maroon barchetta said:

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I saw either Midway or Tora Tora Tora (in surround sound!!!) at a theater on the west side of Houston and my aunt and uncle took us to Antonio's Flying Pizza first.

It was a good night.

My brother and I came up from Portland for a week with my cousins. That week included:

Midway/Tora
Pizza
Astros game
Houston air show including Blue Angels
NASA
Zoo
Swimming at Rice Natatorium
Astroworld all day and until the fireworks shot off
Swimming at some giant outdoor pool near the Dome, because the Goodyear blimp was flying over and we kept seeing it circle
Having the run of Rice Village during the day
Galleria trip and I think ice skating

Pretty great week for a kid

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Early 70s, so more likely Tora Tora Tora? When did the blimp stop flying over Houston? I remember it circling our house in Sharpstown when we still lived there. I believe we moved out of that neighborhood in 74 or 75.

This was '76 I'm pretty sure.

maroon barchetta said:

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This was '76 I'm pretty sure.

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Then you likely saw Midway, that was the year it came out.

Yeah, I just looked it up on IMDb and saw a mention of a fire extinguisher being used that was not period correct.

I vividly remember the pilot's arm catching fire and him putting it out.

Speaking of Midway, the original movie is entertaining enough and historically accurate enough, but as I stated earlier, I prefer the 2019 remake.






What I really liked about this one was the period-accuracy of the aircraft. Yeah, it was mostly if not all CGI, but how else were they going to depict Torpedo Squadron 8's ill-fated attack on the Jap fleet with Devastator torpedo bombers, since none of those still exist. (Yeah, physical miniatures, but those tend to look pretty bad as well). They even included the Army B-26 bombers that launched on the Jap fleet, but I was disappointed that they didn't get the one Marauder who flew in so low right over a carrier deck that the crew could see the Jap gunners aiming at them. FTR, I thought the CGI aircraft in this one were done very well.

That does sound like a great week. Antonio's had a fantastic pizza.
The pool may have been at The Shamrock Hotel. It was near the Texas Medical Center, and had a huge swimming pool.
The blimp was moved from Houston in 1992.

Quote:

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The blimp was moved from Houston in 1992.

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Wow, that late! I thought it was gone some time in the 80s. I do remember seeing it floating up Hwy 6 on its way to a TV game at Kyle in 85, but that's my last memory of it.

I was surprised at the late date as well. I remember how exciting it was in the 60s when it would fly over school if we were outside for recess. We had relatives that moved to Huntsville in the early 80s and driving up on I45 we drove past the base.

article about Houston blimp

Leggo My Elko said:

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https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBWgiq0RPjx/?igsh=dDAzOG9oazhjN21t

lurker76 said:

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I was surprised at the late date as well. I remember how exciting it was in the 60s when it would fly over school if we were outside for recess. We had relatives that moved to Huntsville in the early 80s and driving up on I45 we drove past the base.

article about Houston blimp

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I was on Google Earth a few years ago looking for a cemetery where some of my family is buried near Spring when I came across the remains of the blimp base on 45. There is a Lowes and a Home Depot on opposite ends of what was clearly the base, but you can still see that the base was there.

The only problem I have with this shot (as cool as it is) is that you can see that there is no engine in that Spitfire. The prop is attached to a shaft that extends way too far into the airframe. And this scene followed that ridiculous Spitfire-as-Glider-Fighter (shot down a Stuka while gliding) sequence that seemed to extend for way too long.

Still, I love this movie.

Edit - obviously, Christopher Nolan was not going to destroy a real Spitfire, but the reality is broken with that noticeably missing engine.

Average Joe said:

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Used to go under that bridge in Sydney pretty frequently.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford wasn't very memorable,

but this scene was so awesome


It inspired one of the most popular video games

What a scene!

Just want to say this thread rules.