Roaring Glory Warbirds, Vol. 10: Grumman Hellcat F6F

Rating:
Summary: Pilots Are Not Necessarily Historians
Review: Flying an aircraft is an acquired skill. Pilots who are qualified to fly rare and unique aircraft such as antique warbirds should NOT be placed in the role of an historian unless they have proven knowledge on the subject being presented. The pilot in this case is Steve Hinton described on the back of the video as an "expert warbird pilot and Unlimited air racer".

During his presentation, he tells the viewer that "Grumman Iron Works" is located in New Jersey. Gulp! While his detailed walkaround presentation continues, one would hope he would come across the legendary manufacturer's identification plate revealing the well-known location of Grumman. It's all down hill after that. His speech is too rapid and not always intelligible to the viewer. One would think there would be a professional announcer or voice-actor aviation buff available on the cheap in Southern California for this obviously very low budget film. The film attempts to reenact combat situations ala "History Channel" by splicing in WW II file footage of aerial combat with grimacing actors sitting and playing make-believe in a parked airplane in Chino, California at the "Planes of Fame Museum". I won't even go into the detailed inaccuracies of Navy/Marine Corps uniforms worn by the "actors". The aerial shots of the museum airplane are great to watch as pilot Hinton flies the aircraft with the grace one would expect after reading how his piloting expertise is described. Unfortunately, there's too much sub-amateur theater (awful) and not enough flying of this great airplane manufactured in Bethpage, (Long Island) New York.