The Aeronauts (aka Les Chevalier du Ciel)

[55allgold]

Anyone remember this TV show from the '70s? In a bout of nostalgia I went looking for some info about it, but on YouTube could only find a Johnny Haliday (!) song and a much more up-to-date film clip. The clip is amazing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEe3xfWfkG8 (so well shot that I was looking for tell-tale CGI artefeacts).

I wouldn't mind finding that newer film, but would also like to know more about the original TV show. Was it realistic, or just puffery and PR for the French AF? All I remember was that it just disappeared off the TV screens when I was a kid.

[nick heppinstall]

Yes I remember watching it when i was very small. I was born in 1968. Must have made a mark to stick in my memory all these years ....

[bumblebee]

55allgold said:

I wouldn't mind finding that newer film,

I bought the DVD about 18mths-2 years ago through Amazon.fr - it only seemed to be available on the french site. The movie was only released on DVD in French, and unfortunately without English subtitles. It may have been released as a dubbed version in the US, but hasn't been available afaik.

However it was absolutely worth getting just for the brilliant air to air footage. The plot is a bit comic-book, and not particularly cerebral, but...hey, who cares, it's just a bit of Fast-Jet porn!

[Methuselah]

Started as a comic book then a tv series in the late 60's,
http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2007/05/tanguy-et-la...

[55allgold]

Excellent - thanks for the extra info. No sign of any clips from the TV show. But I might try and find the DVD of the newer film from Ebay.fr. The part at 0:28 when the two Mirages roll in sync is stunning, and there seems a lot of very close flying.

Courtesy of another posting on PH, here's a link to The Aeronauts theme tune: http://www.televisiontunes.com/Aeronauts_(The).htm... (groovy!)

[Fat Albert]

Yes I remember watching it, it alternated with the Whirly Birds and Champion the Wonder Horse.

Amother great series of that era was Bailey's Bird, about a guy with a Grumman Mallard