| Plane housed at Anoka airport lands role in 'Amelia' biopic |
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| Wednesday, 21 October 2009 | ||
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Staff writer A plane housed in Golden Wings Museum at the Anoka County airport appears in the biopic “Amelia,” the story of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The movie, which opens nationwide this weekend, stars Hilary Swank as Earhart and Richard Gere as George Putnam, her husband, publisher and publicist. But playing a mini supporting role in the film is a 1927 Ford Tri-Motor, owned by Greg Herrick of Minneapolis, and Golden Wings is his hangar of choice for the airplane. “Amelia Earhart did fly this airplane,” said Herrick, who checked out the plane’s log books. But Herrick makes it clear that Earhart was flying a Lockheed Electra when her plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean on that fateful day in 1937. Herrick, who has been flying planes for 40 years, was set to attend the premiere of the movie earlier this week in New York City as this edition of ABC Newspapers went to press. In the fall of 2008, Herrick and two buddies flew the plane to Toronto, Ontario, where they participated for two weeks in the filming of the movie.
He said he believes the plane will end up in about three or four scenes. In one scene, in which Amelia is planning a flight across the Atlantic, Herrick’s Tri-Motor is seen as a backdrop just after a rain. The plane is also used in an exterior shot. It is night, and characters Amelia and Putnam are filmed in the plane which appears to be flying over Washington, D.C. Amelia is piloting the plane, while Putnam is serving First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt champagne. In reality, Herrick’s buddy Jim Obowa of Lino Lakes was flying the plane for the night scene. Between shoots, Herrick got to hang with Swank, Gere and Ewan McGregor who plays Gene Vidal, Earhart’s lover. Last year, Herrick received phone calls from four people asking to use his plane in the movie. He was unclear about the requests, so he said no. Further research and a request from a former (friendly) business rival Ted Waitt prompted Herrick to reconsider. Herrick had owned Zeos, a computer company in Minneapolis between 1981 and 1995, and Waitt was co-founder of Gateway, a computer manufacturing company. It turned out that Waitt, chairman of Avalon Capital Group, is a co-producer of “Amelia.” When Herrick e-mailed Waitt asking whether the request for his plane was real, Waitt answered, “We’d love to have your airplane.” “I said, absolutely. No problem,” Herrick said. Herrick bought the Tri-Motor in the late 1990s and the plane underwent a four-year restoration process. Mira Nair directs “Amelia.” Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan wrote the script. The movie is based on Susan Butler’s book “East to the Dawn” and Mary Lovell’s book “The Sound of Wings.” Waitt produces the movie with Avalon prexy Kevin Hyman and Lydia Dean Pilcher and co-producer Don Carmody. Swank and Bass are executive producers. For more information about the Tri-Ford, visit Herrick’s Web site at www.ameliaflight.com or go to www.fordtri-motor.com . “Amelia” opens Oct. 23 in theaters nationwide. Elyse Kaner is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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