This Article is From Jan 29, 2015

Hawaizaade: 5 Aviation Pioneers Who Cleared the Runway

Hawaizaade: 5 Aviation Pioneers Who Cleared the Runway

A still from The Wright Brothers' flight (top left), Charles Lindbergh's flight (bottom left), The Aviator (top right) and Amelia (bottom right)

Ayushmann Khurrana stars as Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, an Indian scientist who may or may not have built the world's first unmanned plane, in Hawaizaada which releases tomorrow. Mr Talpade's aviation credentials may be a matter of some debate, but there is no doubt about these five magnificent men (and a woman) and their flying machines.

1. The Wright Brothers
There is, oddly, no film about Wilbur and Orville Wright who are credited with inventing the world's first successful airplane. Actor brothers Owen and Luke Wilson played them in a brief role in the Jackie Chan version of Around the World in 80 Days but that doesn't count. Luckily, there's footage available of the Wright brothers' first flight.
 



2. Amelia Earhart
Hilary Swank played the lead in a 2009 biopic of the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. In 1937, Ms Earhart's plane disappeared over the Pacific while she was trying to fly around the globe. The wreckage was never found and fascination with Ms Earhart continues till today.
 



3. Howard Hughes
The American tycoon had two passions - making movies and flying planes. Mr Hughes set many air speed records, built planes and and bought and expanded Trans World Airlines. He was played by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2004's Oscar-nominated film The Aviator.
 



4. Charles Lindbergh
In 1927, a 25-year-old American Air Mail pilot became the first person in the world to be in New York one day and in Paris the next after a non-stop flight between the two cities. Charles Lindbergh became famous overnight, literally. He never flew for the US Air Mail again but continued to champion the service and commercial aviation. Like the Wrights, there is as yet no film about Charles Lindbergh, though he has been the subject of many documentaries.
 



5. The Tuskegee Airmen
Together, the 32nd Fighter Group and the 44th Bombardment Group of the US Air Force were popularly called the Tuskegee Airmen - the first African-American military pilots. They were active from 1940 to 1952 and were distinguished by the red markings on their planes. Laurence Fishburne starred in a 1995 TV movie called The Tuskegee Airmen and in 2012, Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr appeared in Red Tails, co-directed by George Lucas.
 



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