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Author Topic: Airline super 8 projectors ...
Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 18, 2019 11:56 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm sure that I have commented on this before ...

it must have been a long time, however. Do any of the old airline "in-flight movie" projectors actually still exist? I'm sure that, no doubt, when they replaced these with VHS machines back in the day, they no doubt scraped a lot of them, if not all.

I know that it was a neat system in which they simply pulled it down (from it's "hidden" compartment in the ceiling of the plane), ..

but not only have I never (except in pictures) seen one of these projectors ... not even one of the cartridges that they used on these machines ...

So, anybody have in pictures or otherwise of these machines, whether U.S. versions, or international versions of the same, (which might be different).

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
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 - posted July 18, 2019 01:37 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
i have never seen an ex-Air France projector for sale, which is a shame since they had two soundtracks playback failities. Several French optical films have the main soundtrack in English and the other one (not really "compensation" in this case) with the original sound in French. Sadly no optical sound projector, as far as I know, allows to read this second track.

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Dominique

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Leon Norris
Jedi Master Film Handler

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From: Elkins Park, PA, USA
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 - posted July 18, 2019 02:46 PM      Profile for Leon Norris   Email Leon Norris   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
They are all kept in storage! What I was told!

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

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From: Croydon, London, UK
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 - posted July 18, 2019 03:47 PM      Profile for Adrian Winchester     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
At the very least, a few should be displayed in moving image - and perhaps aviation - museums, ideally with occasional screenings taking place!

Does anyone know if I'm right (or wrong) in thinking that the previous usage of 16mm by airlines involved conventional projectors, meaning that Super 8 was the one format that involved a projector unique to airlines?

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Adrian Winchester

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
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 - posted July 18, 2019 04:07 PM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yes.
I recall seeing pics of many 16mm Bell & Howell projectors grouped all around in the overhead lockers. The film went from one to another, to another, to another, etc.
Can't recall number of mechs and screens but there were quite a lot.
Must have been quite a feat just to lace all the mechs!

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Maurice

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Ed Gordon
Junior
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From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019


 - posted July 18, 2019 04:16 PM      Profile for Ed Gordon   Email Ed Gordon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
In-flight movies
Starting in 1971 In-flight movies (previously 16 mm) were shown in Super 8 format until video distribution became the norm. The films were printed with an optical sound track (amateur films use magnetic sound), and spooled into proprietary cassettes that often held a whole 2-hour movie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_8_film#In-flight_movies

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Kenneth Horan
Film Handler

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From: San Francisco, CA
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 - posted July 18, 2019 08:29 PM      Profile for Kenneth Horan   Email Kenneth Horan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
In Flight Super 8 Projector with cartridge in place

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Ken Horan

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Osi Osgood
Film God

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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 19, 2019 12:12 PM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Kenneth! I love that picture!

I had read that about 1971, but i believe that the article is off by about 4 years. The first known super 8 optical features, (at least, by myself) is 1967.

Occasionally, they would release a feature film "classic" but as a general rule, they were released as they came out. Disney's "The Jungle Book' is a fairly early release. i have two from either 1967 or 68, "Point Blank" and "Hot Millions" both of which, while not perfect color are still not bad to look at.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Thomas Dafnides
Expert Film Handler

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From: St. Louis, Missouri USA
Registered: Dec 2009


 - posted July 20, 2019 12:26 AM      Profile for Thomas Dafnides     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I recall an airline stewardess telling me they had consistent problems with the film projectors that simply ended with the adoption of VHS.

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Oliver F. R. Feld
Master Film Handler

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From: Berlin, Germany
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 - posted July 20, 2019 02:17 AM      Profile for Oliver F. R. Feld     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The picture is fascinating; I have never seen anything like that before. How did it work?

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Osi Osgood
Film God

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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 20, 2019 10:32 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You can barely see it, but there is a cartridge that it mounted onto the projector. I'm pretty sure that it played all the way through and then rewinded. I haven't seen the cartridges outside of the projector, but it makes sense that this would be the procedure as, unlike the "technicolor" cartridge system, (which only held upwards of 25 or so minutes and therefore, would be able to be pulled through the projector), these large, nearly two hour cartridges would be too heavy to be pulled through.

In other words, much like the "platter" system of a 35MM projector of today.

That is my assumption, but I could be wrong.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Chip Gelmini
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From: Brooksville, FL
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 - posted July 20, 2019 11:10 AM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
A 35mm platter rewinds as the movie plays. Some platters did have endless loop capability to avoid multiple lace ups.

The. Airline prints should have rewound as it was playing

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Osi Osgood
Film God

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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 22, 2019 11:36 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You could well be right, Chip, as we can't see the cartridge's bottom, as it is in the actual projector.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Paul Adsett
Film God

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From: USA
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 - posted July 22, 2019 01:53 PM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Remember when they had to pull all the window shades in the cabin during daylight hours to watch the movies? Sometimes passenger's up near the screen would not cooperate and would 'wash out' the picture, ruining the show for everybody else. There's one in every crowd.
As I remember, all the films shown on airlines were current first run films being shown at the cinema's, so super 8mm prints must have been struck immediately upon release of the films. I believe the projectors were maintained and loaded up with film by an external company called In-flight Entertainment or something like that.
This whole subject is very interesting and I wish we had more information to share.

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Chip Gelmini
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From: Brooksville, FL
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 - posted July 22, 2019 04:50 PM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The optical cassettes would have had to been endless loop. Where the tail was spliced to the head. So in a sense it rewound as it played but was only inserted and never had to be threaded.

So here's my question. Did they ever run "Airplane?"

[Big Grin]

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

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 - posted July 22, 2019 05:31 PM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Apparently they did!

Our own review mentions the existence of airline prints of Airplane!.

Airplane! Review

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Paul Adsett
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 - posted July 22, 2019 06:56 PM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Shirly you cannot be serious about that!

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

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From: Long Island, NY, USA
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 - posted July 22, 2019 07:26 PM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
“The Hospital?!! What is it?!!”

“That’s the big building where doctors work, but that’s not important right now.”

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
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 - posted July 24, 2019 02:45 PM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Not a Super 8 set-up, but allegedly the first film to be shown in an aeroplane in 1921.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First-In-Flight-Film-1921.jpg

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Maurice

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
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 - posted July 24, 2019 05:55 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I read that Howdy Chicago, the first film projected in a plane, was a short. The first Feature was the Lost World.

Interesting footage of the plane :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz0La8f1IHU

[ July 24, 2019, 08:29 PM: Message edited by: Dominique De Bast ]

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Dominique

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Osi Osgood
Film God

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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 26, 2019 12:04 PM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You know, one thing that i have never ran into, in all my years of collecting super 8 optical sound prints, is one of those large cassettes with the film still in it.

Yes, i have ran into the South African "technicolor" cartridges, (news flash, it wasn't technicolor film in those cartridges), which held upwards of 25 or so minutes ...

But I have NEVER ran into one of those large two hour size cartridges used in the U.S., U.K. or elsewhere cartridges.

I could well be wrong, as it has been SO LONG since the airlines used these super 8 optical features, but i wonder if, in the "bowels" of the major airline "hubs', if there might still be stacks of old cartridges, just gathering dust, down below, in those areas of the airports rarely even entered these days?

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Leon Norris
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From: Elkins Park, PA, USA
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 - posted July 30, 2019 12:18 PM      Profile for Leon Norris   Email Leon Norris   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm glad they put features and shorts on super8 optical sound! There are lots of good titles out there to find! I just picked up two goodies The Driver and Pale Rider! Both are near excellent! And the prices are very reasonable!

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
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 - posted July 31, 2019 10:44 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I remember "The Driver"! I have Pale Rider" as well. it's one of them that was apparantly put on some fairly good stock.

"Preeeeeacher!"

[Smile]

The great fondness i have for these is that, even to this day, i still find titles that i didn't even know existed!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Leon Norris
Jedi Master Film Handler

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From: Elkins Park, PA, USA
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 - posted July 31, 2019 10:56 AM      Profile for Leon Norris   Email Leon Norris   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Still searching for more rare titles! I know they are out there!

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
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 - posted July 31, 2019 11:31 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I refer to the picture shown above with the flight attendant and the projector. This was an IMPAK projector made by Inflight Motion Pictures.
Here are some details:-
https://www.filmkorn.org/super8data/database/projectors_list/projectors_impak/ impak_model_45.htm
And here's another:-
https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://3f-museum.de/56-impak-projektor-mod-45/&prev=search

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Maurice

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