so?", I ask. "We're staying here. To save money and time we won't be making the planned 'company move' to Demetropolis Road..." Oh, no! I'm thinking, they're cutting out my flying part! ¢ §¶•ª$%^&*! But, it's in the script, so... perhaps in another day... "You'll be flying here in this parking lot, dude..." Tyler adds. "What? ... HERE?" "Right, dude..." he says and he's gone. Here? Fly here? Light poles everywhere, power lines all around the perimeter, traffic all around, cars parked everywhere... I don't feel so good... Tyler must be kidding me. That's it! He's always joking around... But... I look for Scot. When I find him, I ask him about what Tyler said. "Yeah," he says without showing any emotion, "you'll fly here. Later, after 5:00. Before it gets really dark. You can do it, right?" (Hell no! I'm thinking... NO WAY, man!...") "Of course," I swallow hard, "I can do it..." "Great. I knew you could. YOU DA MAN!" He smiles and he is off to the filming area. I feel my shoulders droop... Scott Gayle stops by and we talk a bit. I tell him what just happened. I can tell he thinks I'm a bit crazy... He hangs out with me... There's some activity in my newly assigned flying area. Some crew members are trying to clear that corner of the parking lot of cars, but there are still way too many vehicles sitting there. They can't find some of the owners. Irvington Field's new runway now seems HUGE compared to this. Heck, Battleship Memorial Park's small runway seems BIG by comparison... I'm getting a bit nervous... Time is drawing near... It's getting darker... I plug up the lights again. Flash... flash... I unplug them. I turn on both planes and check everything again. Right up, left down... yeah that's right... or is it?... check again... I'm getting a little more nervous... Scot suddenly appears at the truck. "Ten minute warning," he says "Get both planes and your stuff in place. They're setting up now... When you get there, you're running the show..." He's gone again... My time has come but somehow I feel tense... Scott G helps me tote all the stuff from the truck to a designated area where the 1st Camera Unit is already in place. Big movie wheels are milling around. I hear Jimi Woods, the director yelling at some of his crew: "Let's go, go, go... It's getting darker!" Mike Moore stops by and we chat as we are getting things set up. Scot asks Scott G to be my ground crew. Scott G says "Yes!" He smiles and I can see his eyes briefly light up as he realizes this chance at stardom... I feel much better now with him as my ground crew. It's rush hour. Traffic is all around on Schillinger Road and Airport Boulevard. The parking lot lights have been on for a good half hour already. We're way past what normal people call 'dusk'... I'm getting more nervous as Scott G and I fuel the planes, install the 9 Volt battery on the nav lights (flash... flash... flash...), and turn everything on again for a final check... I check both planes. I shut everything off and wait for the final command... I can't disappoint Scot, my "boss" and Property Master, who's in charge of this segment. After all, I'm flying one of his props. Ha, a prop with a prop!... I smile.. But if this scene goes bad he will be responsible... And I would feel bad for him... My smile quickly disappears... The set's safety guy comes around. "How are you going to avoid light poles and the power lines and the traffic?" he asks. I try to swallow. My mouth feels dry... "If I stay in control," I reply, "I won't even get close. If the equipment fails, there's nothing I can do..." I pause for dramatic effect... "And if I venture out there and I get into trouble and if I'm still in control, I will intentionally crash your plane into the asphalt..." (I'll show them who's in control here - I'm the RC Consultant...) He nods... "Okay." "Five minute warning!" I bend down and move the starter and glow driver closer to the plane. I raise up, turn and almost bump into someone behind me... YES! It's him! There he is! The star Philip Seymour Hoffman! Finally we meet! I knew he'd come around... Property Master Scot is with him. Philip looks at the planes. "Those are cool!" he says and he is smiling broadly. Scot introduces me, Scott Gayle and Mike Moore to him. "This is Frits, he's our RC Consultant who will be flying the plane." Scot says. "Cool!" Phil says. My chest is about to burst, I just know it... Philip shakes our hands. Finally! I have touched a STAR! Philip asks some questions about flying rc planes and that it would be fun to do. He seems like a nice guy all of a sudden. I feel great now! I will fly in pitch dark with a blindfold on and one arm tied behind my back, if Scot wants me to! I'll show them who DA MAN is! (And so what! "It's not my plane!" But somehow this saying that I use at the field so much to startle new students or when testing a plane for someone else is not funny now...) Jack Kehler, Philip's co-star who plays Denny in the movie, comes up and asks how to hold and handle the transmitter. I show him. While Philip and Jack are rehearsing the scene about thirty feet away, I look around me. Thousands of cars and trucks are flowing by on Schillinger Road and Airport Boulevard. I see the forest of light poles around me and the dozens of blinding parking lot lights above. There's a storm drain somewhere close in my intended landing area with a grate that has holes big enough to swallow 1/4-scale size wheels. But shoot, I can barely see that thing now anyway... The sky is dark and looks misty. And then, as I look and stare at the pitifully small postage-size "runway", my chest deflates... I'm sweating a bit... Then: "Okay, people, get ready!" Everybody scurries into place. "Okay! Start the plane!" Scott G and I install the battery for the navigation lights (good! - flash... flash... flash...) and we get into starting position. My heart is thumping a little harder than usual... I feel like I did immediately prior to the very first flight in my very first Novice pattern contest with three experienced, highly critical judges behind me... "Roll sound!" ... "Rolling sound!" ... "Ready for action!" ... "Get it up! Get the plane up!" Jimi yells... Scott G and I start the plane and we're rolling out. I throttle up and the plane takes off. "Aaand ACTION!" I pull up hard to clear the light poles. I worry about the power lines, but I don't think I got too close to them. All too soon I have to make the turn towards McDonald's... Hard to see the plane in the turn! The lights look great! The navigation lights, that is... The parking lot lights look like small supernovas... If it had not been for the nav lights I could not have done this safely at all. I would have lost it. It's tricky as it is, and I keep my eyes on the red flashing light because it's brighter than the other. Keep the red light toward me when it goes right to left, and point it away from me as I go left to right, I keep telling myself. I go around a couple of times. Suddenly there's a strange sound coming from the plane... The muffler! The $%•^&*(¶•ª muffler is coming loose! Now why didn't I take them both off and put LocTite on the screws... I had thought of that earlier as I tightened them all up, but... "I've got to land!" I holler out. I land. "Man, that landing was just beautiful!" a crew guy tells me. It was okay... Scott G retrieves the plane. "Muffler screw gone." he says, so we rob one from the backup plane's engine. We put some CA on the screw threads, refuel, and soon we're up again... Did it just get darker!?.... I hear "ACTION" , and briefly I see and hear Philip and Jack playing their parts as I fly ovals. In this scene Wilson is lying on his back on the hood of Denny's truck. At one time Denny reaches down to get his bottle of beer, and he hollers "Whoaa!!" and almost loses the plane. At that point the director yells: "Dive the plane!" I dive! Then I hear Jimi yell "CUT!" - "okay - we'll do it again!" I hear this five more times. I dive the plane better each time... But I'm hanging in there. I only get disoriented three or four times, but that flashing red light saves me each time! I had intended to keep this almost-invisible plane high above the light poles, but not so high as to... "Can you get the plane down lower, please?" the 1st Assistant Director asks me in his heavy British accent. (Oh, heck, why not?...) "Sure..." I lower altitude to twenty or so feet above the light poles. I fly several more minutes. Man, it is SO dark! And while I'm straining to see my plane, they have to fool around and do FIVE takes!... Then, it's over! "CUT! That's it! Great job!" "Landing!" I yell and cut the throttle. Scott G tells me the 'runway' is clear. I swoop down hard to clear some light poles. Coming in too fast! I do a bounce-'n-go and take back off again. Did it just get even darker? I go around again and this time I have a bit better control over it and I swoop in for a pretty decent landing... I hear some compliments and a few people clap... I start to breathe again. I done it! I HAVE DONE IT! Scot the Props Master comes up to me, shakes my hand and gives me a hug. "Great! Great! Thank you so much!" He goes on and on. He's relieved, and so am I! Scot invites Scott G to come back tomorrow for the shoot at the Municipal Park... Scott G looks flattered... He wants to but he's supposed to go out of town to a seminar for his job. Plus he needs to check with his boss... And the other boss at home... "Here's your chance to get into the movies", I tell Scott G... He says he'll think about it and will call me later. People come up to me and thank me. One of the producers, the Director and his Director's Assistant, several crew members. I don't even remember all of them, but it feels gooood! I wait around for Philip... He doesn't come. He has already retired to his motor home... Jack is gone... I'm sure those five takes have left both of them exhausted... After all, all Phil had to do is lie flat on his back on the front of Denny's vehicle and do nothing... And all Jack had to do was stand and pretend to fly and say his lines... Tyler comes by and tells me that was great, but "I think it was too dark, dude, and they didn't get good enough shots with the camera..." "What? WHAT, Tyler? What dare you saying? I did all that nerve-wracking flying for nothing???!!" "Well, dude, they are talking of shooting it again next week but a little earlier to get better shots..." Tyler hustles off into the dark... After a while one of the crew members comes along and hands out the next morning's callout sheet. This time I get one. Scott G, my ground crew, gets one too... Scott G and I pack things up in the truck and we finally leave to go home... Job well done... Movie life is great! I feel a sense of accomplishment... But they said I'll have to do it one more time... Somehow I feel I can do it even better next time. I can give them better and wilder dives... With better light I can get closer to the poles... Perhaps show off a bit and do some simple aerobatics... Loop-'n-gos... Noooo problem... Suddenly I start humming a different song: "I FEEL GOOD, dahdehdahdehdaaaah!..." |