At the front of the first narrowbody set is the flight deck from the movie “Airplane!” – Photo: Ben Granucci | NYCAviation

Story written by Ben Granucci and appears on NYCAviation.com

In 1998, Talaat Captan was a writer and movie producer shooting scenes in an airport for the movie Ground Control, starring Kiefer Sutherland. After experiencing great difficulty coordinating the logistics involved with filming in an active airport, Mr. Captan knew that there had to be a better way. A self described aviation enthusiast himself, he founded Air Hollywood shortly after filming wrapped. The goal of Air Hollywood is to have a studio where all types of aviation scenes can be produced in a film-friendly environment. We recently visited the Air Hollywood studios and got to see all that they had to offer.

Right this way, please!
Right this way, please!

We started with a tour of their collection of full aircraft sets. Air Hollywood has several complete aircraft interiors that can be quickly and easily reconfigured to not only provide a wide variety of interior looks, but also permit filming from any angle necessary. Instead of replicating particular types of aircraft exactly, they have three more generic interiors. As we entered the building, we stepped into a scenery piece that was built to look like a jet bridge. Just like you would board an airliner, we walked down the ramp and turned a corner to see what looked to be the entrance door of a aircraft.

Once upon a time, this was the business end of a 727. Today it is being rebuilt into a fully functional movie set complete with switches that click and lights that glow – Photo: Ben Granucci | NYCAviation.com

However this was not an aircraft at all, but rather the studio’s widebody set. With a shell made of wood and an interior made of aircraft cabin panels, this piece of scenery was somewhere between a Boeing 767 and an Airbus A330 in width. In the condition that we toured it, it was equipped with a small business class cabin and a slightly larger economy class cabin.

All components of the cabin can be removed and replaced in a matter of minutes versus the several hours that a real aircraft would require. The entire aircraft interior, including the seats, were all purchased used. Mr. Captan explained to us that new components are cost prohibitive. For example, one first class seat alone can cost upwards of $30,000 when purchased as new, while the used cost is a fraction of that.

Continue reading Behind the Scenes of Airliners in Movies – Air Hollywood on NYCAviation.com