Bazmak Diary of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet

[bazmak]

Hi everyone now you all know me and hopefully interested in my posts
HERES AN INTERESTING STORY FROM MY PAST
When drinking a few beers with a group of people and you all start telling stories
I chip in with, I once helped in the design and build of a 747 Jumbo Jet which
crashed in Adelaide and killed everyone on board..After a few knee jerk comments which you are all thinking of ,i follow with, its true and i will bet $20
I then produce some photos and tell the following true story and collect my $20
In Adelaide circa 1978 i worked for the South Australian film corporation who were making a movie.It was called THE SURVIVOR and starred Jenny Agutter and
Robert Powell. Based on a book by James Herbert. The story involves a plane crash killing everyone except the pilot who seeks out the man who placed the bomb on board.Supernatural twist to the end. AND IT BOMBED IN THE CINEMA
No pun intended. Part 2 will continue with photos and the building of the plane
Regards Bazmak

 

[bazmak]

The plane was to be built in an empty factory at Elizabeth in Adelaide.As well as the permanent staff(carpenters etc)
about 8 sheetmetal worker/welders were hired on contract for 3 months. Most of the fusilage,tail,and 1 large and small wing
as required for filming were fabricated from 20mm sq m/s tube and skinned with alum.With an offsider i made the cockpit section
and was involved with the large wing and tail.That tail was 40/50 ft high even when sat on the ground.Scary climbing up the middle to do positional welding on the support core When the fitting out of the main fusilage section was complete we often stayed behind at night to watch the filming.I remember for the impact internal scene alarge fan was set up with a cone full of magazines and clothes
and a stuntman was winched back thru the seats on rubber bunjie ropes.Then the fan was turned on people dived over the seats and the stuntman let go.No health and safety. Will continue later as latent memories return. BAZMAK

 

[aarggh]

I didn't know what to think when I started reading that Barry! Great story in the end mate!

cheers, Ian

 

[bazmak]

We stripped my mate down to his jocks and buried him in a sand box,multiple times and positions.Then we mixed polyurtherane resin
in the mold.When set we burned with oxy/acetyline and sprayed with red paint.Looked very good at the crash site.
Everything was built flat bottomed for ease of fabrication and to give the dug in appearance of a crash
Prior to setting out at the crash site the intension was to mount the assembly on railway waggons and drive thru the scrub
as it happened they started to run short on budget so mounted trees on a truck and drove them past the plane
The main wing had to be self supporting so we fabricated 2 angle trusses inside the wing from 70x 70 x 8 this passed thru the fusilage to the non filming side to form a large platform.On this we had 9 x 45 gallon drums filled with water.It worked well
but the guy who ran out the length of the wing to test it got a right bollocking. Should be enough left for a final session
another day See ya all later BAZMAK

 

[Herbiev]

Was that the plane at Pasadena opposite Foodland. Driving to work one Monday morning in my usual state of stupor and saw a crashed jumbo in a reserve

 

[bazmak]

well done Herbie,working in 1978 you must be my age.Unfortunately i dont have any stills of the crash site only video
i think there is a church on the site now.I remember on the night of the crash 1000s turned out,fire brigade,police etc
some people who got the story 2nd hand actually travelled down thinking it was for real

 

[johnmcc69]

Wow Baz, that must have been one FUN project!
How long did you work on it?

John

 

[bazmak]

Hi John,i was out of work at the time and saw an ad for sheetmetalworker welders for a 3 month contract.We worked 12 hour days
6 days a week for 3 or 4 months.The work was exciting and time flew by.When the plane was finished and the factory cleared,the plane was taken away on trailers to assemble on site.The casual staff were finished but the few full timers stayed on.The carpenters had also made a house boat which was located on the river Murray for filming.We were all given passes for the crash night.My wife was working
so i took my 5 yr old son down with me.Unfortunately i couldent get near for the crowds.Had to park near the repat hospital and walk
It was like bonfire night.The next day we all went back and i got on site with my pass.We all went over the plane and up the spiral stair to the cockpit.The pieces etc were all rearranged for post crash filming.Final Footnote; the film bombed at the box office and a couple
of years later a got a copy on (betamax). The actual crash scene lasted only seconds but the post crash investigations showed lots of the plane.I think i will look on ebay to see if i can get a CD. Watch out next For Diary of a 40ft Motor Boat BAZMAK

 

[bazmak]

POSTSCRIPT. Bought the DVD on ebay $15 and just watched it,Its not as bad as i seemed to remember
But it brought back a lot of happy memories. Au Revoir

 

[Herbiev]

The Repat to the crash site ? That's one long uphill climb and no pub on the way. Oh yeah there is a church there now surrounded by bushes and a speed camera there most of the time.