Jet Pilot (film) - Production

Production

Hughes intended to make a "jet-age" Hell's Angels to the extent that the flying scenes were the most important element, and led to his obsessive re-editing that stretched into years. The lead actors fretted that the screenplay was "silly" with Wayne only taking on the role because he thought it would make a political statement, but soon realized it would become "one of the worst films" he would ever make. Wayne would later recall, "The final budget was something like four million. It was just too stupid for words."

Location filming took place primarily at Edwards Air Force Base and Hamilton Air Force Base, California, with full cooperation from the United States Air Force. Much of the filming of flying scenes was done at Edwards using a North American B-45 Tornado bomber as a camera aircraft. Chuck Yeager, the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, along with Charles Rayburn Cunningham, another senior jet pilot, was assigned by the U.S. Air Force to fly for the film.Yeager would fly in the X-1 on its final flight, staged for the film cameras, on May 20, 1950.

The F-86A Sabre jets depicted in the early sequences were actual operational aircraft of the 94th Fighter Squadron, the first unit so equipped in the USAF, shortly after their conversion to the type in 1949. Yeager would also fly the F-86A in a series of aerobatic maneuvers, under the direction of "air boss" Paul Mantz who coordinated the aerial sequences.

Location filming for the Russian air base was done at George Air Force Base, a World War II air base with many of its wartime structures still intact, giving the base a primitive appearance. The 94th FS and its parent 1st Fighter Group were actually based at George during filming, and had just finished a deployment to Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska, as depicted in the storyline.

The "Soviet parasite fighter" that Shannon flies is actually a Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft design in the world.

The "mother ship" for the Soviet parasite fighter is actually a Boeing B-50, a development of the B-29. The "Yak 12" at the film's beginning is a black-painted Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star; the black fighter that appears near the finale, taxiing on the parking ramp, and the unpainted fighter that Olga is to test fly, are both Northrop F-89 Scorpions. An F-86 Sabre is used to depict a Russian chase aircraft, painted in dark colors, high visibility orange, and gray juxtaposed to obscure its actual silhouette.